Portland’s new 18-year-old additions Laila Harbert and Valerin Loboa make Thorns and NWSL debuts.

PORTLAND, Ore. (Friday, September 26, 2025) – The Portland Thorns faced a setback in its race for the playoffs on Saturday evening, falling 3-0on the road at Gotham FC.

TheThorns entered the match lined up to defend heavily against Gotham’s attacking unit but were faced with an early uphill battle a Midge Purce header gave the hosts the lead 10 minutes in.

ThePortland backline would find some rhythm in the first half to keep out the attacks on goal while also creating opportunities up top to build up positive momentum, but Rose Lavelle would eventually score Gotham’s second just before the break.

In the second half, both sides scored goals that were disallowed — Purce forGotham in the 51’ and Reilyn Turner for Portland in the 62’ — before Gotham’sKatie Stengel tripled it.

The debuts of Portland’s newest additions, 18-year-olds Laila Harbert and Valerin Loboa, also happened in the second half, who came in and displayed flashes of their quality on the pitch as players who could contribute for Portland down the stretch.

Gotham ultimately held on to secure the three points and Portland must now begin to prepare for their penultimate home match next weekend against Bay FC.

ATTENDANCE: 8,522

TEAM NOTES

• Portland’s newest 18-year-old additions — midfielder Laila Harbert (on loan from Arsenal) and forward Valerin Loboa — made their Thorns and NWSL debuts tonight, coming into the match in the 61’ and 83’, respectively.
• Tonight’s loss was Portland’s first in four away matches.

UP NEXT: The Thorns return to Providence Park to host Bay FC on Saturday, October 4. Fans are invited to a pre-match ceremony to celebrate the iconic career of club legend ChristineSinclair as she becomes the first player to be inducted into the Thorns Hall ofFame. Tickets are on sale at thorns.com/tickets with kickoff on ION scheduled for 7 p.m. PT.

GOAL-SCORING BREAKDOWN

FIRST HALF

GFC – Midge Purce (Mandy Freeman) 10’: Purce found Freeman’s cross in the box and headed it into the bottom right corner.

GFC – Rose Lavelle (Jaedyn Shaw) 43’: Lavelle dribbled the ball into the box and struck the ball into the the net.  

SECOND HALF 

GFC – Katie Stengel (Rose Lavelle) 73’: Lavelle’s backheel pass found Stengel in the box, who struck it into the net from the corner of the six-yard box.

LINEUPS

Portland Thorns (5-4-1): Mackenzie Arnold, Reyna Reyes (Kaitlyn Torpey 84’), Jayden Perry, Sam Hiatt, Isabella Obaze (Reilyn Turner 45’), Mallie McKenzie, Sam Coffey-C, Hina Sugita (Laila Harbert 61’), Jessie Fleming (Pietra Tordin 77’), Olivia Moultrie, Deyna Castellanos (Valerin Loboa 84’)

Subs not used: Bella Bixby, Daiane, Mimi Alidou, Alexa Spaanstra

 GothamFC (4-3-3): Ann-Katrin Berger, MandyFreeman-C (Kayla Duran 79’), Jess Carter, Emily Sonnett, Bruninha (Lilly Reale62’), Rose Lavelle (Sarah Schupansky 79’), Jaelin Howell, Josefine Hasbo, Jaedyn Shaw (Gabi Portilho 79’), Midge Purce, Esther Gonzalez

Subs not used: Shelby Hogan, Mak Whitman, Sofia Cook, Khyah Harper

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY 

POR: Olivia Moultrie 90+1’

GFC: N/A

MATCHSTATS 

POR| GFC

Goals:0|3
Assists: 0|3
Possession: 49|51
Shots: 4|15
Shots on Target: 2|7
Saves: 4|2
Tackles: 15|14
Tackles Won: 10|9
Interceptions: 8|15
Fouls: 7|14
Offsides: 1|2
Corner Kicks: 3|8

PORTLAND, Ore. (Saturday, August 15, 2026) – The Portland Thorns continued their impressive home form with a 2-1 win over Orlando Pride on Saturday when forward Caiya Hanks — who was making her return to the pitch after missing action for over a year with an ACL injury — scored a stoppage time winner to secure three points for the home side.

