Category: Thorns
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The Portland Thorns claimed sole possession of the top of the NWSL table with their 2-0 win over Racing Louisville on Saturday evening. All time against Louisville the Thorns are 5-0-0, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one. While the scoreline may suggest a dominant performance over Louisville, the game itself left fans nervous that the Thorns would concede a goal late—not closing out the game with the professionalism and deftness the team normally shows.
The largest reason the Thorns nearly threatened their dominant 2-0 first half lead was due to the sheer number of minutes that this roster has played recently. Portland was coming off of a stretch of three games in eight days that fell right on the end of an international break. Natalia Kuikka, Christine Sinclair, Adriana Leon, Hina Sugita, and Rocky Rodríguez played international matches in Europe, while Crystal Dunn, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Sophia Smith played in the United States.
Here are the minutes that each player played for their country during the week of April 6:
Kuikka: 180’ vs Slovakia
Sugita: 77’ vs. Portugal, 3’ vs Denmark
Rodríguez: 90’ vs Poland, 90’ vs Scotland
Sinclair: 63’ vs France
Leon: 76’ vs France
Dunn: 67’ vs Ireland
Smith: 135’ vs Ireland
Sauerbrunn: 120’ vs Ireland
Six of these eight players already seemed to be heavily favored in head coach Mike Norris’ preferred starting lineup (Leon, the new arrival, and Rodríguez, who consistently comes in around the 60’ mark in the midfield notwithstanding).
Norris’ starting XI against Houston on April 14 featured nine of 11 players that started against Louisville on April 22. This would not be much of a concern, if five of the players did not also start against San Diego midweek.
Here are the minutes that the starting XI against Lousiville played during the three game stretch:
Bella Bixby: 180’
Meaghan Klingenberg: 180’
Becky Sauerbrunn: 148’
Kelli Hubly: 270’
Reyna Reyes: 158’
Sam Coffey: 180’
Crystal Dunn: 137’
Morgan Weaver: 202’
Christine Sinclair: 158’
Hina Sugita: 174’
Sophia Smith: 197’
Compounded with the minutes that these core players played during the international break, many were averaging over 300 minutes in a two-week time span.
I bring all this up because the Thorns lost the game against Louisville in a clinical sense. Racing did not play a midweek game, and many of their players did not get minutes internationally during the break either. The miles on players legs showed from the initial whistle, and it was both mental and physical fatigue that prevented the Thorns from closing out the game in a clinical sense. Every touch seemed a little heavy, and their passes seemed inches off or hit too hard, allowing Racing’s players to read and intercept them. Despite outshooting Racing 20-12, the Thorns did not outplay Louisville by any means.
While, like Norris commented on postgame, the Thorns “did not have a complete performance [and] were just a bit off in moments,” they still were able to persevere and that is a testament to the professionalism of the individual players.
However, across the highest levels of professional women’s soccer, it seems as though long term ACL, hamstring, and calf injuries are plaguing players. The schedule of women’s players have increased to match men’s sides with the introduction of things like midweek Challenge Cup games, but funding and research toward preventative care and the anatomical differences between different genders has not kept pace. The Thorns have already lost one player to a season-ending ACL injury and have yet to name a new head trainer after the firing of Pierre Soubrier. All the positive culture and fun that the Thorns have at trainings and games cannot combat the “big ask coming back from Wednesday, travel Thursday, manage players [Friday] and then put a performance in [Saturday] to get the three points,” in the words of Norris.
While the players, except Sauerbrunn, who went off around the 60th minute with an ankle injury that was being monitored all week, seemed to have made it through the three game stretch unscathed, a game against Louisville, a team the Thorns have a comprehensive history of victory against, would have been a good chance to give some of the players who typically come off the bench an opportunity to get regular season minutes.
The Portland Thorns’ 2023 Challenge Cup campaign began in a manner opposite how they started the NWSL regular season; rather than recording a four-goal victory, Portland came away from Wednesday’s match with a 1-0 defeat to the San Diego Wave.
It wasn’t a bad game by any means. With both teams putting out rotated lineups on short turnaround, the Thorns managed to hold San Diego to seven shots—only one of which was on target. The Wave’s lone goal wasn’t the result of San Diego putting together something brilliant or Portland doing anything wrong on the defensive end; it was the result of an incredibly unlucky deflection that ended in a Meaghan Nally own-goal.
“I feel a bit unfortunate, just in terms of the bounces,” Thorns head coach Mike Norris said postgame, “but we move on.”
