Thorns rout Tijuana in Summer Cup opener

The Thorns played their first game of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, a competition involving teams from the NWSL and Liga MX Femenil in Mexico, similar to the Leagues Cup involving Major League Soccer and Liga MX teams. Their first game of group stage was against Mexican side Club Tijuana and the Thorns dominated as they defeated Tijuana by a whopping 5-0 margin at Providence Park.

The Thorns are now tied with the Seattle Reign at three points each through one game of group stage play; Seattle won 2-1 yesterday against the Utah Royals. Portland currently leads the group based on goal differential.

First half:

It didn’t take the Thorns long to open the scoring. Tijuana goalkeeper Alejandra Gutierrez came out of her goal to knock the ball away, but Christine Sinclair was right there to put home the rebound to give Portland the early 1-0 advantage in the 4th minute. In the 18th minute, Olivia Wade-Katoa took a lead pass from Meghan Klingenberg and deflected a shot off of a Tijuana defender that trickled in the net to double the Thorns’ lead. 

Tijuana had a couple decent chances in the first half as well. In the 17th minute Mayra Palayo was in front of goal off a cross but she caught the ball wrong and it went wide of the goal. In the 36th minute, Aisha Solozaro took a shot that forced a save from Portland goalkeeper Emily Alvarado. Tijuana was unable to score however, and the score was 2-0 Thorns after 45 minutes.

Second half:

Tijuana nearly pulled a goal back in the 49th minute as Marta Cox’s free kick forced a diving save from Alvarado. Then, the Thorns had a golden opportunity to get their third goal in the 52nd minute. Mallie McKenzie’s shot was saved by Gutierrez and then Izzy D’Aquilla’s follow-up shot was cleared off the line by Monica Alvarado.

Just a couple minutes after her near miss, D’Aquilla scored from the edge of the box to make it 3-0 Thorns in the 54th minute. Then, in the 67th, Ana Dias scored a turnaround shot from close range right after D’Aquilla hit the post, this goal made it a 4-0 game. The Thorns scored their fifth in the 72nd minute after Meghan Klingenberg made a pass from the end line to Marissa Sheva in front of goal and she put it home to increase the lead to 5-0.

Just a few days ago, Portland’s interim head coach Rob Gale was named the permanent head coach of the club. So, this was a great result for him in his first game as the official head coach. The Thorns will look to continue their Summer Cup success on Saturday when they hit the road to take on the Utah Royals.