The Western New York Flash suffered their second straight defeat at home as they fell 2-0 to the Portland Thorns. Christine Sinclair and Allie Long were the goal scorers for the Thorns as the team racked up their first road win since the 2014 NWSL season.
As has been the pattern the last few matches, there were several lineup/tactical changes by the Flash. Citing a three game week and the fact that the Flash have three quality CBs, head coach Aaran Lines rested captain Brittany Taylor and chose to start Abby Dahlkemper and Whitney Engen as his central defensive pairing. Elizabeth Eddy, who played up top in the previous match against Houston was moved to right back, while Lynn Williams, who was not available last match, returned to the starting XI.
In addition to personnel changes, the Flash had a notable tactical change, lining up in a 4-4-2 formation which hasn’t been seen since early in the season with Lines sticking to the seemingly preferred 4-3-3 for much of the season. Lines noted that the change was made to further develop chemistry between Williams and Michelle Heyman and get more of their talented midfielders on the pitch at once.
“Lynn Williams was available for us and thought there was a really good understanding between Michelle and Lynn in the Sky Blue game and I wanted to get two possibly against their back three. Four in the midfield; got four of our best midfielders on the pitch so that was our thought process.”
The formation change should have allowed the Flash to play to one of their strong points throughout the season, which is developing attack down the flanks, but not only were those opportunities less available than in previous matches, but the quality of play throughout most of the match was lacking overall.
“We were disappointing in the first half, we were disappointing in the second half. Just felt there was no width so we changed to a 4-3-3 in the second half. Got a little bit there for a little while but not enough.”
Lines also noted that while there has been significant growth in the team since the start of the season in April, that the team is still inexperienced and lacking in game management and acknowledged that there were a lot of 5 and 6 rated performances tonight which need to improve moving forward.
Even though the overall performance was poor, there were some bright moments for the Flash. The first 10-15 minutes of the match looked extremely promising on the attacking side. They came out hard at the whistle and forced Michelle Betos to make a couple tremendous saves early on and set the pace of the match in the beginning stages. Another highlight for the Flash was the penalty save by Sabrina D’Angelo. Had she not made the save, the Flash would have found themselves down 2-0 much much earlier than they ultimately did.
The Thorns, on the other hand, looked very different than the team that had just suffered back to back losses to rival Seattle Reign FC and did not look like a team that was on their third match in eight days. One of the biggest improvements for the Thorns was on the attack. Though head coach Paul Riley noted their formation hadn’t changed, Ayo played higher up on the pitch, almost as a partner to Sinclair and had an excellent game, the best all season according to Riley.
The shift also allowed Sinclair more space and freedom to work both on and off the ball, something that certainly paid off as she had a goal in the 33rd minute an providing the assist on Long’s goal in the 80th. “Against Seattle we played with one up top and I found myself isolated a lot. I’m the type of player I want to combine with people and play off people. I think Ayo came in and did a tremendous job and she’s a smart little player.”
The Thorns also once again were solid on the defensive side of the ball as well. After those first 10-15 minutes when they were seriously challenged, the back line did a great job of shutting down Heyman and Williams, as well as dealing with the excellent footwork by Lady Andrade when she entered the match in the second half.
With this win, the Thorns move up to sixth place in the standings and are off this weekend. When asked how they plan to keep this momentum going despite having a bye week, Riley not only mentioned the obvious; wanting climb up the table and contend for a playoff spot, but also the desire to give the Portland fans the home win he says they deserve. After selling out their last home match and setting another NWSL attendance record, Riley mentioned one of the best ways to ride the wave this win brings the team is to perform well again in front of the home crowd.
With the loss, the Flash slip further down the standings and are now in seventh place, just a point above Sky Blue who they face on Saturday, marking a long string of away matches in the month of August.
The Flash take on Sky Blue on Saturday August 1 at 7pmET.
