Tag: Becky Sauerbrunn

Categories
Soccer Thorns

Losing and Learning

Photo by Matthew Wolfe.

Four games into 2024, the Portland Thorns sit at last place in the NWSL and are one of two teams in the league yet to record a win this year. Their most recent result: a 0-2 loss to the rival North Carolina Courage.

I was at a loss about what to write about that game until Tuesday; give or take some scorelines and player quotes, it feels about the same as pretty much every Thorns game this year. The team is obviously talented but isn’t playing at the level we know they can and let points slip due to defensive errors. Against North Carolina, Portland simply lost to a team that played better soccer, and I have no idea how much of that we should be attributing to players coming in and out of the team due to international breaks, how much of it was due to players still figuring out how to be on the same page as one another this early in the season, and how much of it we can pin on poor coaching.

Unsurprisingly, the last of those does seem to be a factor. Three days after the Courage loss, the Thorns announced an internal reorganization of the club, with now-former head coach Mike Norris named the new technical director and assistant coach Rob Gale serving as the team’s interim head coach.

“Thorns FC have set the standard for excellence in the league,” Thorns general manager Karina LeBlanc says in the club’s release. “These changes will help us maximize our strengths as we continuously pursue championship-level success.”

As LeBlanc alludes to, Portland prides themselves on being a model of excellence in American professional women’s soccer. Of course, that hasn’t always been the case off the field (a certain abusive former head coach and general manager come to mind). But their on-pitch success—capped off by a league-leading three championship titles—speaks for itself.

When a team with the reputation of Portland is on a winless streak, something eventually has to give. “Not a lot—if any—of the players on this roster have been in this position,” Norris said after the Courage loss. And that position—sitting on one point for games into the regular season after a disappointing end to last year—demanded change from the Thorns organization. In this case, the change was appointing Gale to an interim head coaching position.

I think the move was a good one; Norris spent over a season at Portland’s helm and, while he seems to genuinely care about the team, has struggled to deliver the kind of results the Thorns expect. Despite that, I think he has something to bring to a player development role, and I’m glad Portland was able to transition him into a position that allows him to play more to his strengths within the club. Obviously, the issue isn’t fully resolved until the Thorns name someone as their next head coach, but the club’s willingness to take action in moving toward a better fit for the role is a good start.

“What I find encouraging is that people are frustrated and people are pissed off that we’re not doing well and we care,” Becky Sauerbrunn said after the North Carolina game. That combination of frustration and caring is a catalyst for change.

The Thorns have shown that they’re ready to take that first step as an organization by opening up the search for a head coach that can better fit the team’s needs. And hopefully that shift—and the players’ hunger to be better—can help this team start to click in the right ways.

Categories
NWSL Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Portland Thorns 0, NJ/NY Gotham 1

Photo by Kris Lattimore.

There’s no disputing that 2024 is a new era for the Portland Thorns. The club is under new ownership, majorly switched up their backline, have partnered with lesbian icon FLETCHER, and, on Sunday, lost their first ever home opener to reigning NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC.

If one of those seems like it’s not like the others, it’s because it’s not: the Thorns are on something of an unprecedented losing streak, having failed to take a point out of their last four matches (unfortunately, a club record) across all competitions going back to last season.

Record aside, Sunday’s match looked to be a marked improvement on Portland’s season-opening 5-4 defeat in Kansas City. The Thorns looked more locked in, were making a collective effort to win balls (even if they struggled then use that possession to build out of pressure), and were ultimately denied from the scoreboard by two offside calls on two highlight-worthy Sophia Smith goals and a handful of brilliant saves from Gotham’s backline and goalkeeper Cassie Miller.

“I don’t think I could have asked for any more in terms of trying to win the game,” Thorns head coach Mike Norris said. “I’m not sure we could have done more without coming away with one or three points.”

The defense thing

Naturally, when a team concedes five goals in a game—as the Thorns did against the Kansas City Current last week—their defense is going to be something of a focus in the next one.

