Tobin Heath is opening up about the 2020 NWSL expansion draft and the heartbreak that came with it.
At the time, Heath was playing with Manchester United in the Women’s Super League, with the Portland Thorns retaining her NWSL rights. Heath, who had been with the club since their inaugural season in 2013, was selected by Racing Louisville in the expansion draft after going unprotected by Portland.
In the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show,” Heath called her selection by Louisville “the biggest heartbreak of my life.”
“For me, playing in Portland was one of the greatest honors of my life. It gave me a childhood dream,” she said. “It was a big surprise to me to learn I was picked up in the expansion process. And I will say, I envisioned myself playing in Portland for the rest of my career.
“I envisioned myself living in Portland for the rest of my life and putting all of my football and everything that community gave me back into the club.”
While she was playing with Manchester United during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was told “by all parties” in the NWSL that she didn’t have to worry about the expansion draft. But she knew as soon as she got the phone call that she had been picked up.
“Immediately, I was kind of in denial,” she said, noting that she told her agent to tell Racing Louisville that “there’s no way I will ever show up.” She held true to that, continuing to play overseas before her rights were eventually traded to OL Reign. She played five games for the Seattle-based club in 2022 before being sidelined by injury.
“In one way, it had nothing to do with that particular club, but it had everything to do with the club I was currently on,” she said. “I have never cried harder in my life. I couldn’t console myself.”
Both Heath and co-host Christen Press also talked more generally about the expansion draft and the effect that it can have on players.
“Sometimes players are really excited about it. Sometimes players want to move,” Heath said. “So then there’s the very opposite of that, where maybe there’s a player that has signed a long-term contract with a club, has invested time there, has put down roots there, and they are left unprotected and therefore could be picked up.
“And I think there’s a little bit of chicken and egg that happens, where clubs play some games seeing which players they can leave unprotected and still have the feeling that they won’t get picked.”
Press talked about the issue with the NWSL basing its structure, including the expansion draft, off American sports leagues such as the NBA and NHL, rather than mirroring the European soccer system.
“My issue with our league being based off those leagues is multifaceted, but one big problem, I think, when it comes to reallocating or the way that players are moved around and traded around, it doesn’t work for this league because the players aren’t getting paid enough,” she said. “All of the moving pieces, which in this case are human beings, really matter.”
The 2023 NWSL Championship pits OL Reign against Gotham FC. The league is guaranteed to crown a new champion, as neither franchise has ever won the title before.
In honor of this year’s championship match, Just Women’s Sports takes a look back at the nine previous winners.
2022: Portland Thorns FC
The Thorns won their league-leading third championship, fending off the Kansas City Current in the title game.
After finishing second in the league standings with a 10-9-3 record, Portland received a first-round bye as a result, then beat the expansion San Diego Wave in the semifinals. The 2-1 victory included a goal from Rocky Rodriguez and a stoppage-time winner by Crystal Dunn, who had only recently returned from maternity leave.
The 2-0 win over Kansas City in the final included a memorable goal (and celebration) from Sophia Smith as well as an own goal in the 56th minute. Smith – who became the youngest player to win league MVP that year – also was named Finals MVP.
2021: Washington Spirit
The Washington Spirit won their first title after finishing the regular season in third place with an 11-6-7 record. Ashley Hatch won the league’s Golden Boot that year with 10 total goals.
Hatch provided the stoppage-time winner for Washington in its first-round match against the North Carolina Courage. In the semifinals, goals from Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez sent OL Reign packing in a 2-1 win. The Spirit faced the Chicago Red Stars in the championship, with Kelley O’Hara providing the stoppage-time winner.
Note: The NWSL did not hold a regular season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, teams competed in the first iteration of the Challenge Cup tournament, which was won by the Houston Dash.
2019: North Carolina Courage
The Courage won the second of their back-to-back titles after also winning the Shield in both seasons. They finished the regular season with 49 points and a 15-4-5 record while also gathering an astounding +31 goal differential – more than double that of second-place Chicago. Lynn Williams was once again the team’s leading scorer with 12 goals.
