Tag: Alex Morgan

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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The NWSL semifinals promise nothing less than exquisitely high-tension soccer

Last week was nuts, and the semifinals should offer the same level of drama

The NWSL playoffs got underway last week with high drama in both games, and there’s no reason to expect anything less in the semifinals.

OL Reign and the Portland Thorns got a bye to this stage, and while they rested up, we saw one match settled with extra time and another settled with a game-winner that arrived further into second-half stoppage time than any decisive goal in league history. The margins? They’re thin!

The semifinals will start with Portland hosting the San Diego Wave, with two teams that have already faced off four times this year clashing again in Oregon. Then, about 175 miles up the Pacific coast, the Reign will welcome the Kansas City Current to Lumen Field, where a huge crowd is expected.

Follow along with Pro Soccer Wire as we preview both semifinal matches, including analysis, broadcast information, and predictions.

San Diego Wave outlast Chicago Red Stars in NWSL playoff marathon

San Diego set another NWSL record, and got a playoff win over a gritty Red Stars side

For all the glamour and attacking talent the San Diego Wave have, the story of their debut season may just be their toughness and determination.

San Diego wore down a stubborn Chicago Red Stars side to take a 2-1 extra time win, sending a 26,215 crowd — breaking an NWSL record the Houston Dash had set just hours earlier — at Snapdragon Stadium home happy. Alex Morgan bagged a 110th minute winner after Yuki Nagasato and Emily van Egmond had scored for each side in regulation.

A stunning mistake gave Chicago an unexpected lead. Kailen Sheridan, who is contending for NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, is known for being sure-footed in possession. However, collecting the ball just outside the San Diego box in the 10th minute, she seemed to be caught between two choices in distribution, eventually badly under-hitting a pass attempt that rolled right towards Yuki Nagasato.

Accepting the gift, the veteran did what veterans do, calmly scooping the ball over Sheridan and into an empty net from 24 yards.

It’s bad to fall behind early in a playoff game, but it’s even worse to fall behind against this Red Stars team. In the 2022 regular season, Chicago had never lost a match in which they took a lead.

A major reason they managed that record was that Chicago is a team full of veteran technicians that know how to control a game. The Red Stars showed plenty of guile in possession, patiently making San Diego chase for long spells in what was one of their best halves of the entire year.

Adjustments were needed, and late in the half San Diego finally started connecting in their attempts to go direct and figuring out how to set up shop to complicate things for the visitors. Wave coach Casey Stoney could be seen using stoppages in play to talk her side through those alterations, and they started to take hold.

“We were getting outnumbered in certain areas,” Stoney told reporters post-game. “I think once we went to a 4-4-2, we looked a little more structured. We could get pressure higher up, and that really helped us.”

Chicago agreed that the shift from San Diego had a huge impact. “I think they changed formations a little bit, or at least tactics a little bit, and put four on the front line,” said Red Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. “They looked to use (Taylor) Kornieck, and then their speed up front to overload and create some different chances.”

The changes from San Diego expanded to include Sofia Jakobsson, who entered at halftime, and she played a major role in the Wave’s equalizer. Engineering some isolation on the flank against Zoe Morse, Jakobsson played a dangerous cross that Chicago couldn’t fully clear, with Emily van Egmond volleying home amid the resulting chaos.

The Red Stars were hardly parking the bus, but the intensity required to play San Diego began to clearly take its toll. The Wave were seizing more control as full time approached, with Chicago simply not having enough in the tank to push back with consistency.

Extra time was more of a curse than a blessing for Chicago as a result, and while they did have a couple of chances, it felt like there could only be one winner.

The path there — an angled low shot designed to create a rebound that bounced just barely below Alyssa Naeher’s dive, slipping into the bottom corner — wasn’t expected, but Alex Morgan being the goalscorer? In 2022, that’s absolutely in the script.

San Diego’s reward for chipping away at Chicago’s resolve until they finally found their way through? A daunting trip to Portland, where they’ll face the Thorns next Sunday, October 23, at 5:00pm Eastern.

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The NWSL playoffs are here, and the path to Audi Field feels wide open

The NWSL is hoping that these playoffs show what this league is capable of

Fittingly for a league with more depth in talent than any other, it feels like every team in the NWSL playoffs has a shot at winning it all.

