Portland Thorns – Page 2 – Women's Soccer Express

NWSL News of Note: Wave sign UCLA’s Quincy McMahon, Thorns acquire Brazilian Daiane, Spirit re-sign Kaylie Collins, Courage CSO departs, “Gotham FC Alliance” announced

On Friday, two clubs announced additions: The San Diego Wave have signed UCLA defender Quincy McMahon, and the Portland Thorns have acquired Brazilian center-back Daiane via a transfer from CR Flamengo.

Additionally, the Washington Spirit have retained goalkeeper Kaylie Collins for the 2025 season.

In team news, the North Carolina Courage’s front office is without a Chief Soccer Officer after the departure of Curt Johnson.

Also, Gotham FC have announced a “Gotham FC Alliance” program for youth clubs which will involve player identification and development opportunities in order “to create a professional player pathway”.

NWSL Transactions Catch-Up: Lundkvist stays with Wave; Thorns extend Hirst and McKenzie; Pikkujämsä will return to Racing; Biegalski re-ups with Red Stars; Dash retain Chapman, Harris, Hinz, and West

Lost in the buzz surrounding the 14 clubs dropping their end-of-season roster updates on Tuesday were some player transactions, a few of which were not publicized separate from the roster updates.

On Tuesday, five teams retained a total of nine additional current players:

The Chicago Red Stars have signed Camryn Biegalski to a new one-year-contract.
The Houston Dash re-signed three players — Allysha Chapman, Jyllissa Harris, and Amanda West — and optioned a fourth: Goalkeeper Heather Hinz.
Racing Louisville and Elli Pikkujämsä exercised a mutual option which should keep her in the Derby City through the 2025 NWSL season.
The Portland Thorns have retained Sophie Hirst and Mallie McKenzie via new contracts.
San Diego Wave and Hanna Lundkvist also exercised a mutual option.

For coverage of additional transactions see: “NWSL News of Note: Royals sign 15-year-old KK Ream, Wave trade Christen Westphal to Dash, Kat Asman signed by Pride, Red Bull Arena is now ‘Sports Illustrated Stadium'”.

NWSL: End-Of-Season Roster Updates for All 14 Clubs (10-Dec-2024)

On Tuesday, December 10th, all 14 NWSL teams published their initial offseason rosters. This post includes the announced roster for each club, in a standardized format.

The lists for each club are organized as follows:

Currently Signed: All players signed to a contract (for at least part of 2025) but not presently loaned to another club.
Out on Loan: Signed players that have current loan agreements.
Loan Expired: Players on loan from other clubs who have returned to their home club.
In Negotiations: Free agent players that the club acknowledges as still negotiating.
Free Agents: Players with expiring contracts that have not been retained and/or with options that have not been exercised.
Retired: Players that have announced their retirements from professional club soccer.

USWNT News of Note: Lily Yohannes commits to the USA, Sophia Smith ankle injury update, Trinity Rodman goes the full 120, Tierna Davidson returns to Gotham’s line-up

This post was originally going to be centered around fitness updates on a few players, but stop the presses… Ajax midfielder Lily Yohannes, who does not turn eighteen until next June, has chosen to represent the United States.

In not-so-good news, Portland Thorns head coach Rob Gale made some comments regarding Sophia Smith’s recent ankle injury that raises the question of whether she should be called up for the USWNT’s upcoming European friendlies against England and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, two Olympic gold medalists who were left off of the USWNT’s roster for its trio of October friendlies due to injury issues played full matches over the weekend: Gotham FC center-back Tierna Davidson returned for her first match in almost a month, while forward Trinity Rodman played the full 120 minutes in the Washington Spirit’s extra-time victory over Bay FC.

NWSL News of Note: Chicago Red Stars rebrand; Leroux, DiBernardo, McNabb, and Brown extend; Lacasse and Ordóñez on SEI List; Montefusco retires

Among the notables that happened during the international break…

The Chicago Red Stars drop “Red” from the club’s name and introduced a new crest.
Four players signed new contracts: Sydney Leroux of Angel City, Vanessa DiBernardo of the Kansas City Current, Kristen McNabb of the San Diego Wave, and Ryanne Brown of the Seattle Reign.
Also, Megan Montefusco (née Oyster) of the Orlando Pride officially announced her retirement. Montefusco was twice capped by the senior USWNT.
Two players, Cloé Lacasse (ACL/meniscus) of the Utah Royals and the Houston Dash’s Diana Ordóñez (shoulder surgery) were moved to the Season-Ending Injury List.
In coaching news, Utah Royals interim head coach Jimmy Coenraets is no longer “interim” after signing a two-year contract.
The NWSL Disciplinary Committee announced additional match suspensions for Chicago Red Stars forward Ludmila and Washington Spirit forward Rosemonde Kouassi.

Additionally, the league announced that Grammy-winner Melissa Etheridge will be performing the National Anthem at the 2024 NWSL Championship in Kansas City, Missouri.

