The Portland Thorns struggled to keep the ball and were a step slow on a hot, humid night in Orlando, losing 3-1 at the Pride on Sunday.
The Thorns (5-2-4, 19 points) started the match out back on their heels, as the Pride (4-6-1, 13 points) showed up strong on the attack. Brazilian attackers Marta and Adriana both thrived in Portland’s half, cutting passes to each other and finding plenty of chances by utilizing their speed.
Ally Watt had the first chance of the night for Orlando, a shot toward Bella Bixby in the third minute which was saved.
On the other end, Christine Sinclair found Morgan Weaver in the box in the fifth minute, but Haley McCutcheon was there to break it up in time.
Kelli Hubly picked up a yellow card for Portland in the 8th minute, one she protested heavily and appeared to have a strong case against on the challenge.
The Thorns opened the scoring in the 20th minute, a cutting ball back from Weaver to a wide open Sophia Smith in the center of the box. Smith finished with one touch on a classy shot for her team-high sixth goal of the season, putting Portland up 1-0.
Weaver nearly made the exact same play in the 23rd minute, but Crystal Dunn wasn’t able to settle the ball at her feet in the box before her shot was blocked. Soon after, Sam Coffey fired one at goal from the edge of the box that narrowly missed at the far post.
Bixby saved another of Watt’s shots in the 24th minute. In the 25th, Natalia Kuikka was shown a yellow card as her feet got caught up with her marker’s, setting up a free kick from just outside the box.
Orlando evened the match on the ensuing set piece in the 27th minute. Adriana stepped up and curled a beauty toward the near post, and after a slight deflection off the Thorns’ wall of defenders, it got past Bixby to make it 1-1.
Portland’s struggles to keep the ball were an issue throughout the first half, and they continued well into the halftime break. Marta had a curling chance in the 34th barely miss, and it seemed the humidity and heat was wearing on the Thorns on both ends of the field as they went into the half tied with Orlando.
The Pride opened up the second half with a statement goal. On the counterattack in the 47th minute, Adriana made one move and fired the ball in to secure a brace and make it 2-1 Orlando.
As the conditions continued to wear on Portland, it brought on several substitutes with fresher legs including Reyna Reyes, Michele Vasconcelos, Olivia Moultrie, Izzy D’Aquila and Adriana Leon.
But the issues at the back and inability to keep the ball continued for Portland as a brutal turnover in the 69th minute led to yet another goal for the Pride. Messiah Bright ran up to the ball in stride, striking one into the back of the net to bring the score to 3-1.
The Thorns could not find much on the attack the rest of the way, and they did not score again despite efforts from Dunn, Vasconcelos and Smith.
Next up: Portland heads to Chicago for a matchup with the Red Stars. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. PT on June 18 with a live broadcast on Fox 12 Plus and streaming on Paramount+.
— Ryan Clarke, rclarke@oregonian.com, Twitter: @RyanTClarke