Portland Thorns forward Sophia Wilson scored an equalizer from the penalty spot in second-half stoppage time to earn her team a 2-2 draw at home on Saturday in a top-of-table NWSL clash with the Utah Royals.
The draw left both teams level on 24 points atop the table in their final matches before the NWSL’s month-long break for the Men’s World Cup. Utah remains first on superior goal difference and has a game in hand on the Thorns.
Portland’s late penalty was awarded for a foul on a corner kick that was given to the Thorns after a rare eight-second call on the goalkeeper. Referee Sergii Demianchuk blew his whistle after he determined that Utah goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn had kept the ball for more than eight seconds.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) modified the law last year to more strictly enforce goalkeeper time wasting and penalize teams with a corner kick.
Utah head coach Jimmy Coenraets said he was discussing a possible substitution with his staff and did not see what led to the call.
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“If these are the rules, it’s fine by me — just be consistent with it the rest of the season and it’s fine,” Coenraets said.
“If you can be consistent with it through the season, I think people have to do their jobs and I’m not here to judge whether or not it was a good job. As long as it’s consistent, then I’m fine with it. Now it goes against you; hopefully one of these days it goes in favor of us. But if the consistency is there, it’s something I can live with.”
Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie opened the scoring in the 20th minute against the run of play, a few minutes after Royals forward Cloé Lacasse was twice denied from point-blank range by Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
Moultrie pounced on a rare miscommunication in the back by the Royals.
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Utah pressed on, however, and scored the equalizer two minutes before halftime. Standout midfielder and Japan international Mina Tanaka fought for the ball in midfield and passed to fullback Nuria Rábano on the left side. Rábano played a precise cross into the six-yard box and Mexico international forward Kiana Palacios rose above the crowd of players to head the ball past Arnold.
The goal was the first conceded by Portland at home at Providence Park in 637 minutes in the regular season, ending an NWSL record that dated back to October.
Lacasse gave Utah the lead five minutes after halftime. Royals fullback Miyabi Moriya pressed Thorns fullback Reyna Reyes deep in Portland’s defensive third and forced a turnover from the Thorns’ goal kick. The ball deflected toward Tanaka who spun and guided the ball to the back post toward Lacasse for the goal.
Utah sustained the pressure, but the Thorns pushed for a late equalizer.
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McGlynn made a save with her face on Reyes’ shot from a few yards off the goal line to preserve the lead in the 79th minute.
McGlynn made a more routine save eight minutes later as the Royals looked like they might take all three points on the road.
Demianchuk blew his whistle with the ball still in McGlynn’s hands to award the corner kick. McGlynn appeared to have the ball for nine seconds from the catch until the whistle.
On the ensuing corner kick, Utah forward Alexa Spaanstra was called for a foul for pushing Thorns defender Jayden Perry. Spaanstra is with Utah on a short-term loan from the Thorns and had entered the match as a second-half substitute.
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Wilson stepped up and buried the penalty for her fifth goal of the season, continuing her red-hot form since returning from maternity leave in March.
Moultrie’s goal was also her fifth of the season. She leads Portland in goal contributions with five goals and four assists.
Both teams are unbeaten in their last 10 games.
“I felt like we stepped on the pitch to win this game and go top of the table,” Coenraets said. “I think that was the mentality going into the game. I thought we looked really good in the first half except for two lapses where we gave something away. But I felt like my team was playing for it.”
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Utah finished in 12th place last season. The Royals already have more victories [seven] in one-third of the season than they earned all last year.
“It’s impossible to block out all the noise but we knew that this was a special group, and we knew that if we could just get the players healthy and the structure set, that we could really, really compete in this league,” said Utah defender Kate Del Fava, who earned a callup to the United States U23 national team as an overage player for next week’s trip to Brazil.
“It might be a surprise to everyone outside of this organization, but it doesn’t really feel like a huge surprise to people inside the walls.”
