All losses hurt, and it has to be said that making it to a final two years in a row is an achievement any team has to be proud of. But to lose on this day, against this team, in this place—with all the cameras on and thoughts of history in the making on everyone’s minds—this one hurt bad.
Portland started the same lineup as they did last week against Seattle, but with Ana Crnogorcevic slotting in for Midge Purce on the right wing. North Carolina had a key absence in McCall Zerboni, who suffered a freakish elbow injury in a USWNT friendly against Chile earlier this month.