Thorns’ second-half goals spoil the milestone party

A pair of late second-half goals wiped away the Dash’s early chances as they fell to Portland Thorns FC 2-1 on Saturday at BBVA Stadium on Pride Night.

Storms delayed the game for about an hour and a half, scaring away some fans.

Aside from the loss, a couple of Dash milestones highlighted Saturday’s match. Goalkeeper Jane Campbell made her 50th consecutive appearance while forward Kealia Ohai notched her 100th National Women’s Soccer League appearance for the Dash. Ohai is the first player in club history to reach the mark and the 26th player to do so in the league.

It wasn’t exactly the outcome Ohai was hoping for, she said, but having her family in attendance for the big game and being surrounded by fans at her favorite stadium was the silver lining to a tough loss.

“It was OK. Again, we could’ve gotten three points, and some of that is on me. I had some shots that should’ve gone in,” Ohai said. “We made some mistakes defensively all across the board, and we lost. It’s upsetting because we played well, and we could’ve gotten three points there, so that one hurts.”

Dash coach James Clarkson said he was disappointed in the loss, as it meant the team dropped some much-needed points.

“We’ve thrown the game away. A game that we should have won,” Clarkson said. “We’ve dropped a massive three points there tonight. That one really hurts.”

Just a little over five minutes into the second half, Dash forward Kyah Simon headed a free kick from midfielder Christine Nairn to put the home team on top.

“I love that feeling, I love helping the team in any way I can to get us to win the game, but unfortunately that wasn’t enough,” Simon said.

Houston held that advantage over Portland for a good while but later but allowed a couple of soft goals that were the deciding factor in the match.

The first came in the 69th minute when Thorns forward Tyler Lussi scored the equalizer from beyond the 18-yard box. Five minutes later, Thorns forward Midge Purce knocked in a goal through the right side to give Portland the lead.

Clarkson said the team needs to work on giving away soft goals.

“When you play against good teams, if you give them chances like that, they are going to score,” he said. “They are from our own mistakes and we’ve been punished for it. That’s what’s really disappointing.”

The Dash will hit the road to face the North Carolina Courage at 6 p.m. July 5 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.