{"id":17287,"date":"2018-07-08T17:13:22","date_gmt":"2018-07-08T21:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonsoccer.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=17287"},"modified":"2018-07-08T17:13:22","modified_gmt":"2018-07-08T21:13:22","slug":"no-kling-no-problem-portland-thorns-blank-utah-royals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2018\/07\/08\/no-kling-no-problem-portland-thorns-blank-utah-royals\/","title":{"rendered":"No Kling, No Problem: Portland Thorns Blank Utah Royals"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND, OREGON (July 6, 2018) —\u00a0<\/strong>No Meghan Klingenberg, no problem.<\/p>\n

The Portland Thorns FC claimed a massive 4-0 victory against the Utah Royals at Providence Park without their regular-starting defender. Klingenberg served a one-game suspension against the Royals.<\/a><\/p>\n

No Kling, No Problem: Portland Thorns Blank Utah Royals 4-0<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In front of\u00a017,930 fans, the Thorns blanked the playoff-fighting Royals with three first-half goals.<\/p>\n

It took Tobin Heath only two minutes to kick off scoring for the Thorns.\u00a0Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, who later scored in the 34th minute, recorded the assist.<\/p>\n

Lindsey Horan also scored in the first half, during the 32nd minute. Heath assisted the goal of her fellow U.S. Women’s National Team partner.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the final goal was scored by Tyler Lussi. The 23-year-old midfielder, who has made 11 appearances and three starts, scored her first goal of the year against Utah.<\/p>\n

Lussi replaced Heath in the 62nd minute.<\/p>\n

After the match, Portland Thorns Head Coach Mark Parsons said the match was a “really good, strong performance and a strong result with a great scoreline, especially at home.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c[The crowd] felt like maybe the largest [this year] because the intensity was there,” Parsons said. “Credit to the players, I thought we came out with a lot of fire and bite and it was great to score early. The momentum and intensity that we decided to play with drove the rest of that first half on.”<\/p>\n

“It was a great first half and a professionally-managed second half.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the same couldn’t be said for Laura Harvey and the Utah Royals. The Royals head coach said that Portland got into a flow “really early and had a lot of the ball.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think their pressure from the start was strong and they stomped our initial intentions of building out of the back,” Harvey said. “It also took us a while to get set after giving up a goal or two. We lost a bit of our momentum. So now we have to be stronger to pull back some of that momentum.”<\/p>\n

\n

"It was a good answer after the last [two] games."@AnaCrnogorcevic<\/a> on the result against Utah Royals FC. #BAONPDX<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/eshSMJPaxL<\/a><\/p>\n

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) July 7, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n