The Portland Thorns are champions of the National Women’s Soccer League for the third time after defeating the Kansas City Current, 2-0 on Saturday at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. The game result was never in doubt.
Sophia Smith, this year’s league MVP, put the Thorns ahead in the 4th minute and Portland never looked back. Kansas City failed to put a single shot on goal.
Here’s how Portland rose to the top yet again:
Sophia Smith calls game
Lo’eau LaBonta gave the NWSL its most viral celebration of the season with the hamstring-turned-twerk in August, but Smith provided the most iconic, a casual shoulder shrug as if to say, ‘What, you expected anything less?’
Or maybe it was a subtle nod to the conversations happening around her. San Diego Wave forward Alex Morgan and Chicago Red Stars winger Mallory Pugh dominated most of the headlines around the MVP race, and the Thorns expresed over the past few weeks that they felt Smith hadn’t been talked about enough in that conversation, but on Thursday, she won the league MVP award. On Saturday, she scored the championship-winning goal and won the MVP award for the match.
Smith was electric all year and emerged as one of the best players in the league and on the United States national team. On Saturday, she was a major part of a Portland attack that gave hell to the Current.
Wingers Morgan Weaver and Yazmeen Ryan deserve major credit for what the Thorns did. They complemented Smith wonderfully on Saturday, as they have all season, and they nullified Kansas City’s typically influential wingbacks — Hailie Mace and Kate Del Fava — by pinning them back and winning wide areas.
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Portland’s midfield owns the day
Christine Sinclair started in Portland’s midfield on Saturday after being benched in the semifinal. That Sinclair replaced Hina Sugita in the starting No. 10 role was a relatively daring decision from first-year Thorns coach Rhian Wilkinson. It paid off, as has just about every decision Wilkinson made this season.
Kansas City’s midfield at any given moment was either stretched so wide that central midfielders Alex Loera and Desiree Scott were both pulled all the way to the sideline, or the line was so flat that it was easily bypassed by Portland. Sinclair, whom Wilkinson praised last week as one of the best connecters in the league, played a role in that.
So, too, did Thorns defensive midfielder Sam Coffey, who was the best in the league at the position this season as a rookie, and Raquel Rodriguez, an oft-overlooked piece of the Portland midfielder. On the Thorns’ second goal, Rodriguez played a wall pass with Natalia Kuikka, getting back on the ball with space in midfielder to play Ryan in behind Kansas City’s defense for the cross that led to the own goal.
There’s no way around it: Kansas City’s midfield got run over on Saturday.
The ultimate team goal (with a little bit of KC Current help 
) to give @ThornsFC the commanding lead in the @NWSL Final. 
pic.twitter.com/hsqkzZxusM
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) October 30, 2022
) to give @ThornsFC the commanding lead in the @NWSL Final. pic.twitter.com/hsqkzZxusM— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) October 30, 2022
Current’s run dries up
It wasn’t just the midfield. Becky Sauerbrunn anchored a defensive effort from the Thorns that saw Kristen Hamilton, Cece Kizer and Lo’eau LaBonta completely marked out of the game. It was a defensive masterclass from Sauerbrunn, Kuikka, Kelli Hubly, and Meghan Klingenberg. Goalkeeper Bella Bixby did not have to make a single save.
Yes, this was ultimately a season that exceeded expectations for Kansas City, a team that finished in last place in 2021. Nothing takes away that 13-game unbeaten streak the Current put together through the summer. There is also plenty to look forward to considering the Current did this much even without U.S. internationals Sam Mewis or Lynn Williams ever touching the field in the regular season.
On Saturday, though, it wasn’t nearly good enough. The effort was disconnected and below par across the field, and there was a total lack of urgency even when the Current went down 2-0 and needed to chase the game.
Tactically, the Thorns were superior in all the aforementioned ways. But even technically, Kansas City failed to execute basics like finding the feet of open teammates, getting out of pressure, and marking runners. It was a night to forget in a season to remember for Kansas City.
“We’re not where we’re going but we’re not where we’ve been,” Current coach Matt Potter said postgame, reciting a mantra the team lived by all season.
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