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The 2025 Portland Thorns are nothing if not relentless.
Their quarterfinal win against the San Diego Wave—a 1–0 extra-time victory off a Reilyn Turner header—showed just that.
In the last home contest of the season, Providence Park was a sea of red jerseys and “PTFC” chants, determined to ride the ebbs and flows of the match. The 19,309 supporters in the stands made their support known through 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time—when goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold stopped a shot or when midfielder and co-captain Sam Coffey corralled the ball to play out of the Wave’s press.
About those ebbs and flows: There were plenty, as there have been throughout this injury-riddled roller coaster of a Thorns season. Even if I hadn’t cut my finger with a deli slicer a couple weeks ago, I wouldn’t have had nails left when the final whistle sounded in Providence Park on Sunday.
“We had no other choice but to come together,” co-captain Arnold said. “This is the best group of people that I’ve ever shared a locker room with, on and off the field.”
The victory over San Diego means the Thorns advance to the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs, where they will take on the Washington Spirit on Saturday. The winner of that matchup advances to the championship game against either Gotham FC or the Orlando Pride — and with the league-leading Kansas City Current knocked out by the eighth-place Gotham FC, it’s anybody’s title to claim.
Portland came out on the front foot, with the supporters section at their back and an early Olivia Moultrie chance to set the tempo. But that momentum didn’t last. The Thorns finished the first half with only 36% possession, largely letting the Wave control the match but limiting their chances in front of goal.
Or, as head coach Rob Gale said postgame, “Although they had a bit of possession, I don’t feel they did anything with it.”
The Thorns were undeterred, even as the match dragged on scoreless.
“Although we started slow in the attack, the end of the second half and extra time we were really pushing,” Turner said afterward. “I feel like we knew that it wasn’t going to get to PKs, and we played with that mentality.”
It was Turner’s effort—off a Moultrie assist—that kept Portland from sweating out a penalty kick shootout when she buried her far-post header. (The goal is Turner’s second playoff goal in as many matches, after she scored in the Thorns’ 2–1 loss to Gotham FC in the 2024 quarterfinals, and her first time finding the back of the net in three months.)
But a lone playoff goal means nothing if a team can’t keep their opponent from doing the same.
“It was absolutely unreal, the way we defended from start to finish,” Arnold said after the match.
Arnold didn’t shy away from putting her body on the line when San Diego threatened to break through. She took two knocks to the head in extra time and was buoyed by the chants of “She’s our keeper!” from the stands.
“I think it’s the first time I’ve heard it all season,” Arnold said, once embattled, now serenaded. “It was pretty special.”
