Keeping tabs on this game via notifications on my phone was a bit of a roller coaster. By the end I kind of wanted Portland to pull one back so that we ended in a mirror of the 4-3 game where Portland won on the road against Boston. I am going to try to catch the replay in the next couple days to write up my notes.

I think the key thing that the league should take from this game though is that you can't expect to out After Dark this Boston team. Our first season has been full of wacky games and lots and lots of cards. Playing After Dark is playing right into our hands.

I had to rewind the broadcast like four times to catch the red card offense from Wilson, but she clearly pulls the defender’s hair, which is always a red card. Soph came off in the 22nd minute and from then on there was never really a doubt the Legacy were going to come away with the 3 points. Gutierres’ brace off the bench absolutely shut down any hope the Thorns had of staging a comeback.

But Gutierres was not done and scored a second goal three minutes later. She has now scored an NWSL single-season record six goals off the bench, in addition to being the first player in NWSL history with multiple braces as a substitute in one season. As a team, Boston have scored a league-record eight stoppage-time goals this season and lead this year’s NWSL with 12 goals scored by substitutes.