In lieu of an analysis of what worked and what didn’t from a team perspective—something that feels less meaningful given all the lineup changes and matches on short turnaround—I’m taking a look at three players who taught us something in their performances against San Diego.
1. Adriana Leon
Short-term loanee Adriana Leon made her Thorns debut less than a week after her first training session with the team.
“I still can’t really believe that I’m back here in the league and playing with Portland,” she said after the match.
Leon looked solid in her first 68 minutes as a Thorn. She showcased a willingness to get into tackles and push forward to put the Wave under pressure. Her two shots on the night—both of which forced San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan into diving saves—epitomized that pressure: In each instance, Leon intercepted a pass by the Wave defense, dribbled forward to set herself up, and got a shot off.
Her performance in the second half, especially, is what we can expect from Leon with the team, said Norris. “She’s a front-footed winger who likes to get in one-v-one duels from an attacking perspective and produce crosses,” he said. “And if she gets an eye for goal, she’ll take it.”
The key for Leon, as with any new player, will be developing chemistry with the rest of the Thorns’ attackers. “We haven’t had too much time to train together,” she said. “But I’m excited to see what we can pull off moving forward.”
Leon’s already shown her ability to pick out attacking opportunities; if she can do that in-step with Sophia Smith, Portland will have added another lethal wrinkle to their already talent-heavy attack.
2. Reyna Reyes
Last weekend was a bit of a rough go for Reyna Reyes, who made her first professional start in Portland’s 1-1 draw against the Houston Dash.
After that game, Norris said he had no doubt Reyes would bounce back stronger—especially now that she had gotten her first-start nerves out of the way. That Norris was willing to give her the nod for a second game is a testament to his belief in her, a belief that seems well-founded given her performance against the Wave.
“I think she grew from her performance against Houston,” he said. “I think you can see her versatility being able to play on the left and right side, getting stuck into tackles, likes to play forward. I think she’s still coming to grips with the speed of the league, but happy with the start.”
Norris’ assessment feels accurate of what Reyes showed against San Diego. She looked more confident stepping to balls and using her body to shut down Rachel Hill, was willing to take players on on the dribble, and was able to connect with her teammates more often than not. (She recorded a 63% pass accuracy.) If Reyes continues to grow at the rate she has over these first couple games, she’ll cement herself as an invaluable piece of this team sooner rather than later.
3. Shelby Hogan
Sitting behind Bella Bixby in the goalkeeper depth chart, Hogan hasn’t had all that many chances to show what she can do. Still, she had an opportunity Wednesday night, and she made the most of it.
“I think the first thing that stood out was just her presence and her demeanor,” Norris said, “really calm and confident. Really composed, looked like she had a lot of games under her belt… I think it was solid confidence and a composed performance of somebody probably beyond her experience and her years.”
Even with the unlucky deflection-turned-own-goal, Hogan looked solid throughout the night. Her stellar positioning and solid handling made the couple times she came to claim a ball off a corner or cross look easy. And she was ready to deny San Diego’s Sofia Jakobsson an early chance.
SHELBY HOGAN APPRECIATION POST 🧤 #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/Rmlf94mMxa
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) April 20, 2023
It’s safe to say the Nadine Angerer goalkeeper development academy is alive and well.
Bonus: Emily Menges
Emily Menges made her first appearance for the Thorns since Aug. 24, 2022, when she came on as a second-half sub for Reyes. Especially given the last six months, it’s nice to see her back on the pitch and looking like she hasn’t missed a beat.
It isn’t easy to follow up a 4-0 season-opening home victory, but the Portland Thorns did just that Saturday in Kansas City. Portland’s 4-1 win over last year’s NWSL Championship runners-up—featuring a dominant first half and a Sophia Smith hat trick—positions them at the top of the NWSL table, tied on points with the San Diego Wave.
Despite soccer being a game of two halves, the match was something of a three-act performance: the opening 45 minutes where the Thorns dominated, Kansas City threatening and scoring early in the second half, and Smith doing Sophia Smith things in the last 10 minutes to dam the Current’s attempted comeback.
Here’s a takeaway from each of those.
1. The first half (or: Crystal Dunn)
As Jaiden wrote in their takeaways last week, the Thorns have started their 2023 season where they left off last year. Which is to say they’re still absolutely stacked with talented players who are used to playing together and won the NWSL Championship in 2022. And the Thorns have someone who was missing for much of their 2022 campaign: USWNT star, 2019 World Cup champion, and 2015 NWSL MVP Crystal Dunn.
It was Dunn who opened the scoring for Portland on Saturday, when Sam Coffey found her near post on a short corner kick and Dunn had time to control the ball, look up, and slot her shot past AD Franch.
