The Portland Thorns ecked out a 1-1 draw on the road against the North Carolina Courage on the back of a first half goal from Midge Purce and a whole lot of hanging on. After going up early in the first half and keeping the Courage nearly off the shot sheet entirely, the Thorns couldn’t quite deal with North Carolina’s tactical changes that pushed Portland into survival mode for most of the second half. The Courage’s superior conditioning shone through as Portland ended the game limping and feeling lucky to get a tie.
Forget finishing strong: the Thorns started the game pretty beaten up.