It also wasn’t shocking to see the changes Norris opted to make in Portland’s backline, with Becky Sauerbrunn replacing Isabella Obaze and Reyna Reyes stepping in for Nicole Payne in the Thorns starting XI. (Sauerbrunn and Reyes had both been limited in their minutes the week prior, as both were returning from national team duty and reintegrating with their club team.) And the changes, to Norris’ credit, left the team looking noticeably more settled in defense.

“This week, we really focused on team defending,” Sauerbrunn said. “When the people in front of you are really putting a shift in, it makes it a lot more obvious and easy for the backline to know where they need to be.”

Not a small portion of that can be credited to Sauerbrunn. Portland had looked to be missing her leadership against the Current—an issue amplified by the team playing a goalkeeper with relatively limited NWSL minutes and three of their four defenders making their league debuts.

“She just oozes confidence in terms of what she gives off and the belief and confidence that she has in other players,” Norris said of Sauerbrunn. And that mindset spreads to the players around her: “When you’ve got somebody with Becky’s experience in the backline, I think the leadership, the communication part, I think it just helps to bring the best out of other people as well.”

Fortunately, that best in others came out, with the Thorns showing a commitment to win one-on-one battles—not just in defense, but across the field—that had been missing last game.

“Eyes are on the backline,” Sam Coffey said, “but it starts with our No. 9, it starts with our frontline […] just making sure we are being our most front-footed, aggressive selves all over the field, and I think we did a much better job of that tonight.”

Photo by Kelsey Baker.
Did things just not go Portland’s way?

The thing is: Gotham definitely got lucky with Smith being offside on both her disallowed goals. The other thing is: Portland’s attack wasn’t nearly as fluid as we know it can be.

The Thorns did generate a fair number of chances—15 shots for 1.24 expected goals to Gotham’s nine shots and 0.72 expected goals—and were unlucky with the Smith offside calls and a couple shots that sailed just wide, but they also bypassed building possession through working through the midfield, a method that has traditionally helped Portland maintain control of a game’s tempo and find their moments to break down their opposition’s defense. Instead, the Thorns tried to use their width to move the ball up the flanks. It’s a decision that’s not unfounded given the skill of Reyes, Marie Müller, Morgan Weaver, and Janine Beckie, but Portland thrives on being a team that can hurt their opponent in so many ways, and confining their attack to the flanks limits those options.

And it’s not that the Thorns didn’t look good in the moments they attacked through the midfield: Jesse Fleming sent a beautiful through ball to Smith toward the end of the first half, and Hina Sugita added a new energy to Portland’s offense when she subbed on for Fleming in the 78th minute.

“She came on, she had an impact,” Norris said of Hina, “and that’s all you can ask from anybody coming off the bench.”

Hina’s presence on the field added another wrinkle to the Thorns going forward, and her connection with Smith added a fluidity that was lacking from portions of Portland’s attacking game.

I know it’s early in the year, and Norris is still figuring out his starting lineup for the season, but I’m honestly surprised to see a player of her skill sitting on Portland’s bench for the first 75 minutes of the game—especially in a match that could have used her flare.

When do we start asking about Norris?

We’re two weeks into the season, and Portland is the only team to lose their first two games and sits in last place. (The San Diego Wave could match that opening run, but they’ve only played one regular season match this year.) The Thorns, as mentioned above, have also lost their first ever home opener and are on their longest losing streak across all competitions in club history.

I think a number of factors are responsible for that—new ownership and offseason defensive upheaval among them—but I also think we have to start asking questions about Norris if the results continue.

Fortunately, we’re not there quite yet; Norris seems like a coach who has the respect of his players, and he has time to turn things around.

I’m sorry, I don’t really know Dune, but the people seemed to like this Tweet

Categories
NWSL Soccer Thorns

The End of an Era: Thorns 0, Gotham 1

Photo by Matthew Wolfe.

You can’t give me back what you’ve taken

But you can give me something that’s almost as good

—The Mountain Goats “Getting Into Knives”

Despite finishing second overall in a very close NWSL season, the Portland Thorns had been on a downward trajectory since the World Cup in August. Following a 4-2 win at home against Washington Spirit in July, the Thorns went 4-7-2 in all competitions. Most notably for the high-scoring Thorns, however, is that in their last five games (semi-final included), Portland only scored two goals while allowing eight. There are a host of reasons for why the team never seemed to regain composure after the World Cup break, but they boil down to two things: a roster that isn’t as deep as its best 11 players and a complete absence of tactics. 