The Portland Thorns showed their strength all season long, while OL Reign went supernova down the stretch, and both await in the semifinals. They’ll get this weekend off after earning first-round byes, meaning the action will take place in southern California and the Gulf coast.

While the focus on the NWSL has for good reason been on the Yates investigation and its revelations of abuse and mismanagement, the fact is that these playoff games are a golden opportunity for people to see the league’s strengths. No league in the world has as many truly good teams in it as this one, and this postseason could be the first steps NWSL takes towards becoming the thing it could be if the long-overdue changes coming in take hold.

Follow along with Pro Soccer Wire as we preview both quarterfinal matches, including analysis, broadcast information, and predictions.

Alex Morgan says she told U.S. Soccer not to hire Paul Riley as USWNT coach

Morgan said U.S. Soccer told her they were unaware of any investigation into Riley

In a new ESPN documentary, Alex Morgan said she told U.S. Soccer not to hire Paul Riley as U.S. women’s national team head coach in 2019.

Riley was a candidate to replace Jill Ellis at the time after his track record of on-field success as head coach of the North Carolina Courage, and previously with the Portland Thorns.

But a recent ESPN report said the Thorns had fired Riley for cause in 2015 following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. When Portland let Riley go, however, the club did not mention the investigation, which paved the way for him to get another NWSL coaching job with the Western New York Flash, which would eventually move to North Carolina and become the Courage.

An upcoming episode of ESPN’s investigative series E60 titled “Truth Be Told – The Fight For Women’s Professional Soccer,” explores Riley’s case and other recent instances of abuse in women’s soccer.

Morgan played for the Portland Thorns between 2013 and 2015, during which time her teammate Mana Shim confided to her that she had been subject to sexual harassment from Riley.

At the end of the 2015 regular season, Shim sent an email to Thorns ownership and executives as well as NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush informing them about her experiences with Riley.

The allegations against Riley did not become public until 2021, when The Athletic published story including on-record comments from Shim as well as accusations of harassment and coercion from former Thorns player Sinead Farrelly.

When Riley’s name came up for the USWNT job in 2019, Morgan said she did everything she could to stop it, adding that U.S. Soccer told her they were unaware of any accusations against Riley.

“I did my part in stopping him from becoming head coach,” Morgan said. “And that was sharing as much information as I could with the people who were in charge of selecting the next head coach.

“The response by U.S. Soccer was no, they had never heard of this misconduct or harassment. Not the report that Mana submitted, not the investigation, and that this was a surprise to them.”

The Athletic article contained a statement from Thorns owner Merritt Paulson, saying he informed the NWSL of the 2015 investigation into Riley. At the time, U.S. Soccer played an active role in running the league.

ESPN reported this month that Paulson told Courage owner Steve Malik in 2019 that Riley should withdraw from consideration from the USWNT job, which would have helped conceal the real reason for his departure from the Thorns.

“Truth Be Told – The Fight For Women’s Professional Soccer” will debut on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, streaming afterward on ESPN+.

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Dunn returns for USWNT, teenage star Thompson replaces injured Morgan

The USWNT will face England at Wembley on October 7, followed by Spain four days later

U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named a 24-player roster for his team’s friendlies at England and Spain.

Among the headliners is Crystal Dunn, who makes her USWNT return after recently coming back for the Portland Thorns following the birth of her son Marcel in May.

Star forward Alex Morgan did not make the roster due to a knee injury, and in her place Andonovski handed a maiden senior call-up to 17-year-old Alyssa Thompson.

Thompson plays for the U-17 Total Futbol Academy boys’ team in MLS NEXT, and is the youngest player named to a USWNT roster since 16-year-old Sophia Smith was called up in 2017.

The USWNT will face European champion England at a sold-out Wembley Stadium on October 7, before taking on Spain in Pamplona four days later.

“These are big tests for our team in front of crowds cheering against us and after long travel, but our players absolutely love games like these,” said Andonovski.

