Portland Thorns FC vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC
Portland, Oregon – The host, Portland Thorns (10-3-2, 32 points) tacked on three more points to their NWSL lead as they defeated NJ/NY Gotham FC (5-4-6, 21 points) by a final of 2-1. With the win, the Thorns are now unbeaten in its last nine regular season matches against Gotham.
Sophia Smith gave the Thorns the 1-0 lead in the 29' after she stole the ball in her attacking area and found her self one on one with the keeper and fired in a hard shot to the bottom right of the net. The goal marked the clubs 12th goal (out of 22) scored within the first 30 minutes of action.
In the 41', Portland would go up 2-0 after earning a penalty kick where Chirstine Sinclair stepped up and sent her shot just between the keeper and left post. Portland came out strong in the first-half with seven total shots on target while limiting Gotham to one. Gotham would get on the scoreboard via Carli Lloyd's 40th NWSL goal in the 78' when Caprice Dydasco sent in a beautiful cross that found Lloyd who headed it into the back of the net. Portland is on the longest active unbeaten streak in the NWSL, having gone its last eight matches without a loss (6-0-2). Only once before have the Thorns gone eight or more games without a loss in a single regular season with a 12-game streak that ended in July 2016. Both teams will now focus their attention to Sunday (August 29th) as Gotham is set to host the Pride at 5:30 PM ET while the Thorns will host rival, OL Reign at 7:00 PM ET.