THORNS FLYING HIGH

Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 20, 2018

Seeing your favorite team play for a championship is a rare treat, and Portland Thorns fans will enjoy that opportunity Saturday, when the National Women’s Soccer League stages its sixth championship game, at Providence Park.

The Thorns secured their spot in the 2018 final by beating rival Seattle 2-1 here last weekend, pleasing the 14,179 fans who cheered for goals by Tobin Heath and Lindsey Horan and

big saves from goalkeeper Adrianna Franch.

The Thorns will face either the North Carolina Courage, who finished first in the regular season, or the Chicago Red Stars. Those teams played after our press deadline Tuesday in Portland, a match that was moved here from North Carolina because of Hurricane Florence.

The championship match, scheduled for 1:30 p.m., could be a sellout.

Some of the best players in the world will compete to win what is considered the planet’s most competitive women’s soccer league. Ten players on this Thorns roster have played for their national

teams, including four for the top-ranked United States and three for Australia.

Christine Sinclair, the Thorns captain who helped the University of Portland win national championships in 2002 and 2005, has represented Canada 269 times and scored 173 goals for her country.

The Thorns won two of the first five NWSL titles and are the defending champs. They are considered the most successful pro women’s soccer club in the world. Attendance this season at the Thorns’ 12 regular-season home matches averaged 16,959 fans.

Attendance has crept up since the NWSL debuted in 2013, but six of the nine teams in the league averaged fewer than 5,000 fans this season. The Utah Royals, a first-year NWSL club, averaged 9,500 (a number skewed by a sellout for the season opener).

The NWSL also held its 2015 championship match at Providence Park. That was the only season the Thorns missed the playoffs, but a crowd of 13,264 watched FC Kansas City beat Seattle, 1-0.

So, yes, Portland is unique.

From the colorful — and occasionally off-color — chanting of the Rose City Riveters supporters group to the soccer-playing girls who flock to the stadium with their families to the dedicated fans who follow both the Thorns and the Timbers, there is a buzz around Providence Park when the Thorns play that is not yet found anywhere else in women’s pro sports.

“There’s times I look up and (think), ‘I want to do it for these people that come out and watch us day in and day out and support us,’ ” Horan says. “It’s such a special thing to be a part of, and I’m so grateful I’m here in Portland. Being able to play a championship game, we should be so thankful we get that opportunity and privilege.”

Games in Portland are the best advertisement for the league.

“It’s amazing for the league to be in a soccer city and to have a championship (game) here, where fans are in it no matter what,” Franch said. “They’ll be supportive and they’ll be loud and they’ll be proud.”

pdanzer@portlandtribune.com

@pauldanzer