The third-minute goal set the tone for Portland—and for Dunn’s performance, specifically—that first half.
“She was everywhere,” Smith said after the game, “defensively, offensively, spinning people.”
For Dunn, it was exactly the game she was looking for. “I literally love playing in the midfield,” she said. “It’s honestly where I feel like I’m most authentic to who I am as a player. When I’m able to connect with the forwards to be able to put them in the best position to succeed, it fills me with so much joy.”
And find her teammates she did. Dunn completed an impressive 92.3% of her passes against the Current—far ahead of anyone else on the team.
“She was doing it all,” Smith said. “It’s so much fun to play with her because you trust and you know that she’s going to be right there with you when you go to press and she’s going to be right there with you when you’re attacking.”
But Dunn wasn’t alone in her standout first half. “What I felt all of the first half was just us connecting and people making the right passes making the right decisions,” she said. “Even if it didn’t work out, it was collectively just getting back on the same page and working hard to win the ball back.”
2. Beginning the second half (or: the questions)
The thing is, we’ve seen the Thorns look really, really good this season, but we’ve seen them look really, really good against teams that are not at their best. The Orlando Pride were… not great when Portland beat them in their season opener, and Kansas City could almost field an entire star-studded XI from their injury report on Saturday.
That’s not to say that rookie Gabrielle Robinson didn’t make a few key blocks on Smith in the first half or that Franch’s positioning didn’t stifle a couple promising looks from the Thorns, but the Current’s defense was a very scrapped-together-last-minute kind of deal.
But something clearly happened during Kansas City’s halftime because they came out of the locker room ready to fight. After conceding all of one shot in the first half, the Thorns were caught on the back foot in the second, stuck defending as the Current forced one turnover and resulting chance after another.
“They fixed some things,” Portland head coach Mike Norris said. “They came up with a different energy, which we didn’t match. We had to ride that storm.” And though they did ride it, the Thorns didn’t come out unscathed; they conceded their first goal of the season to an unmarked Cece Kizer header in the 58th minute.
“I think how the team responds says a lot more about us riding the wave of momentum,” Dunn said. “We were able to get back into it, keep our heads high, staying together, everyone was positive. I think that’s really what this team is about—just being able to solve problems and do it in a way that’s positive and encouraging for everybody to kind of get on the same page.”
Although the Thorns were able to claw their way back into the game, the early second half is a good reminder that scoring four goals every match is probably not a sustainable practice, especially this season.
Maybe it’s just me still having flashbacks to 2019—does that one Courage game still haunt anyone else?—but there is a pretty large part of me that cares less about winning games 4-0 and more about Seeing That Mike Norris is Preparing for a World Cup Year.
“The key is for us to be consistent,” Norris said of upcoming international player absences, “just in terms of the environment that we create every day. The expectations that we have of the players is a big piece, regardless of who’s in or who’s not.”
All this is to say that the Thorns are really good right now, and it’s probably safe to assume that will hold true in the near future. But Portland hasn’t really played against another full-strength squad yet, and this is a year where we’ll have players in and out of the team more so than usual, and this is Norris’ first season as a head coach in this league. I’m not ready to make judgements about what we’ve seen so far means for the rest of the season yet. Still, I’m excited to watch what we have going in the meantime.
3. The last 10 minutes (or: Sophia Smith)
As mentioned above, the Current came out of the gates swinging in the second half, and it was the first time this year—in the admittedly small sample size of two games—we’ve seen the Thorns stuck trying to simply keep their opponents from scoring. The important part here is that KC cut Portland’s lead in half, and the Thorns needed something to turn the momentum back in their favor.
That something—or, rather, someone—was, unsurprisingly, Smith, who’d already put away a Portland penalty in the first half. In the 83rd minute, Smith scored her first goal in the run of play, taking on four Current players on the dribble before sneaking a shot past Franch.
“Soph is just out there doing Soph things,” Dunn said in the postgame press conference. “I expect nothing less.”
Soph continued to do Soph things in the 88th minute, finding space at the top of the box and sending a low ball into the back of the net. “I was so shocked that I had more than two seconds to think about what I was going to do,” she said. “That was definitely new to me.”
Bonus: KC takes an L (or three)
Mostly I am still obsessed with the KC photoshop here, although I do think there should be three Smiths.
can’t spell sleeve without the L #BAONPDX https://t.co/JzO2NZg8NP pic.twitter.com/5mc4CreSgr
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) April 1, 2023
The Thorns met with the USWNT U-23 team Wednesday night and came away with a sound 4-1 victory. Still, the game was not as comprehensively dominant for the Thorns as the scoreline would suggest.
