The No. 5 Portland Thorns snagged another result over the weekend, grabbing a point off a 1-1 Saturday draw with the No. 9 North Carolina Courage to further solidify their spot on the NWSL table.
Midfielder Olivia Moultrie opened scoring with a first-half bullet to put Portland up 1-0, before Courage forward Tyler Lussi equalized with a 70th-minute strike.
With her 13th career goal on Saturday, 19-year-old Moultrie became the NWSL's joint-leader in regular-season goals scored by a teenager — sharing the all-time record with North Carolina attacker Jaedyn Shaw.
The Portland Thorns are currently making a case for the league's "best of the rest," after Saturday NWSL action saw the San Diego Wave rocket up the table to No. 2 with a 2-1 win over No. 11 Bay FC while the No. 1 Kansas City Current and now-No. 3 Orlando Pride ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
Despite losing veteran anchors Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Meghan Klingenberg to retirement and USWNT star Sophia Wilson to maternity leave, Portland has figured out how to generate new offensive opportunities via young talent like forwards Reilyn Turner and Pietra Tordin.
More experienced midfielders like Moultrie and Sam Coffey are also contributing, with Coffey scoring her second season goal on August 10th to match her entire 2024 total.
As for North Carolina, the questions continue for the Courage as they struggle to stack results amid the abrupt sacking of head coach Sean Nahas earlier this month.
According to a statement released after the Courage's August 8th loss to the then-No. 12 Houston Dash, Nahas was removed due to "confounding performance issues, culture issues, and a perceived lack of fit that created an environment that club leadership felt was untenable to the point that change was necessary at the head coaching position."
How to watch Monday's NWSL match
In a rare Monday matchup, the NWSL's 16th matchday will wrap with the No. 6 Seattle Reign hosting the No. 13 Chicago Stars — with a Reign win sending Seattle above Portland to No. 5 on the NWSL table.
Live coverage of the 10 PM ET match will air on CBS Sports Network.