{"id":352343,"date":"2025-11-03T10:05:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T10:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/352343\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T10:05:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T10:05:20","slug":"portland-thorns-secure-home-playoff-game-with-win-over-houston-dash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/352343\/","title":{"rendered":"Portland Thorns secure home playoff game with win over Houston Dash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deyna Castellanos and Jessie Fleming picked the perfect time to score their first goals in more than six months, and the Portland Thorns<\/a> clinched a home game in the NWSL playoffs by beating the Houston Dash 2-0 on Sunday at Providence Park in their regular-season finale in front of a season-high 21,903 fans.<\/p>\n

With the victory, Portland (11-8-7, 40 points) moved up from sixth place to claim the third seed in the NWSL postseason, and they\u2019ll host No. 6 seed San Diego in a quarterfinal match to be played at 12 p.m. PT on Sunday. The Thorns have reached the playoffs for a record ninth consecutive season and will look to add to a fourth championship since the league began play in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hoping it would be Seattle, we used ChatGPT to check in and see if it could be them,\u201d Thorns head coach Rob Gale said jokingly about the postseason opponent. \u201cBut it\u2019s San Diego, and they\u2019re a great football team. I think they\u2019re the next youngest in the league behind us and maybe Utah, so we\u2019re looking forward to the occasion and a game at Providence Park, which is a reward for the players and the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castellanos\u2019 goal was the earliest in any game this season for Portland, coming in the third minute. She ran onto a long through ball down the left wing by Fleming<\/a>, cut around two defenders, and curled a shot from the top of the penalty box that hit the inside of the right post and caromed into the net for her first tally since April 22.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s been way too long,\u201d Castellanos said with a laugh about her scoring drought. \u201cI\u2019m very happy. It was a special today, it\u2019s amazing to be able to play in front of this crowd and I\u2019m even happier that we got to win and end up in third place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Venezuelan national in her first season with the Thorns came into the match with the fourth-most shots on target on the team, but had scored just the one goal. She endured a 22-hour travel journey to rejoin the team this week from the international window that spanned most of the last two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough week and a short turnaround for the internationals,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we had the commitment and we knew what this game meant for us, so we were very professional about it and luckily I scored the early goal and Jessie\u2019s goal was fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fleming extended the lead in the 35th minute as the Dash broke down again under Portland\u2019s persistent pressure. A Houston clearance attempt ricocheted into the path of Fleming, who shook off a Dash defender who was draped over her and poked a shot that Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell got a mitt on but couldn\u2019t keep out. Fleming\u2019s only other league goal over 51 games and two NWSL seasons in Portland was a penalty kick back on April 27.<\/p>\n

Fleming, who plays internationally for Canada, was also among the Thorns who were away for national team games over the past two weeks<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge and some of us were traveling back from far away places, but I\u2019ve been impressed with how this team has dealt with challenges in different parts of the season,\u201d said Fleming. \u201cI think the vibe in our group has remained strong and positive and that allows us to get back in our rhythm quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gale cracked that goals from Fleming and Castellanos were something \u201cnot too many people had on their bingo card.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDeyna\u2019s been banging them in all week and Jessie popped one in at training yesterday as well, so I\u2019m really pleased for those two,\u201d Gale said. \u201cOur quality of play at times was really good today and then we also get another clean sheet. Congratulations to all the players, they thoroughly deserve the win and the third-place finish in the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite a rash of injuries plus retirements and maternity absences that left the Thorns fielding a young, inexperienced roster compared to 2024, Portland bettered its standing from a year ago, when it finished in sixth place. Now the Thorns will hope to advance further in the postseason than in 2024, when they fell 2-1 on the road to Gotham FC in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys stuck together, rose together and went out and performed terrific today,\u201d Gale said. \u201cWe got written off by everybody except the group of people in this building and third feels pretty sweet, right. But now we get to be hungry for the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>How Portland Thorns\u2019 young stars are defying expectations in 2025<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Portland improved to 18-6-5 all-time against Houston (8-12-6, 30 points), which came into Sunday eliminated from playoff contention and had four shot attempts to Portland\u2019s 15. The Thorns finish the regular season 7-2-4 at home and have won consecutive games for the second time this year.<\/p>\n

The scariest moment for the Thorns came in the 16th minute, when Houston\u2019s Avery Patterson, who had been on the sideline getting injury treatment, broke loose down the left wing after being waved back onto the field by the referee and played a pass to Yazmeen Ryan, who had an opening to shoot from close range but waited just long enough that Portland\u2019s Reyna Reyes was able to recover and poke the ball away to end the threat.<\/p>\n

The Thorns nearly made it 3-0 near the halftime whistle when Olivia Moultrie<\/a>, who has become a set piece specialist, just grazed the outside of the left post on a free kick from 25 yards out.<\/p>\n

Portland goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold made three saves, but all were fairly simple as the Thorns mostly prevented Houston from building up attacking opportunities.<\/p>\n

The Thorns played without defender M.A. Vignola, who injured her ankle in training last week, as well as forward Pietra Tordin, who was scratched from the list of available substitutes before the game.<\/p>\n

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