“The group we are bringing to Europe includes players who have a lot of experience against top European teams and some that don’t, so these games are even more critical for our growth as our team. Our whole squad needs to get a clear picture of what these games are like as we continue to prepare for the World Cup.”

USWNT roster

GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

DEFENDERS (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Hailie Mace (Kansas City Current), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)

FORWARDS (6): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Thompson (Total Futbol Academy)

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Washington Spirit end 16-game NWSL winless run in predictably bonkers fashion

“The NWSL is crazy”

After 16 games and over four whole months of turmoil and frustration, the Washington Spirit walked off winners.

Fittingly for an utterly strange season, though, they did it in the hardest way possible: a 4-3 win over the NWSL Shield-contending San Diego Wave, having lead 3-1, thanks to the latest result-changing goal in NWSL regular season history.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Amber Brooks—who scored her first two Spirit goals today after going 23 months without a goal—summed it up best: “The NWSL is crazy.”

Under interim head coach Albertin Montoya for the first time, the Spirit fell behind early, and in particularly painful fashion. U.S. under-20 star Jaedyn Shaw raced free to volley a beautiful service from Emily van Egmond to give the visitors the lead.

That is to say, a player Washington spent months hosting at training only for NWSL to conclude that she had to go through a weighted lottery that San Diego won, and that the Spirit tried to trade for, scored on Washington roughly six minutes into her first-ever game against them.

The Spirit replied with a well-worked Tara McKeown goal just four minutes later, and from there roared to life. Washington went into halftime with a 3-1 lead and looking dominant, but the goalscorer? Not exactly who anyone expected.

2021 NWSL Golden Boot winner Ashley Hatch? Ballon d’Or nominee Trinity Rodman? U.S. women’s national team attacking midfielder Ashley Sanchez? Maybe McKeown, a 2021 first round pick whose early-season injury was one of many factors in the Spirit’s slow start becoming a nightmarish season as defending champions?

Nope. Brooks, a defender with six career NWSL goals and none since the 2020 Fall Series, naturally bagged a brace. The first was a throwback to a different era: an instinctive toe-poke shot through traffic amid some chaos in the box after a set piece was half-cleared.

The second was some kind of magic trick. Brooks’ center back partner Sam Staab bent a corner kick to the back post, where the veteran somehow managed to gently float a header back across goal, over Kailen Sheridan, and under the crossbar, all while falling down and away from goal.

Asked if she’d ever scored a goal quite like it, Brooks said “No,” before Hatch interjected a joking claim that Brooks had been practicing just that kind of header. Brooks had to confess the truth: “Most of my goals in this league have been headers, but not quite as acrobatic as that one.”

It was a wild ride for Brooks in particular. Ten minutes into the second half, her attempt to intercede on Alex Morgan’s knifing run between the center backs ended with a heavy collision. Referee Karen Callado initially seemed to give a free kick outside the box, with San Diego appealing for a DOGSO red card and the Spirit lobbying for no call at all. In the end, Callado changed her call after input from an assistant referee, pointing to the spot.

Morgan converted, and within seconds of the game kicking off, San Diego missed a golden chance to instantly level the scores. Suddenly the Spirit went from looking like the 2021 champs again to the 2022 version of themselves: hesitant, and progressively defending deeper and deeper while trying to protect a lead.

The intense pressure finally paid off for San Diego, but it felt like a typical gut-punch goal for the Spirit to concede late. A Wave corner found the back of Morgan’s head, but despite facing exactly the wrong direction to direct a header, the USWNT star nodded the ball home in the 82nd minute.

The Spirit had a good case that goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury was being interfered with by substitute Jodie Taylor, among other things, which lead to yet another spectacular Brooks moment captured by the CBS broadcast team:

All year long, this has been Washington’s season: play well for a spell, get some goals, but the opponent is always in the game, and will likely score a late equalizer or winner. No fewer than eight of the 26 goals the Spirit have conceded this year have been scored in the 82nd minute or later. It’s been a problem all year long.

With just seconds left in that seven minutes of stoppage, and after Kingsbury had saved an Amirah Ali breakaway, Rodman—who had been trying to conjure up some kind of solo goal for the final 10 minutes or so—used a stop-start move on USWNT defender Naomi Girma, opening up just enough room to fire a low ball into the goalmouth towards Hatch.

