It was a battle of stingy defending in Portland, but it took just four minutes into extra time for the Thorns to seal the deal on their 10th NWSL semifinal appearance, defeating the San Diego Wave 1-0 to advance to their 11th semifinals next weekend.
After a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation, the last quarterfinal match of the weekend got in on the free football fun. For the first time, three of four quarterfinal games went to extra time.
In the opening minutes of extra time, Olivia Moultrie sent a cross from the left side into the box, where Reilyn Turner was waiting. Turner got her head on it and sent the ball past Kailen Sheridan to give the Thorns the lead.
San Diego’s “French connection” of Delphine Cascarino, Kenza Dali, and Perle Morroni couldn’t quite get things going, but not for a lack of trying.
The Portland midfield, led by Sam Coffey, helped to smother the Wave’s offensive advances as extra time ticked on and San Diego grew more desperate to equalize. With Coffey, Moultrie, Turner, and Jessie Fleming all in peak form, leveling the game was never going to be easy. Not to mention a shutout performance from Mackenzie Arnold.
Moultrie came into this quarterfinal fresh off a new contract extension that will keep her in Portland through 2029. In a press conference earlier this week, she put it simply: the team won’t be satisfied with anything less than new hardware at the end of the season.
“I'm very happy with where we're at. I'm happy that we get a home game this weekend, but we got to go freaking win it,” Moultrie said. “I want to win a championship this year and I want to win more after that.”
And after the final whistle, captain Sam Coffey closed out the game with a team huddle speech that amounted to only a few words: “Why not us?”
The Thorns advance to their 10th semifinals, the most in league history and more than any other team has total playoff appearances. This isn’t the club’s first rodeo, but they will have to get through the No. 2 Washington Spirit on the road next weekend in a stadium that is famously hostile to away teams.
You can watch the No. 2 Washington Spirit host the No. 3 Portland Thorns on Saturday, November 15 at 12 p.m. ET on CBS.
Check out the 2025 NWSL Playoffs Hub.