After a brutal 1-5 loss to Angel City—which lost the NWSL shield for Portland—the Thorns had to wait three weeks to play their next game. In that time, Hina Sugita went to Uzbekistan, Natalia Kuikka went to Finland, Cristine Sinclair to Canada, and Olivia Moultrie, Sophia Smith, Becky Sauerbrunn, Sam Coffey, and Crystal Dunn went across the United States. That’s the majority of the Thorns’ starting XI across the entire season gone during the preparation for their single most important game, without considering the extra minutes on legs and time zone changes that went along with international duty. For players like Smith, the break was a chance to build back up game minutes, but for players like Moultrie and Coffey, who either did not see the field or played limited minutes, it was more of an extended training away from the Thorns. That wasn’t ideal for a player as crucial as Coffey for a team that had been leaking goals left and right. 

The international break also factored into the XI eleven for the semifinal game against New Jersey/New York Gotham FC. The two outfield changes from the Angel City game were Kuikka and Hina, who were replaced by Reyna Reyes and Rocky Rodríguez, respectively. Hina has probably been the Thorns’ most consistent player all season behind Sam Coffey, and being able to bring her off the bench is an asset; perhaps if she had started the game as she had the last time the Thorns faced Gotham, the game could have been wrapped up in 90 minutes. Reyes, on the other hand, played her way into the starting XI—and deservedly so—but perhaps starting Kuikka and Reyes against the fast front line of Gotham would have been more effective. 

The biggest change of the night, however, was Shelby Hogan’s selection over Bella Bixby. In probably the boldest move of his tenure, head coach Mike Norris gave Hogan her second regular season start in the team’s biggest game. He said postgame that the change was performance-based, which is a valid assessment of Bixby’s recent form. As much as I love and appreciate Bella Bixby’s personality and vulnerability as a player, I think getting benched in such a crucial moment is what she needs in order to reset herself. None of that takes away the fact that Hogan is an excellent keeper, the lone goal she let in was borderline-unstoppable for any keeper, and she is capable of being a first-choice keeper. Hogan ended the night with two saves, but she was not very busy over the course of the 120 minutes. 

Statistically, the game was a stalemate. The Thorns ended with 0.62 xG and 11 total shots to Gotham’s 0.50 xG and 13 total shots. Gotham had 20 fouls (four yellow cards) while the Thorns had 18 (one yellow). Both teams had four corners. On paper, there was little separation between the two sides. The game was won and lost on the sidelines, with coaching, and with the bench. 

Over the course of those 120 minutes, Norris only made two impactful subs: Hina and Kuikka at the 60th minute for Rodríguez and Meghan Klingenberg. Smith, whose longest stretch of minutes since she got injured in August was 45 minutes for the USWNT, played the entire game, despite looking visibly fatigued and not as effective as she could have been. Morgan Weaver, who had tape around her left knee, also looked as though she was nursing an injury, as her speed, finesse, and power were absent along the left flank. Dunn has been dealing with an ankle injury for many weeks now, as well. 

The Thorns are consistently talked about as having one of the deepest rosters in the NWSL, but a more accurate statement is that their best 11 players are among the best in the league, if not world. The drop off in quality once these eleven are subbed off or injured is quite noticeable. For example, in the 116’ Hannah Betfort, Christine Sinclair, and Michele Vasconcelos came on for Weaver, Moultrie, and Dunn. Sinclair aside, Vasconcelos and Betfort have seen sporadic minutes over the course of the season to varying levels of productivity. While they are decent players—and could really shine at a mid-table team—there is a vast canyon between them and Weaver and Smith, who they typically come on for. By not having any serious game changers available off the bench, Norris had his hands tied when his game plan was not working and he had no good options to try something new. 

