PORTLAND, Ore. — Sophia Smith scored her league-leading ninth goal on a penalty kick in the 79th minute and the Portland Thorns beat the North Carolina Courage 1-0 in front of more than 21,000 fans at Providence Park.
READ MORE: Sports from KGW
The Thorns were awarded a penalty after a video review determined that Hina Sugita was stepped on in the box. Smith buried the kick into the left corner.
Ryan Williams received her second yellow card on the play, forcing the Courage to play with 10 for the rest of the game.
The Thorns (7-4-1) have now scored eight goals in the final 15 minutes of league games and 15 goals in the second half.
The Courage (5-7-0) have lost all seven matches they've played on the road.
Smith will have to sit for a game, as she received a second yellow card from the bench for delaying the game just before the final whistle.
Download the KGW News app: Download for iPhone here | Download for Android here
Stream newscasts for free on KGW+ on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV: How to add app to your device here
See a typo in this article? Email web@kgw.com for corrections
