Ok, now I guess it's officially true that no-one will want to win the shield anymore, if it basically implies losing the Championship!
90+5' (of +4') 0-1 Dahlkemper switches from circle top wide right to 14m mid-left, Portland head away. 90+6' (of +4') 0-1 Ochs passes to arc tangent left, S.Mewis comes back to ball, backheel toward box blocked away. Some more scrambling ... FT 0-1. I almost feel sorry for North Carolina. T.Smith is probably out of the South Korea friendlies next week.
@Semblance17, a guy wearing a black cap and holding a poster version of the above flag was seen on TV multiple times, especially during final celebrations, when Franch joined the fans of the standings. So I assume I've seen you!
In the end, basically Portland took their best chance, while NC didn't take theirs. In particular, I would have expected Jess McDonald, as the record-setting striker that she is, to convert at least one of the two big chances she got. Of course the game could have gone differently if Smith and Hamilton wouldn't have been forced out of the game.
In fact, not only US players, but also international names from this team are really impressive (Sinclair, Henry, Nadim, Byrnasdottir, Raso, Sykes....)
I'm disappointed that the Courage didn't win. But more than that, I'm furious at the overt physicality Portland used to take out 2 players before halftime. If NC had lost without the injuries, then fine. It happens. But Portland knew exactly what they were doing going at players. It was intent to injure, and those kind of plays need to be reigned in before someone's career is ended.
You’re just pissed that Doniak’s “late and dirty” ( Foudy’s words) tackle from behind on Heath wasn’t successful in taking her out. It took two other late and dirty tackles to do it. The story of the game is that N.C. left Horan unmarked on a set piece. Every person who watches the Thorns knows two thing are certain. 1) Franch clears to Sinclair on set kicks 2) set pieces in the air are to Horan or Sonnet.
Oh, please. She acted like she was dying to eat up time. She was just fine. Doesn't make her deliberately injuring two players any less worse.
certainly PART of the story of the game. but that seems to ignore a large pachyderm in the room. some might argue that key players being "taken out" by the opposing team for important chunks of the game is just as or more important a part of the story of the game.
I liked one of Riley's comments after the game, in relation to how fans might have felt about the physicality and the "high defense" nature of the game. Something like this: "If you're a European fan, you're saying 'Yeah, this is a cup game.'"
That was me alright. I guess I can scratch "Infiltrate the Rose City Riveters" off my bucket list now. I loved all the curtain calls after the game in front of the Riveters section after the game. And the players were extremely kind to stick around for quite a while after the game to sign autographs for and take pictures with fans all around the stadium. A very enjoyable day. Kinda takes some of the sting out of the USMNT's crash and burn earlier this week [which fortunately I did not even have to [get to] watch on TV].
Well no. The analysis was on the last play of the first half, when time ran out anyway. But keep trying. It was two teams playing a cup game.
Give me a break and stop trying to deflect from one of your precious Thorns acting like a complete thug. She ended two players' seasons with injuries on dumb challenges, and had the gall to act like she was hurt when she ended up being fine. Like I said, if this game had ended up with the exact same scoreline, and Portland had won based on talent instead of trying to take out as many NC players as they could, then I wouldn't be so damn upset. But ever since Parsons took over, Portland has been borderline thuggish, and today was the worst they've ever gotten. He all but outright encourages it with his comments, and I don't think it'll stop until someone has their career ended by a Portland player being thuggish.
X3 Hah. You have a short memory. When Zerboni and Riley were in Portland, she got a two game suspension for stomping on Shea Groom after Groom hard fouled Ferrelly ( not that Groom didn’t get under many players skins). Riley wanted her on his squad for her agressiveness. https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2015/6/29/8865087/zerboni-suspended-additional-game Last year Riley and crew came into portland and knocked the thorns all over the pitch in the semifinals(they earned 4 yellow cards). The Thorns talked all year about letting that happen at home and weren’t about to get knocked off the pitch again. If Riley didn’t prepare his team for the return match its his fault. It was no mystery to anyone this was going to be physical. The foul count was 12 to 11. Stop whining and get ready for next season. This is starting to replace the Reign rivalry.
Oh, yeah: now that you mention it, I remember seing Parson dancing with the little blonde kid dressed in Portland-red like a dad would do with her little girl. How old can she be? 3?
I like "Morgan" being used as a verb. But I would like it to assume a meaning that's very accurate, clearly understandable and shared by anyone: do you just mean that you got drunk, or that you were escorted out of the Thorns party for being "rowdy"?
This reminds me of the Simpsons' episode when Homer puts out his list and scratches the perfect score at bowling (the rest of the list was hilarious! ). Well, if you haven't yet, you'll have to record the video-footage from this game somewhere, because, although I don't know you personally, I don't think you can possibly appear on TV for longer and in a more clear way in your life!
No noes. The Reign rivalry isn't going anywhere. You'll see next season, when Seattle will kick Portland out of play-offs...
In hindsight, I actually disagree with this, on both incidents. (Gasp!) 1. Heath knocks into T.Smith from the left flank, with some shoving-arm action. Nobody could have anticipated that Smith would try a judo-fall and land funny on a shoulder. Heath was probably intending to deliver a routine hip-bump foul into a faceplant or roll. The actual injury was kind of freakish. One could argue (with reason) that no beneficial result comes from delivering a hard foul from that vector, and so Heath owns the result, regardless of the typical outcomes she might have envisioned. But I don't think Heath computed that a shoulder injury and no card was even remotely possible. 2. Hamilton did some of it to herself, by stepping on the ball at the same time as receiving a bump or hook to her trailing leg. Again, the contact to her leg was fairly routine (for a foul ), and nobody could have planned that she would do a near-splits onto the ball with the other foot. I agree that Portland played a bit like wrecking balls, but I must disagree that Heath planned to cause those two specific injuries. We still blame Kemme undercutting Heath more than Heath.
Oh? Do American men play soccer too? The second half was better than the first. Taylor Smith being knocked out of the game early was a key factor in Portland's win. Her marauding up and down the flanks as she did the week before against Chicago would have opened up the middle for Williams -- and especially McDonald. Still, when you've got Dagny, Nadim, and Long on the bench as Portland does it's hard to beat you.