Overall Notes

This game encapsulated the NWSL After Dark memes and was full of chaos. I feel like the two Legacy-Thorns matches this year have warped my expectations. Going forward, I think the expectation should be that it is a close game, but extremely high scoring. I don't think these teams are going to be playing to a 0-0 draw anytime soon.

Bright Spots

Our offensive press high up the field remains effective. Additionally, seeing Araujo and Kaka get some time on the field gave me some confidence that things are looking up for Boston in the back. We were far from perfect in this game, but we looked better than some of our recent performances and Araujo especially managed to help spring Boston from Portland's press pretty effectively at times. Maybe we could just use some more depth here rather than a complete overhaul.

Room for Improvement

Finishing, finishing, finishing... You know it's bad when the commentators are practically begging for Aissata to come off and for Guti to come on. Aissata missed a handful of really good chances this match, and in close games, could easily have been the deciding factor. I don't mean to single her out either, there were other chances that strayed way off target despite not being under pressure from Portland defense at the time. BSG at one point decided to even do some goal line defending for Portland by heading away a shot by Boston. We had lots of great touches, dribbles, passes, and crosses into the box...but, despite coming away with four goals in the game, it really felt like we should have had more from that.

Game Notes

• Kickoff - Araujo is back on the field after a long injury break, so it will be interesting to see how she fits in and maybe helps shore up the defense.
• 5' - Araujo does a good job dealing with Portland pressure...something that Boston central defenders have consistently struggled with. Promising start on the possession side of the ball from her.
• 6' - Boston defense is beat on a break...big surprise. Our pace in the back is definitely a weakness.
• 11' - Some clock gamesmanship from the Portland keeper. Perhaps the start of the After Dark-ness of this game
• 13' - BSG has been wide open several times now for this long switch to her down the right. I like the fact that Boston hasn't felt constrained to only play the short passes so far this game, and can release with a long cross like this.
• 21' - Boston has done a decent job at pressing up the field and winning back possession. This stretch of play ultimately leads to a long shot by Karich in the 22nd minute that doesn't miss by much.
• 23' - It's hard to tell whether the hair pull was intentional or not because there wasn't a clear view of it from the cameras, but it happened directly in front of the ref and he was on it immediately.
• 27' - Olivieri picks up a yellow for talking back to the ref. I understand the frustration, but it's a silly yellow to give away for a midfielder where she now loses the ability for a tactical foul later.
• 28' - Great volley by Schupansky. It's a shame it wasn't on target, that would have been a beautiful goal.
• 33' - A great opportunity for Aissata...but her finishing lets her down after a great touch
• 35' - Beautiful assist by Karich to Caño for the opening goal. Karich has tried this assist a couple times in the past few games, but it hasn't connected cleanly. This one was just perfectly placed just like Xavi did for years at Barca.
• 39' - The goal by Schupansky is one of the silliest goals I have seen in some time - deflecting multiple times (defender -> post -> keeper) before finding the net. That is going to be a memorable one for her first goal for the Legacy.
• 41' - More trouble for Aissata with finishing a great chance 1-1 with the keeper.
• 45+2' - Boston is struggling to build out of their defensive third and end up giving the ball away. It doesn't amount to much, but it is concerning that we are struggling when playing up a player to build possession like this.
• HT - Overall, in the first half, Boston's press has been quite effective at keeping Portland pinned in their defensive third most of the game, especially after the red card. Boston still looks susceptible to fast breaks and defensive mistakes though.
• 50' - A Boston defensive turnover fittingly leads to Murphy's 500th career save. Boston has started this half a bit slow and uninspired.
• 54' - BSG forgets which box she should be defending and clears a shot by Boston over the bar. Oops...
• 57' - Murphy gives away a PK on being late to a challenge. I have seen some other forums be quite unhappy with Murphy in the Keeper position, but I don't think she has been too bad for us. Ultimately, this PK attempt was a rather poor save attempt, but Boston has higher priority problems than Murphy in goal.
• 60' - Araujo comes off for Kaka...the first game back for both of these players after very long stints out due to injury. Araujo overall did well, so we will see how Kaka handles stepping into a decidedly chippy match.
• 64' - Portland is extremely lucky they didn't end up with a second red card with that high boot. They were probably a literal inch or so away.
• 68' - A chaotic set of breaks up and down the field, but Portland comes out with a dangerous cross that doesn't find somebody on the end of it.
• 69' - A great cross results in a really off-target header. Unfortunate finishing for Boston when they had such a clean header.
• 73' - Another clean shot by Boston is off target, this time by Stevens.
• 75' - Really great save by Murphy on the Portland counter. Portland has been a lot more dangerous in the second half compared to the first season after the red card.
• 76' - My God...Aissata missing these amazing chances is going to be the death of me. We have lots of talent at giving her (and our other strikers) great balls, but she (and everybody else) consistently struggles at getting them on target.
• 88' - Guti scores again on a keeper that is way too far off her line. The play has been really open and box to box for a little while now, and it caught the Portland keeper off her line when she couldn't transition to defense fast enough.
• 90' - Good finishing by Portland to score one back. If only Boston could shoot on target that well...
• 93' - Excellent cross by BSG to find Guti on the back post. Loved the cheeky Ronaldo celebration as well.
• FT - A win is a win and this one might not have been pretty, but Boston managed to play it out cleanly after Guti's brace.