The U-23s got on the scoreboard early, in the 13th minute, with a chipped ball from inside the box that sailed into the side netting. The Thorns wouldn’t score their first goal until nearly an hour later.
Portland’s starting XI was heavily rotated from Sunday night’s game against Racing Louisville:
Hogan
Nally- Menges – Provenzano – Beckman
Sinc – Porter – Rodríguez
Beckie – Bedfort – Vasconcelos
Here is a quick breakdown of how these starters played:
Players I want to see more from
Hannah Betfort: Betfort is the definition of a player who doesn’t quit. She is often taken to the ground and is unlucky to not be rewarded with more fouls. However, for the amount of chances she had on Wednesday alone, she should have had more positive output. There was one moment in particular when a loose ball made its way to her feet within the six yard box, the U-23 keeper caught off her line. Instead of tapping it in, Betfort ended up completely skying the ball, unable to tie the score. Before Betfort can compete for a starting spot in the Thorns, her scoring and shooting needs to be much more consistent.
Michelle Vasconcelos: Vasconcelos was one of the only players to start both preseason games so far. Unfortunately, neither performance has been that convincing. She played on the left wing on Wednesday, but was often caught losing the physical battles to the U-23 defenders, getting the ball poked out from under her, or unable to round the corner to get off a cross. With the forward pool so deep for the Thorns, I don’t foresee Vasconcelos getting many minutes, but it does seem that Mike Norris rates her and is giving her plenty of opportunities to show her skills.
Christine Sinclair: Sinc is an absolute legend of the game; that I cannot deny. However, watching her play, especially against a team of entirely college students, her age and speed are on full display. While her soccer IQ is still undoubtedly high, her body seems to be moving much slower than her mind is. Her first touch was often off, and she played the ball backwards more frequently than she did forwards—a problematic distinction for an attacking midfielder. She had a shot or two on goal, but both were tame, rolling straight at the U-23 keeper. Unless Sinc can show she can keep up with the pace of the game, she is much more adept in a role of mentor and supersub for the Thorns.
Players I thought played well
Izzy D’Aquilla: The newly-signed Thorn was subbed on in the 20th minute after Janine Beckie was injured. From the moment she stepped on the field, which is always more difficult when you’re coming on at the last minute to replace an injured player, D’Aquilla showed her pace and nose for goal. In only her second preseason game, she has shown her quality and her readiness for the league. With Beckie’s devastating injury, I would expect her to immediately get deserved minutes.
Natalie Beckman and Gabby Provenzano: The two 2022 draft picks have been showing consistent growth as they begin their second year in the NWSL. The two played next to one another on the left side of the backline and had good chemistry and communication. Provenzano has the necessary calm presence of a veteran center back, and Beckman’s high press on the wing caused frequent turnovers and created dangerous opportunities in the box.
Taylor Porter: Porter is starting her first full year under contract with the Thorns strong. She is a solid back-up No. 6, and in the second half, was able to show her talents alongside Sam Coffey in a double-pivot. Against the U-23d, she was able to dictate play forward toward Rocky Rodríguez and D’Aquilla. I would like to see her get minutes with the likes of Sophia Smith and Morgan Weaver up front in the next games.
The goals
One of the largest takeaways from the night was that the Thorns’ starting XI, largely comprised of players who got limited minutes in the 2022 championship campaign, are just as strong as the super team of the best college players in the country. In a year where depth will be paramount to success, seeing all the Thorns players put on a strong showing provides reasons for optimism. However, it must be said that all four of the Thorns’ goals came after their starting players from the championship game took the pitch. Sam Coffey and Natalia Kuikka came on in the 64th minute, while Smith, Weaver, Crystal Dunn, and Reyna Reyes came on in the 72nd minute.
Portland’s first goal was a pinpoint cross from Dunn to D’Aquilla, which was deftly redirected away from the keeper. The second, third, and fourth goals—all of which were scored after the 84th minute—came from recycled balls that the veterans preyed upon. Smith, Weaver, and Hina Sugita, respectively, were able to settle rebounded balls and calmly slot them home. To me, this is one of the most positive takeaways of the night, as it showed a linear improvement from last season, where the team often almost immediately lost set pieces and recycled balls.
With very few offseason moves from the Thorns after their championship winning 2022 season, creating The best Starting XI for the 2023 season is rather easy.
