Boston Legacy 3, Portland Thorns 4.

Portland went three up inside nine minutes and thirty-eight seconds. That is the fastest three goals in NWSL history, thirty-five seconds quicker than the record Portland set themselves in July 2022. They broke their own record and then spent the next hour nearly giving the game away.

Marissa watched it from a bar in Las Vegas where the bartender would not let her touch the remote. By the eighty-second minute she had moved on to a third vodka for medical reasons.

Pietra Tordin got her first career hat trick at twenty-two, the youngest a Thorn has ever managed one. The goalkeeper has an assist. The road drought is over after ninety-eight days. The coach got sent off in the fifty-eighth for kicking a dead ball away, and nobody had told us whether it stands.

Also in here: the back line Marissa wants to talk about for seven straight bullet points, why beating a side that had scored nineteen goals in eighteen games is not the same as beating them well, and what fifth place actually buys you with eleven games left.

Adults only. Bring a drink.

Chapters:
00:00 Cold open, no remote in Vegas
01:40 The result: 3-0 in 9:38, then 4-3
09:16 Tordin's hat trick
18:30 The coach red card
21:25 What are you drinking
23:24 The defense
31:28 Ninety-eight days
35:28 The table
40:00 Look ahead: Orlando, Klingenberg night

Takeaways:

3-0 in 9:38 is a new NWSL record for the quickest three goals, 35 seconds faster than the previous mark. Portland set that one too, in July 2022. They broke their own record and then nearly threw the game away.

Pietra Tordin scored a hat trick at 22. Her first as a professional, and the youngest by a Thorn. She is on seven goals and eight assists, so fifteen goal contributions, not fifteen goals.

Mackenzie Arnold, the goalkeeper, has an assist. She set up the hat-trick goal in the 37th.

Boston had scored 19 goals in their first 18 games and put three past Portland. Marissa's read: Boston are not a bad team, but Portland made them look better than they are.

The road drought is over after 98 days. The last away win was May 3 at Chicago, scored by Olivia Moultrie and Reilyn Turner. Neither was available on Sunday.

Portland are fifth on 31 points, up from seventh, with 32 goals. That is joint-most in the league. The pressure is coming from below, not above.

Robert Vilahamn was sent off in the 58th minute for kicking a dead ball away from play. At the time of recording the league had not announced whether it stands, and we say so rather than guessing.

Next up: Orlando at home on Saturday August 15, Meghan Klingenberg night, with Tobin Heath honored on August 22.

Rose City Red Card is Alan and Marissa on the Portland Thorns and the NWSL.
https://rosecityredcard.com