NWSL News of Note: Merritt Mathias and Desiree Scott announces retirement, Alexa Spaanstra and Shae Holmes extend, Wave sale completed, Expansion update

This week, two long-time NWSL players, who both played in the NWSL’s inaugural season, Angel City defender Merritt Mathias and Kansas City Current midfielder Desiree Scott, announced their retirements.

Meanwhile, three players —Portland Thorns forward Alexa Spaanstra, Seattle Reign center-back Shae Holmes, and Orlando Pride forward Summer Yates — are set to stay in the NWSL through the 2026 season.

Also, Racing Louisville back-up goalkeeper Olivia Sekany has been loaned to the Brisbane Roar of the A-League until early March 2025.

In team news, the sale of the San Diego Wave from Ron Burkle to the family of Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine has been completed.

Regarding expansion, an article from Sports Business Journal has added Nashville and Philadelphia to the list of known bids in the hunt for the second 2026 expansion franchise.

Finally, the Red Stars are not the only professional soccer team in Chicago looking to build a new soccer-specific stadium.

NWSL News of Note: Dash sign U-18 midfielder Zoe Matthews, Olivia Wade-Katoa on SEI List, Bay FC sign midfielder Catherine Paulson

Friday’s notables all involve midfielders:

The Houston Dash signed 6’2″ midfielder Zoe Matthews under the U18 Entry Mechanism. Matthews is eligible to play for both Jamaica and the USA.
The Portland Thorns placed rookie midfielder Olivia Wade-Katoa is out for the rest of the season and will undergo knee surgery.
Bay FC signed Catherine Paulson for the remainder of the season. Paulson had been a National Team Replacement Player during Savy King’s absence.

NWSL News of Note: Andi Sullivan out with torn ACL, Frankie Tagliaferri leaves Royals, New role for Karina LeBlanc, Cleveland rumors

This week, the Washington Spirit placed midfielder Andi Sullivan on the season-ending injury list after she suffered a torn ACL in the Spirit’s match last Sunday against the Orlando Pride. In other player news, midfielder Frankie Tagliaferri is no longer with the Utah Royals.

Also, Portland Thorns general manager Karina LeBlanc will transition to a new position with RAJ Sports, which owns both the Portland Thorns as well as Portland’s new WNBA franchise.

Additionally, on Wednesday, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman visited Cleveland, meeting with the Cleveland Pro Soccer organization and local leaders.

NWSL News of Note, Teams Edition: Billionaire Marc Lasry expected to acquire controlling stake in Courage; Bay FC to build training facility, Current stadium to host 2025 NCAA College Cup

Leading this edition of notables is the news that Steve Malik, the primary owner of the North Carolina Courage is in formal talks to sell a 60% stake in the Courage to billionaire Marc Lasry. Should that deal go through retired NWSL player Lauren Holiday is expected to have “a very active role” in the Courage organization.

Also, Bay FC has announced plans to acquire a lease of land on Treasure Island, in the San Francisco Bay, for a permanent and dedicated training facility, which would also include offices for its sporting operations.

In head coaching news, the Houston Dash have officially parted ways with Fran Alonso who had been mysteriously absent from the team since the end of June.

Other notables include:

Angel City: MLS club Los Angeles FC acquires minority stake
Kansas City Current: CPKC Stadium will host 2025 NCAA Women’s College Cup
Gotham FC: Ali Krieger named Club Ambassador
Portland Thorns: RAJ Sports awarded Portland WNBA Franchise
Racing Louisville’s attendance woes — “We’d love to see more of you”

Angel City’s violation of the salary cap and other league rules is covered in a separate post: Angel City FC fined $200,000 and docked 3 points for violating salary cap and other league rules.

Additionally, SafeSports investigation into former Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames has apparently been closed due to “insufficient” evidence. However, the root cause appears to be a blatantly deficient investigation.

NWSL News of Note, Players Edition: Christine Sinclair announces retirement, Contract renewals include Alyssa Naeher, Ann-Katrin Berger, Julie Doyle, and Tara McKeown

Leading the notables since the last update is the announcement by one of the all-time greats, Christine Sinclair, who will be ending her professional playing career at the end of the season.

Another retiring player, Gotham FC’s Kelley O’Hara was placed on the season-ending injury list due to “chronic knee degeneration”.

In other player-related news, three goalkeepers extended with their clubs: Alyssa Naeher of the Chicago Red Stars, Ann-Katrin Berger of Gotham FC, and Jordan Silkowitz of Bay FC.

Other players re-signing with their clubs include

Orlando Pride: Julie Doyle
Washington Spirit: Tara McKeown
Houston Dash: Sophie Schmidt
Utah Royals: Laura Flynn and Cristina Rogue

Additionally, the Washington Spirit have loaned defender Waniya Hudson to the Dallas Trinity of the USL Super League for the remainder of her contract.