PORTLAND, Ore. – Summer trips to Houston for Portland’s professional soccer teams are usually met with adjectives like humid, wet, sticky, or oppressive – words accentuating questions about the coming challenge. For Portland Thorns FC, though, recent trips to the Lone Star state have been relatively productive.
It’s been almost three years since the Thorns last lost at BBVA Stadium, and while Houston have drawn two of the three games the teams have played in Texas since, the last meeting in the reputedly difficult conditions saw the Thorns leave the field up, 3-1. Games in Houston present obstacles, but they’re obstacles that can be overcome.