Louisville 2 Portland 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Jordan Prather
There is lots of credit to go around for this match because it truly was a team victory. Only time will tell if this 3 points leads to something better on the horizon, but on the evening you couldn't ask for a better result, especially under the circumstances.
Louisville throughly outplayed Portland. Portland were poor on the night. That is not an excuse, but a circumstance that Louisville imposed on them. Missing Sophia Smith might be given as an excuse, but I don’t trade in excuses and believe you make no apologies when you get 3 points. A tremendous amount of credit must be given to the coaching staff. I don't think I would have set up to play Portland in their typical manner with the number of key players missing, but obviously the staff thought sticking with the usual game plan with a few tweaks was the right decision and they were proven 100% correct. Portland looked average, and frankly maybe they are average at best without Smith.
Even though I gave Rebecca Holloway a low rating out of principle, other than that moment of madness I thought she did really well. It's tough to say if making that early mistake sharpened her focus, but I give her full credit for shaking it off and rising to meet the challenge for the rest of the match. She will likely be called upon again on Wednesday, so I expect her to retain the focus she showed during the majority of this match.
Abby Erceg put in a great performance and was key in ensuring that Portland never really had many chances in the final stages of the match. Her value to the club this season cannot be overstated. She has to take a great deal of the credit in keeping her teammates focused after conceding early.
Thembi Kgatlana put in a tremendous attacking performance that was finally rewarded with a goal. To my eyes she is still to overly reliant on her right foot, but taking that extra touch to score the winner was very shrewd. Louisville attackers always seem to favor shooting at the near post and both she and Kanu had opportunities where I would have liked to see them challenge the keeper by going across the goal. The scoreline could have been much h more comfortable if Louisville had converted any of the 3 big chances that they missed. I give credit to Bella Bixby for keeping Portland in the match. It speaks volumes when your best player is your goalkeeper and you still lose 2-1.
Louisville will get Sunday off before practicing on Monday then flying out to Seattle. DeMelo will be available, but it's tough to say anything about the rest of the absentees. I think Howell is probably closest, but that is purely a guess.