While it is important that the core of the championship winning team (i.e. the same players that both former head coach Rhian Wilkinson and Norris used in their XIs) came back for the 2023 season, there was no recruitment outside of the college draft to try and bolster the depth of the team and challenge these top players for starting spots. Once Janine Beckie, one of the better additions over the past two years, went down with an ACL tear in preseason and no signing was made to replace her, the writing was on the wall that there was going to be little to no investment into the team this year. Reyes is probably the best addition to the team, as seen by her nod on Sunday. But other than her, the new recruits hardly featured. Izzy D’Aquilla got minutes at the beginning of the season, but her time waned significantly as it became clear she was having a hard time adjusting to NWSL play from college. Adriana Leon, a weird fluke of a loan most likely to help her build minutes for Canada before the World Cup, barely saw the field, and Rikke Seveke has not made a gameday roster since her signing. It’s hard to attract top talent to Portland when an impending sale has been looming over the club for nearly a year, the team is led by an inexperienced head coach, and the squad plays and practices solely on turf. Ultimately, the lack of competition for roster spots among players cost the Thorns the chance to challenge for the title again, because there was no adequate depth when players went down with injury or hit a run of bad form. 

It’s anyone’s guess as to when the Instagram post goes up saying that the Thorns wish Norris all the best and “thank him for his contributions as head coach,” but it is inevitable. From his announcement, where everyone was “Excited to get the season started 🙂 #RoseEmoji,” it was clear that the organization was in a holding pattern for the 2023 season. Postgame, Sauerbrunn said that the sale was expected to clear by the end of the year, and until that time, there probably won’t be anymore movement within the squad. However, waiting for the sale to be officially processed and to hire a new head coach leaves very little time to talk to free agents and prospective international players and convince them to join the new and improved Thorns. Until that happens, Portland is not going to be seen as a top soccer destination, which will seriously threaten their chances of building the squad depth that they need to win consistently next season. 

I feel as though every week I talk about Norris’ lack of tactics, so I won’t bear repeating myself again. For a first-time head coach, he relied on his star players, and for the most part that worked out well for him. I think with more experience, he could be decent. But the Thorns aren’t the team to learn to be great with; you already need to be great in order to get the job. I can only ask that the next head coach is able to actively switch tactics and game plans when something isn’t working instead of continuing to force a square peg into a round hole. 

It’s been a frustrating year to cover the Thorns, not due in any part to the players on the team. It’s been frustrating to see the players in press conferences take responsibility for bad tactics and leadership when in reality they’ve had little guidance. It’s been frustrating to watch the investment, marketing, and adequate training grounds flatline for a team that has set standards in the NWSL since 2013. And, of course, it’s been frustrating to watch Sam Coffey sit on the sidelines of so many USWNT games. I can only hope that this holding pattern that the team has been in since 2021 is over soon, that they can get an owner who puts their money where their mouth is, invests in the team, and attracts top players and coaches from across the world. Women’s soccer is exploding globally, and I fear that this offseason is crucial to make sure that the Thorns don’t fall behind even further. 

But, it’s also been a great year to cover the Thorns. Hannah Betfort had a breakout year, Reyna Reyes showed that she’s the future of the Thorns’ defense, Sophia Smith remained in God Mode, and Sam Coffey is such an incredible leader. Whatever happens over the offseason, the players that composed the roster these past two years are special.  

“The people in this locker room will never be the same after this year,” Sauerbrunn said postgame, “and we need to appreciate every single moment that we have together.” I think she’s right, and I hope that we have shown that we do appreciate the players, even when their organization repeatedly lets them down. 

There’s gonna come a day when you’ll feel better

You’ll rise up free and easy on that day

And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air

Just when that day is coming, who can say? Who can say?

— The Mountain Goats “Up The Wolves”

Categories
Soccer Thorns

Kickin’ It with Reyna Reyes

Reyna Reyes made her regular season debut for the Portland Thorns against the Houston Dash. Credit: Matthew Wolfe
Reyna Reyes made her regular season debut for the Portland Thorns against the Houston Dash. Credit: Matthew Wolfe
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Categories
Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 6, Pride 0

Credit: Kris Lattimore

The Thorns dominated the Pride in a landslide 6-0 victory on Sunday, their largest in club history. The win firmly cemented that the Thorns are the best scoring NWSL team this season, placing them with a +14 goal differential and second in the standings (with a game in hand) heading into the international break. 

