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Sophia Smith ties Alex Morgan in NWSL Golden Boot race

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(Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)

Sophia Smith cannot be stopped, with the star forward notching her 11th goal of the NWSL regular-season Friday night.

The Portland Thorns striker logged a brace in the team’s 3-3 draw against North Carolina to pull level with USWNT teammate Alex Morgan in the league’s Golden Boot Race.

Smith opened up scoring in the game’s 8th minute, weaving through a string of Courage defenders before burying the night’s go-ahead goal. Her impressive individual effort marked Smith’s 10th goal of the season, making the 21-year-old the youngest player in NWSL history to score ten goals in a single season.

In the 76th minute, Smith stamped her name on the scoresheet again, making a well-timed run behind North Carolina’s backline for the Golden-Boot-tying finish.

Smith antagonized the Courage defense throughout the match, pulling apart the backline with her ability to hold up play and dribble out of trouble. The Thorns star forced two saves for a shot accuracy of 75 percent while creating two chances for a dominant performance in the final third.

“There are phenomenal athletes in this league, and you see a lot of players get a lot of chances, and they miss them or squander them. She’s been lethal this year, just amazing,” Portland head coach Rhian Wilkinson said after the match. “With Soph, you just let her play with instincts, she just gets sharper and sharper with them.”