Heading downstairs to the post-game media sessions Saturday night, I was feeling pretty good about the Thorns’ performance. Yes, it was a draw at home at a time when Portland is still fighting for the second seed and a home playoff berth. But for one thing, clawing back from a two-goal deficit isn’t something this team has always been able to do in 2018, and doing so displayed a kind of grit familiar from past seasons in the Parsons era.
For another, I didn’t think that either of Sam Kerr’s goals was particularly damning to the Thorns. The first one was the result of a real mistake by Emily Sonnett and Lindsey Horan (more on that in a minute), but the second came on a half-chance at best.