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Washington, D.C. (11/08/2026) – The Washington Spirit took homefield advantage to another level, outscoring Portland Thorns FC 4-1 to win its quarterfinal match at Audi Field on Sunday afternoon.
The Spirit made its presence known early dominating possession right out of the gate. It only took six minutes to convert that domination into a goal when Trinity Rodman stole the ball right off the foot of a Thorns midfielder, weaved behind an outside back and sliced a cross to Mélissa Bethi at the far side of the net who put the ball away. The goal marked the fastest in club playoff history.
Washington found success capitalizing on turnovers; Gabrielle Carle blocked a Thorns shot attempt and immediately turned on the attack, passing to Clara Luvanga who then won a corner kick. Luvanga continued the onslaught of shots, taking two more before she chased down a pass to Thorns keeper, picked the ball off the keeper’s foot and rolled it right into the goal for the 2-0 lead.
But the blitz wasn’t over yet, less than two minutes later, Luvanga charged up the left side, her cross found a sprinting Rodman who only needed one touch to find the back of the net. After five minutes of stoppage time, the half ended with the Spirit up three goals over the Thorns, tying the league record of goals in one half of a playoff game.
The second half started as the first ended: Washington maintaining position in Portland’s final third. But a run from Thorns forward Sophia Wilson brought some momentum to the other end of the field, allowing Portland to slip a ball past Sandy MacIver, bringing the score to 3-1.
Shortly after, Portland continued its attacks, a back-and-forth at the top of the keeper box forced MacIver to make a diving save. The threat didn’t phase the Spirit as Luvanga turned on the jets on the other end of the pitch less than a minute later, getting behind the Thorns back line and sending a ball to Rodman in the box for a one-touch into the back of the net. Rodman’s brace tied the league record for goals by a single player in a playoff game. The goal also crowned Rodman and Luvanga as the first two players in league history to have three total goal contributions in a playoff game.
Ashley Hatch joined the match in the 67th minute to replace Luvanga as Rosemonde Kouassi came onto the pitch to replace Sofia Cantore. Rodman made an effort for a hat trick, as she ran up the side of the field and rocketed a shot that just skimmed the outside netting. The Spirit was first to almost every ball, connecting around Portland players. Then Monique Ngock came in for goal-scorer Mélissa Bethi, Claudia Martínez for Leicy Santos and Paige Metayer for Lucia Di Guglielmo. The Spirit stood tall to keep Portland from closing the gap through the final minutes before the final whistle signaled the biggest margin of victory in a playoff match in club history for Washington.
Next up, the Spirit will host Utah Royals FC in the semifinal round of the playoffs on Saturday, November 14 at 12 p.m. EST at Audi Field. Tickets are on sale at washingtonspirit.com/tickets.
-NWSL Match Report-
Match: Washington Spirit vs. Portland Thorns FC
Date: Sunday, November 8, 2026
Venue: Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
Kickoff: 3 p.m. EST
Weather: Sunny, high-50s
Scoring Summary:
| Goals | 1 | 2 | F |
| Washington | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Portland | 0 | 1 | 1 |
WAS – Mélissa Bethi – 6′ (assisted by Trinity Rodman)
WAS – Clara Luvanga – 34′
WAS – Trinity Rodman – 35’ (assisted by Clara Luvanga)
POR – Pietra Tordin – 51’ (assisted by Jessie Fleming)
WAS – Trinity Rodman – 58’ (assisted by Clara Luvanga)
Lineups:
WAS: 18 – Sandy MacIver; 14 – Gabrielle Carle; 24 – Esme Morgan; 9 – Tara Rudd; 13 – Lucia Di Guglielmo (26 – Paige Metayer, 87’); 10 – Leicy Santos (11 – Claudia Martínez, 87’); 12 – Andi Sullivan; 7 – Mélissa Bethi (8 – Monique Ngock, 77’); 2 – Trinity Rodman; 25 – Clara Luvanga (33 – Ashley Hatch, 67’); 27 – Sofia Cantore (19 – Rosemonde Kouassi, 68’)
Unused Substitutes: 28 – Sara Wojdelko; 5 – Élisabeth Tsé; 16 – Tamara Bolt; 35 – Madison Haugen
POR: 18 – Mackenzie Arnold; 2 – Reyna Reyes; 24 – Jayden Perry; 5 – Isabella Obaze (16 – Sam Hiatt, 73’); 4 – Carolyn Calzada (25 – M.A. Vignola, 38’); 21 – Jessie Fleming; 19 – Pietra Tordin; 20 – Nina Nijstad (22 – Morgan Weaver, 51’); 7 – Caiya Hanks; 9 – Sophia Wilson; 23 – Marie Müller (66 – Reilyn Turner, 38’)
Unused Substitutes: 35 – Morgan Messner; 6 – Cassandra Bogere; 15 – Shae Harvey; 41 – Renee Lyles; 88 – Valerin Loboa
Stats Summary: WAS / POR
Shots: 16 / 11
Shots On Goal: 5 / 7
Saves: 6 / 1
Fouls: 13 / 14
Offsides: 2 / 0
Misconduct Summary:
POR – Jayden Perry – 47′ – Yellow Card
WAS – Clara Luvanga – 62′ – Yellow Card
WAS – Esme Morgan – 82′ – Yellow Card
POR – Jayden Perry – 88’ – Second Yellow Card
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