United States attacker Sophia Wilson scored her first goal since Nov. 2, 2024, to seal the Portland Thorns 2-1 win over Angel City FC on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Wilson’s last goal came against Angel City nearly 18 months ago — when her last name was still Smith — as the Thorns clinched a spot in the 2024 NWSL postseason.
Since then, the Olympic gold-medal winner got married, had a baby and took the entire 2025 NWSL season off as part of her maternity leave.
She had not scored a goal for either the United States or the Thorns since returning to the field in 2026.
“It was definitely a long time coming,” Wilson said after the game. “I tried to not put to much pressure on myself, but I needed a goal and once I get one I hope I get more.
“I’m really proud of my team for grinding out that win.”
The game was locked in a 0-0 draw for most of regulation until Pietra Tordin capitalized on a goalmouth scramble and headed in the Thorns’ opener to give them a 1-0 lead.
With time running down, Wilson picked up a loose ball on the left side of the field, sprinted into the penalty area and struck a trademark left-footed shot past Angel City keeper Angelina Anderson to put the win away.
As she celebrated with her teammates, Wilson wiped tears from her eyes, although she joked in an interview after the match: “Those weren’t tears.”
It was the 45th regular-season goal of her career.
The hard-fought win puts Portland in second place in the NWSL, two points behind league-leading San Diego Wave FC, six games into the season.
“I knew that we are a group that could grit it out if we needed to,” Wilson said of the win. “It’s nothing new. We definitely have a standard to control what we control and we can always control how hard we work and that’s what we did.”
Information from ESPN Research was used in this report.
