Match Preview: Portland Thorns FC vs. San Diego Wave FC
Providence Park | Portland, Oregon – Saturday, August 27 at 10:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
Portland midfielder Rocky Rodriguez scored her first goal of the season in Portland’s 3-1 loss at the Courage on Wednesday. Rodriguez is the 13th different goalscorer for the Thorns this season, the most the club has ever had in a single season and tied for the most different scorers any NWSL team has had in a single season. Leading the team in the goals department is forward Sophia Smith, whose 11 goals have her sitting just one behind the league leader Alex Morgan (12) as she sits in a tie for second.
San Diego midfielder Makenzy Doniak notched two assists in the win over the Dash, becoming the first Wave player to have a multi-assist game. It was the fifth time this season an NWSL player has had multiple assists in a match with Doniak, joining Ava Cook, Jessica McDonald, Yazmeen Ryan and María Sánchez.
Match facts: Portland Thorns FC hosts San Diego Wave FC in the final of three contests across the league on Saturday night, with Portland looking to bounce back from its first loss in 11 games and San Diego attempting to gain ground on the Thorns with both sides involved in a three-way tie for first place on 28 points.
Portland has scored a whopping 17 goals over its last four league games (4.25 goals per game) at Providence Park. It is the first time in NWSL history that a team has had a goals per game average greater than 4.0 over a span of four home games.
The Wave are coming off a 3-1 win over Houston, in which San Diego scored three unanswered goals after conceding in the seventh minute. It was the first time that San Diego won a match after allowing the first goal of the game (D2 L5 prior to the win).
Including the Challenge Cup, Portland is unbeaten in three matches against the Wave (W2 D1). The lone regular season meeting saw the teams play to a 2-2 draw in California. Plus, in the Thorns’ advantage, though the teams sit level on points Portland has a game in hand on Saturday’s opposition.
