Portland Thorns kicked off week 13 action across the league on Friday with an absolutely electric match against the Washington Spirit at Providence Park and defeated the Spirit 4-2 for a spot at the top of the league table. Forward Sophia Smith had a standout performance and recorded a hat trick, her second three-goal game of the season.
The match offered final looks at U.S. national team players heading off to camp ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Week 13 is the final weekend of matches for international players before they are released to their respective national teams on June 26. For Smith, it was a game where she recorded multiple milestones while showing just a glimpse of what we may witness at her first World Cup.
Dragging defenders from distance
Smith wasted little time getting Portland on the scoreboard with a canon from outside the box It’s not just that she put the ball in the back of the net, but how she did it, to open her goal-scoring. After receiving the ball and shrugging off early pressure, she was eventually surrounded by a flurry of Spirit defenders and forced them to stay with her while on the ball.
The presence of mind to just take the shot even with space in the box shows…
