Portland Thorns vs Boston Legacy | Recap, Reaction & Highlights

Seeking to end their winless home streak, the Thorns hosted the No. 13 team in the table, Boston Legacy.

With the same starting XI they used against Houston, Portland hoped to earn three points at home.

Although Portland was expected to dominate, things started to go south early after Boston suffocated them, as you can see in the momentum chart below.

Maybe that high pressing played with Sophia Wilson's mind because the next thing we knew was that the referee stopped Morgan Weaver's attack and showed Soph a red card.

The reason? She pulled Araujo's hair after both of them were wrestling, one trying to stop the other from joining the attack. Despite Wilson and Jessie Fleming protests, the referee was having none of it and suddenly, Portland was playing with a woman down at minute 24.

Boston smelled the blood in the water, and if you take a look again at the momentum chart, you'll see that after the red card the visitors dominated the match.

By half-time, the damage was done, with Boston having scored two goals through Alba Caño and Sarah Schupansky.

The players came with a different mentality for the second half, determined to change things on the scoreboard and took the game by the scruff of the neck. That's how Pietra Tordin forced a PK that she put in the back of the net.

It took Portland 30 minutes to get another goal, coming from the impact sub Shae Harvey. However, it was almost useless because two minutes before that goal, Boston scored another, so Portland needed at least another tally to get a point at home.

That didn't happen in the end because they let Brazilian attacker Amanda score a brace in five minutes, sealing the deal for the visitors in stoppage time.

Highlights

5' Pietra Tordin's pass leaves Sophia Wilson on a 1v1 with Murphy.

6' Yellow card for Reyna Reyes.

24' Sophia Wilson is sent off following a hair pull on Araujo.

35' Boston finds the back of the net through Alba Caño.

39' Boston makes it 2-0.

Halftime: Portland Thorns 0 - 2 Boston Legacy

55' Reylin Turner and Marie Müller enter for Morgan Weaver and Reyna Reyes.

56' Penalty kick awarded to the Thorns due to a foul on Pietra Tordin.

59' GOAL! Pietra scores from the PK spot.

64' Turner is shown a yellow card.

74' What a shot by Tordin!

80' Mallie McKenzie enters for Caiya Hanks.

86' Shae Harvey enters for Nina Nijstad.

88' Boston puts things 3-1.

90' GOAL! Shae Harvey makes it 3-2.

90 + 3' Boston scores again.

Full time: Portland Thorns 2 - 4 Boston Legacy.

Final thoughts

It is really worrisome that Portland is decaying when they actually should be peaking.

After a few good performances in August, they started to flop in September. In that month, they registered 1W 2D 1L, and the trend continued in the first game of October.

The Thorns just lost by multiple goals at home against Boston, a team that was No.13 in the table before this game and out of playoff contention. Despite that, they just handed the Thorns their second home loss of the season.

The hair pulling by Sophia is completely inexcusable because every player knows what happens if you do so. That was the turning point in this match and as a result, Portland not only lost this game, but they will also have to play without one of their most important players for most likely two additional games.

Pietra Tordin was one of the very few bright spots from this game. After all, she was the one who got the PK and the one who executed it flawlessly. Also, congrats to Shae Harvey on her first professional goal. The 21-year-old scored only four minutes after being subbed in. Add Nina Nijstad as another bright spot, and call it a day.

The Thorns will have to take a good look in the mirror after this game, after letting one of the weakest teams in the league walk into Providence Park and make them look like amateurs.