Sophia Smith and Hina Sugita’s first-half goals were enough to give the Portland Thorns a 3-2 win despite a second-half comeback from San Diego Wave FC.
The Thorns utterly dominated San Diego in the first half. Sophia Smith opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Hina Sugita scored her first NWSL goal in the 21st minute to make it 2-0.
The Wave struggled to get anything going offensively and both Smith and Morgan Weaver haunted the San Diego defense, creating consistent danger. Hina Sugita capitalized again after another Thorns’ spell of pressure orchestrated by Smith and Sinclair.