# 2013 Portland Thorns FC season

The 2013 season was the Portland Thorns' inaugural season in the newly created National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of women's professional soccer in the United States. The Thorns ended the 22-game regular season with a 10-6-6 record, qualifying them for the NWSL playoffs. In their semi-final game the team beat FC Kansas City 3-2 in extra time, qualifying them to play Western New York Flash in the championship. The Thorns beat the Flash 2–0, making Portland Thorns FC the NWSL champion.

## Background

The league's founding was announced on November 21, 2012, with Portland as a host for one of eight teams. At that time it was announced by Portland Timbers' owner Merritt Paulson that the Timbers would own the team.
The chosen team, Portland Thorns FC, was announced on December 13, 2012, accompanied by the unveiling of its logo. Both the name and logo were intended to invoke Portland's nickname of the Rose City.
Cindy Parlow Cone was announced as the first head coach on December 19, 2012.

## Club
### Executive staff

| Majority Owner & President | Merritt Paulson |
| Chief Operating Officer | Mike Golub |
| General Manager / Technical Director | Gavin Wilkinson |
| Ground (capacity and dimensions) | Jeld-Wen Field (20,438 / 110x70 yards) |
Updated to match played February 11, 2013 Source: Portland Timbers

### Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Head Coach | Cindy Parlow Cone |
| Assistant Coach | John Galas |
Last updated: February 11, 2013 Source:

## Roster

In the National Women's Soccer League's (NWSL) inaugural season, the eight founding clubs filled out their rosters through numerous mechanisms. First, teams are allocated national team players from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Next, teams go through the NWSL College Draft, a free agency period, the NWSL Supplemental Draft, and the signing of Discovery Players.
| No. | Name | Date of Birth (Age) | Previous Club | Signed Via / Notes |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | Karina LeBlanc | (1980-03-30) 30 March 1980 (age 44) | magicJack (WPS) | National team allocation |
| 23 | Adelaide Gay | (1989-11-03) 3 November 1989 (age 35) | University of North Carolina | Discovery player |
| Defenders ||||||
| 2 | Marian Dougherty | (1984-11-25) 25 November 1984 (age 40) | magicJack (WPS) | Supplemental draft |
| 4 | Emilee O'Neil | (1983-03-26) 26 March 1983 (age 41) | Stanford University | Discovery player |
| 5 | Kathryn Williamson | (1989-08-01) 1 August 1989 (age 35) | University of Florida | NWSL College Draft |
| 7 | Nikki Marshall | (1988-06-02) 2 June 1988 (age 36) | Western New York Flash | Free agent |
| 11 | Jazmyne Avant | (1990-01-30) 30 January 1990 (age 34) | New York Fury | Discovery player |
| 16 | Rachel Van Hollebeke | (1985-08-26) 26 August 1985 (age 39) | Boston Breakers | National team allocation |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 3 | Elizabeth Guess | (1985-01-11) 11 January 1985 (age 39) | Boston Breakers | Waivers |
| 6 | Meleana Shim | (1991-09-25) 25 September 1991 (age 33) | Santa Clara University | Discovery player |
| 8 | Angie Kerr | (1987-03-29) 29 March 1987 (age 37) | Sky Blue FC | Supplemental draft |
| 10 | Allie Long | (1987-08-13) 13 August 1987 (age 37) | New York Fury | Free Agent |
| 12 | Becky Edwards | (1988-05-22) 22 May 1988 (age 36) | Kristianstads DFF | Free agent |
| 17 | Tobin Heath | (1988-05-29) 29 May 1988 (age 36) | Paris Saint-Germain | National team allocation |
| 20 | Courtney Wetzel | (1989-02-25) 25 February 1989 (age 35) | Oregon State University | Discovery player |
| 21 | Nikki Washington | (1988-08-01) 1 August 1988 (age 36) | Canberra United FC | Free agent |
| Forwards ||||||
| 9 | Danielle Foxhoven | (1989-11-08) 8 November 1989 (age 35) | FC Energy Voronezh | Discovery player |
| 12 | Christine Sinclair (captain) | (1983-06-12) 12 June 1983 (age 41) | Western New York Flash | National team allocation |
| 13 | Alex Morgan | (1989-07-02) 2 July 1989 (age 35) | Seattle Sounders Women | National team allocation |
| 18 | Jessica Shufelt | (1990-05-29) 29 May 1990 (age 34) | Ottawa Fury Women | Supplemental draft |
Last updated: May 20, 2013 Source:

## Competitions

    All times Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00)