After a lackluster start to the season, the Thorns have finally hit their stride, picking up all six points,  scoring 10 goals, and earning two clean sheets in their last two games. They are entering the international break with forward momentum—and hopefully that force continues despite player absences for the Euros and CONCACAF W tournaments throughout the month of July. 

Sunday’s game celebrated Juneteenth, a federal holiday recognizing the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. To honor Juneteenth and Black Portlanders, the Thorns partnered with the Black Women’s Player Collective and the Portland-based Maurice Lucas Foundation to donate $100 for every corner kick earned. 

Before kickoff, Kyra Smith and her father Trevor Smith sang the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. 

Post game, head coach Rhian Wilkinson spoke on the importance of celebrating and honoring Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and the Portland Pride parade during the game. 

“I think our women have never shied away from having very clear positions on their social media accounts and continue to highlight the social injustice out there and how we can be better allies and advocates for those that are less seen,” she said.

Sophia Smith, a Black woman, moved into second place in the golden boot race, with eight goals after her performance against the Pride. 

There were five different goalscorers for the Thorns’ six goals, with Smith registering her third regular season brace and Hina Sugita, Becky Sauerbrunn, Taylor Porter, and Natalia Kuikka each recording a goal apiece. 

Photo by Kris Lattimore

Sauerbrunn’s goal was her first for the Thorns, coming three years after her last goal, which happened to be against Portland. That 2019 Thorns vs Royals game is a piece of NWSL history. Perhaps Sauerbrunn scoring again in Providence Park undid the rift in the universe she created in 2019. Further, because Sauerbrunn finally scored, she will be donating $500 to Athlete Ally’s “Playing for Pride” initiative to fight for transgender children’s right to play sports as the gender they identify with. 

And on her celebration?

“That celebration was completely spontaneous,” Sauerbrunn said. “I’m sure I was briefly possessed by something. I was just super excited. I just saw people looking at me. They were as bewildered as I was. And I finally got a rose for scoring a goal. It’s actually really fun. I can see why people like scoring goals.”

Sugita has quietly become a stalwart in the Thorns’ midfield in place of Angela Salem and Lindsey Horan, two prior pillars. Her aggressiveness has increased with each game, something that she credits to “learning the importance of winning the ball,” in the NWSL. 

Against the Pride, Sugita had the second highest passes into the final third with 15, showing her ability to distribute the ball effectively, and helped set up many of the goal-scoring opportunities. Her 80% passing accuracy also helped bolster the Thorns’ midfield, with her primary target being brace-scoring Sophia Smith.

Photo by Kris Lattimore
Photo by Kris Lattimore

After spending the international break with Japan, Sugita will be back with the Thorns for the month of July, looking to help the team in the absence of CONCACAF and Euro players.

Categories
Soccer Thorns

Four Takeaways from Portland 1, North Carolina 2

Portland Thorns team in Black Lives Matter warmups. Rob Gray / ISI Photos

The NWSL Challenge Cup has begun, marking the return of live professional sports to the United States.

In a reminder of just how much has been going on in the world outside the NWSL bubble, all the starting players wore Black Lives Matter warm-up shirts and Black Lives Matter armbands throughout the game, and took a knee for the national anthem. Which was played by a saxophonist in a suit, with slicked-back hair, who could not resist getting in some delicious licks at the end of a very smooth rendition of the Star-Spangled banner.

This strange image just about summed up the odd sensations of watching live sports again: the seriousness of the threats against life around the globe—Black life in particular—weighs on us all. We stand in solidarity.

The Thorns played better than expected for a young squad who saw significant departures in the off-season, and it was only a late defensive lapse that cost the Thorns a point in stoppage time. Leaving Lynn Williams unmarked is a very familiar way to lose against North Carolina, but the competitiveness showed by a young team in what was effectively a preseason game was admirable. Simone Charley notched her first goal for the team off a Lindsey Horan header for the only Thorns goal in a 2-1 opening day loss.

