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(in which the Thorns go cross-country and lose a tight one) The Thorns visited the North Carolina Courage for their inaugural home match on the lovely pitch at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. The game was a chippy affair with 21 fouls called, two yellow cards issued, a saved penalty kick and several angry […]

And Away We Go

(In which the 2017 season gets an auspicious start) The Thorns started the new season with an attractive win over the Orlando Pride, the league started the new season with new media partners, and the Riveters started the new season with a display worthy of the team’s ambitions. The opening statement The Thorns won 2-0, […]

And so it ends

(In which the Curse of the Shield continues) The Thorns hosted the first post-season match in their short history and came up just short to the Western New York Flash in extended time, 3-4. The match was an exciting back-and-forth affair between two evenly matched teams. It was marked by many hard fouls and was […]

We Just Won The League!

“She who does not walk against the arrows cannot talk about the strength of her shield” paraphrasing Mehmet Murat ildan The Thorns played an energetic and organized match in Piscataway, New Jersey on Sunday and came away 3-1 victors over Sky Blue FC. Thanks to a late-season collapse by the Washington Spirit the win gave […]

Home Field Advantage

(in which the Thorns make a romp scary but still get the brass ring) With a 3-2 win on Sunday, the Thorns locked up a home semi-final match for the first time in four years. One game remains in the season and with the right results elsewhere, the team could also win the league outright […]

Hammered Rivets – Home Closer Edition

(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 […]

The Avenging

(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 […]

Starting the Week Off Right

(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 […]

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 […]