April 23, 2023 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Portland Thorns FC News Release
PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Thorns FC scored a pair of first-half goals to secure a 2-0 win over Racing Louisville FC at Providence Park on Saturday night. Christine Sinclair opened the scoring with her 60th career NWSL goal, while Bella Bixby recorded her 20th career shutout as Portland remained unbeaten through its first four games of the 2023 regular season. Sophia Smith added two assists in the match, while Morgan Weaver scored her second goal of the campaign.
Unbeaten Runs + Milestones
Thorns FC are unbeaten in their first four regular season games to start the 2023 campaign, outscoring their opponents by a margin of 11-2. Dating back to last season, Portland is unbeaten in its last nine regular season games with a record of 6-0-3. Notably, Thorns FC have lost just three times in their last 30 regular season matches (14-3-13), dating back to 2021. The only other NWSL team to ever have three or fewer losses in a 30-game span is the Courage who did so multiple times spanning 2017 through 2019. With her shutout, Bixby became the fastest goalkeeper to reach 20 regular season shutouts. She reached this mark in 40 games, which surpassed the previous mark of 20 shutouts in 46 games by Nicole Barnhart during the 2015 season. Morgan Weaver tallied her 10th career regular season goal. She is the 11th player to reach double-digit goals in club history.
NWSL Royalty
Christine Sinclair scored her first goal of the 2023 season one minute and 49 seconds into the match – the fastest goal in the league this season. With the goal, she became the second player to score in every NWSL regular season, joining OL Reign’s Jess Fishlock. Sinclair is the only player to score in every year of the NWSL, including the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. Notably, Sinclair has scored against 14 of the 15 NWSL opponents she has faced in her career. With the goal, Sinclair has 60 career NWSL regular season goals, which is tied for second-most in league history, trailing only Sam Kerr. Sinclair joined Lynn Williams tonight as one of three players in NWSL history to reach 60 goals and the only player to accomplish this feat all with the same team.
Smith Surging
Smith recorded her first career multi-assist game for Thorns FC. Smith is the first player in the NWSL this season to record a multi-assist game. With her two assists, Smith has four goals and four assists this season through the team’s first four…