1. Raquel Rodríguez is the real deal

The Thorns swapping an iconic defender in Emily Sonnett for the player taken after her in the 2016 College Draft was a huge moment in the off-season. Rodríguez (affectionately called “Rocky”) has been a solid NWSL contributor for years, but did a midfield already stacked with talent really need another attacking player?

Yes, it turns out. Rodríguez was a killer addition in midfield, keeping the team ticking over well, holding the ball up and waiting for support, and even putting in some impressive defensive play. Getting overrun by North Carolina’s four midfielders has been an issue for the Thorns in the past, and Rodríguez’s competitive energy and strength were much-needed additions. It looks like this pairing with Lindsey Horan might work out after all.

2. Bella Bixby is ready for the spotlight

She got thrown directly into the fire against the team that shoots more than any other team in the league, but Milwaukie, Oregon’s own Bella Bixby had an impressive NWSL debut. She got tempted off her line unadvisedly for the Courage’s first goal, but otherwise showed well in her first competitive minutes, getting called upon regularly to defend her near post, nabbing everything she could in the air and holding some real rockets from distance.

AD Franch being a late scratch for the whole tournament was bad news for the team. But this is such a weird tournament, one where the Thorns get to try out stuff they normally wouldn’t. Giving Bixby a chance after two years with the club feels right, and she didn’t disappoint. It’s hard to feel like the future isn’t secure.

3. Parsons has some clever squad management plans

Seeing Tyler Lussi and the newly-signed Marissa Everett in the starting lineup threw a few people for a loop. While both players who have made an impact in their minutes for the club, they seem like they would be further down the depth chart than others. After halftime though, it quickly became clear what the plan was: Morgan Weaver and Simone Charley were double-subbed on for the starting forwards and immediately went to work, with Charley scoring and both looking dangerous the remainder of the game.

Charley has been minutes-limited in her time with the club, even in normal NWSL play. She’s clearly a sprinter who leaves it all on the field, and up against tired defenses, this could be a real game changer. Weaver is still getting used to professional fitness. Especially in the opening stages of this tournament, both can be maximized by holding them in reserve from the start. And with five substitutions now allowed per game, why not? It’s a pretty different approach to soccer than most people think of (where your best players must always start) but it’s worth a shot, and it will be interesting to see if it stays the same through the knockout rounds.

4. Aggressive defense works, except when it doesn’t

The Thorns defense has many qualities. They are not as fast as the North Carolina Courage’s attackers. Therefore, they should sit back as deep as they can, right?

Wrong. Becky Sauerbrunn, playing in her first game in Thorns colors, played her markers incredibly aggressively, coming well upfield to head away from Lynn Williams. Kelli Hubly, starting her first game in a while, looked excellent going to ground to win balls near the edge of North Carolina’s penalty box to unsettle them and prevent them from having an easy time building out of the back. It’s hard to say it didn’t work.

And yet, at the same time, the winning goal was conceded because Sauerbrunn was caught upfield trying to cut out a pass, which left two Courage players unmarked at the back post, when most would probably say that the team should have been trying to protect a point.

There’s no doubting that the Thorns made a real impact on the Courage’s midfield buildup in this game, and it cut down on their shooting opportunities throughout. Looking a little foolish once or twice on the break is normally a trade-off that the team will take. Some one has to step up and be the hero in that kind of situation, and looking at Bixby’s face after she conceded, she clearly felt like it should have been her. Those kinds of decisions will get more automatic for her in the future, but she shouldn’t feel too bad about it: the team made a calculated gamble—one that meant that they would sometimes end up in those situations.

Categories
Soccer

Questions and Answers with the Rose City Review: The Final Countdown

Photo by Nikita Taparia

The Portland Timbers and Thorns are getting closer to playing real soccer games, and you have questions.

First off—and most importantly—as we’ve echoed through writing, Twitter, and The Rosette, soccer is just a game. Now is the time to be paying attention and educating yourself on this vital moment in our country’s history.

However, soccer does still exist, and as the weeks go by, we are inching closer to the return of the sport in North America. The NWSL Challenge Cup will kick things off in late June, followed by the resumption of Major League Soccer in July.

