The Portland Thorns captured their third NWSL title when they defeated Kansas City in the final game.
Finnish player Natalia Kuikan represented by the Portland Thorns has won the NWSL championship of the American women’s soccer league. In the final match played in front of more than 17,000 spectators in Washington, Portland beat Kansas City 2–0.
Portland and Helmarie defender Kuikka, 26, is the first Finnish player to have won the NWSL championship or even played in the final game of the series.
– I played until the end. It was just a normal match in a way. But when the game ended and I saw my teammates running on the field, it was pure joy, Kuikka told the reporter following the team Nick Krupken With a Twitter video.
Kuikka played a full match, and ESPN, for example, praised Portland’s defense and described the Finn’s movement as affecting both ends of the field (you move to another service).
– We have been practicing defense hard for the last couple of months, so that we can make sure that the balls coming towards us are cleared away and we can keep the goal clean, says Kuikka.
Chosen as the most valuable player of the series Sophia Smith scored Portland’s opening goal in the fourth minute of the game. The second hit was Kansas’ own goal. Portland’s defense played strong, and Kansas didn’t get a shot on goal.
The championship is Portland’s third. It has celebrated first place in the series played since 2012 also in 2013 and 2017.
From the middle of difficulties to the championship
Portland’s road to the championship hasn’t been all roses. Portland is one of the clubs at the center of the harassment scandal that rocked the US women’s major league.
– In that sense, the performance is really big. The extra alarms must have bothered them more than many others. I believe that the players have suffered somewhat mentally, Urheilu’s expert Pauliina Miettinen said before the match.
Club owner Merritt Paulson was not watching the final match. He already stepped down from the duties of the team’s CEO when he was criticized for his reluctant handling of the former coach’s harassment case.
– The players would have had every right to collapse after these last months when the harassment investigation report was published. It was really hard. But the players were strong and had a clear direction where they wanted to go, the team’s current coach Rhian Wilkison said after the game (you move to another service).
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