In front of a sold-out Audi Field, the Portland Thorns defeat the Washington Spirit in the first game of the NWSL season
- Mario Amaya
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
The Washington Spirit came into Friday night's match-up against the Portland Thorns looking to kick off the 2026 season on the right foot. After a 2025 season where the Spirit made a deep run in the playoffs, after finishing 2nd in the overall NWSL standings and making it to the NWSL final for the second year in a row, but just like the previous season, the Spirit would come up short once again in the NWSL final, falling to eventual winners Gotham FC.
As for the Portland Thorns, they had also finished the 2025 NWSL right behind the Spirit in 3rd place in the overall standings. Just as the Spirit did, the Thorns went on a deep playoff run, making it to the semifinals, where they fell short of the NWSL championship, losing to the Spirit last November at Audi Field.
In front of a sell-out crowd of 19,215 that gathered to watch the first game of the 2026 NWSL season inside the confines of Audi Field in Washington, DC, Portland would get its revenge for its semifinal match five just months earlier and spoil Washington's home opener by taking all three points with a 1-0 victory.
"I believe we created quite a bit—especially during the build-up phase and playing the ball out from the back—managing to reach the final third quite effectively and in various ways." Said Spirit head coach Adrián González "Perhaps the area for improvement lies in that final third: we need to be more decisive, generate more dangerous scoring chances, and, above all, finish them off. We were perhaps lacking a bit of verticality—attacking that defensive back line more directly."
The Goal
It was the 52nd minute. Portland would initiate a series of passes in their own end of the field, after an attempted shot from Gift Monday from midfield landed at the feet of Thorns goalkeeper Morgan Messner. The ball found the feet of Isabella Obaze, who launched a long ball from her own end, catching the Spirit's defense out of position. The ball would fall to Pietra Tordin on the left-hand side of the field. Tordin carried the ball into the box with Esme Morgan and Gabby Carle trailing the play. She would lay the ball off to Olivia Moultrie at the top of the box, with a heavy first touch, the ball would go past Tara Rudd, giving her the perfect angle to shoot the ball one-time past Sandy Maclver to score the only goal of the game.
"It was a bit of a transition, getting broken from the front line, then trying to turn back and get in the box," Rudd said. "I think there was an opportunity to stop it in their half, and just do a better job defensively, not to let them get that shot off in the end."
While Maclver gave her account of what she saw in the play that led to Moultrie's goal.
"I think on a different day, T {referring to Rudd] gets a foot in the way," said Maclver, "I'll have to see it back. I don't know where Moultrie has come from, and how she's been able to get to the box like that."
Finally, when giving her impressions on the game and whether Portland's approach to the game threw a little bit of a wrench into Washington's game plan, Hal Hershfelt said:
"I think they obviously—not figured us out a little bit, but I feel like it was our final ball, and they were really good at provoking either of us to make an early mistake or try to force something that wasn't there," said Hershfelt. "I think we're going to be fine. We just need to figure out that last final thing, you know?"
Di Guglielmo Impresses in Debut/The Game
Washington was the more aggressive team offensively to start the game, creating several goal-scoring opportunities in the first moments that never materialized, this in large part due to the offensive output of their wingbacks, Gabby Carle and Lucia Di Guglielmo. This was, of course, by design, in part due to the 4-2-3-1 formation González rolled out onto the pitch with.
"Today, we wanted to have four players inside all the time: Hal, Rebe, Leicy, plus another one. Sometimes that fourth player would be Monday, sometimes Gabby, sometimes Trin." Said González.
The design paid off as the Spirit were able to overload the wings and the inside pockets that Portland's defense left in the middle of the pitch, which were taken advantage of by Carle, who created three goal-scoring opportunities for herself.
"We were, I think, missing those movements," González said. "From wingers, from pockets, from number nine, and that's easier to defend. So, we wanted to be a little bit more unpredictable, and I think we haven't put balls [in] there, but also, I think we've been missing some runs behind."
One of the bright spots in this game for the Spirit was the play of Di Guglielmo, who impressed both fans and teammates alike in her NWSL debut.
"Guys, I think she crushed it," exclaimed Hershfelt. "She was so scrappy. Like, she was in there," continued Hershfelt. "She's so good at getting that last toe in. She saved our ass so many times tonight. There were like three or four times in the box where she gets that last toe in, or grabs someone, or gets that final touch on the ball."
The 28-year-old defender, who joined the Spirit this offseason from AS Roma in her native Italy, brought a calming yet dominant presence to the back line, with the ability to make decisive last-second tackles on defense and pose a threat offensively down the wing, bringing a perfect balance to the Spirit's already potent offense.
Her new teammate, Trinity Rodman, was particularly impressed with the Italian national team member's NWSL, calling it "the craziest performance I've ever seen."
"At halftime, I walked over to her in the locker room, I said, 'That's the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life.' I'm not kidding," continued Rodman. "Offensively too? Phew! Guys, I'm so impressed. That's all I have to say. She did phenomenal."
While speaking on how she felt playing in her first NWSL game, Di Guglielmo said, "I felt quite good on the pitch. This is something I was missing in the first friendly matches. So, it's something that, it's really important for me. But of course, here it's everything faster, everything more physical. I mean, I like it, [and] I think I can improve a lot."
In the 74th minute, Washington found its best chance to tie the game after a long ball from Rebeca Bernal in her own half, which found Rose Kouassi down the wing. The Ivorian forward took the ball close to the end line, taking on two defenders and laying the ball to Hershfelt inside the box. Hershfelt shot the ball from an angle, heading towards goal, but her attempt would go over Messner's head and hit the top of the crossbar.
Sophia Wilson made her long-awaited return to the field after giving birth last year, coming into the match in the 76th minute.
The Spirit would have one more opportunity late to tie the game, when Rudd sent a cross into the box to Rodman, her header would go over the bar and out of play.
With this result, Portland sits in 6th place in the NWSL standings with 3 points, while the Spirit sits in 13th place with 0 points.
The Spirit will travel to the city of Louisville, KY, for another 2025 NWSL Playoff rematch when they visit Racing Louisville on Friday, March 20th. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 pm.
