# 2020 Portland Thorns FC season

The 2020 Portland Thorns FC season was the team's and the league's eighth season of existence. The Thorns played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 12, 2020 the Thorns canceled their preseason tournament, scheduled for March 29-April 4. On March 20, 2020, the NWSL postponed the start of the league's regular season indefinitely.

## Team
### Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Head Coach | Mark Parsons |
| Assistant Coach | Rich Gunney |
| Assistant Coach | Sophie Clough |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Nadine Angerer |
| Fitness Coach and Performance Specialist | Tom Milroy |
| Head Athletic Trainer | Pierre Soubrier |
| Athletic Trainer | Bailey Torrez |
| Team Physician | Breanne Brown, M.D. |
Last updated: April 10, 2020 Source:

### Current squad

| No. | Name | Date of birth (age) | Since | Previous team | Notes |
| Goalkeepers |||||||
| 24 | Adrianna Franch | (1990-11-02)November 2, 1990 (aged 29) | 2016 | Avaldsnes IL | FED |
| 31 | Bella Bixby | (1995-11-25)November 25, 1995 (aged 24) | 2018 | Oregon State | |
| 33 | Britt Eckerstrom | (1993-05-28)May 28, 1993 (aged 26) | 2017 | Western New York Flash | |
| Defenders |||||||
| 2 | Katherine Reynolds | (1987-09-14)September 14, 1987 (aged 32) | 2016 | Washington Spirit | |
| 4 | Becky Sauerbrunn | (1985-06-06)June 6, 1985 (aged 34) | 2020 | Utah Royals FC | |
| 5 | Emily Menges | (1992-07-28)July 28, 1992 (aged 27) | 2014 | Georgetown | |
| 15 | Madison Pogarch | (1997-11-05)November 5, 1997 (aged 22) | 2019 | Rutgers | |
| 20 | Kelli Hubly | (1994-08-09)August 9, 1994 (aged 25) | 2017 | DePaul | |
| 25 | Meghan Klingenberg | (1988-08-02)August 2, 1988 (aged 31) | 2016 | Houston Dash | |
| 35 | Gabby Seiler | (1994-09-14)September 14, 1994 (aged 25) | 2018 | Florida | |
| 18 | Christen Westphal | (1993-09-02)September 2, 1993 (aged 26) | 2020 | Reign FC | |
| 39 | Meaghan Nally | (1998-06-30)June 30, 1998 (aged 21) | 2020 | Georgetown | |
| Midfielders |||||||
| 10 | Lindsey Horan | (1994-05-26)May 26, 1994 (aged 25) | 2016 | Paris Saint-Germain | FED |
| 17 | Tobin Heath | (1988-05-29)May 29, 1988 (aged 31) | 2013 | Paris Saint-Germain | FED |
| 30 | Celeste Boureille | (1994-04-20)April 20, 1994 (aged 25) | 2016 | California Golden Bears | |
| 36 | Angela Salem | (1988-07-24)July 24, 1988 (aged 31) | 2018 | Boston Breakers | |
| 11 | Raquel Rodríguez | (1993-10-28)October 28, 1993 (aged 26) | 2020 | Sky Blue FC | INT |
| 37 | Emily Ogle | (1996-08-05)August 5, 1996 (aged 23) | 2019 | Penn State | |
| Forwards |||||||
| 9 | Sophia Smith | (2000-08-10)August 10, 2000 (aged 19) | 2020 | Stanford | |
| 12 | Christine Sinclair | (1983-06-12)June 12, 1983 (aged 36) | 2013 | Western New York Flash | FED |
| 22 | Morgan Weaver | (1997-10-18)October 18, 1997 (aged 22) | 2020 | Washington State | |
| 34 | Tyler Lussi | (1995-01-26)January 26, 1995 (aged 25) | 2017 | Princeton | |
| 38 | Simone Charley | (1995-02-04)February 4, 1995 (aged 25) | 2019 | Vanderbilt | |
| 40 | Marissa Everett | (1997-08-29)August 29, 1997 (aged 22) | 2019 | Oregon | |
* ↑ denotes a season-ending injury.

