Crystal Dunn delivers catharsis for Portland Thorns in NWSL playoff win over San Diego Wave

Dunn played the hero as Portland finally broke San Diego’s defensive resistance

The Portland Thorns have been looking for a cathartic moment all year, and Crystal Dunn delivered at an absolutely perfect time.

Dunn scored deep into stoppage time to secure a comeback 2-1 win as Portland overcame the San Diego Wave to advance to the NWSL championship game for the fourth time in their history. Dunn and Raquel Rodríguez scored similar goals to bring Portland back after Taylor Kornieck had given the Wave an early lead.

The story in Portland coming into the match was barely about the game itself. Fan pressure on owner Merritt Paulson to sell the team has been present for some time now, but has gone to another level after the Yates report. While Paulson has seemingly reduced his role with the club, the pressure continued with pre-game protests inside and outside of Providence Park.

Still, fans made the choice to answer calls from the players to come support them, even as they demanded change at the top of the org chart. Thorns supporters packed Providence Park, with attendance reported at 22,305, and chose to do a pre-game display featuring hundreds of “For Sale” signs.

Portland may have gotten the vociferous support they had hoped for, but they got off to a tough start, with some sloppy collective defending saw them fall behind in the 8th minute. Alex Morgan seized on some hesitancy after a throw-in to cross from the right, setting up a wide-open Kornieck to head home from seven yards.

The Thorns were were struggling, but Rodríguez had the remedy. Portland won a corner, and the Wave could only clear the ball as far as the Costa Rican international at the top of the box. Rodríguez took a touch, and then thundered a half-volley over the crowd and past Kailen Sheridan for a spectacular equalizer.

The wonder goal amped the game up, with both Kornieck and Sophia Smith getting point-blank chances that were just inches from adding to the scoring. In the final moments of the half, Bella Bixby produced an incredible save to deny Kornieck a second as Portland’s defending inside the area continued to be an issue.

Portland had struggled in the first half, but sharpened up defensively, and really took control coming out of the break. However, it seemed like San Diego — mostly due to incredible play from center back Naomi Girma — was going to hang on and force extra time.

However, when the Thorns needed something special to break through, they turned to a player who knows how do do special things. Dunn, still building her fitness up after giving birth just five months ago, followed the example set by Rodríguez in the first half. The Wave again couldn’t fully clear a corner kick, and three minutes into stoppage time, Dunn stepped up to crush a bouncing loose ball through the crowd.

Dunn sprinted to the bench, and Providence Park went into delirium. For a moment at least, the supporters and players had a pure moment. This wasn’t a situation that required deep thought, or one where protest and support had to be in balance. For a few seconds, at least, the clouds over Portland’s season cleared.

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