Sheridan was able to bat the ball away, but only as far as McKeown, who was duly wiped out by a lunging van Egmond, with Callado calling a somewhat more definitive penalty kick.

Still, it’s the Spirit, so nothing comes easy. McKeown needed to be checked out, San Diego argued the call, Morgan spent some time lobbying Callado after the protests died down. The game entered the 100th minute, and Hatch was still waiting to take her spot kick against Sheridan, arguably the best goalkeeper in the world at saving penalties having arguably her best season in that category.

The 2022 Spirit thing to do would be to not convert, or to have a re-take ordered, but at long last, Hatch was given the chance to shoot, and made no mistake.

And, because Brooks is right that the NWSL is crazy, the two-win Spirit kept their playoff hopes alive despite being in the final month of the regular season with, again, two wins.

Watch the Spirit & Wave play out a thriller

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Alex Morgan slams ‘pathetic’ Thorns statement in response to report on Merritt Paulson

The USWNT striker was furious at her former club after new reporting about owner Merritt Paulson

Alex Morgan slammed the Portland Thorns after an ESPN report claimed that owner Merritt Paulson tried to persuade former coach Paul Riley not to pursue the U.S. women’s national team job in 2019.

Riley was terminated for cause as Thorns coach in 2015 after sexual misconduct allegations by the club’s player Mana Shim, but the Thorns did not make that public and instead said Riley’s contract was simply not renewed when it expired.

After Riley got another job coaching the Western New York Flash, which moved and became the North Carolina Courage, Shim’s allegations, along with similar charges made by ex-Thorns player Sinead Farrelly, were finally made public last year in a report in The Athletic.

Riley was quickly fired as Courage head coach.

ESPN’s report on Thursday claimed that in 2019, Paulson told North Carolina Courage owner Steve Malik that it was “a good idea” for Riley to withdraw from consideration for the USWNT job.

Paulson was reportedly concerned that if Riley had applied to coach the USWNT, then the real reason behind his Thorns departure in 2015 would become public.

The Thorns responded to ESPN’s report on Thursday, saying it was “an extremely biased and misleading article.”

That response generated plenty of negative reaction on Twitter including from Morgan, who played for the Thorns in 2015 and whom Shim told about some of Riley’s behavior at the time.

“We (the players of the NWSL, especially players in Portland) deserve so much better than a boys club protecting their own. Also, that statement in response by Thorns FC is just pathetic,” she charged.

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Alex Morgan on new mom Crystal Dunn: It’s amazing to see her level already

The Thorns star appears to be closing in on a return to the field

Alex Morgan said she’s been amazed at the level Crystal Dunn has displayed in U.S. women’s national team camp just three months after giving birth to her son Marcel.

Dunn is at camp as the USWNT prepares for two friendlies against Nigeria, though she is not on the roster for the matches.

USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski said last month he expected Dunn to return to the field with the Portland Thorns before the NWSL season ends in October, and Morgan told reporters on Thursday that her longtime teammate appears close to that target.

“It’s so fun to have another mom in camp,” Morgan said. “I think it’s the first time since I’ve been a mom, so that is pretty amazing. And to know that she’s come back to the national team, training with us at such a high level just three months after giving birth, it’s amazing to see her level already and I’m just cheering her on.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing her get in her first games with Portland but I’m extremely impressed so far and I’m just so happy that she’s back with us.”

Morgan was the lone mom on the USWNT after giving birth to her daughter Charlie in 2020, but she has recently been joined by Dunn, Casey Krueger and Julie Ertz.

“I love to see the mom club grow,” Morgan said. “It’s always nice to share things in common and not be the only mom. It’s already stressful enough being a mom but then going on the road with your child and trying to compete and use your body every single day, physically, it can get really stressful as a mom, so it’s really nice to share.”

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Dana White’s Contender Series 52: Best photos from Las Vegas

Check out these photos from the fights at Dana White’s Contender Series 52 at UFC Apex.

Check out these photos from the fights at Dana White’s Contender Series 52 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. (Photos courtesy of Joshua Hedges, UFC)

(Gallery updated throughout the event.)