The Wait Is Over

Losing One's Head

Dalen Cuff: Welcome to Lifetime's coverage of the National Women's Soccer League. From Providence Park in Portland, we are proud to bring you today's match between the Portland Thorns and the Washington Spirit. Good afternoon, I'm Dalen Cuff. When the schedule was made in December, most everyone circled this match on their calendar as the highlight of Week 6, the defending Eastern Conference champion facing a long-standing Western Conference rival. In reality, the two teams couldn't be further apart in the standings. The Thorns stand at 3-1-1 for 10 points, one off the pace set by the Seattle Reign and Los Angeles Olympias in the West. The Spirit, on the other hand, has posted just one point from its first five matches and welcome coach Jim Gabarra back to the sidelines after serving a club-imposed two-week suspension. For a discussion of today's match, up to the booth and the women who will be calling the game, Angela Harrison and Aly Wagner.

Angela Harrison: Thank you, Dalen. During Gabarra's suspension, the Spirit lost to Boston and Philadelphia, but looked slightly better on the field than they had the first three games of the season. Will his return be a help or a hindrance today?

Aly Wagner: If he paid attention during his two matches off, he will have noticed that the consistent first XI Sarah Huffman employed got better over the 180 minutes and had chances in the match against the Charge to win. His experience in women's soccer should help him raise the team's level of play today and keep them in the game against a team that is firing on all cylinders offensively.

Angela Harrison: The lineups, presented by Jeld-Wen. For the Thorns, AD Franch starts in goal, protected by the back line of Celeste Boureille, Becca Quinn, Emily Menges, and Meghan Klingenberg. In midfield are Allie Long behind Daphne Corboz and Dagny Brynjarsdottir. The forwards are Nadia Nadim, Savannah Jordan, and Tyler Lussi. The Spirit return to the 4-3-3 used by Gabarra earlier in the season. Kelsey Wys takes up her place in goal, with the back line of Christen Westphal, Shelina Zadorsky, Kassey Kallman, and Jaelene Hinkle playing together for the third straight match. Tori Huster backstops the attacking midfield duo of Meggie Dougherty Howard and Estefani Banini. Up top are Arielle Ship and Mallory Pugh flanking Cheyna Williams.

In Atlanta, the players and coaches gathered for tonight's Love 4 All festivities are holding a tailgate and watch party for the Portland/Washington match.

Ashlyn Harris: I think Jim is on his last legs there. If the Spirit don't win, Becky will probably send him packing.

Steph Labbe: You're right, I think. From the top of the East to possibly having one point from the first six games the following season is a major drop-off, even under the pretense of rebuilding.

Abby Dahlkemper: I feel for the veterans on that team like Shelina and Tori, who have dedicated so much of their professional lives to the Spirit and are now dealing with a season from hell.

The match kicks off and the Spirit maintain possession for a couple of minutes before turning over the ball in midfield. Allie Long plays a ball that finds Nadia Nadim behind Zadorsky and Kallman, who then laces a shot past a diving Kelsey Wys. After 6 minutes, the Thorns have a 1-0 lead.

In the 25th minute, Wys collects an errant cross from Tyler Lussi and attempts to play the ball out from the back. Savannah Jordan is harassing the Spirit goalkeeper, making her hold onto the ball. The referee, Ted Unkel, whistles Wys for a 6-second violation, resulting in an indirect free kick 13 yards from goal. In frustration, Wys throws the ball outside the penalty area, which Unkel responds to with a yellow card for the keeper for delay of game. Becca Quinn comes up to take the kick, laying it off to Jordan who shoots the ball past Wys at the near post. On the way back up the field, Zadorsky tries to have a conversation with Unkel, only to be booked for dissent. Seven minutes later, Wys has the ball and is attempting to play out, but again is being pestered by Jordan. She decides to play it out anyhow and drills it into the Portland forward. The ball bounces back to Wys and she throws it out to Hinkle on her left. With a two-goal lead, the Thorns sit on the ball a bit and halftime comes with them ahead, 2-0. As the Spirit come off the field, Wys and Kallman are talking about the lack of enforcement on Jordan for her unsporting play when the goalkeeper was attempting to re-start the game. Unkel overhears part of the discussion and shows Wys a second yellow, this time for dissent, and the resulting red card.