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Sinclair hat trick leads Thorns’ thrashing of Boston

Christine Sinclair’s hat trick paced a 6-3 Portland Thorns FC rout of the Boston Breakers on Sunday at Providence Park, marking the third time this season the Thorns have scored at least six goals in a match.

The nine combined goals set a new National Women’s Soccer League record in the league’s debut match on ESPN2. Portland has now scored 13 combined goals in its last two home games. The Thorns beat FC Kansas City 7-1 a week ago, setting an NWSL record for goals in a game by a single team.

Alex Morgan, Allie Long and Jessica McDonald added a goal each for the Thorns in the high-scoring victory.

Portland went down in the 14th minute when Breakers striker Katie Schoepfer scored on a counter attack, but Long answered seven minutes later from the penalty spot after Morgan was taken down in the box.

The Breakers and Thorns would trade goals the rest of the half to head to the locker room tied at 3-3. Nikki Washington put Boston ahead in the 32nd minute, but Sinclair answered with her first just three minutes after. Heather O’Reilly finished a penalty kick of her own in the 39th minute, but it was Sinclair again who scored in the 42nd minute on one of Morgan’s two assists on the night to level the game.

Morgan found Sinclair again less than a minute into the second half, and it was all Portland after that. Morgan scored the Thorns’ fifth goal in the 52nd minute on a feed from Stephanie Catley, and McDonald added the insurance goal in the 88th minute. McDonald’s goal was her 11th of the season, tying her with Seattle midfielder Kim Little for the league lead.

“Obviously, individually it’s nice,” Sinclair said. “I’ve gotten to see shots go into the net that I think earlier in the season would have hit the post and bounced out. But as a team, I think offensively we’re really starting to click. The past two home games I think we’ve scored 13 goals or something. I think we’re starting to peak at the right time. We just need to continue that on the road.”

Portland’s win, along with Washington’s loss to Sky Blue FC and Chicago’s tie with Seattle, means the Thorns (8-6-5, 29 pts.) now sit alone in third place, five points behind FC Kansas City.

Portland Thorns FC (8-6-5, 29pts) vs. Boston Breakers (3-13-2, 11pts)
July 20, 2014 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)

Goals by Half                           1          2          F
Boston Breakers                    3          0          3
Portland Thorns FC                 3          3          6

Scoring Summary

BOS: Schoepfer, 14

POR: Long (penalty kick), 21
BOS: Washington (Sanderson), 32
POR: Sinclair (Boquete), 35
BOS: O’Reilly (penalty kick), 39

POR: Sinclair (Morgan), 42
POR: Sinclair (Morgan), 46
POR: Morgan (Catley), 52
POR: McDonald (Kerr), 88

Misconduct Summary
n/a
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK Nadine Angerer, D Nikki Marshall, D Rachel Van Hollebeke (Mana Shim, 66), D Emily Menges, D Steph Catley, M Sarah Huffman, M Amber Brooks, M Verónica Boquete, M Allie Long, F Alex Morgan (Angie Kerr, 86), F Christine Sinclair © (Jessica McDonald, 70)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Betos, M Farrelly

TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Boquete, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Sinclair, 3); FOULS: 5 (Brooks, Morgan, 2); OFFSIDES: 5; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 4

BOS: GK Alyssa Naeher, D Rachel Wood, D Cat Whitehill, 23 Bianca Sierra, M Heather O’Reilly, M Katie Schoepfer (Mollie Pathman, 79), M Maddy Evans (Bianca D’Agostino, 46), M Kristie Mewis, M Lianne Sanderson, M Nikki Washington (Joanna Lohman, 71), F Jazmine Reeves
Substitutes Not Used: GK Kranich, D Avant

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Schoepfer, Washington, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Washington, 3); FOULS: 6 (D’Agostino, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 1

Referee: Margaret Domka
Assistant Referees: Veronica Perez, Marlene Duffy
4th Official: Farhad Dadkho
Attendance: 14,383
Weather:Cloudy, 72 degrees

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