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Was it hot in Providence Park, or was it just us?
The stadium boiled with energy Sunday as the Portland Thorns routed the Seattle Reign 4–2 in a Cascadia rivalry matchup. Despite temperatures reaching the mid-90s, 21,811 fans turned out for the match—a season-high attendance number for both the club and the National Women’s Soccer League.
The Thorns are the NWSL team with the highest average attendance in 2025, with 17,754, a title they’ve held all but three years since the NWSL’s inception in 2013. In 2019 and 2023, they set franchise attendance records of 25,218, selling out Providence Park in matches against the North Carolina Courage and the team then known as OL Reign.
The league record for attendance is currently held by the Chicago Stars, who drew 35,038 at a Wrigley Field matchup against Bay FC in 2024.
Still, it was a pretty big crowd, and an awfully impressive win.
“There was a lot of joy in the stadium today,” forward Reilyn Turner said after the match. “This rivalry is as old as time, and it just feels so good to beat Seattle.”
Turner, in her second year in Portland and her first home match against the Reign, was instrumental in the Thorns’ victory. She earned the penalty kick that captain Sam Coffey turned into Portland’s first goal of the afternoon and scored the second with a decisive far-post shot.
With the victory, the Thorns now have 17 wins, 16 losses and 10 draws against Seattle.
Despite the youth of this year’s Thorns squad, team veterans ensured that the newer players understood the significance of the rivalry. Former Thorns Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, Lindsey Heaps and Meghan Klingenberg sent video messages to the team ahead of the matchup, and Sinclair and Sauerbrunn were both among those who turned out in the stands to support the club. (Megan Rapinoe was also in the house to cheer on the Reign.)
Rookie Pietra Tordin, who scored Portland’s fourth goal, also credited Coffey’s pregame speech for helping the team lock in and channel the rivalry’s intensity.
The match wasn’t smooth sailing for Portland out of the gate. The Thorns conceded the first goal of the match in the third minute, as Jess Fishlock and Emeri Adames took advantage of a quick throw-in to beat Portland’s defense.
Portland didn’t let Seattle stay ahead for long. In the 16th minute, Jordyn Bugg took Turner down in the box, leading to Coffey’s penalty-kick goal.
“I ran over to her,” Turner said, “and I just saw fire in her eyes.” Coffey ran to the Seattle supporters’ section, grabbed the Thorns crest on her jersey and pointed at it.
That fire caught and spread throughout the team.
The Thorns went on to score three more times—the aforementioned goals by Turner and Tordin in the 26th and 65th minutes, respectively, as well as a header by defender Reyna Reyes in the 55th minute.
“We knew that we were going to keep jumping on them and keep attacking at them and we were going to come out winners,” Turner said.
Bay FC has a chance to challenge the Thorns’ league season-high attendance when they host the Washington Spirit at Oracle Park on Aug. 23. The venue is home to the San Francisco Giants and has a seating capacity of 42,300.