### Regular season
## Final round
### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | Pts | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD |
| 22 | 38 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 32 | 25 | +7 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 8 | +5 |
Last updated: August 18, 2013 Source: Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Stadium | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | A |
| Result | D | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | D | L | L | D | W | D | W | L | L | D | W |
| Position | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

## Statistics
### Team statistics

| No. | Pos. | Name | League | League | League | League | League | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Name | GP | GS | MP | G | A | | |
| 1 | GK | Karina LeBlanc | 21 | 21 | 1890 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Marian Dougherty | 19 | 19 | 1666 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | MF | Elizabeth Guess | 4 | 1 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF/MF | Emilee O'Neil | 4 | 1 | 141 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Kathryn Williamson | 22 | 22 | 1944 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Meleana Shim | 19 | 17 | 1416 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | DF | Nikki Marshall | 22 | 22 | 1871 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Angie Kerr | 15 | 9 | 762 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Danielle Foxhoven | 21 | 7 | 997 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Allie Long | 22 | 22 | 1956 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | Jazmyne Avant | 4 | 2 | 212 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | Christine Sinclair | 20 | 20 | 1783 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | Alex Morgan | 18 | 18 | 1525 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Becky Edwards | 10 | 10 | 900 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | DF/MF | Casey Ramirez | 4 | 1 | 159 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | Rachel Buehler | 20 | 20 | 1800 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Tobin Heath | 7 | 7 | 630 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | Jessica Shufelt | 4 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Tiffany Weimer | 10 | 5 | 522 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | Courtney Wetzel | 16 | 6 | 602 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Nikki Washington | 11 | 10 | 776 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Tina Ellertson | 3 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | Cris Lewis | 1 | 1 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Portland Thorns FC | Portland Thorns FC | Portland Thorns FC | 22 | 22 | 1980 | 32 | 24 | 29 | 0 |
| Opponents | Opponents | Opponents | 22 | 22 | 1980 | 25 | 19 | 18 | 0 |
Statistics accurate as of October 11, 2013

### Goalkeeper stats

Last updated: October 11, 2013
| No. | Player | MIN | GA | GAA | SV |
| 1 | Karina LeBlanc | 1890 | 23 | 1.1 | 92 |
| 23 | Adelaide Gay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Cris Lewis | 90 | 2 | 2 | 0 |

## Honors

NWSL Player of the Month
| Month | Result | Player | Ref |
| April | Won | Christine Sinclair | |

## Player Transactions
### National Team Player Allocation

On January 11, 2013, the league held its player allocation for the national team players, with Portland receiving seven players: Rachel Buehler, Tobin Heath, Karina LeBlanc, Alex Morgan, Marlene Sandoval, Luz Saucedo, and Christine Sinclair. On January 23, 2013, Heath signed a six-month contract with Paris Saint-Germain and expected to join the Thorns FC once the French club's season is concluded. On March 21, 2013, Sandoval and Saucedo, the two allocated Mexico national team defenders, were removed from the team roster, due to an injury and decision by the Mexican Football Federation, respectively.

### National Women's Soccer League College Draft

Each team in the NWSL got to pick once per round, with the draft order based on how well each team did in allocation. The Thorns picked eighth (last) in each round.
| Date | Player | Pos | Previous Club | Round (Overall) |
| January 18, 2013 | Kathryn Williamson | DF | University of Florida | 1 (8) |
| January 18, 2013 | Nicolette Radovcic | MF | University of Central Florida | 2 (16) |
| January 18, 2013 | Amber Brooks | MF | University of North Carolina | 3 (24) |
| January 18, 2013 | Roxanne Barker | GK | Pepperdine University | 4 (32) |

### Supplemental Draft Picks

Any player that wasn’t selected in the NWSL College Draft, and was done with her college eligibility, was eligible for the NWSL Supplemental Draft. The draft lasted six rounds. Again, the Thorns selected eighth (last) in each round.
| Date | Player | Pos | Previous Club | Pick (Overall) |
| February 7, 2013 | Tina Ellertson | DF | magicJack (WPS) | 1 (8) |
| February 7, 2013 | Angie Kerr | MF | Sky Blue FC | 2 (16) |
| February 7, 2013 | Michele Weissenhofer | FW | Chicago Red Stars | 3 (24) |
| February 7, 2013 | Marian Dougherty (Dalmy) | DF | magicJack (WPS) | 4 (32) |
| February 7, 2013 | Jessica Shufelt | FW | Ottawa Fury Women | 5 (40) |

### Transfers In

| Date | Player | Pos | Previous Club | Notes | Ref |
| April 24, 2013 | Elizabeth Guess | MF | Boston Breakers | Signed off Waivers | |

### Transfers Out

| Date | Player | Pos | Destination Club | Notes | Ref |