As I watched the Red Stars let a two-goal lead against the Thorns slip into a 2-2 draw on Saturday night, I kept flashing back to the first time these two teams met this season. That particular match ended 3-2 in Portland’s favor, after Chicago put quality play together and then made some significant mistakes that pulled all three points out from under them - but the Thorns were beatable, on a night where all the stars aligned.
This game was almost like that one, but it also wasn’t. The team presented the expected amount of rotation at the beginning of the match, re-inserting Yuki Nagasato into the starting lineup and giving Danny Colaprico a full half off in favor of the more physical presence of Nikki Stanton throughout.