The Courage beat the Reign, 4-1, in the semifinals thanks to goals from Heather O’Reilly, Debinha and Crystal Dunn, as well as an own goal from the opposing team. And then they topped the Red Stars, 4-0, in the championship game, with Debinha, Dunn, Jessica McDonald and Sam Mewis all getting in on the scoring.
2018: North Carolina Courage
North Carolina won the title and the Shield after finishing the regular season with a 17-6-1 record, 15 points ahead of the second-place Thorns. Goals from Jessica McDonald and Sam Mewis in the semifinal round propelled the team to a 2-0 win over Chicago.
The Courage went on to beat Portland, 3-0, in the final off a McDonald brace and a goal from Debinha. Lynn Williams finished as the team’s leading scorer with 14 goals, while McDonald ranked first in the league in assists.
2017: Portland Thorns FC
Portland’s second NWSL title came four years after its first. The team was led in goals by Christine Sinclair, who had eight on the season. The Thorns finished second in the league in the regular season with a 14-5-5 record, two points behind the North Carolina Courage.
A 4-1 win over the Orlando Pride in the semifinals set up a clash with the Courage in the championship, which Portland won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Lindsey Horan in the 50th minute.
2016: Western New York Flash
The Western New York Flash won the title in 2016 after finishing the regular season fourth in the NWSL standings and barely sneaking into the playoffs. They beat out the Reign for the final playoff spot by two points, finishing with a 9-5-6 record – winning just one more game than Seattle. Lynn Williams was the leading scorer for the team and the league with 11 goals.
The playoffs that season featured extra time in every single game played, with New York beating Portland in the semifinals, 4-3, thanks to a stoppage-time winning brace from Williams.
The Flash would go on to face the Washington Spirit in the final, which finished in a 2-2 tie after regulation and extra time off goals from Williams and Sam Mewis and Williams for New York and a Crystal Dunn brace for Washington. The Flash took home the title with a 3-2 win in the penalty shootout.
2015: FC Kansas City
For the second year in a row, the Reign won the Shield and FC Kansas City won the NWSL title, with the Seattle club finishing as the runner-up. Kansas City finished third in the regular season with a 9-5-6 record, led by Crystal Dunn who had 15 goals.
They beat Chicago in the semifinal, with a brace from Rocky Rodriguez propelling them to a 3-0 win. Rodriguez would play hero again in the championship game, scoring the game’s lone goal in a 1-0 win for Kansas City. This marked the Reign’s last appearance in the NWSL championship until 2023.
2014: FC Kansas City
FC Kansas City won the first of their two NWSL titles in 2014, finishing the season second in league standings with 41 points and a 12-5-7 record. The Reign were far and away the best team of the regular season with 54 points and a +30 goal differential.
Kansas City beat Portland, 2-0, in the semifinal round, setting up a championship showdown between the two best teams of the regular season. Rocky Rodriguez netted a brace to give Kansas City the 2-1 win.
2013: Portland Thorns FC
Portland’s winning history in the NWSL dates back to the first-ever league championship, with star players including Christine Sinclair, Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath gracing the field for the club.
The Thorns beat FC Kansas City in the semifinal round and then Shield winners Western New York Flash, 2-0, in the championship match to take home the title off goals from Heath and Sinclair.
Crystal Dunn will not return to the Portland Thorns, she announced Thursday via Instagram.
A 2019 World Cup champion with the U.S. women’s national team and a three-time NWSL champion, the 31-year-old enters the offseason as an unrestricted free agent. After three seasons in Portland, she will seek a new team for her “next chapter,” she wrote.
Dunn started her NWSL career with the Washington Spirit after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft. After three seasons and an MVP award in Washington, she departed to join Chelsea in the Women’s Super League, but she returned to the NWSL in 2018 with the North Carolina Courage. She helped North Carolina to the 2018 and 2019 NWSL titles, and a three-team trade brought Dunn to Portland in October 2020.
