Portland Thorns escape with 1-1 draw against San Diego Wave
San Diego Wave players celebrate Kimmi Ascanio’s goal in the sixth minute in the team’s 1-1 draw against the Portland Thorns. (Photo by Emmanuel Alonso)
Chants of the phrase “Ref you suck,” reverberated around Snapdragon stadium following San Diego Wave’s 1-1 draw against the Portland Thorns.
The chants came due to a red card against the Wave in minute 41, and ended with a close penalty call against the home side in the fifth and final minute of stoppage time.
“I’ve seen a lot, and ultimately, things happen. There’s another word I want to use, but things happen,” San Diego Wave Captain Kailen Sheridan said. “There’s a lot of things you’re not going to be able to control at the end of the day, and we’re going to have to take this one on the chin a little bit. It feels like a loss honestly. I feel like Portland was gifted a point, which always sucks to feel and that happens.”
Portland limited the Wave on the offensive end to only two shots in the first half with a lot of players committed to the midfield, but the Wave still managed to get on the board early by finishing their first big chance of the night in the sixth minute.
Midfielder Gia Corley drove the ball into the box and unleashed a shot that deflected off a Portland defender. The ball landed on the left side of the 18-yard box for Perle Morroni, meanwhile Kimmi Ascanio waited patiently behind the Portland center back Jayden Perry.
Perle Morroni sends in a cross to Kimmi Ascanio for the Wave’s only goal of the night. (Photo by Emmanuel Alonsoo)
Morroni sent a curving cross behind the Thorns’ defensive line to Ascanio who was open on the back post. Ascanio headed the ball in hitting the top post before landing in the back of the net to make it 1-0.
The match went on with many chances for the Thorns and they nearly scored in a breakaway opportunity with Olivia Moultrie in the 41st minute.
Moultrie took the ball down the pitch with only one defender, Kennedy Wesley, blocking her path to the goalkeeper. Moultrie ran the ball down with speed and made some contact with Wesley then Wesley stuck her leg up in front of Moultrie causing her to go to the ground. The referee deemed it a foul and red card against Wesley
The match officials said in a statement after the match that “The red card was issued to Kennedy Wesley for denying her opponent an obvious goal-soring (sic) opportunity.” When asked about the analysis from the VAR to back up the decision to give the red card the statement said, “the VAR determined there was no clear and obvious error. They decided to check complete the on-field decision.”
Kristen McNabb was subbed on in her place and later to start the second half the Wave adjusted their attack by substituting off Gia Corley for Adrianna Leon and moving other players further back.
The head coach of the club was not on the bench and watched the game isolated in the stadium due to illness leaving assistant coaches Jack Jensen and Becky Tweed in charge on the sidelines.
“We can be really proud of the other side of the team that we showed today. We’ve shown over the first few weeks of the season how brilliant we can be in possession and how many chances we’ve created,” assistant coach Becky Tweed said. “Today we showed that other side, that grittiness.”
The Wave put forth a valiant defensive effort the entire second half by keeping the Thorns off the board despite many shots and chances they created until the final minute of stoppage time.
The Wave were playing much more defensive to seal the victory when USWNT player, Sam Coffey, made an attempt to move deeper into the box to put a shot on goal, but was tripped lightly by Wave center back Kristen McNabb. Coffey fell in an animated manner and received a penalty call in her favor.
Jayden Perry took the penalty and scored it easily to make it 1-1 salvaging a point on the road and leaving the Wave feeling loke they had just lost.
The Wave play their next match on the road, Friday, May 16, against New Jersey/ New York Gotham FC.
