THORNS BACKUP PLAYERS STEP UP IN WIN

The Portland Thorns are back in action in the newly renovated Providence Park, and are among the league leaders again this season.

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

• Photo by Fletcher Wold / the Advocate

They are currently 4-2-1 (wins-losses-draws) and sitting in second place in the NWSL – the National Women’s Soccer League – after playing six straight road games to open the year, due to the stadium construction project.

On Sunday afternoon, June 2, the Thorns didn’t disappoint, playing in front of 19,461 fans for their home opener, beating the Chicago Red Stars, 3-0. That’s even though they are missing nine of their key players to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup competition that kicks off today and will run through July 7.

Coming into this game, there were a lot of questions of who would step up during that period to keep the goals coming. And midfielder Midge Purce answered that question after scoring back-to-back goals in the first half.

Purce got a nice pass from forward Simone Charley, then had to get around the goalkeeper and Chicago defender Katie Naughton, and slid the ball straight into the net in the 27th minute to put the Thorns up by one. Four minutes later, she scored another goal, also assisted by Charley, to put the Thorns 2-0 at the half.

Purce and Charley were in the rhythm for the first 45 minutes of the game. Purce has now scored three goals in her last two matches in Thorns uniform, after not being able to play at the start of the season due to injuries.

She wasn’t the only Thorn to get her first Providence Park goal. In the 85th minute, forward Marissa Everett, who was signed to the roster on May 24, scored her first career goal. She knocked a perfect a shot through the legs of Chicago’s goalkeeper, off of teammate Meghan Klingenberg’s free kick, to put the Thorns up 3-0.

It was an incredible team-wide effort in the defense, also, that lifted the team without their best players on the field. Portland needs to play like they did for the next month to keep the team on top of the league.

The next match for the Thorns will be on June 15, on the road against the North Carolina Courage, the team that beat Portland in the 2018 NWSL championship game last September.