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Lindsey Horan and Tobin Heath are key to Portland’s title hopes

By Jordan Small

PORTLAND, OR - SEPTEMBER 07: Portland Thorns midfielder Tobin Heath celebrates the partial 2-1 of the Portland Thorns 3-1 victory over the Seattle Reign on September 7, 2018, at Providence Park, Portland, OR. (Photo by Diego Diaz/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).
PORTLAND, OR - SEPTEMBER 07: Portland Thorns midfielder Tobin Heath celebrates the partial 2-1 of the Portland Thorns 3-1 victory over the Seattle Reign on September 7, 2018, at Providence Park, Portland, OR. (Photo by Diego Diaz/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). /
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The Portland Thorns face the North Carolina Courage in the NWSL final on Saturday. Here are three keys to the game for the Thorns.

In 2016, the NWSL decided its championship game would be played each year in a predetermined location. This year, Providence Park, home of the Portland Thorns, was selected as the host venue.

For the very first time since a predetermined location was implemented, the home team have made the final. It’ll be the second year in a row Portland have made the final and they’ll face off against their 2017 championship opponent, the North Carolina Courage.

Adrianna Franch is a brick wall in goal

On Saturday afternoon, Adrianna Franch came to play for Portland. The goalkeeper of the year nominee once again proved why she deserves to be on the list, making numerous acrobatic saves to keep the Thorns in it. None was more crucial than her stop in the 33rd minute.

https://twitter.com/NWSL/status/1041401334233128960

If the Thorns want to add that third star and become back-to-back champions, a big performance will have to come from their star keeper. One area they will be able to count on her for in this game is her play in the air. Franch is one of the strongest goalkeepers in the air and will be put to the test against a tall North Carolina team. One area she needs to improve is her distribution. While it wasn’t bad in the semifinal, there were definitely a few passes where she got lucky. With the fast attack of the Courage, any mistake can be immediately turned into a goal.

Portland may have the injury gods to thank

Late in the semifinal, Portland center-back Emily Sonnett went down at the top of the box. In the 87th minute, the trainer was called onto the field to assess the injury. While she did return to the game, it was clear she was in pain. The Thorns eventually made the decision in the second minute of stoppage time to take her out and bring Elizabeth Ball on to finish out the match.

According to Richard Farley, head coach Mark Parsons plans to have Sonnett fully available this weekend. It will be very important to have the Emilys (Sonnett and Menges) together as the center-backs for Portland. They’ll be going up against the best attacking team in the league this season in the Courage, who scored 13 more goals than any other team.

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The duo of Lindsey Horan and Tobin Heath is scary

There are very few, if any, players in NWSL who have had better seasons than Lindsey Horan. Horan has turned into a scoring machine, despite not playing in a very attacking role. Her 13 goals on 52 shots are impressive enough, but then you watch her game and how she’s scoring those goals, you’ll see just how special she has become. And then you have Tobin Heath. Heath has long been seen as one of the most creative players in U.S. soccer. She’s scored eight goals this season, but none was bigger than her first half equalizer last Saturday.

These two have proven to be dangerous this season. If Portland want to win back-to-back titles and break down the best defense in the league, it’ll be largely because of these two.

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