Portland Thorns x Washington Spirit

The Portland Thorns beat Portland Thorns FC on Friday night, 2–4, in a high-scoring contest. Sophia Smith, a forward for Portland, scored a hat trick in under 50 minutes, and the Spirit have never won a game in Portland.

Both sides came out running from the first kick. Thorns FC, led by Smith, launched a full-scale attack in the fifth minute. Minutes later, the Spirit retaliated with an assault of its own, starting with a wonderful throw-in from Sam Staab, the ball from which danced about the box before Inès Jaurena blasted just wide.

The floodgates opened shortly afterwards in the 11th inning, and scoring ensued. Smith made a fantastic move and scored her fourth goal in as many games this season by placing a ball from beyond the area past goalie Aubrey Kingsbury. Smith has now scored in four straight games, matching her season high set last year when he scored in five consecutive games.

The Spirit responded to Smith's first goal in under two minutes. Dorian Bailey, on defense, found Sanchez, and Sanchez located Ashley Hatch inside the penalty area. And with that, Hatch scored her eighth goal of the year.

Sanchez scored another equalizer for the Spirit in the 46th minute, and the game was now tied. The ball ricocheted around the penalty area before landing at the feet of Sanchez, who placed it into the top corner. Sanchez has scored in three consecutive games, something she has never accomplished before this season. Sanchez also made history by scoring and assisting in the same game for the first time in her professional career.

Sophia Smith scored the third and decisive goal for Thorns FC less than 90 seconds after Sanchez's effort, mirroring the Spirit's first-half response and putting the game well away for the Thorns. The Spirit had three opportunities to trim Portland's lead to one point but ultimately lost by a final score of 4-2.

{Photography by Jackie Shinstrom]