Photo Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
In a game that epitomized NWSL After Dark chaos, the Boston Legacy defeated the Thorns 4-2 in Portland.
The Thorns entered the match looking to move up the table to host the playoffs, but that goal took a major blow when US Women’s National Team forward Sophia Wilson received a straight red card in the 22nd minute. In an altercation with Boston defender Laís Araújo, Wilson was automatically ejected for pulling his opponent’s hair.
It’s the second red card of Wilson’s NWSL career — the other coming in 2024, when he was on the bench and received a second yellow card for wasting time by hiding the ball under the bench. As a result, Wilson will miss the Thorns’ match against Bay FC when he returns to action on October 18.
The Legacy quickly took advantage of the player advantage. Alba Kanyo opened the scoring in the 35th minute. Sara Shupanski doubled the lead 4 minutes later with her first goal for Boston.
However, Portland didn’t go away. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Pietra Tordin was fouled by goalkeeper Casey Murphy on the field and awarded a penalty. The forward, who was called up to the senior USWNT for the first time last week, returned from the spot.
The game continued to be tightly contested, so Boston brought in super subs Aleigh Gambone and Amanda Gutierrez. Three minutes after coming on, Gutierrez scored his fifth goal off the bench this season to restore Legacy’s two-goal cushion.
Just two minutes later, Shae Harvey scored for Portland to make it a one-goal contest again. The goal was the first professional result for the former Stanford Cardinal, who signed with the Thorns ahead of this season.
But Gutierrez was not finished and scored the second goal three minutes later. She is now the first player in NWSL history to score as many goals as a substitute in a season, as well as setting an NWSL single-season record with six goals off the bench. As a team, Boston has scored eight stoppage time goals in the league this season and leads this year’s NWSL with 12 goals scored by substitutes.
