Mark Parsons knew. Tom Sermanni knew. You knew. I knew.
We all knew what was going to happen at Providence Park last Saturday afternoon.
Sermanni was going to throw his attackers - especially Marta and Alex Morgan - at the Thorns’ defense. Sermanni’s plan was Marta would turn the Portland fullbacks with flanking runs, and use her pace to turn inside and drive towards goal. Orlando’s midfield would use Morgan’s ability to blow through the center backs to create a target for their through balls and long overhead passes.
That’s exactly what they did, and for much of the afternoon Orlando succeeded, pressed the Portland defense hard, and got their attackers into dangerous positions.