Not Quite According to Plan

(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 […]

Victory Tour Blues?

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 […]

Dashed Hopes

(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 […]

Well…Fckc

(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 […]

The Portland Sky Blues Festival

(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 […]

What, Me Worry?

(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’ […]

Full Strength

(in which the Thorns make good with their last full roster until nearly September) The Thorns played the first-place Chicago Red Stars at home on June 22 and then flew across the country to play mid-table Orlando on the 26th. The results were a nervous 2-0 win in the first match and a dramatic come-from-behind […]

Road, Sweet Road…

(In which the Thorns show their class outside Oregon, only to get some bad news back home.) Our Thorns went on the road to play two distant matches against the top two teams in the league. Both outings were excellent with a 1-1 draw at Chicago and then five days later a 2-0 win versus […]

Who is gone when?

Several folks have asked about the upcoming schedules and potential absences. I consolidated the schedule for every national team represented on the Thorns from July 1 to the end of the season. Optimistically, I am sticking by my preseason projection that Amandine Henry joins the Thorns for the July 2 home match and therefore that […]

Phew!

The Thorns survived a scare on Sunday in one of the more exciting and tense nil-nil draws you could ask to see. The team lost half its starters to national team duty yet managed to fight the nearly full-strength Seattle Reign to a stalemate at Providence Park. It is clear that Mark Parsons has brought […]