With 12,436 fans in attendance, the Portland Thorns took to the pitch at Jeld-Wen Field on Saturday for their first-ever meeting with the Boston Breakers. The Breakers came on strong in the first half, pressing the attack and getting two goals from Sydney Leroux before the intermission. Portland came out reenergized in the second half and managed to slow down Boston’s offense, but couldn’t convert on any of their scoring opportunities as the Breakers gained some ground in the National Women’s Soccer League standings with a solid road victory.
Boston breaks down Thorns with fast start
With 12,436 fans in attendance, the Portland Thorns took to the pitch at Jeld-Wen Field on Saturday for their first-ever meeting with the Boston Breakers. The Breakers came on strong in the first half, pressing the attack and getting two goals from Sydney Leroux before the intermission. Portland came out reenergized in the second half and managed to slow down Boston’s offense, but couldn’t convert on any of their scoring opportunities as the Breakers gained some ground in the National Women’s Soccer League standings with a solid road victory.
Boston forward Leroux provided the Breakers with an early lead, scoring off a crossing assist from Heather O’Reilly in the 11th minute. The goal made Leroux the NWSL leader in that category this season. The Breakers weren’t finished, however, striking again in the 39th minute when Leroux caught another pass from O’Reilly, this time a long ball that she drove to the right and blasted around Timbers goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc.
The Thorns were determined to stop the bleeding coming out of halftime and improved considerably on defense, but the team was unable to break through the Boston front. Portland used its first substitution in the 56th minute, with U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Angie Kerr, a former University of Portland Pilot, entering the game to replace Nikki Washington.
Still scoreless in the 67th minute, the Thorns brought in another University of Portland alumna, Danielle Foxhoven, to try and spark Portland’s offense and make a final stand on their home turf. But the Thorns couldn’t find the right combination against Boston’s stingy defense and left the stadium with their second straight loss.
Thorns head coach Cindy Parlow Cone was quick to compliment the player at the center of Boston’s winning effort. “Sydney Leroux is a world-class forward,” she said. “You just can’t give her chances like that, having her turn and run at our defense. She’s going to put those [shots] away nine times out of 10.”
Portland sits in second place in the NWSL at 8-4-2. With the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs, the fifth-place Breakers are currently out of postseason contention but are now just four points away from the final spot. The Timbers were determined to maintain a positive outlook after the game.
“Very disappointed with our first half,” Thorns captain Christine Sinclair said. “We knew they had a lot of pace up top and we let them burn us twice. And then in the second half we were a different team. We completely dominated but couldn’t find the back of the net. As an attacking player, it’s when you’re not creating chances that you start to worry, so seeing the chances we created in the second half gives me a lot of hope for the upcoming games.”
The Thorns will try to break their current losing skid when they host the Western New York Flash this Sunday at 2 p.m.
