A seeming serious injury to Hayley Raso put a dampener on what was otherwise a comfortable night at Audi Field for the Portland Thorns against the Washington Spirit. The Spirit, only two weeks off firing their former coach Jim Gabarra, couldn’t offer very much that the Thorns found difficult to handle.
The Thorns elected to keep their foot on the pedal, retaining mostly the same lineup that started in the last few games as Mark Parsons and his team tried to build up understanding in the team ahead of the playoffs. Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic started the match in place of Caitlin Foord, who dropped to the bench after getting her first start for the club midweek.