(in which the Riveters get stuck in for the final regular season match and prepare for the Playoffs) Pregame The first sellout of the season set a new NWSL record for total season and average game attendance, breaking the record we already held. The Thorns average attendance was greater than four MLS teams’, and the […]

(Part 2 of 3 short match reports for this busy week) A small-ish crowd of 13,752 showed up on Wednesday night to witness the Thorns lock up a playoff berth with a comprehensive 3-0 win over the Houston Dash. Unexpectedly, the Dash had been Portland’s nemesis this season posting two shutouts against us: 2-0 in […]

(Part 1 of 3 short match reports for this busy week) A crowd of 17,152 showed up on Sunday to see their first Thorns home match in more than a month and first with a full roster in more than two months. The opponent was the presumptive Wooden Spoon winner Boston Breakers and the result […]

(in which we learn that the Thorns still have work to do; and Coach Parsons runs out of ideas) The Thorns went to Seattle on Saturday and came home empty-handed, losing 3-1. It was our first game with the returning Olympians and the team looked out of sync most of the afternoon. The Reign, playing […]

There has been much speculation about the potential loss of national team players to a post-Olympics Victory Tour. Is this worth worrying about? With the facts available today, the short answer is “no”. Will there be a Victory Tour? Yes, this is a near-certainty. According the US Soccer Federation budget, a ten-game victory tour is […]

(in which the Thorns take a step backward, but it was closer than it seemed) The Thorns went to Houston and came away on the wrong end of a 3-0 result. It was our second loss in a row after twelve unbeaten. Both losses came against teams with only two wins on the season, until […]

(In which the streak ends, but not in the worst possible way) The Thorns’ undefeated streak ended on Saturday evening, so now we have that out of the way. FC Kansas City (or just “Kansas” as coach Parsons calls them) did the deed on the back of two Shea Groom headed goals. The final score […]

(in which we establish that Mark Parsons is a genius and the 2016 Thorns are something special) Sky Blue FC flew over from Newark licking their chops in anticipation of eating the Thorns’ lunch. The Thorns were down six starting players including our assist and scoring leaders – lost to national team duty. Our roster […]

(in which we ponder how the Thorns will do through the Olympics) UPDATE: Amandine Henry was at the Timbers USOC match on June 29. It now appears that she will not be joining the French Olympics training camp this week and instead will play for the Thorns this weekend! Opinions vary widely about the Thorns’ […]