While she missed much of the 2022 season for the Thorns due to pregnancy, she returned in September less than four months after giving birth to son Marcel to give the team a boost in its run to an NWSL championship.
Portland entered the 2023 NWSL playoffs as the No. 2 seed, but the Thorns lost in the semifinal round to No. 6 seed Gotham FC.
“My time in Portland has come to an end and I am extremely grateful for all the memories,” she wrote. “This decision has weighed heavily on me for a while but I am ready for a new journey.”
Dunn praised her teammates and Portland fans in the lengthy Instagram caption announcing her departure. She also made an oblique reference to the abuse scandal that rocked the franchise.
“Reflecting on the past three years, it is clear to me that trust and accountability are the basis for a strong and resilient culture,” she wrote. “My time in Portland has held moments of great success and absolutely heartbreaking experiences. These moments have not only shaped some of the most challenging years of my career, but also me.
“I am walking away, knowing the woman, the mom, the teammate, and the friend I will forever be as I look ahead to my next chapter. I will always hold this city close to my heart. Thank you, for allowing me to meet the most resilient, authentic version of myself.”
The NWSL playoff format needs an overhaul, Christen Press and Tobin Heath argued on the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show.”
Press and Heath broke down the format on their podcast, which they brought back for the NWSL playoffs. In 2021, the NWSL expanded the postseason to six teams, giving the top two seeds a bye into the semifinal round.
“It is bizarre and lopsided,” Press said.
With the top seeds getting a bye – and, this year, with an international break in between rounds – they face a two- or three-week break between their regular-season finales and their first playoff games. In this year’s playoffs, the No. 1 seed San Diego Wave and the No. 2 seed Portland Thorns both lost in the semifinals, while No. 4 seed OL Reign and No. 6 seed Gotham FC advanced to the championship match. And while both missed the 2023 season with injuries, both have been tracking the postseason.
“There’s a lot to be said for form and staying in form, and playing games and being in a little bit of flow versus just sitting on your hands waiting for your most important match of your season,” Press continued.
For Heath, the argument showed in two players: Sophia Smith and Rose Lavelle. Both players are coming off injuries. But Smith had to leave Portland to play with the USWNT during the international break, while Lavelle stayed behind and trained with OL Reign. And Lavelle got some minutes in her team’s quarterfinal game, which helped her ramp up for the semifinal round.
“And who knows, everybody is at a different form in their recovery,” Heath said. “But it just shows how disruptive it is to these players to have an international break for the top players.
“And then also the bye — like for Portland, they had lost. They had played their last game of the season, lost in a crazy loss to Angel City and then their first game of their playoff they play and they lose.”
Heath extended the argument to the NWSL calendar as a whole, which runs into FIFA’s international windows in September and October during the most important stretches of the league season.
“Imagine if it’s the NBA, and all of a sudden Team USA Basketball says, ‘Oh, you just won. Before you go to the final series, you’re going to come over and play with a different team for a couple of weeks, and then go back and try to win a championship with your team,’” Heath said. “It’s just unheard of. It would never happen. It’s disruptive. It shows that the best team isn’t going to be the most likely team to win a championship. It’s very hard to do.”
As Just Women’s Sports writer Claire Watkins pointed out ahead of the playoffs, quarterfinalists have made deep runs since the NWSL expanded its postseason format. Since 2021, five of the six finalists have played in the quarterfinal round, which Press calls “proof enough” that the format needs changing.
“So NWSL organizers, if you’re listening to this, I think we could use a little refresh of the playoff format,” she said.
Heath agreed, adding: “We just need to go to a European calendar. Period, full stop. It’s going to be disruption to the max until we’ve become legit.”
@justwomenssports It’s time for the #NWSL quarterfinals, a round that as produced three out of the last four finalists since the league changed their playoff format. San Diego and Portland are sitting on playoff byes wondering the age old question: is rest better, or momentum? #soccer #woso ♬ original sound - Just Women’s Sports
Becky Sauerbrunn is going to test the waters of free agency.
