Marie Muller scored the lone goal to secure a 1-0 home victory for the Portland Thorns over the North Carolina Courage on Friday night, punching the club’s ticket to the postseason.
The breakthrough came in the 60th minute when Muller smashed home a rebound to break a scoreless deadlock. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold anchored the Portland defense with two saves, securing her eighth clean sheet of the season.
The victory advanced the Thorns to a 13-8-8 record and sixth place in the league standings with just one game remaining in the regular season. This marks the tenth consecutive season that Portland has advanced to the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Courage continued a difficult late-season slide, dropping five of their last six matches to move to 13-13-3.
Elsewhere in the National Women’s Soccer League, the Utah Royals secured their first-ever playoff berth with a scoreless home draw against the Seattle Reign. The defensive battle featured 20 combined shots, with five hitting the target.
Seattle goalkeeper Claudia Dickey recorded four saves to earn her eighth clean sheet of the campaign, keeping the Reign above the playoff line in eighth place at 13-11-5, though they have yet to officially clinch a postseason spot. Utah goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn notched one save for her fifth clean sheet, lifting the Royals to a 14-10-5 record and cementing their historic postseason qualification.
In another Friday night matchup, the Houston Dash defeated the Chicago Stars 3-1 behind goals from Leah Klenke, Maggie Graham, and Clarissa Larisey. Both Houston and Chicago had already been eliminated from playoff contention prior to the match.
Houston opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Klenke capitalized on a rebound following an indirect free kick awarded inside the box after Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher picked up a backpass from defender Bea Franklin. The Dash doubled their advantage in the 54th minute when Lisa Boattin took a quick free kick to set up Graham.
Clarissa Larisey extended the lead to 3-0 in the 79th minute, running onto a low cross delivered by forward Kiki Van Zanten. The Stars avoided a shutout when Emma Egizii delivered a corner kick that connected with Sam Staab for Chicago’s sole goal, finalizing the 3-1 scoreline and dropping the Stars to a 5-22-2 record while the Dash improved to 9-14-6.
