Breakers Avenge Nat’l TV Loss, Beat Thorns

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

Three weeks after the Portland Thorns lit them up for six goals on national television, the Boston Breakers dramatically turned the tables in a 2-0 win on Sunday at Harvard Stadium.

Rachel Wood opened the scoring in the 11th minute, while Heather O’Reilly grabbed another in the 25th minute to give the hosts a two-goal lead they would not relinquish. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher collected her second clean sheet in the process.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Breakers, while the Thorns have now lost two of their last three.

Boston broke out of the gate early when Cat Whitehill sent a throw-in toward Portland’s box, where Wood latched onto it and scored inside of 11 minutes.

O’Reilly doubled the lead not long after when she ran onto a Lianne Sanderson through ball, picked out her target and scored in the 25th minute to give the hosts a rare halftime lead.

The second half was a showcase for Naeher, who made a pair of crucial stops on Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair to keep the hosts ahead. Meanwhile, Joanna Lohman cleared away a potential goal in the 85th minute.

The Breakers will hit the road for the final time on Wednesday when they head to Benedictine University Sports Complex to face the Chicago Red Stars. Kickoff is set for 8:00pm ET.