The Portland Thorns had a chance to recover from their poor recent play as they travelled to Utah to take on the Royals on Saturday night. But they would never find their form and the match would end up in a 0-0 draw, in a match the Thorns were probably fortunate that they did not lose.
In the 9th minute, the referee allowed play on what the Utah players thought was a foul in the Thorns box, Dana Foederer would then have a good chance as her shot from outside the box was off the left post. In the 15th minute the hosts had another great chance from close-in by Ally Sentnor, but Shelby Hogan made a nice kick save.
The Thorns would have a few half-decent chances from Sophie Smith and Payton Linnehan but neither seriously threatened to score, though an apparent nice goal by Smith was negated for offside.
A chance by former Thorn Hannah Betfort in the 35th minute was tipped just wide by a nice diving save by Hogan.
Ana Dias was on the receiving end of a nice pass from Smith, but her shot would go just wide right in the 39th minute. The score would be 0-0 at the break.
The second half featured a few deflected shots from Smith, and a few somewhat threatening chances from the Royals, but neither team was close to scoring on these chances.
In the 88th minute, Utah had a great chance to take the lead on a lone breakaway by Ifeoma Onumonu, but Hogan made a great kick save to keep the match scoreless.
Christine Sinclair had a chance on a last minute header, but the shot was saved easily and the match would end up a 0-0 draw.
