The Portland Thorns were in San Diego tonight against the Wave, and would give up a late goal to the hosts, but get their own equalizer minutes later for a 1-1 result. Sofia Jakobsson had the goal for the Wave, while Reyna Reyes scored for the Thorns.
The first good chance for the Thorns was in the sixth minute, when after a failed clearance of a Thorns chance by the Wave, Sophia Smith‘s shot from the top of the box was off the crossbar. Then, in the 25the minute, a nice long chip pass into the box by Sam Coffey that Hina Sugita got a nice foot on at the far post, but it was saved by a nice save by Kailen Sheridan. Then a few minutes later, a nice curling shot towards the near post by Smith was also saved by Sheridan. A few minutes before the half, a headed chance by Kelli Hubly from right in front of goal was just over the bar. Though the Thorns had the majority of the first half chances, the score was 0-0 at the break.
Both keepers were forced to make a few good saves in the second half, but nothing really threatening for either team, with Sheridan making a really good diving save on a Olivia Moultrie shot in the 72nd minute, and Bella Bixby making an equally impressive save on an Alex Morgan shot two minutes later.
But in the 86th minute, the Wave jumped out to a late lead when Sofia Jakobsson got in behind the Thorns defense, and through her initial shot was saved by Bixby, but Jakobsson collected the rebound, waited to get a good look at net, and finished just under the crossbar, and San Diego had the late 1-0 lead.
In the 90th minute, the Thorns got a late corner kick that they made the hosts pay for, when a corner kick by Coffey floated to the far corner of the six-yard box, where it was headed towards the far corner of the net by Reyna Reyes, and was perfectly just inside the right post, and the score was level at 1-1.
Neither team threatened during three minutes of stoppage time, resulting in a 1-1 final.
Thorns rescue point with 90th minute equalizer in San Diego | Thorns website