The 38-year-old defender has played for three different teams in her NWSL career, including the Utah Royals, who are set to make their return to the league, and FC Kansas City. But she’s been with Portland since 2020, and she won an a NWSL championship with the team in 2022.
Heading into the offseason, though, she will experience free agency for the first time since it began in 2022 under the league’s first-ever collective bargaining agreement with the NWSL Players Association.
“You know, our PA fought very hard for free agency,” Sauerbrunn said. “And so I absolutely am going to experience what it’s like to be a free agent and then kind of see where it all pans out.”
Of course, Sauerbrunn still could end up sticking with the Thorns. And if she does want to stay in Portland, it could behoove her to wait on signing a new contract until after the expansion draft on Dec. 15, as free agents are not available for selection and therefore do not need to be protected.
Still, Sauerbrunn also recognizes that tides can change, and that’s all just a part of the game, she said after Portland’s NWSL semifinal loss.
“I think we as just being professionals, like we know that the team that you’re with, can always change,” Sauerbrunn said. “And we have been very well aware of that through this year. It’s actually something like that motivated us. The women in this locker room will never be the same after this year.”
The Thorns really took time to appreciate “every single moment that we’ve had together,” Sauerbrunn said. But, the locker room changing in the offseason, is a “sad fact of being professional athletes.”
“Right now it hurts. Yeah, it’s tough,” head coach Mike Norris said. “I think whether you’ve got contracts or not, I think the nature of this business, when you end a season, there’s a very good chance it’s not going to be the same group.
“I think there’s hurt right now. But there’s a lot of pride. I think this group has been through a lot in my time with the club. And particularly in my role here through the offseason, through the season. It’s been bumpy, but the group stuck together. They’re a really resilient group to take pride in the excellence in terms of how they show up every day for the fans every day for each other.”
Portland Thorns star Sophia Smith fought off two Gotham FC defenders and charged down the rain-soaked field toward opposing goalkeeper Mandy Haught. With the scoreless match on her foot, Smith sprinted closer and closer to Haught. But Haught reached her first.
The Gotham netminder threw herself at Smith’s feet and robbed the MVP candidate of the ball, killing the Thorns’ best scoring chance of the game and helping to secure her team’s 1-0 victory over the No. 2 seed Thorns in extra time at Portland’s Providence Park.
“I saw Crystal, I saw Soph, and I was like, ‘OK, let’s make something happen,’” Haught said. “On the pass, I was just ready, I was balanced to go forward. … I wanted to command my box and come out there strong, and that’s exactly what I did.”
With the win, Haught and No. 6 seed Gotham advance to the NWSL Championship at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 11, at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium. The 2023 final will be the first in franchise history for the New Jersey-based club, which won its first playoff match in the first round over the North Carolina Courage.
Portland spent the majority of the first half on the defensive, with Gotham maintaining possession almost 70% of the time. The Thorns were able to even out the possession through the rest of the match. But, after not playing together for three weeks due to their first-round bye and then the international break, Portland was unable to stall New York’s momentum.
WHAT A STOP MANDY HAUGHT!! pic.twitter.com/C77Z9alcgV
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 6, 2023
Gotham’s stifling defense limited scoring chances for the Thorns, holding them to three shots on target and six scoring chances total. Each time Portland got the ball into New York’s third, Gotham had an answer.
“We did such an amazing job at regaining the ball in the middle, we doubled down and we had back pressure,” Haught said. “And that was just incredible fight from everyone on the team to press from behind and from the front. And that is really how we were able to stop a lot of their transitions and attacks.”
Haught’s stop of Smith in the 79th minute helped to force extra time.
And in the 107th minute, Katie Stengel netted the game-winning goal for Gotham — a boot through traffic into the top left corner of the cage. But it was Gotham’s scrappy defense that put the reigning NWSL champions away and extended captain Ali Kreiger’s career.
