The Portland Thorns defeated the North Carolina Courage 1-0 in the biggest upset of the tournament so far. Here are three things we learned.
In the biggest upset of the tournament, the Portland Thorns defeated the back-to-back defending champion North Carolina Courage. It was the first win for the Thorns in the Challenge Cup and the Courage’s first loss of the competition.
The Courage dominated the match, but thanks to some world-class goalkeeping and resolute defending, the Thorns held on for dear life. While an injury to Lindsey Horan made the Thorns’ chances look slim-to-none, rookie Morgan Weaver scored her first goal of her NWSL career en route to the biggest upset of the competition.
With the biggest upset of the tournament complete and a Thorns’ semi-final birth clinched, here are three things we learned.
3. Have a game, Morgan Weaver
Morgan Weaver came into this tournament with high hopes as the second overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft. And with first overall pick Sophia Smith having yet to appear due to injury, Weaver had big shoes to fill in the Challenge Cup. But now, even if she does nothing else this tournament, she will be remembered as the goalscorer to defeat the champion Courage and bust the bracket wide open.
More impressively, though, apart from her goal, Weaver had a good game and was making runs to create chances for herself and her team. In the 54th minute, she made an excellent burst forward, receiving the ball in her own half and taking it into Portland’s final third. The chance eventually came to nothing, but it showed her endeavor and speed.
Ultimately, though, her job is to score goals and that’s exactly what she did when her team needed it. Now, the Thorns and Weaver will look to take this momentum into the semi-finals and try to shock the league once again.