**SAN DIEGO, Calif** . – Two late goals from both San Diego and Portland saw Wave FC and the Thorns fight to the finish in a 1-1 draw at Snapdragon Stadium. San Diego’s Sofia Jakobsson gave her side a late lead in the 86 ^th minute to send the home crowd into a frenzy, but a 90 ^th minute equalizer from Portland’s Reyna Reyes restored the balance between the two sides leaving each with a point on Friday night. The result temporarily sends Portland and San Diego into first and second place respectively, with both teams on 16 points from 9 games and separated only by goal differential.
Both teams displayed their attacking talent throughout, with Portland testing the San Diego defense as early as two minutes in. A flurry of chances in front of goal eventually saw attacker Morgan Weaver have a shot deflected out of play for a corner kick, but the Thorns demonstrated their intent to play quickly from the outset. Then, in the 15 ^th minute, San Diego produced a chance of its own as Jakobsson had a curling effort from inside the box saved by Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby to end the move.
In the 25 ^th minute, Portland began to produce back-to-back opportunities beginning with an effort from attacker Hina Sugita. A lifted ball into the box from Portland’s Sam Coffey was aimed toward Sugita at the back post, and the attacker did so well to get her foot on the cross amid a sea of bodies in front of her, but her point blank shot was saved with by the foot of goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan and the move was ended. Two minutes later, though, Portland’s Sophia Smith had an opportunity in front of goal that Sheridan was able to push wide again, though safe to say plenty of action was headed Sheridan’s way.
The half closed with one more chance for either side, but Portland defender Kelli Hubly saw a headed effort landed high of the goalframe, while a deep cross into the box on the other end two minutes later forced Bixby to leap and prevent the ball in from potentially sneaking into the top corner. At the break, though, the sides remained in a deadlock with neither one able to break the scoring mold.
The pace of the second half was by no means slowed down with Portland attacking as early as the 48 ^th minute. Weaver had a curling shot saved as she approached the 18-yard box before a follow up effort from forward Christine Sinclair sailed over the bar despite her best efforts. The Wave then answered with a chance on their side in the 50 ^th minute as forward Alex Morgan was sent forward with an aerial through ball, but the Portland defense collapsed on the pass from Sheridan and got enough on Morgan to prevent her from getting a shot away. Portland would continue to press the San Diego goal and make Sheridan respond to the pressure, but the home side’s defense just would not give way.
The tide of the match then turned in a major way in the 86 ^th minute as San Diego was able to find the back of the net and open up the night’s scoring with just a few minutes to play. Attacker Jaedyn Shaw was on the ball just inside the Portland half when she spotted the forward run of her teammate Jakobsson. Playing a low pass into her path, Jakobsson did well to somehow get the ball through the onrushing Bixby and maintain possession approaching the six-yard box. With two Portland players doing all they could to get in the way of Jakobsson’s shot, the Swede put a bow on her incredible performance by lifting the shot between the pair of defenders and into the net for the advantage.
However, right at the end of regulation time, a corner for Portland resulted in the visitors’ late equalizer as Reyna Reyes put her head on Sam Coffey’s corner kick delivery and guided the ball to the far post and in to drag her team over the line and help earn a point in the end. After four minutes of stoppage time, the fulltime whistle blew and the two teams had to settle for a point each, though a deserved point as both sides put in enough work to justify the result at the end of the night.
Now occupying the top two spots, still level on points with Portland and San Diego, and with a game in hand is Gotham FC. In addition, one point behind the trio is the Washington Spirit, who are a point off with 15 points but also have a game in hand, meaning the weekend's results could still have an effect on where each team sits come Sunday night.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights