Portland Thorns Drop Points on the Road in 5-1 Loss to Utah Royals FC

PORTLAND, Ore. (Sunday, August 2, 2026) – Despite an early lead in the match, the Portland Thorns fell 5-1 on the road against Utah Royals FC on Sunday afternoon at America First Field.

Forward Sophia Wilson got Portland on the scoreboard 34 seconds into the match when she received a pass from forward Pietra Tordin and ran the ball into the box, shooting it through the legs of Utah goalkeeper — and USWNT teammate — Mandy McGlynn.

The hosts weren’t going to go down easy though as Utah forward Cece Delzer found space for herself in the box in the 36th minute and shot the ball over Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold who had ran off her line in an attempt to make a save.

After the halftime break, the Royals would quickly find themselves in front for the first time in the match when forward Cloé Lacasse sent a cross into the box to find Delzer who tapped in her second goal of the match.

Utah tripled their lead in the 68’ when Lacasse sent a ball across the Thorns box to find forward Brecken Mozingo who controlled the ball and shot it into the far right corner of Portland’s goal. They recorded a fourth in the 79^th when defender Miyabi Moriya sent a ball into forward Kiana Palacios, whose backheel effort found the back of the net.

The fifth and final goal came in the dying moments of the match when Lacasse’s cross from the corner landed right at defender Kate Del Fava who headed it in.

UP NEXT: The Portland Thorns make the cross-country trip for a first ever meeting against Boston Legacy FC. The match at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island is scheduled to kick off at 1 pm PT on CBS Sports Network and locally on Rose City SportsNet and 910 ESPN Portland.

TEAM NOTES

• Sophia Wilson extended her team-leading goal tally to eight this season, tied for fourth-most in the league.
• For the second time in her NWSL career, Wilson scored within the opening minute of the match, doing so in the 34^th second which is the fastest goal in the league this year. It is the second fastest goal in her career behind her 32-second game-winning goal at Houston Dash (1-0) on July 24, 2021.
• Pietra Tordin made her league-leading eighth assist of the year. She remains Portland’s top goal contributor with 12 (4 G, 8 A). Tordin becomes only the 10th player (and 3rd Thorn) in league history with eight or more assists in a single season. Only Sam Coffey (8) and Tobin Heath (10) have recorded more assists.
• In her first career start, Nina Nijstad contested 70 minutes.  

GOAL BREAKDOWN
First Half
POR – Sophia Wilson (Pietra Tordin) 1’ (34 seconds)
UTA – Cece Delzer (Kiana Palacios) 35’

Second Half
UTA – Cece Delzer (Cloé Lacasse) 47’
UTA – Brecken Mozingo (Cloé Lacasse) 68’
UTA – Kiana Palacios (Miyabi Moriya) 79’
UTA – Kate Del Fava (Cloé Lacasse) 89’

LINEUPS
Portland Thorns (4-2-3-1): Mackenzie Arnold (GK), Marie Müller (M.A. Vignola 59’), Sam Hiatt-C (Isabella Obaze 70’), Carolyn Calzada, Reyna Reyes, Jessie Fleming, Nina Nijstad (Cassandra Bogere 70’), Olivia Moultrie, Pietra Tordin (Maddie Padelski 83’), Renee Lyles (Morgan Weaver 69’), Sophia Wilson

Subs not used:  Morgan Messner (GK), Mallie McKenzie, Deyna Castellanos, Shae Harvey

Utah Royals FC (4-3-3): Mandy McGlynn (GK), Nuria Rábano, Kate Del Fava, Kaleigh Riehl (Tatum Milazzo 65’), Miyabi Moriya, Mina Tanaka (Ana Tejada 64’), Cece Delzer (Lara Prašnikar 75’), Cloé Lacasse, Paige Cronin-C (Brecken Mozingo 65’), Kiana Palacios (Courtney Brown 85’)
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Subs not used: Mia Justus (GK), Kameron Simmonds, Alexa Spaanstra, Madison Hammond
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MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
POR: N/A
UTA: N/A

MATCH STATS
POR | UTA‍

Goals: 1|5
Assists: 1|5
Possession: 43|57
Shots: 11|13
Shots on Target: 5|7
Saves: 2|4
Tackles: 8|15
Tackles Won: 4|10
Interceptions: 6|6
Fouls: 5|10
Offsides: 0|2
Corner Kicks: 5|2

ATTENDANCE: 6,243

Referee: Matthew Corrigan
Assistant Referee 1: Cameron Siler
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Brochu
4th Official: Rachel Swett
VAR: Elton Garcia
Assistant VAR: Melissa Beck