Both sides battled back and forth as they tried to search for the opening goal, with Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold making three saves to ensure the match remained level going into the halftime break.
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The Thorns came out into the second half much more threatening in Orlando’s half and finally broke the deadlock in the 58^th minute when forward Pietra Tordin laid the ball off to forward Deyna Castellanos, who from the top right corner of Orlando’s box placed the ball perfectly into the top left corner of the goal over the hands of Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse.

The lead was short lived however when Arnold’s diving save to punch out a crossed ball in the 63^rd minute ricocheted off the knees of Orlando forward Jacqueline Ovalle and rolled into the net to level things back up.

From there, Portland and Orlando continued in their fight to search for a second and despite several good looks at goal, the match remained level.

That would all change after Hanks — who subbed on in the 88^th minute — curled the ball into the goal from outside the box in the 96^th to send Providence Park into a frenzy as the Thorns secured three points and extended its home unbeaten streak to 12 matches, nine on the season.

UP NEXT: The Portland Thorns host Denver Summit FC for the first time at Providence Park on Saturday, August 22. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:45 pm PT on ION and 910 ESPN Portland. Purchase tickets for the match HERE.

TEAM NOTES

• Pietra Tordin extended her assist tally to nine, sitting alongside Croix Bethune (KC) for most in the league so far this season. Tordin is one assist away from equalizing the league record for assists which is 10 (Tobin Heath, POR 2016 and Croix Bethune, KC 2024).  
• Deyna Castellanos scored her first goal of the 2026 season.
• Caiya Hanks, who was removed off the Season-Ending Injury list, made her return to the pitch for the first time since June 15, 2025 and scored the game-winner.
• M.A. Vignola got her first assist of the season.
• The Thorns have gone 12 home regular season matches (dating back to September 2025) without losing (8W,4D), extending the current club record.
• The Thorns have not lost at home in 2026 (6W,3D).
• In seven matches since 2018, Portland has not lost at home against Orlando (7W-0L-0D).

GOAL BREAKDOWN
First Half

N/A

Second Half

POR – Deyna Castellanos (Pietra Tordin) 58’
ORL – Jacqueline Ovalle 63’
POR – Caiya Hanks (M.A. Vignola) 90+6’

LINEUPS
Portland Thorns (4-2-3-1): Mackenzie Arnold (GK), M.A. Vignola, Jayden Perry, Isabella Obaze (Sam Hiatt 78’), Carolyn Calzada, Jessie Fleming-C, Nina Nijstad (Cassandra Bogere 85’), Pietra Tordin (Caiya Hanks 88’), Deyna Castellanos (Renee Lyles 78’), Marie Müller (Morgan Weaver 67’), Sophia Wilson

Subs not used:  Morgan Messner (GK), Reyna Reyes, Shae Harvey, Mallie McKenzie

Orlando Pride (4-4-2): Anna Moorhouse (GK), Hailie Mace (Gabi Nunes 90+8’), Rafaelle (Zoe Matthews 89’), Cori Dyke, Oihane Hernández (Zara Chavoshi 76’), Solai Washington, Ally Lemos, Haley McCutcheon-C, Julie Doyle (Summer Yates 65’), Jacqueline Ovalle, Barbra Banda (Angelina 65’)

Subs not used: Cara Martin (GK), Cossette Morche, Luana, Nicole Payne

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MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

POR: N/A
ORL: Jacqueline Ovalle (Yellow) 40’, Julie Doyle (Yellow) 52’, Rafaelle (Yellow) 85’

MATCH STATS

POR | ORL

Goals: 2|1
Assists: 2|0
Possession: 51|49
Shots: 10|12
Shots on Target: 4|6
Saves: 5|2
Tackles: 16|16
Tackles Won: 9|11
Interceptions: 14|26
Fouls: 7|6
Offsides: 0|1
Corner Kicks: 0|6

ATTENDANCE: 19,106

Referee: Brad Jensen
Assistant Referee 1: Katarzyna Wasiak
Assistant Referee 2: Sarah Gaddes
4th Official: Justin St. Pierre
VAR: Danielle Chesky
Assistant VAR: Seun Yinka-Kehinde

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