And just like that, it’s over.
The Portland Thorns’ year came to a close in front of 19,365 fans in “Rowdy Audi,” when they fell to the Washington Spirit 2-0 in the NWSL semifinals.
“They outplayed us, for sure,” co-captain Sam Coffey said postgame. “We left it all out there, and it wasn’t for lack of effort, but I think we were simply outplayed.”
That doesn’t make the loss sting any less—especially when both the Spirit’s goals came off plays capitalizing on Portland’s errors.
“Both of their goals, we gave to them in some ways,” Coffey said, “and that’s not to say they didn’t do a good job breaking us down.”
The Spirit largely controlled the momentum of the match, but they found their first goal in the 27th minute on a counterattack off a Thorns corner. Washington’s Hal Hershfelt won

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