My ideal starting XI is a 3-2-3-2. Early in the 2022 season, Portland deployed a three-back, and it was effective. Having traded Yazmeen Ryan, the Thorns’ strongest pure-winger, I think it would be to the Thorns’ tactical advantage to use their outside backs as true wingbacks, playing the length of the field to send in crosses and dropping back provide cover. This will free up the attacking midfield and forward four players to creatively interchange through the center of the park.
Here’s why that works on a player-by-player basis.
Bella Bixby, goalkeeper
You can’t go wrong putting any Nadine Angerer-trained keeper in goal, but Bixby has earned her spot as the Thorns’ first-choice keeper. In her 22 games last season, she had 10 clean sheets and recorded a 75% save record. She conceded only 21 goals, making her tied for least number conceded for players with over 22 games played. She has a commanding presence in goal and ensures that her backline is in the right place to make her job easier. One of the skills that sets her apart from other keepers is her ability to not only save the ball, but catch it so that there are no easy rebounds for the opposition. Her calm demeanor gives a sense of security for fans and players alike.
Becky Sauerbrunn, center back
Despite her years of experience, Sauerbrunn has shown no signs of slowing down. Her ability to pinpoint sliding tackles and deftly clear the ball are intangible skills that have not diminished. In the 2022 season, Sauerbrunn had an 88.1% passing success rate, an incredibly high number for someone who plays under so much direct pressure from NWSL forwards. Of those passes, 46% were forward and only 5% backwards. Having Sauerbrunn has the stalwart of the backline will help to ensure that play will build from the back accurately and quickly. And you cannot forget that she scores goals as well, having a 50% conversion rate. She truly does it all.
Kelli Hubly, center back
The Thorns’ 2022 Ironwoman has more than earned her spot in the starting lineup since joining the team as a discovery player in 2018. She had 110 clearances and 35 interceptions last season and won nearly 60% of her duels. Hubly is a gritty player who consistently puts her body on the line in order to protect her goal. Working alongside Sauerbrunn at the back has increased her ball awareness exponentially, and when Sauerbrunn is absent for the Women’s World Cup, Hubly will be an excellent leader of the backline. Plus, her TikTok skills have increased her swagger tenfold—and, hopefully, that will translate to the pitch this season.
Meaghan Nally, center back
Nally is one player that I really wish had gotten more game time than she did last season. She started the season running, with both Menges and Sauerbrunn out with injury, and she handled the starting role with grace and confidence. In her 12 games played for the Thorns in 2022, she had 11 starts, recording an 82% passing success rate and winning 75% of her duels. Having only played 19 minutes in her rookie season the year prior, Nally showed how much she is capable of growing during an offseason—and hasn’t even hit her ceiling yet. With the opportunity to get more time at the back, she has the ability to become a pillar of the Thorns’ backline, much like Hubly.
Meghan Klingenberg, left wing back
Reyna Reyes will be hot on Kling’s heels to win that LWB starting position, but for now, Kling has put in the time and the heart to show that she deserves her place. She made 17 appearances (16 starts) for the Thorns last season, controlling the left zone of the field. While technically a defender, Kling’s biggest asset is her ability to win the ball and carry it up the field to send off a cross. Without Ryan on the left this season, the chance creator role will fall more heavily on Kling’s shoulders. She had 29 open play crosses last season, 25 of which were key passes. If she can keep those numbers up, she will be threatening in her final few seasons as a Thorn.
Natalia Kuikka, right wing back
Kuikka has been one of the Thorns’ best international signings in recent years. While her passing rate sits at a 75% accuracy, her invaluable nature comes from the tenacity of her tackles. She is 10th in the league for her number of progressive carries and eighth in the league for successful tackles of dribblers. As the Thorns’ right wing back she consistently is able to get into the attacking third and play a dangerous ball in. Kuikka also has the ability to track back and stop attackers mid-stride. The ability to be deadly on both sides of the ball will make her a strong asset for the Thorns yet again.
Sam Coffey, defensive midfield
Coffey had one of the strongest debut seasons in the NWSL, ever. She transitioned to defensive midfield—a role that she had not played before—with ease and learned on the job extremely quickly. She ranked second in the league for passes into the final third with 113 and fourth overall for progressive passes with 121. Her confidence on the ball is incredibly high, as is her IQ of the game itself. Only 24 and coming off her rookie year, Coffey’s ceiling is sky-high, and her value to the team will continue to grow exponentially. Despite her being more than deserving of a spot on the USWNT’s WWC roster, I would not complain if she stayed with the Thorns for an entire season.
