PORTLAND, Ore. — Rory Dames’ first course of action should have been texting Freya Croombe. The moment his Chicago Red Stars’ were done with today's match at Providence Park, the team’s head coach should have finished his on-field pleasantries, found his phone, and reached out to his NJ/NY Gotham FC counterpart.
"Why oh why," he should have asked, "did you have to set them off?"
The "them" here is Portland Thorns FC, who came into Sunday's NWSL regular-season opener hungry. The team had won last weekend's Challenge Cup Championship against Coombe's Gotham, but in the process, they'd been held to one goal.