Match Recap & Instant Reaction: Portland Thorns at Racing Louisville

The Portland Thorns headed to Kentucky for their third consecutive match in a different time zone, this time on the East Coast.

This time, they headed to Lynn Family Stadium to take on struggling Racing Louisville.

In the starting XI, the only surprise was the addition of rookie center back Carolyn Calzada. However, it should not come as a surprise with head coach Robert Vilahamn saying he could 'guarantee' she would see more opportunities moving forward.

Summary/By the Numbers

First Half:

The Portland Thorns came out with a haymaker and found opportunities to come by at the start of the match. In the sixth minute it culminated with a goal from Soph Wilson's third goal in four matches.

However, Bev Yanez and Racing Louisville would start employing their ruthless and suffocating press to success the rest of the half.

The mounting pressure led to Katie O'Kane equalizer in the 14th minute - ending Portland's shutout streak at 194 minutes.

Outside of direct play or a few occasional counterattacks, the Thorns could not get out of the initial line of pressure.

Their two best opportunities came on Soph Wilson's goal in the sixth minute (0.60 xG/0.72 xG on target) and Olivia Moultrie's shot in the 42nd minute (0.29 xG).

It was Racing Louisville who were above their 40% average of possession, had three more shots, and nine more touches in the opposition box.

Do stats tell it all each time? Absolutely not. But Yanez and crew had the more consistent first half.

Second Half:

The theme of slow second half starts once again commenced.

The momentum continued into the second half for Racing Louisville - they added four more shots in the first six minutes.

Without Shae Harvey and Jennie Immethun on the bench, Vilahamn opted for Deyna Castellanos. In an interesting move, Marie Müller came on for Pietra Tordin and played in an advanced position.

The only opportunities for Portland came through Wilson or Moultrie, but they did not receive any help in attack.

The Thorns time and time again showed no answer to the Racing Louisville press or counter-press. The home side were the first ones to each ball and looked like the fresher side throughout the entirety of the match.

In the 77th minute, Katie O'Kane tallied the game-winner sending Portland to it's second loss on the season.

To make matters worse, Emma Sears ran past the backline for the final score of 1-3.

The metrics and statistics have been unkind to the Portland Thorns throughout the season, but despite that, they have found a way to win those matches.

Tonight, that was not the case. The numbers matched up and gave the three points to the rightful winner.

This team has struggled when they are suffocated in matches where they are suffocated in the press and tonight was the result of that.

Racing Louisville dominated in every single metric imaginable and deserved all three points, and played like that from the seventh minute onwards.

There are a ton of questions for the Portland Thorns after this...

Highlights:

1' Terrific team sequence in the final third leads to a Reilyn Turner shot, but shot is easily saved by Jordyn Bloomer

6' 1-0 Portland Thorns A direct long ball from Olivia Moultrie finds Soph Wilson who beats Arin Wright in a foot race and she calmly finishes part Jordyn Bloomer

8' Off a breakaway, Reilyn Turner finds Soph again, but her shot just misses.

14' 1-1 Racing creates chaos in the box and Katie O'Kane finishes with a goal

36' & 37' Racing Louisville continues to pile on the pressure and shots from Katie O'Kane and Lauren Milliet have the home side knocking on the door for the lead.

40' A counter leads to Moultrie to Wilson, but the shot just doesn't have enough on it.

41' Kayla Fischer with a yellow card

42' Beautiful spell of attacking footall leads to Wilson to Tordin to Moultrie - her shot somehow goes wide.

46' Mimi Alidou subs on for Reilyn Turner

50' Katie O'Kane's long range effort goes over the bar

51' Sam Hiatt's challenge saves a potential golden opportunity

52' Deyna Castellanos comes on for Cassandra Bogere

55' Sophia Wilson wins the ball and drives it all the way to the opposition box. She finds Alidou who gets underneath the ball and it's an easy save for Bloomer.

61' Emma Sears on for Makenna Morris

64' Marie Müller on for Pietra Tordin

74' Moultrie wins a set piece near the top of the box - the ensuing shot is on goal, but not enough pace to get past Bloomer.

75' Ella Hase draws a yellow card on Sam Hiatt at the top of the box

77' 1-2 Racing Louisville The free kick delivery from Katie O'Kane

87' Jayden Perry and Maddie Padelski on for M.A. Vignola and Reyna Reyes

90'+ Carolyn Calzada clearance saves it from Sears tap-in goal

90'+6 1-3 Racing Louisville Emma Sears clinches the game winning a foot race past the Portland Thorns defense.

FT: 1-3 Racing Louisville