It seemed like everything was going wrong Friday for the Portland Thorns and their 2020 season was about to be over.
The Thorns were missing several key players, including goalkeeper Bella Bixby, who had started all their previous matches at the NWSL Challenge Cup. They lost two players to injury by early in the second half, including Lindsey Horan. And the North Carolina Courage were dominating every metric, including possession and shots.
But the dire start set up a stunning upset win for the Thorns as a first career goal from rookie Morgan Weaver toppled the No. 1 seed, 1-0, in the first round of the knockout stage.
With the result, the last-place Thorns got their first win of the Challenge Cup and advance to the semifinal round, where they will face the Houston Dash at 9:30 a.m. PDT Wednesday. The Courage go home suffering their first loss after four consecutive wins.
“We’ve had curve balls after curve balls, setbacks after setbacks,” Thorns coach Mark Parsons said. “The power of the group is our strength. It was always going to be the next player to step up, and today I think belief won.”
The Thorns’ breakthrough came in the 68th minute. Rocky Rodriguez dribbled to the end line as Weaver held her run and then sprinted onto the ball as soon as Rodriguez slipped it into the box. Weaver redirected the ball far post, beating Courage goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland, who had been covering the near post.
The win was as much a credit to backup Thorns goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom as anyone else. Eckerstrom made eight saves on the day, including several spectacular ones to shut out North Carolina. She crucially denied the Courage a would-be equalizer in the 87th minute when she came way off her line to deny Debinha one-on-one.
It was Eckerstrom’s first game appearance since last August. Starting goalkeeper Adrianna Franch is missing the Challenge Cup due to a knee injury, and Bixby, who earned widespread praise for her performances throughout the tournament, was out Friday with a less serious knee injury.
“Feels pretty good,” an understated Eckerstrom said after the match. “This is when it counted and we put the ball in the back of the net this time, so we get to move on and keep this journey going.”
The Courage fired a whopping 21 shots compared to Portland’s 10, and the Thorns defense had to make 42 clearances to North Carolina’s 12.
Defender Katherine Reynolds had to be replaced by Christen Westphal in the 41st minute after a head-on collision with North Carolina’s Lynn Williams.
“A few stitches and a bit of a headache but I’m all good,” Reynolds tweeted Friday evening.
Portland’s problems got worse in the 50th minute as Horan, who was nursing a hip injury, had to be replaced by Celeste Boureille.
“I saw those things happening in the first half — we weathered a couple storms, Kath (Reynolds) going down,” Parsons said. “No, the belief didn’t change because it’s been the story for two or three months now. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a few players and we said from the beginning the strength of our group is going to be our secret weapon.”
From the first whistle, the Courage were dominant and the Thorns spent the entire first half chasing the game. The Courage finished with the edge in possession, 55% to 45%.
In just the first 51 seconds, Williams beat the Thorns backline and delivered an unfettered cross to Kristen Hamilton, who was just a step behind and couldn’t connect. At the half hour mark, Eckerstrom was forced to make a diving save to deny a Debinha shot at the top of the box.
The Thorns came into Friday’s quarterfinal with several absences. In addition to missing Franch and Bixby, they were without Becky Sauerbrunn (left hip) and No. 1 draft pick Sophia Smith (left knee). Tobin Heath opted out of the tournament due to concerns about COVID-19 spread.
The Thorns were the only team to enter the knockout the stage without a win. Meanwhile, the Courage was the only team to win every preliminary round game.
Now, the Thorns are headed to the semifinals against the Dash.
-- Caitlin Murray for The Oregonian/OregonLive
Earlier:
New-look Thorns ready to (finally) get started
Thorns fall to North Carolina Courage
Thorns settle for scoreless draw to Chicago
Thorns draw Washington in back-and-forth match
Thorns draw OL Reign, make path in NWSL Challenge Cup tougher
Goalkeeper Bella Bixby has emerged as a breakout star