For the second straight game, Portland Thorns FC fought back from an early two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw. Mana Shim led the comeback with a goal and an assist for the Thorns in Saturday’s draw with the Washington Spirit at Providence Park in Portland.
Shim scored Portland’s first goal in the 28th minute on a rebound and she played provider for the equalizer just after halftime. Allie Long’s fourth goal of the season earned the Thorns the point at home.
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Two weeks ago in the Chicago suburbs, the Thorns gave up two goals in the opening eight minutes to dig a deficit; Shim scored the equalizer that day to earn them a 2-2 draw.
The plot was much the same on Saturday, when the Thorns fell behind 2-0 in the opening 15 minutes thanks to a pair of ugly defensive mistakes. Crystal Dunn pounced on the first mistake in the 3rd minute to open the scoring for Washington. Thorns defender Rachel Van Hollebeke played an errant ball across the middle of the field at the top of her owl 18-yard box and Dunn jumped on it, roofing her left-footed shot to score her fourth goal of the season.
Nigerian international Francisca Ordega tallied her first NWSL goal 11 minutes later, when Emily Menges mis-played the ball right into the path of Ordega, who took the ball and beat Thorns goalkeeper Nadine Angerer 1-v-1.
Shim and Long, however, combined to earn the Thorns a draw. Long has tallied at least a point in all four THorns matches this season, while Shim has scored in back-to-back games.
A victory would have put the Thorns level on points with the Chicago Red Stars atop the league. Instead, the Thorns (2-0-2, 8 pts.) sit in third, behind Chicago and FC Kansas City. Portland and Chicago remain the only two unbeaten teams left in the NWSL this season. The Red Stars defeated the Boston Breakers, 3-0 earlier in the night.
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#PTFC Staring XI: Angerer; Van Hollebeke, Williamson (c), Menges; Comeau, Farrelly, Zerboni, Johnson, Long; Shim, Jackson #PTFCvWAS
— NWSL (@NWSL) May 10, 2015
#WAS Starting XI: Wys; Reynolds, Oyster, Church, Johnson; Salem, Nairn, Huster (c), Lohman; Ordega, Dunn #PTFCvWAS
— NWSL (@NWSL) May 10, 2015
