Match Recap: Portland Thorns vs San Diego Wave

In a night where Hispanic Heritage Month was celebrated, the Portland Thorns hosted the San Diego Wave.

For this match, Rob Gale chose the same XI he put on the field against Chicago, searching to improve the performance in their last three games.

Although San Diego is not one of the oldest clubs in the league, there's a lot of history between these two already. This was their the 14th meeting between Portland and San Diego across all competitions since the Wave joined the NWSL in 2022, equaling Gotham FC versus Washington Spirit as the most played match between two NWSL teams in that span. Each side has won five of the first 13 games (3 draws), according to Opta.

Play by play

6' Portland Thorns deal with the free kick and Julie Dufour draws a yellow card on Corley.

The game didn't have the best of start for the Thorns, with Macca Arnold having made three saves in the first 30 minutes.

Things got worse for the home team when only 15 minutes into the match, Julie Dufour had to be subbed out due to injury.

15' Julie Dufour is being looked at by the medical staff for a few minutes and is now being helped off the pitch very slowly.

However, Portland got a free kick that was taken by Olivia Moultrie and although it sailed over the crossbar, things started to look a little bit brighter for the Thorns.

36' This match is becoming very chippy. However, San Diego has been the better side by a mile.

45'+ Six Minutes of Stoppage Time

45+4' A play between Coffey, Moultrie, Tordin, Turner, and Reyes leads to a corner and eventually a shot on goal.

Halftime: Portland Thorns 0 - 0 San Diego Wave

47' Mackenzie "Macca" Arnold starts the half with a massive save to keep things level.

54' Guess who? It's Macca with another freakin' save.

56' San Diego Wave scores.

63' Hina Sugita on for Pietra Tordin.

77' Deyna Castellanos on for Mimi Alidou & Alexa Spaanstra on for Mallie McKenzie.

86' GOOOOAAAL!!! The Thorns find the equalizer.

Full time: Portland Thorns 1 -1 San Diego Wave

Final thoughts

We have to give a big shout-out to Portland fans for showing up in numbers at Providence Park. A total of 18,443 was the attendance. Well done!

It is safe to say that the level of soccer has not been ideal, to say the least. However, it is always commendable that they got a point coming from behind. Even though Reyna Reyes scored – defenders who can score are always more than welcome – the goal came after a great free kick taken by Moultrie, who is having a lot of confidence on the field and has become one of the best Thorns out there.

Now, the most worrisome part of the game was no doubt Julie Dufour's injury. It was brutal to see her being subbed out while two staff members helped her walk out of the field.

This is what coach Rob Gale had to say about it:

Indeed, the injury didn't look good at all and just like our Stumptown Footy crew pointed out last night, the team's situation regarding the winger position has been even more compromised at this point.

Maybe the biggest positive point we can get from this match was the fact that the point the Thorns salvaged at the end of the game put them in the third position of the table. That's huge, knowing that there are only five games left. Well, that and the last 20-25 minutes when the Thorns remembered how to play soccer.

However, regarding the team's position on the table, we still have to wait to see how Gotham does tonight but still.

And speaking of Gotham, the next will be against them at Red Bull Arena next Friday at 5 PM PT.