The WNY Flash had their three game win streak snapped as as they suffered a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Portland Thorns. This was the first time in recent weeks that the team had been shut out as well.
The match was an exciting one as head coach Paul Riley faced off against his former team for the first time and fans saw the NWSL debut of French international Amandine Henry.
The Thorns were forced to make a last minute adjustment to their lineup as Meghan Klingenberg picked up an injury during warmups and was unable to participate in the game. Meg Morris took her spot on the back line.
The Flash had a slow start to the match as Portland dominated possession and forced Britt Eckerstrom to keep the game scoreless in the early moments. Lindsay Horan and Emily Sonnett had solid chances on net within the first 15 minutes, but Eckerstrom was on her toes and managed to keep them from taking an early lead.
The Flash were able to settle in around the 20th minute and started to show some of the quickness and strength of their tough offense. Lynn Williams charged towards the touchline before trying to center the ball, but it was blocked by defender and came back out to Hinkle. Hinkle crossed the ball over to Mewis who’s shot just hit the crossbar. The ensuing rebounds were saved by both Adriana Franch and the strong Portland defense. Later in the half Abby Dahlkemper had chance to put one in on a corner, but her header went just wide of the goal. Both teams had several chances through the remainder of the half to put their team ahead, however the game remained scoreless after the first 45 minutes.
It did not take long, however, for Portland to get on the scoreboard after a defensive lapse provided a solid opportunity. Christine Sinclair was able to slide right past the Flash defense, received a well timed ball and found herself alone in front of the Flash goal. Eckerstrom had come off her line but was unable to really challenge Sinclair as she cooly slipped it past and into the net.
The Thorns doubled the lead in the 73rd minute after being awarded a penalty. Tobin Heath beat the defense and received the ball on the left flank in the box. As she cut inside, Elizabeth Eddy stood in front of her and they made contact for a few seconds before Heath slowly ended up on the ground. While Eddy did sort of block Heath’s progress, the call to award a penalty was certainly questionable. Nevertheless, one was given, and Nadia Nadim converted from the spot to put the Thorns ahead 2-0.
The Flash made a strong push towards the end of the game, coming very close to getting one back on the final minute of the game, but outstanding defense and goalkeeping denied them and the game finished with a 2-0 score.
Despite the loss, the Flash put in an overall good performance. Paul Riley gave a fair assessment of the team’s performance after the game.
“I thought we played well second half, we poured some pressure on. Didn’t think we started the game very well, we looked a little bit intimidated. A lot of young players out there and we talked about experience, experience before the game and their experience showed in the first 25 minutes or so. They took the game by the scruff of the neck, got possession, they ran us ragged to be honest, we were running all over the place trying to get the ball back. I think second half we were a bit better, a little bit more focused. The pressure was better second half, we got a little bit higher up the field.”
Riley also noted that the Flash have a lot of young players especially compared to Portland and praised both his team and the Thorns for the performances put in during the match.
Sam Mewis also talked a bit about the youth of the team an how that affects their expectations going into matches as well as the season
“I don’t think any of us really knew what to expect coming into this. Did I expect we would be tied for first place a couple weeks in? No, I didn’t expect that, but it’s really not about right now, it’s about where we are in September and want to make playoffs and we definitely have high aspirations. Paul was kind of saying in the locker room before the game that we are so young we don’t believe that anything is impossible. We kind of have this naive view of this whole thing. We are a very very young team but we’re good and we know what we’re good at and we go into game thinking that we can win even if someone smarter says ‘no, they’re probably not going to win'”.
The night was marked by another significant event as Amandine Henry made her NWSL debut in the second half. Henry spoke to the media through a translator post game and shared her thoughts on her first NWSL match (the game was very physical, direct and intense, and the players are very strong and athletic) and her hopes moving forward with the Thorns (getting to play her first home match in Portland, and winning games so the Thorns can win the championship.
The WNY Flash take on the Boston Breakers, Friday June 24th at 7pm ET while the Thorns have a midweek game against Chicago Red Stars on Wednesday June 22nd at 10pm ET.
