Canadian soccer star Janine Beckie scores twice in NWSL match in return from injury

Canadian international Janine Beckie, returning from knee surgery, scored twice in a losing cause Saturday as the Portland Thorns were beaten 5-4 by Kansas City in the regular-season opener for the National Women’s Soccer League.

The game was the first in Kansas City’s new CPKC Stadium. The home side raced out to a 3-0 lead and was ahead 3-1 at the break.

Beckie came in at halftime, nearly a year to the day that she tore her anterior cruciate ligament. She opened her account in the 71st minute, when she slotted a ball from a corner kick underneath goalkeeper Adrianna Franch.

Beckie added a highlight-reel consolation goal with a long-range rocket in the 91st.

“There’s not many times where you score four goals and don’t win a game so it’s a bit frustrating in that respect,” said Beckie. “But I’m just really proud to be back on the field. When you have this type of team to come back to, it definitely is not hard to be motivated.

“It’s been a long year. I just want to be on the field doing my job for the team. Win or lose, I’m proud of the way we fought back today. We’ll have to take that into next week and build on it.”

WATCH | Beckie strikes twice on road in Thorns’ season opener:

The Canadian women’s national team member pulled her Portland side within one with a gorgeous goal against Kansas City.

Portland coach Mike Norris applauded Beckie’s efforts.

“She’s been through a lot,” said Norris. “For her to come on in that kind of setting, she showed the quality that she has and she’s arguably come back a different Janine,” he added.

Former Canada skipper Christine Sinclair captained Portland with current Canadian captain Jessie Fleming making her first NWSL start since joining the Thorns from England’s Chelsea.

Vanessa DiBernardo, Bia Zaneratto, Kristen Hamilton, Alex Pfeiffer and rookie Ellie Wheeler scored for the Current. Sophia Smith also had two goals for the Thorns.

The Current were hurt in the 32nd minute when Brazilian star Debinha, a finalist for last year’s league MVP award, left the match with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

Saturday’s game was a sellout. It also was the first NWSL game broadcast on ABC as part of the league’s new media rights deal. The NWSL inked a new broadcast deal worth $60 million annually that will feature the league’s matches on ESPN networks, CBS Sports, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports.

Canadian Fleming earns assist

Zaneratto, who has played in four Women’s World Cups for Brazil and was signed by the Current earlier this season, scored before Smith made it 3-1 in the 43rd minute with an assist by Fleming.

Hamilton and Pfeiffer added second-half goals to extend the Current’s lead to 5-1. But Portland rallied with Beckie’s goal in the 71st minute and Smith’s second in the 74th.

Beckie, who signed a three-year deal with the Thorns in April 2022, also scored two goals in the Canadian women’s national team’s Olympic gold medal campaign the previous year.

She was also a member of the 2016 squad that won Summer Games bronze in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Current won their first game under Vlatko Andonovski, the former U.S. national team coach, who also coached at FC Kansas City, one of the league’s founding teams that played from 2013 to 2017.

Andonovski also coached two seasons with the Reign before taking over the U.S. national team. He parted ways with the team following the U.S. exit at the Women’s World Cup last year.

Brittany and Patrick Mahomes, part of the Current’s ownership group, kicked off the game with a “K.C., baby!” chant.

In Cary, N.C., Canadian international Bianca St-Georges scored two goals in a 5-1 Courage rout of the Houston Dash.

Malia Berkely converted a penalty kick in the 19th minute. After Haley Hopkins’s goal early in the second half, St. Georges scored in the 77th and 86th. Dani Weatherholt added the final Courage goal in stoppage time.

The Dash avoided the shutout because of an own goal in the 65th.

WATCH | St-Georges scores brace in Courage debut:

Bianca St-Georges from Saint-Charles-Borromée, Que., scores two goals in her first game with the North Carolina Courage and leads her new team to a 5-1 victory over the Houston Dash.