Hina Sugita, center midfield
It took Sugita a few games to adjust to the speed and tempo of the NWSL, as well as its physicality. She started 20 of the 23 games she appeared in in her first season with the Thorns, scoring five goals and providing four assists. Sugita’s ability to turn out of dangerous situations is uncanny, and her left foot has some killer power behind it. Giving her the ability to play interchangeably up the middle with Sophia Smith and Morgan Weaver will give her the freedom to both drive the ball forward herself and make dangerous runs to the top of the box, where she has proven to be a threat. Hina Hive sound off!!!
Rocky Rodríguez, center midfield
Rodríguez has quietly been one of the most consistent Thorns for years, and I think that last year was when people began to realize that. Not only is she regularly scoring bangers, like in the semi-final game against San Diego, but she is one of the best progressive dribblers in the league. Her control in the middle of the field is second to none, and with her impressive performances with Costa Rica over the offseason, she is coming into the 2023 season in incredible form.
Morgan Weaver, forward
In some ways, it has felt as though Weaver has been living in Smith’s shadow since she joined the Thorns. Being picked second overall behind her and playing the same position, it is easy to see why the two players are constantly being compared. But in 2022, Weaver showed how different of a player she is from Smith. She had the second most goals on the team last season with seven, showing that her accuracy and consistency in front of net—something that she has been criticized for and is actively working on—is rapidly improving. Weaver has an engine that never quits and some of the best celebrations on the team. If her finishing numbers continue to increase, as they have every other season, she will be a force to be reckoned with.
Sophia Smith, Forward
Do I really need to elaborate here? Smith is the best soccer player in the world, currently. Of course she will start for the Thorns.
Portland Thorns defender Kelli Hubly played for Chicago Red Stars Reserves team in the summers of her college career, so she had their gear. The only other team she has merchandise of is the Thorns.
Besides the Red Stars, “The only other pro team that I ever had a connection with was the Portland Thorns,” she says. “This kind of feels like it was meant to be.”
After almost quitting soccer in college, going undrafted, and receiving limited opportunities in the early years in the pros, Hubly has shown that all paths to the league aren’t the same. Through rediscovering her love for the game and believing in her abilities as a player, she has forged a path for others to follow and succeed in the NWSL.
Hubly’s journey to PTFC stardom has been truly extraordinary. Her story represents a lifetime of hard work, determination, and perseverance. Although it was an extremely difficult path, she would not change it one bit.
“My path has been crazy, says Hubly. “Looking back, it was really hard. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything because it’s gotten me exactly where I need to be. I’ve needed each step that I had to take.”
Hubly’s love for sports started at a young age. She enjoyed playing soccer and basketball. She was always around sports, thanks to her family.
“I started like, as young as I could,” she says. “I have two older siblings and younger one. My two older siblings would always be on a 3v3 tournament. So they threw all the younger siblings together. It was, like, boys and girls co-ed.”
She wasn’t always just a soccer player; Hubly’s love extended to basketball, too. For a long period of time, it was her preferred sport, but soccer was always calling.
“I realized that the club team that I had, we were pretty good,” Hubly says. “We started together really young. So, once I kind of realized like our team was pretty good, I started doing [U.S. Soccer’s Olympic Development Program] and everything.”
Even though she was getting called up into youth national team camps, Hubly still needed more belief in her own talent before she could go all-in.
“At 15, I was going to National Team camps,” she says. “I never thought I was that good. I thought I was decent, but to go into national team camps, I still didn’t believe I was good enough to be there.”
But, she says, “I kept getting called in, so obviously I had to then start to realize, okay, like maybe soccer is the way to go.”
The love of the game has its highs and lows. In college, Hubly experienced both. The time period would be a huge reflection point in her life. She spent three years at the University of Kentucky before transferring to DePaul.
“Kentucky was really an interesting experience because SEC schools are huge,” Hubly says. “Going there my freshman year, I honestly didn’t even feel like I was there for school. I was mostly there for soccer.”
After her third year at Kentucky, she decided to transfer to DePaul. Hubly’s love for soccer was fading, and she didn’t even know if she wanted to play anymore.
“When I transferred to DePaul, I kind of, like, wasn’t gonna play soccer anymore,” Hubly says.
Hubly says Kentucky wasn’t the best fit for her, but Depaul was. “I really lost my love of the game,” she says. “Going to DePaul, finding my love for soccer again is what got me wanting to continue to play soccer. I didn’t ever think I was gonna play pro.”
After going undrafted in 2017, Hubly’s career could have been over before it even started. Luckily, fate had other ideas. Former Thorns head coach, Mark Parsons reached out and asked her to come to preseason. When the Portland Thorns offered her an opportunity as a National Team Replacement Player that year, Hubly wanted to give it a real chance.
