It had to happen at some point, I guess. Maybe an undefeated season was just a little too much to ask for, a little too much on the greedy side. So on Saturday night, the inevitable happened. The Portland Thorns finally lost a game. It’s not surprising the Thorns loss. Portland was playing without a host of star players again who are away preparing for the Olympics. Also, as it is written in sports, sometimes you just have bad nights, or in the Thorns’ case, a bad half. No, the loss by the Thorns to FC Kansas City was not a shocker, it’s just too bad that it happened at home in front of nearly 17,000 in attendance.
The Thorns lived dangerously most of the night and though goalkeeper Michelle Betos did her best, making a number of diving, leaping saves, she couldn’t keep every shot and header from finding its way into the net. From the opening minutes of the match, Kansas City was the aggressor, time and again putting the Thorns defense on their heels, so much so that a 1-0 halftime deficit seemed like a gift from the soccer gods.
When Kansas City scored in the 54th minute on a header by Shea Groom, giving the road team a 2-0 lead, it felt like an insurmountable lead to overcome. However, the Thorns were putting together a more solid effort on both ends of the pitch in the second half. When Kat Williamson, in her first game back since meniscus surgery, eked one into the net to cut the lead in half with just over 10 minutes to play, there was a sudden burst of hope that the Thorns could find a way to salvage a point and keep their unprecedented unbeaten streak alive.
It wasn’t meant to be, however. Kansas City held on and delivered Portland’s first loss of the season, snapping an impressive 12-game unbeaten streak. It wasn’t for a lack of effort by Portland, nor by the fans at Providence Park who kept cheering well into the final minutes when the Thorns had two chances to tie it up, the last being a Nadia Nadim free kick that sailed well over the net. When the final whistle blew, Nadim crumpled to the ground, her disappointment evident of what could have been from a frantic rally that came up just short.
Despite the loss, the Thorns are still in first place, two points ahead of the New York Flash. However, the Thorns will play the rest of July without the very stars they were missing Saturday. If Portland is going to hold on to the top spot in the standings as it awaits the return of Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan, and company, it will need to come out much more aggressively than it did against Kansas City who dictated the tempo from the outset. Even shorthanded, the Thorns boast enough talent and potential to withstand a few more games without their top performers. Opportunity is knocking for those that want to answer.
One streak may have ended, now it’s time to start another.
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