“It literally has taken everyone this year to get to where we are,” Haught said. “It’s just the amazing camaraderie in this group that’s just like, ‘We’re going to do this for us, we’re going to do this for Kriegs, we’re not done yet and we’re going to go all the way.”
The Gotham FC bench came up big in extra time in Sunday’s NWSL semifinal win over the defending champion Portland Thorns.
In Gotham’s 1-0 victory at Portland’s Providence Park, the lone goal came off the foot of forward Katie Stengel, with an assist from midfielder Kristie Mewis.
Both Mewis and Stengel came on as substitutes, with Mewis replacing Esther González in the 80th minute and Stengel replacing Delanie Sheehan in the 100th minute. They provided a the difference in a rain-soaked, defensive battle.
In the 107th minute, Mewis directed a failed Thorns clearance to Stengel at the top of the box. Stengel nudged the ball to her left to set up her shot, then used her left foot to send it flying over several Thorns defenders and into the top left corner of the net.
The shot went against the usual advice of head coach Juan Carlos Amorós, who tells his players to keep the ball “on the floor,” Stengel said.
“So I thought: Let’s do the exact opposite,” she said. “And it worked out!”
KATIEEEEEEE STENGELLLLLLL!!!!!!!!
— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) November 6, 2023
also, welcome back Kristie Mewis. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/WPSdHvCQY1
Stengel joined Gotham on loan from Liverpool in July, a move which became a permanent transfer in September. The 31-year-old forward has signed with the New Jersey-based club through the 2025 NWSL season.
In eight appearances for Gotham in 2023, Stengel has three goals, including Sunday’s game-winner. Her first goal for the club this season, which came in her very first appearance, also came against Portland.
“When I was here even temporarily, it felt like a more of a home,” Stengel said. “It felt like everyone was a part of this team, family environment. … So I was sold early on, just with the team culture and professionalism on and off the field, and it was great to be part of — and even better that we get to go to the final now.”
Mewis played her first minutes for Gotham FC since playing in the 2023 World Cup with the U.S. women’s national team. The 32-year-old midfielder has been out with a lower leg injury, and she was listed as questionable on the availability report ahead of the semifinal.
“What we’ve shown, and what they’ve shown, is: This is a squad of 25, 26 players, where everyone is important and key at certain points of the season,” Amorós said.
When Sophia Smith and Sam Coffey cast their votes for the NWSL end-of-season awards, the choice was easy.
Both Smith and Coffey are nominated for the MVP award, but they did not vote for themselves. Rather, each Portland Thorns teammate threw their support behind the other, with Coffey voting for Smith and Smith voting for Coffey.
“I already voted for her,” Coffey said, turning to Smith beside her at Friday’s press conference. “I think I put all Thorns, especially you and Morgan (Weaver) were at the top. I don’t know if that’s wrong to do.”
For the MVP award, Smith and Coffey are up against San Diego Wave defender Naomi Girma, Kansas City Current forward Debinha and North Carolina Courage forward Kerolin.
Smith is the reigning winner of the award. In 2022, the 23-year-old forward became the youngest winner in NWSL history after scoring 14 goals in 18 appearances. In 2023, she already has won the Golden Boot with a league-leading 11 goals in 17 appearances.
Yet while Smith gets plenty of attention for her scoring touch, she is more than happy to share the spotlight with Coffey, who has excelled for Portland as a defensive midfielder.
“I love to see Sam get the attention and the praise and the respect that she deserves,” Smith said. “As a team, we’ve been seeing this all year, seeing it last year, and I think finally people are seeing it too and realizing how important she is to this team.
“And what she does — I don’t think any other midfielder in the league is doing what she does, and she’s doing it consistently. And that’s a really hard thing to do. So I love to see Sam up for MVP because I think she’s really really worthy of that.”