Hubly’s start with Portland was definitely not what she imagined, but she always remained strong and determined.
In her rookie season of 2017, she made two substitute appearances.
“I think that year, I needed that to grow,” she says, “and it wasn’t fun. I didn’t have a of friends. I was really quiet.” The normally-outgoing Hubly found herself watching Love Island eight hours a day, by her estimate.
“I was sad, but I promised myself: I’m gonna give it a year,” she says. “The next year, I came back and earned a roster spot. So I think it was just like, putting my head down doing the dirty work to get here.”
From 2018 to 2021, she earned 22 appearances with 18 starts. In 2020 and 2021, she started all the NWSL Challenge Cup matches for the Thorns.
Hubly blossomed in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup. She was dominant and staked her claim as a starter at center back moving forward—but also as one of the top defenders in the league.
Dubbed “unsung hero” of Portland’s defense, per Just Women Sports’ Hanna Martin, Hubly had the stats to prove it. She had a 100% success rate in tackles, a 68.2% success rate in duels, a 75% success rate in aerial duels, and successfully completed 84% of her passes. “Often overlooked among the Thorns’ star names, Hubly is as reliable as they come in the defensive third,” writes Martin.
1,980 minutes ⚽️
Only one Kelli Hubly 👑Congratulations to our iron woman, @kellihubly who played every minute of the regular-season! 🌹 pic.twitter.com/5x8902gwTL
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) October 12, 2022
In 2022, Hubly became Thorns’ Iron Woman by starting and playing in every game. She was one of only seven players in NWSL to achieve this honor.
On June 3, 2022 she scored her first ever goal off a ridiculous header against Angel City at Providence Park.
At the end of 2022 season, she would be an NWSL champion for the second time. However, for the first time, she was named NWSL Best XI Second Team.
“Honestly, I didn’t even [know],” Hubly says. “I skipped over the email because it wasn’t even a thought in my head.”
Kelli Hubly didn’t read the entire message at first, but when she looked at the NWSL email congratulating her, it was pure disbelief.
“I’ve never been the player even in college [to] win awards like that,” she says. “I’m just used to it by now. So, I was really shocked that I got the award.”
Naturally, the first person Hubly told was her other half of Portland soccer’s premier power couple: boyfriend, Portland Timber, and USMNT player Eryk Williamson.
Williamson continues to be her biggest supporter and fan, Hubly says. “He is always pushing me to be even more, even more, and even more,” she says. “He never wants me to settle.”
She then went onto tell her parents. “They’re just so happy for me,” she says, “all the hard work that is finally being recognized. I think for me, that’s the biggest part: just being recognized, like, how far I’ve come.”
In 2022, Hubly signed a contract extension that runs through 2024 and looks to be a player who could spend her entire career with the Thorns. After a lifetime of dedication to soccer, she is finally being recognized for her talent, work ethic, and consistency.
Her development since 2017 is why the NWSL matters, but also why being patient and developing players is so important. Hubly has shown that she’s only getting better and will continue to do so from here.
Sam Coffey was drafted in 2021 by the Portland Thorns. She was the 12th pick overall from Penn State University and an attacking midfielder. In a class where Emily Fox and Trinity Rodman were selected with the first two picks, Coffey has become the absolute steal of the 2021 draft.
At the time, former head coach Mark Parsons praised Coffey’s ability to pass and score and her skill in the final third. At the draft, he described her as a “difference-maker, can pass and shoot.”
If you look at the modern game, can dribble, who can twist and turn,” he said. “We’ve lacked some of that, you know, the last couple of years.”
He also believed Coffey was pro-ready—despite the fact that she chose to take advantage of an extra COVID-19 season Penn State before joining the Thorns in 2022. “That dynamic ability was key bringing in Sam, who’s going to have an immediate impact,” Parsons said. “This is someone who can be a difference maker in the final third.”
After Angela Salem’s retirement after the Thorns’ 2021 campaign and Lindsey Horan’s loan to OL, Portland was looking at a possible rebuild in midfield heading into the 2022 season.
Thorns general manager Karina LeBlanc and then-head coach Rhian Wilkinson put on a roster-building masterclass. Enter rookie Sam Coffey and NWSL newcomer Hina Sugita. Wilkinson was brilliant to see that Coffey had a chance to be a world-class No. 6 for her squad.
Brilliant Rookie Season
In Coffey’s first season, she was named to the NWSL Best XI first team, earned four caps for the USWNT, was nominated for rookie of the year, and was crucial all season in Portland’s NWSL championship run.
