Issues at the back were alleviated by potent scoring for the Portland Thorns in their past two matches, both 3-3 draws. But an uncharacteristic one-goal effort and continued struggles to consistently defend led to a 2-1 road loss to the Houston Dash on Friday.
The reigning NWSL champion Thorns (3-1-3, 12 points) endured their first loss of the 2023 season.
Portland’s attacking build-up took a while to break through early on against a stingy Houston (2-2-3, 9 points) defense. The Thorns’ first quality chance of the night came in the 12th minute off the foot of Crystal Dunn, who appeared to score a goal but had it called off due to offsides earlier in the play.
A pair of quality plays in the defensive third prevented two other major chances for Portland: a sliding play in the 16th minute by Allysha Chapman to cut off a dangerous cross from Morgan Weaver, and a strong save in the 31st minute by goalkeeper Jane Campbell on a powerful shot by Dunn.
The Thorns took a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute on brilliant, combining play from two new additions to the starting lineup. On a deflection, young midfielder Olivia Moultrie one-timed it with her left foot to a cutting Rocky Rodriguez in the center of the field, and Rodriguez was able to settle it at her feet before rifling it home with her right foot.
The Dash had a flurry of chances as the second half wound down, but none were able to force Bixby into any uncomfortable situations.
Moultrie had a perfect cross in first half stoppage time meet the head of Weaver, but Weaver wasn’t able to put it down to double Portland’s lead. The Thorns went into the half up a goal.
In the 56th minute, Rodriguez went down with an apparent right knee injury after her leg collided with a Dash player’s. Rodriguez walked off gingerly, favoring the right leg, and Portland did not have a substitute ready.
Playing with just 10 players, Portland surrendered a goal in the 59th minute. Houston midfielder Joelle Anderson got on top of a loose ball and put it in the net with Bixby having just made a save on the other side of the frame. The Dash pulled things even, 1-1.
Sinclair came on after the goal to replace the injured Rodriguez.
In the 70th minute, Portland nearly retook the lead on a chip shot from Dunn, but it bounced off the frame of goal. About a minute later, the Thorns brought on a pair of subs in Taylor Porter and Adriana Leon.
Houston went up 2-1 in the 72nd minute. Houston forward Ebony Salmon shed Meaghan Nally and hustled into a right-footed strike, scoring with aplomb.
Two Canadian national teammates both had chances to equalize for the Thorns. Sinclair narrowly missed the far post with a left-footed strike in the 79th minute, and Leon appeared to score a chip shot in the 82nd on a feed ahead from Sophia Smith but was narrowly offsides.
Smith had a chance of her own in the eighth minute of stoppage time, a perfect cross in from Dunn, but Smith couldn’t settle it at her feet or get a shot off.
Next up: The Thorns return home to take on the Chicago Red Stars. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. May 21 at Providence Park, with a live broadcast available on Fox 12 Plus and streaming on Paramount+.
— Ryan Clarke, rclarke@oregonian.com, Twitter: @RyanTClarke