## Competitions
### Challenge Cup
#### Preliminary round
##### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 12 |
| 2 | Washington Spirit | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | OL Reign | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 5 |
| 4 | Houston Dash | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 |
| 5 | Utah Royals FC (H) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 |
| 6 | Chicago Red Stars | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| 7 | Sky Blue FC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| 8 | Portland Thorns FC | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 |
* 1 2 Chicago Red Stars won the tiebreaker against Sky Blue FC on fewer yellow cards (1 to 4).

#### Knockout round
### 2020 Fall Series
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Portland Thorns FC (C) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 10 | Community Shield |
| 2 | Houston Dash | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 9 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Washington Spirit | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | Third place |
| 4 | Sky Blue FC | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 6 | |
| 5 | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 5 | |
| 6 | Chicago Red Stars | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | |
| 7 | OL Reign | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | |
| 8 | Orlando Pride | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 2 | |
| 9 | Utah Royals FC | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | |

## Transactions
### NWSL Draft

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2020 NWSL College Draft was held on January 16, 2020.
| R | Pick | Player | Pos. | College | Status |
| 1 | 1 | Sophia Smith | FW | Stanford | Allocated by the United States Soccer Federation in 2021. |
| 1 | 2 | Morgan Weaver | FW | Washington State | Signed to two-year contract with one-year option. |
| 3 | 25 | Meaghan Nally | DF | Georgetown | Signed to two-year contract with one-year option. |

### Transfers out

| Date | Player | Pos. | Destination club | Fee/notes |
| August 21, 2020 | Celeste Boureille | MF | FC Fleury 91 | Short-term loan. |
| September 9, 2020 | Tobin Heath | MF/FW | Manchester United W.F.C. | Out of contract; Thorns retained NWSL playing rights. |
| December 16, 2020 | Emily Ogle | MF | Houston Dash | Traded for the 7th- and 37th-overall picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft. |
| December 16, 2020 | Gabby Seiler | MF | Houston Dash | Traded for the 7th- and 37th-overall picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft. |
| January 19, 2021 | Britt Eckerstrom | GK | None | Retired. |

### Expansion Draft

The 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft was a special draft held on November 12, 2020, by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) for Racing Louisville FC, an expansion team, to select players from existing teams in the league. The league allowed Louisville to select up to 18 players from lists of unprotected players provided by the existing nine NWSL teams.

#### Protected players

Racing Louisville FC selected the playing rights of Tobin Heath, which the Thorns retained while she was playing for Manchester United W.F.C. in the Women's Super League.
| Protected | Unprotected |
| Simone Charley | Nadine Angerer |
| Crystal Dunn | Bella Bixby |
| Lindsey Horan | Celeste Boureille |
| Kelli Hubly | Marian Dougherty |
| Meghan Klingenberg | Britt Eckerstrom |
| Natalia Kuikka | Marissa Everett |
| Emily Menges | Adrianna Franch |
| Raquel Rodríguez | Tobin Heath |
| Christine Sinclair | Tyler Lussi |
| Sophia Smith | Andressinha |
| Morgan Weaver | Nikki Marshall |
| | Meg Morris |
| | Meaghan Nally |
| | Emily Ogle |
| | Madison Pogarch |
| | Hayley Raso |
| | Kat Reynolds |
| | Angela Salem |
| | Becky Sauerbrunn |
| | Gabby Seiler |
| | Kat Tarr |
| | Rachel Van Hollebeke |
| | Christen Westphal |
| | Sandra Yu |
* Bold indicates players selected in the Expansion Draft
* Blue highlights indicate United States federation players
* Italics indicate players who are not under contract but whose NWSL playing rights remain with the team