Thorns streaking through early season

It’s safe to say that the Portland Thorns are off to a solid start in the first year of the National Women’s Soccer League. More than a month into their inaugural campaign, the team hasn’t lost yet.

The NWSL leaders continued their unbeaten streak on Sunday, taking down the Chicago Red Stars 2-0 on the road. Portland got goals from Alex Morgan and Allie Long in the win, both of which came in the first half, and the defense took care of the rest as Chicago was unable to find an answer to the Thorns’ balanced attack.

The win wrapped up a three-game road trip for Portland and marked the team’s fourth victory in a row after starting off the season with a draw against FC Kansas City. The Thorns outscored their opponents 6-1 during the trip, with Morgan recording points in all three games.

Morgan’s goal came just three minutes into the contest, as the forward received a pass from Nikki Marshall and raced toward the left side of the goal to boot a shot around Red Star goalkeeper Erin McLeod. Long added to the Portland lead in the 35th minute, scoring her first goal of the season off an assist from Nikki Washington.

Chicago was fortunate not to go into halftime with a three-goal deficit after forward Christine Sinclair netted what looked to be her third goal of the year, beating the Stars defense and firing a shot right past McLeod. The ball bounced off the top post and onto the goal line, but it was ruled not to have crossed the line and play continued.

The score remained at 2-0 going into the locker room, but Chicago fared no better in the second half as Thorns goalie Karina LeBlanc held her ground and Portland left with the victory.

The team now returns to Jeld-Wen Field, where they will begin a two-game home stand against Sky Blue FC tonight at 7:30 p.m. After that, Portland hosts the Washington Spirit on Sunday at 2 p.m. before getting back on the road for a matchup with the Seattle Reign next week.