Caiya Hanks returned after a 14-month absence while recovering from an ACL injury to score the winning goal in the Portland Thorns' 2-1 victory over the Orlando Pride on Saturday night.
In the only other game in the National Women’s Soccer League, Racing Louisville routed the Boston Legacy 4-1.
Eight minutes after coming on as a substitute, Hanks scored in the 96th minute to give the Thorns (10-6-4) the victory at Portland’s Providence Park.
Deyna Castellanos gave Portland the lead in the 58th minute with a curling shot from a tight angle. Pietra Tordin got her ninth assist on the goal.
Jacqueline Ovalle scored for the Pride in the 63rd minute to level it at 1-1. Orlando (7-11-2) has lost three straight.
Barbra Banda started for the Pride after returning from playing for Zambia in the Women's Africa Cup of Nations.
U.S. national team defender Meghan Klingenberg, who played for Portland Thorns from 2016-2024, was honored before the match by the club.
Kayla Fischer had her first career brace in Racing Louisville's biggest win of the season.
She scored her first in the 44th minute then drew a foul in the box on Boston defender Jorelyn Carabalí in the 51st minute. Midfielder Katie O’Kane converted the penalty kick to make it 2-0.
Louisville (6-11-2) went up 3-0 on Emma Sears's goal in the 59th minute and some three minutes later, Sears’ cross found Fischer for the volley and a 4-0 lead.
Sammy Smith headed home the only score for the Legacy in the 95th minute. Louisville is still in search of their first clean sheet of the season.
The Legacy (5-10-5) have conceded four goals in back-to-back matches.
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FILE - Racing Louisville's Kayla Fischer (9) in action during an NWSL soccer match between the Orlando Pride and Racing Louisville, on March 16, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Van Mathias made a huge splash in his U.S. senior national team debut this week at the Pan Pacific Championships, the biggest international swim meet of the year for the Americans.
He won three golds and two silvers in five events, capped by swimming the breaststroke leg on the winning 4 x 100-meter medley relay Saturday night in the outdoor pool some 40 miles from the site of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Quite a stunner from a guy whose day job is director of operations for Indiana University's swimming and diving program. Mathias, who turns 26 later this month, swam five years for the Hoosiers. He then hung up his suit and goggles and went home to Beaverton, Oregon.
He worked various jobs, mostly stayed out of the water, and took up weightlifting with his mother and uncle, both former competitive lifters.
Then he got a call from IU coach Ray Looze, who was looking for an operations director. Mathias got the gig and moved back to Bloomington, where he oversees team travel, recruiting visits and all the little things that keep a Division I program running.
“Even just last week I was in the office pushing papers," he said. “Got a busy fall coming up for IU athletics. I haven't cracked my laptop in a couple days, so probably falling behind.”
Maybe on land. Not so in the water.
Mathias swam the breaststroke leg on the Americans' victorious 4 x 100 mixed medley relay that set a world record. He won the 100 breast in a championship-record time. He earned silver in the 50 butterfly and tied for silver in the 50 breast. Then he finished the four-day meet off with another relay gold.
“I don't take this for granted,” he said.
Mathias competed in butterfly at the U.S. trials for the Tokyo Olympics, but didn't come close to making the team. He switched to breaststroke in his final collegiate season and finished second in the NCAA Championships.
It wasn't until last year that Mathias and Looze entertained the idea of him competing again, given the declining state of men's breaststroke in the U.S. and the addition of 50-meter breast, fly and backstroke to the 2028 Olympic program.
Within a couple of months, he had qualified for Pan Pacs.
“Maybe to be this good at breaststroke,” Mathias joked, “you got to not swim it for six years.”
He projects an easygoing attitude, perhaps because of his winding career path.
“It’s taught me a lot of lessons, given me a lot of experience and wisdom,” he said. “When you swim your best, you're pretty relaxed.”
Besides his swimming, Mathias' black mustache makes him a standout on the pool deck. His girlfriend has been passing out stick-on 'staches to other swimmers and fans this week.
"It's a look good, feel good thing. It gives me confidence,” he said. “There's also some guys that just rock great mustaches — Tom Selleck, Kurt Rambis, look him up, Mark Spitz, John Naber. Legends. Hopefully, I can add myself to that Mount Rushmore of moustaches.”
And find himself on the podium at the LA Olympics.
"Hopefully I just keep getting better and better,” he said.
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Van Mathias, of the United States, right, celebrates after winning the 100 meters breaststroke alongside silver medalist Shin Ohashi, of Japan, at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026 in Irvine, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Van Mathias, of the United States, competes in the 100 meters breaststroke at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026 in Irvine, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Van Mathias, of the United States, competes in the 100 meters breaststroke at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026 in Irvine, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Van Mathias, of the United States, celebrates after winning the 100 meters breaststroke at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026 in Irvine, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