The Rose City Review recently spent some time talking to Coffey about her 2022:
On keys to her immediate success at her new position and how much support she received throughout last season.
Coffey: “There were a lot of keys. One of [the] biggest ones for me is the belief of the people around me and the support of the people around me. When you’re a [No.] 6 on a team like this, they make my job a lot easier. They were so encouraging and helpful—and still are—in my development and learning of this role.
“I can’t even put into words what that feels like, and how comforting [it is] to know that I’m looking from my left to my right and seeing the class all around me. I think just having a real growth mindset with it; I’m not going to get it perfect, I’m still learning.
“I am still learning. It’s not going to be this constant uphill progression. Rhian used to always encourage me to get a PhD in this position, and I love that language, like a student. I’m just trying to learn about it every day, get better at it every day. I’m not going to have it all, all the time.
“There are going to be areas I need to improve, there are going to be bumps, just like this month has presented. Definitely a bump in the road, but I am so confident that it’ll serve and help me, make me a better player, better person, better competitor, and I’m just really excited to experience that.”
The Bump in the Road
USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s roster for the 2023 SheBelieves Cup somehow managed to omit Sam Coffey from that list. Andonovski has said that he believes Coffey should be considered an NWSL MVP candidate. She was arguably the best defensive midfielder in the NWSL in 2022 and should have been a lock for the Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand.
On the omission from the 2023 SheBelieves Cup and doing everything she can to make the WWC roster.
Coffey: “Obviously, I am disappointed not to be in camp, but I think this presents a really good opportunity for me to fine-tune areas of my game. Even seeing me out here with Vytas [Assistant Coach and former Portland Timber Defender], working on different areas of my game that need some refinement, like aerial challenges, 50/50 balls, being more aggressive. So, I think, I’m really viewing this time as an opportunity to address those things, but like you said it’s my dream to go.
“I want to serve and be on that team. I want to be there, and I believe I’m good enough to be there. I don’t think I need to do anything differently. I’m going to continue and try grow and be my best self. But I think taking this time reflecting and fine-tuning different areas of my game [to the] best of my ability is a good place to start. I just want to continue to be who I am, be authentic to me, just continue to grow during this process.”
If there’s extra motivation for her.
Coffey: “Yeah, I’d say I already have intense fire burning without a setback like that. Of course, it’s all motivation, all fuel for me. Again, I think it does give me an opportunity to even mentally, physically, spiritually reflect and address things that I need time to address and to watch those games. Obviously, cheer the team on, but watch it tactically, watch it from a perspective of how I can improve and how I can just stay locked in and focus on what the group’s doing.
“I would say of course it does light a fire, but I want this more than anything. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get there.”
2023: The Year of Sam Coffey on the USWNT
Whether everyone likes it or not, Coffey should make the World Cup team in 2023. It would be colossal failure to have her wait until 2027.
Coffey is the best distributor in the USWNT pool, and it’s not close. She is an elite quarterback at the position and is able to keep control of the ball with her dribbling, quick thinking, turns, and world-class ability to read her opponent’s defense.
Andi Sullivan is the only other true No. 6 on the USWNT roster and is a very fine option. Still, Sullivan and Coffey are two completely different players, and it’s great to have as options depending on the matchup. Having these two players rotate at the World Cup would be the best case scenario for the USWNT.
As Andonovski continues to experiment with Taylor Kornieck at the No. 6 just months before the WWC, it’s obviously there’s not enough time for her to master a new position. It’s also very apparent that the role is not where she is most effective on the pitch.
“I don’t see her in that light for us,” San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney said when asked about Kornieck’s role with the national team. “I think we’d be taking away her strengths if she played as an isolated six.”
That brings us back to Coffey, who is one of the most naturally gifted No. 6s. In most cycles, she would be a lock for the USWNT—and probable starter.
Still, she’ll look to start the NWSL season off blazing hot and force Andonovski’s hand in her favor.
With a year of league play under her belt, Coffey will be trying to pad the stat sheet this season—adding to her two assists and one goal in 2022. She has already taken most of the set pieces for the club, and has continually improved.
“I think she’ll keep growing,” Thorns head coach Mike Norris said. “She’s young. She’s got the hunger and desire.”
Coffey rarely makes any mistakes, has a field vision that is utterly remarkable, and picks out difficult passes with ease. Expect her to be even sharper, more dangerous, and more influential for the Thorns in 2023—from defense and distribution to playmaking as a passer and scorer.
It’ll be a tough game for anyone trying to defend against Coffey in the NWSL this season—and hopefully we’ll be able to say the same about players going up against her on the international stage.