In this week’s Q&A feature, we answered questions ranging from our thoughts on the restart to our all-time favorite PTFC post. This article highlights some of the questions that were asked. If you are interested, the complete conversation can be found in our Discord, available to Patreon subscribers at the $5 and $10 levels. Subscribing also gives you the opportunity to participate in future Q&As. Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Some questions and answers have been edited for clarity.

Continue reading “Questions and Answers with the Rose City Review: The Final Countdown”
Categories
Soccer Thorns

PTFCats: Meet Missy and Olive

Photo by Nikita Taparia. Ears via vippng.com. Edited by Leo Baudhuin.

From Charlie, Chistine Sinclair’s legendary Pomeranian, to Gabby Seiler’s Thor—who has his own Instagram account—it’s hard to argue that the pets of the Portland Thorns aren’t well-documented. However, it’s significantly easier to make the case that the vast majority—if not all—of this content centers around dogs. 

As a cat person who suddenly has a lot of time on my hands, I thought I’d push back against that trend and give a little attention to a pair of PTFC cats.

Becky Sauerbrunn, an exciting addition to the Thorns this offseason and a known cat lover, began fostering her current cats during her FC Kansas City days. A member of the Blue Crew, FCKC’s supporters’ group, worked at an animal hospital, and a number of players on the Kansas City squad were fostering animals from them. The players—who were only provided with housing when they were in season—got a pet while they were in market, and the animals got a temporary home. Sauerbrunn was among these players; she took in Missy, Olive, and their brother T-Pain in 2016.

While living under the care of Sauerbrunn, T-Pain was adopted. Sauerbrunn was resolute in her reaction, choosing to adopt T-Pain’s sisters herself. “I decided I wasn’t dealing with that sadness any more than I had to,” she tells me over email. “I convinced (guilt-tripped) my boyfriend into agreeing to it. And the rest is history.”

So began the era of Missy and Olive.

Missy (left in the photo above) is easily the more outgoing of the two. She’s the one who will welcome strangers and beg them for attention, while Olive, in stereotypical black cat form, will make herself scarce. “Missy is the type of cat who will greet you, meow constantly for pets, and climb right on your lap when you sit down,” says Sauerbrunn. 

Sauerbrunn likens Missy to Emma Woodhouse, the protagonist of Jane Austen’s Emma. She points to Wikipedia’s description of Woodhouse to back this up: “a beautiful, high-spirited, intelligent, and ‘slightly’ spoiled young woman.” While, admittedly, I’ve never read the book, this seems like an apt characterization of the cat who wakes Sauerbrunn up at 7:00 a.m. with a paw to the face, purring (or who licks Sauerbrunn’s arm as she types a response to me, trying to convince her to reposition so she can take her rightful seat in Sauerbrunn’s lap).

Where Missy takes center stage, Olive is initially more on the periphery; Sauerbrunn compares her to Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter. “Early in the series he’s a little underestimated, flies under the radar, seems like a good dude but remains in the periphery of the main story,” she explains. “But, by the end, he’s leading Dumbledore’s Army, killing off a horcrux, and becoming a fan favorite. Olive has that effect on people.”

Developing appreciation goes both ways when it comes to Olive. People gradually warm up to her and she to them. “You have to earn her trust,” Sauerbrunn says, “and that takes time to prove that your intentions are pure. But when you earn that trust, you’re one of her humans for life and she’ll bless you with her amazing companionship.”

When it comes to the relationship between Missy and Olive, Missy loves to be the one in charge. “[She] will taunt and tease and pick fights with Olive, says Sauerbrunn. “But if you mess with Olive in any way, and Olive gives off any distress sign, Missy comes running and will literally fight the person.”

She describes an instance in which Olive wouldn’t leave a patch of sensitive skin alone, and Sauerbrunn’s boyfriend, Zola Short, attempted to put a soft cone around Olive’s neck to limit her access to the spot. Missy, sensing Olive’s discomfort, rushed to the rescue, executing a flying backwards kick that brought her into contact with Short’s stomach and forced him to release Olive. “I know I should’ve been more concerned for Zola,” Sauerbrunn recalls, “but I was just so proud of Missy that I couldn’t stop smiling.”

