Washington Spirit vs. Portland Thorns FC: Preview, time, and how to watch
Time to run it back! Washington Spirit return today for the second half of the 2025 season, having made a number of changes and ready for a “fresh start.” They start with the opportunity to redo their match against Portland Thorns FC, this time at home in Buzzard Point.
It should be a close match: The Spirit and Thorns are neck-and-neck in the standings: Washington has 23 points and Portland 22. Unlike the Spirit, who came into the season on top, Portland are outperforming expectations, even without star Sophia Wilson. Experts at controlling play through the midfield, the Thorns are second in the NWSL in expected goals and third in expected goals allowed, with 12 actual goals against compared with Washington’s 19.
The Spirit have made a number of changes since being shut out at Providence Park in June. The most obvious is that Adrián González has officially taken over as head coach and had time to work with his team to make needed changes for the second half of the season. Just as important is the fact that Washington’s list of unavailable players is the shortest it’s been all year, with players like Trinity Rodman, Paige Metayer, and Kate Wiesner ready to get back on the field and contribute their skills to a Spirit win.
Midfielder Courtney Brown said the Spirit are treating their relatively recent loss to Portland as motivation and are “chomping at the bit to beat them here at home.” Brown said the team has been working on pressing more aggressively, which she thought was a strength of the Spirit’s last year that they’d moved away from earlier this season.
“I think we’re going to be really aggressive tomorrow, especially playing at home, and we’ve been working on it,” Brown said. “I’m really excited to, you know… put Portland under a lot of pressure.”
Key Player: Trinity Rodman
After taking several months off to rehabilitate a persistent back injury, Trinity Rodman is back (And reportedly, thankfully pain-free)!! The superstar will likely be on limited minutes after her long injury, but her return will be a huge boost to the Spirit, both through her individual performance and the infectious influence of her attitude on her teammates, not to mention the reaction of their home crowd.
Watch Out For: Sam Coffey
Defensive midfielder Sam Coffey enables her team to exert strong control over the center of the pitch, stopping almost every attempt to move the ball centrally and using her ball-winning and passing prowess to begin counterattacks. In her last match against Washington, she made four tackles and won eight duels, helping to hold her opponents scoreless. She’s also made three assists and scored once this season.
Challenges: The Spirit will need to be well-coordinated on the attack to move their ball through and around Portland’s formidable midfield.
Previously: In June, the Thorns beat Washington 2-0, with goals by Reilyn Turner and Pietra Tordin, ending the Spirit’s five-game away winning streak.
Portland Thorns FC Availability:
Out: Deyna Castellanos (excused absence), Caiya Hanks (SEI – knee), Marie Muller (SEI – knee), Nicole Payne (SEI – knee), Olivia Wade-Katoa (maternity leave), Morgan Weaver (SEI – knee), Sophia Wilson (maternity leave)
Questionable: None
Washington Spirit Availability:
Out: Ashley Hatch (maternity leave), Casey Krueger (knee), Lyza Jessee (SEI – wrist), Leicy Santos (INTL – COL), Ouleye Sarr (SEI – back), Andi Sullivan (maternity leave)
Questionable: None
Location: Audi Field, Washington, DC
Kickoff time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Referee: Brad Jensen
Available TV: ABC
Available streaming: ESPN+
Now that Hal and Croix have had time to get match fit and lots of practice time with this teammates, it’s time for both of them to assert themselves on a match–like they were doing pre-injury. And I think Kouassi is potentially the “Woman” of the match here. With Portland’s style, Coffey in the middle, then Kouassi exploiting the sidelines (and a dash of Rodman maybe for 20 minutes) is the way to split Portland wide open.
Good shout about the importance of Hal and Croix back. They’ll both be motivated to prove a case for the larger WC squad. To my mind, Hal has a steeper hill to climb, as remarkable as she is- she’s directly competing with what now seems like an incredibly stacked midfield if Coffey, Hutton, Yohannes, and Heaps are all in the mix for those deeper positions. Croix also has competition, but has the tools to make an impact along with Lavelle at the playmaker spot.
I’ll be cheering from my hospital bed.
Hope it’s an enjoyable viewing experience, we know you could use one
I hope you’re doing ok and that the game can cheer you up!
A little chilling to see Coffey rally the squad before the game in the huddle. She’s an absolute leader, we’ve gotta overcome her, and that’s no small feat
We seem to be lining up in another 5-3-2. Hope Gonzalez can find more success with the formation than Giraldez, I confess to not really digging the playstyle it engenders
Croix almost Croixs it into the net with Coffey on her tail
Unless there’s massive dissent there, I do not get that Croix yellow at all
Damn, intercepted off Monday’s foot with the net beckoning
Well, Kouassi and Monday combine for a goal. Great breakaway with speed and skill
Spirit dominating and in control, get the feeling they need another one before half with this moment
Well, was I right, or was I right?
Near post save on a Monday shot denies Spirit a second. Croix is cooking, though
Absolutely think that’s a PK in real time
I didn’t think so in the stadium, and I still don’t after the real time replay. Croix stood up off the ball to lean into the contact, so she wasn’t playing or trying to play the ball anymore when the contact occurred.
I think you’re allowed to shield and the other player invaded her space to the point of running over her, and that’s a foul.
This ref seems to be letting the negativity toward his decisions affect his actual judgement. “I’ll show you, home fans” energy going on
We need goal line tech
Man, if either Monday or Kouassi were good in the air on these crosses, we’d definitely have a second
Yep. Needed to score off that huge spell of dominance. 1-1 off the one chance Moultrie gets
Regardless of the score, that was probably the most enjoyable half of soccer (Non-tournament edition) I have watched in a long time.
1-1 at half dammit. Rosemond Kouassi with neat help from Gabby Carle dominating right sideline. Croix smoking. Should have been awarded pk. 11 shots to 4, 3 on goal to one, but dammit again.
Wasn’t Adrian on crutches at the beginning of his interim head coach tenure too?
Yes, this is his second achilles injury!
May his Achilles injuries mark the beginning and the end of our long injury crisis
Wow. What a crazy play, but Rodman doesn’t miss those
On the replay, Croix fucking meant that, which is remarkable
Post game, Rodman said that as soon as she saw the ball going to Bethune she knew she was going to do some kind of “Croix thing” with the ball and was waiting for the setup.
Dang, what a game.
Unfortunately, Monday might have to be added to the injury circus, but what dedication to contribute even through that
She seemed ok in the mixed zone after the game, so I’m hoping she was just tired. A lot of the players said they were cramping.
Wow! What an ending — storybook. If we should lose Monday to an injury, we should have Leicy Santos back and Santore debuting from international duty.