For her part, Coffey is flattered by the nomination, but she has her sights set on another NWSL Championship. The Thorns won the 2022 title, and they’ll face Gotham FC at 7 p.m. ET Sunday with a shot in the 2023 title game on the line.
“Of course any recognition is is always appreciated,” she said. “But at the end of the day, and I know Soph agrees with me, none of it matters if we don’t get business done on Sunday. And ultimately after that, obviously one thing at a time, but we we have our eyes on the ultimate prize. And so none of these things matter unless that gets done.”
U.S. women’s national team stars Naomi Girma, Sophia Smith and Sofia Huerta have joined a new initiative aimed at tackling the rising mental health issues in soccer.
Girma, Smith and Huerta are among the international players to back the “Create the Space” project. Arsenal’s Beth Mead and Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell also are involved.
Through “Create the Space,” these players will join forces with Common Goal to develop a program that will help break down the stigma surrounding mental health. Both clubs and individuals can make use of the program.
Girma has been involved with Common Goal since before the 2023 World Cup. Girma and Smith also dedicated their World Cup journeys and their participation in the initiative to their Stanford teammate Katie Meyer, who died by suicide last spring.
On Thursday, Girma said that the new initiativ “will help people be the best versions of themselves and may even save lives.”
“What I have learned through losing my best friend, is that everyone struggles in their own way, even when it doesn’t seem they are,” Girma said. “Suffering doesn’t always look like the way it’s portrayed in the movies. No matter if I am a professional athlete, a student or whatever, making sure that I’m checking in on others and checking in on myself is so important.”
In England, Common Goal will develop a program alongside charity Football Beyond Borders.
“In January I lost my Mum and because of the injury I couldn’t play football, which was always my escape, my happy place,” Mead said. “Moments when people thought I was fine because of my outgoing personality, were very dark.
“It’s been a tough process to understand. Teammates, people at the club, family and friends that supported me were so important, without them I could have been in a far darker place. I want to help create an environment in which it’s totally normal to address mental health.
“There’s not a perfect way of dealing with it, but if you feel you’re not alone it helps so much. We need to normalize mental health and in doing so that would go a long way.”
Note: If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or is in emotional distress, call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.
The NWSL semifinals kick off on Sunday, as OL Reign travels to San Diego to take on the No. 1 Wave and Gotham FC goes up against the No. 2 Portland Thorns. The schedule leading up to the second round of the 2023 playoffs has been disjointed, with an international break causing the semifinals to be played two weeks after the quarterfinal matches.
The pause puts each club in a unique position. They’re going to have to manage the tired legs of their international stars while also re-engaging those who haven’t played a competitive match for up to three weeks.
Here’s where each team stands on the momentum scale, and here’s how they can find their way through a semifinal.
No. 1 San Diego Wave
The Wave are in an interesting position going into their first playoff game of the 2023 postseason. They haven’t played a match together since Oct. 15, and they’ve had a number of players away for international duty over the past week. Despite finishing the season as the Shield winners, they haven’t beaten the Reign once in 2023, and the Seattle side has to feel good about a chance at an upset.
All signs, however, point to San Diego having enough positive energy to find their breakthrough against the Reign when it matters most. In their final regular season game, they clinched the team’s first-ever NWSL Shield with a comprehensive win over Racing Louisville. USWNT star Alex Morgan and rising star Jaedyn Shaw scored in that match and carried their momentum into the international break. Shaw, in particular, impressed at the international level, earning her first two caps and scoring her first goal for the U.S. senior team.
Other San Diego mainstays also seem sufficiently played-in despite the break. Kailen Sheridan appeared in one match for Canada against Brazil this week, while Naomi Girma held down the USWNT backline with her usual consistency. Forward Kyra Carusa also scored a huge goal to bolster Ireland in Nations League action. It speaks to San Diego’s roster construction that so many international standouts will be featured in their postseason run, and if manager Casey Stoney can manage tired legs, they have a real shot at playing in the championship game at home.