The love between Sauerbrunn and her cats is undisputedly mutual. “I thought that initially they’d be thrilled and then eventually the novelty would fade away and they’d leave us alone and go do cat stuff,” she says when asked how Missy and Olive are reacting to her being home more. “I was way wrong. They don’t leave us alone.”

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Soccer Thorns

Becky H*cking Sauerbrunn, Everyone

Photo by Nikita Taparia

Has everyone else been feeling jittery recently?

There’s a lot of stressful stuff going on in the world at large right now. Why, then, did we add to our collective stress by having a mass panic last week about whether Becky Sauerbrunn was actually coming to the Thorns? Why conjure up any more visions of people in smoke-filled rooms making strategic phone calls than are strictly and absolutely necessary? Why, especially, do this when it comes to what is actually a totally normal and logical trade that benefits everyone involved?

It’s done. Becky Sauerbrunn will play in red, for the price of $100,000 in allocation money and one (1) Elizabeth Ball.

Sauerbrunn is such an obviously good acquisition for Portland that it’s hard to say much about it. She’s a very good player who everyone likes, and she plays at a position where the Thorns badly needed to improve. To anyone who hasn’t watched the Thorns extensively over the last two years, it might look less good for Utah—but they’re getting a gritty young defender who improved dramatically in her time in Portland and looks to still have quite a bit of upside. Plus, you know, $100,000.

Put it that way, and it almost—almost—looks like the Thorns got the short end of the stick here. As good as Sauerbrunn is, as central as she has been to the national team since what feels like the dawn of time, she’s slowed down in recent years, and you have to imagine she’s closing in on the tail end of her career. It looks, in short, like Utah is looking to build something, while Portland is looking for results right now, this season, at the possible cost of a roster that can take the club into its inevitable next era.

But, without speculating here about what kind of leverage Sauerbrunn may or may not have held over her former club to push this trade along, it seems probable that this is a USWNT-allocated player who will be all but untouchable in whatever expansion drafts are on the horizon. At age 34 and finally playing in the city she calls home, what expansion team would be able to lure her over for the last few years of her career? (I’d also ask what expansion team would want a 34-year-old center back, but the concept of having a star USWNT player makes teams do some wild stuff in this league.)

With not just expansion but the retirement of a certain Canadian legend looming on the horizon, the Thorns will have to do a full-on rebuild sometime in the next five years or so. Now is not the moment for that; now is the moment for them to grab what they can, nail down anything the wind could blow away, and hang on for the coming storm. From that angle, Sauerbrunn couldn’t possibly be a more perfect acquisition for Portland.

With all that said, there’s always another dimension to these things, the dimension of Feelings, which is the one I tend to dwell in. And well, it makes you feel good, doesn’t it? It’s nice to think about Becky Sauerbrunn playing for the Thorns.

To try to polish that up a little: there’s a certain symbolism to Sauerbrunn winding up in Portland. She’s the iconic player, and perhaps the best player, of the early years of the NWSL, while the Thorns have always been and remain the league’s flagship franchise. Sauerbrunn in Portland represents what everyone wanted Alex Morgan in Portland to represent—we just had the facts wrong when it came to what Morgan wanted out of the deal.

When I call Sauerbrunn iconic, I mean a few things. First, in the league’s first three seasons, the Thorns may have been setting the bar for what was possible off the field, but arguably, it was Sauerbrunn’s club, FC Kansas City, that defined the league on the field. They weren’t always the best team—2014 was also the year Americans learned who Kim Little was—but they were always in the playoffs, and they won the championship twice. In launching Vlatko Andonovski’s career in women’s soccer, they showed (in a way that wouldn’t quite be visible until a few years later) that success in this league means something.

And of course, Sauerbrunn herself is a player who made a name for herself at the club level, well before women’s clubs in this country were thought of as a viable path for name-making. Sauerbrunn in Portland is a thing that, for how surreal it’s no doubt going to look at first, simultaneously somehow feels right and true. She will be playing, after all, alongside fellow sleeve-hater Emily Menges. Tell me this wasn’t preordained.