Ashley Sanchez scored in the 76th minute and North Carolina Courage rallied in the second half to tie Boston Legacy 2-2 on Wednesday, denying the National Women’s Soccer League expansion team a first-round victory.
In other games, the San Diego Wave lost 2-0 to the Portland Thorns. Gotham FC defeated Chicago Stars 2-0. Racing Louisville lost to the Washington Spirit 1-0.
Although Legacy picked up a point for the first time in the club’s history, they remain at the bottom of the table.
At Gillette Stadium, Alba Caño scored a goal from a pass from Nichelle Prince on the right wing in the fifth minute, giving Boston an early 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later, Prince cut back on the edge of the six-yard box, found Massachusetts native Sammy Smith, and fired a shot into the top right corner of the goal.
North Carolina’s Dani Weatherholt scored from a corner kick in the 53rd minute to make it 2-1. Uno Shiragaki took the first shot, and Casey Murphy’s knockdown block landed at the feet of Weatherholt, who punched it into the left side of the net.
Portland rises to first place
In a game between the league’s top two teams at Providence Park in Portland, the Thorns ended San Diego’s winning streak at five and moved to the top of the standings.
Marie Muller scored her first NWSL career goal in the 10th minute to lead the Thorns to victory. In the 64th minute, Sophia Wilson extended the lead with her second goal of the season.
This will be the second time this season that these two teams will play against each other. San Diego won the first game last month, 3-1.
Gotham’s scoring struggles
Despite scoring just two goals before the international break earlier this month, Gotham FC’s scoring woes appear to be over.
In his first two games back, he scored five goals in a 3–0 home win over Bay FC, and then scored two more goals in a shutout of the Stars away.
Jordyn Dudley scored in the first minute of the game after Jadyn Shaw’s cross broke through the last line of the Stars defense. It was the second fastest goal in club history.
In the 10th minute, Rose Lovell got wide open and fired a volley past Alyssa Neher.
Katie Atkinson, who played in the Stars’ past two games, was inactive due to a thigh injury.
Rodman scores and Andy Sullivan returns to the field.
Trinity Rodman scored her 30th career goal with a cross-body volley from the center of the penalty box in the 15th minute at Audi Field in Washington.
Andy Sullivan came on for the first time in a while in the 63rd minute. She tore her ACL at the end of the 2024 season and went on maternity leave in 2025.
The Spirit shut out their opponents in four consecutive games against Denver, winning three, drawing one, and tying the game 0-0.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