No. 4 OL Reign
The Reign enter their semifinal on an unbeaten streak that has extended over a month. They had a big win in their regular season finale, 3-0 over Chicago, and gritted out a cagey match against Angel City in the quarterfinals. The pace of that match never fully opened up, meaning the Reign should have had ample time for recovery over the past two weeks.
But if San Diego is dealing with tired legs, the Reign might have a few players feeling even more fatigued with a short turnaround. Center back Alana Cook played two full 90-minute games with the USWNT, and defensive midfielder Emily Sonnett carried the most minutes at the No. 6 than any of her U.S. teammates. Jess Fishlock played two full matches with Wales, while Quinn and Jordan Huitema both got minutes for Canada. Their consistency in playing time will be an asset, but with little time off since the end of the regular season, manager Laura Harvey may have to get strategic with minutes for some of her key contributors.
The Reign’s capacity to weather the storm is twofold: They have players who didn’t travel for international duty, and their preferred style of play should suit them. Rose Lavelle was allowed to stay with her club over the break, continuing to build her fitness from an injury after making a return in the quarterfinal. Megan Rapinoe also stayed with the Reign after retiring from the USWNT in September. OL Reign plays a pragmatic, methodical tempo, as seen in their quarterfinal win. Their ability to hold onto the ball, retain their shape and keep the game in front of them — rather than turning it into a footrace — will work in their favor.
My pick
San Diego Wave over OL Reign, 1-0
No. 2 Portland Thorns
The Thorns might be the most displeased with the postseason format this year, despite earning a quarterfinal bye with their second-straight second-place finish in the NWSL table. Their regular season ended on a sour note — a 5-1 dismantling at the hands of Angel City. The Thorns haven’t played since, and have sat on that defeat for three weeks as they prepare to host quarterfinalists Gotham FC.
Portland’s players called up for international duty had interesting experiences. Defensive midfielder Sam Coffey again struggled to get on the pitch for the USWNT continued, only seeing the field in the second half of the team’s second game. Forward Sophia Smith continued to build minutes in her return from an MCL sprain, playing 45 minutes on Sunday in her longest stretch since the injury. Midfielder Olivia Moultrie, appearing on her first senior team roster, did not register any minutes throughout the break.
The Thorns also have players who will be fighting fatigue. Crystal Dunn started both U.S. games at her less-preferred outside-back position, and key playmaker Hina Sugita will only have a few days to recover after Japan’s Olympic qualifying round in Uzbekistan. Outside back Natalia Kuikka will be dealing with similar travel fatigue after coming back from Finland’s matches in Croatia. While Becky Sauerbrunn returned to the USWNT fold at just the right time for Portland, who struggled defensively in their season finale, the Thorns might be balancing the worst of the “rest or rust” dichotomy.
No. 6 Gotham FC
Another thing that could concern Portland is Gotham might be the best set up of all semifinalists to carry their momentum into the semifinals. Gotham walked away from their regular season finale somewhat disappointed, settling for a draw against the eliminated Kansas City Current that pushed them into the final playoff spot and out of hosting a game.
But they bounced back with gusto, traveling to North Carolina and blanking the No. 3 seed Courage 2-0 behind goals from Delanie Sheehan and Yazmeen Ryan. The team’s ethos was on full display in the win, with their defending along the frontline wreaking havoc and forcing turnovers that spilled over into goal-scoring chances. Forward Lynn Williams carried that into one game for the U.S. this week, staying in rhythm without pushing into the red zone with too many minutes played. Forward Esther González also got a break during Spain’s final Nations League game this week.
Forward Midge Purce did not see the field for the U.S., and Bruninha was used sparingly as a substitute for Brazil in their friendlies against Canada. But the Gotham backline has remained mostly intact to train with their club. Gotham will have to embrace both an underdog and a road warrior mentality to stay on the West Coast as a finalist, but they have to feel like they have the right group to force an upset.
My pick
Gotham FC over Portland Thorns, 2-1
Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.