# 2024 Portland Thorns FC season

The 2024 Portland Thorns FC season was the team's twelfth season as a professional women's soccer team. Thorns FC played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier of women's soccer in the United States. The Thorns opened the NWSL season against the Kansas City Current, playing in the first game at the Current's newly built CPKC Stadium, and finished in sixth place to qualify for the playoffs, where they lost in the quarterfinals to third-seeded NJ/NY Gotham FC.
In addition to playing in the 2024 NWSL season, the Thorns also played in the inaugural 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup tournaments, qualifying for the latter by finishing as runners-up for the 2023 NWSL Shield.

## Team
### Staff

    As of October 4, 2024.
Technical :
| General manager President of Thorns FC operations | Karina LeBlanc |
| Technical director | Mike Norris |
| Head coach | Rob Gale |
| Assistant coach | Vytautas Andriuškevičius |
| Assistant coach | Sarah Lowdon |
| Assistant coach | Stephen Hart |
| Goalkeeper coach | Jordan Franken |
| Medical ||
| Head athletic trainer | Matt Hunter |
| Director of scouting and recruiting Youth sporting director | Mike Smith |
| Sports scientist | Ella Maliska |
| Performance and wellness coach | Renee Pirkl |

### Squad

    As of November 2, 2024.
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name |
| 1 | GK | USA | Bella Bixby |
| 18 | GK | USA | Shelby Hogan |
| 26 | GK | USA | Kat Asman |
| 30 | GK | AUS | Mackenzie Arnold |
| 2 | DF | MEX | Reyna Reyes |
| 4 | DF | USA | Becky Sauerbrunn |
| 5 | DF | DEN | Isabella Obaze |
| 11 | DF | NGA | Nicole Payne |
| 20 | DF | USA | Kelli Hubly |
| 25 | DF | USA | Meghan Klingenberg |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Hina Sugita |
| 13 | MF | USA | Olivia Moultrie |
| 14 | MF | USA | Sophie Hirst |
| 17 | MF | USA | Sam Coffey |
| 21 | MF | CAN | Jessie Fleming |
| 23 | MF | GER | Marie Müller |
| 27 | MF | IRL | Marissa Sheva |
| 29 | MF | USA | Mallie McKenzie |
| 44 | MF | USA | Gabby Provenzano |
| 54 | MF | USA | Olivia Wade-Katoa |
| 9 | FW | USA | Sophia Smith |
| 12 | FW | CAN | Christine Sinclair |
| 15 | FW | USA | Payton Linnehan |
| 22 | FW | USA | Morgan Weaver |
| 24 | FW | USA | Izzy D'Aquila |
| 66 | FW | USA | Reilyn Turner |
| 77 | FW | USA | Alexa Spaanstra |

### On loan

| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Destination |
| 28 | GK | USA | Lauren Kozal | Tampa Bay Sun FC |

## Competitions

Win Draw Loss

### Regular season

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 4 | Kansas City Current | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 57 | 31 | +26 | 55 | Playoffs |
| 5 | North Carolina Courage | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 34 | 28 | +6 | 39 | Playoffs |
| 6 | Portland Thorns FC | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 34 | Playoffs |
| 7 | Bay FC | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 31 | 41 | −10 | 34 | Playoffs |
| 8 | Chicago Red Stars | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 31 | 38 | −7 | 32 | Playoffs |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: November 2, 2024. Source: NWSLsoccer.com

### Playoffs

The Thorns finished the regular season in sixth place and qualified for the NWSL playoffs as the sixth seed of eight teams.

### NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup

Advancement in the tournament was achieved by the four teams with the most points across the five groups. This did not include any teams in this group.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | UTA | POR | SEA | TIJ |
| 1 | Utah Royals | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 6 | — | 3–1 | 1–2 | 5–1 |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 | 1–3 | — | 1–0 | 5–0 |
| 3 | Seattle Reign FC | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–3 |
| 4 | Tijuana | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 | −8 | 3 | 1–5 | 0–5 | 3–2 | — |

### 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AME | POR | SDW | WFC | SFE |
| 1 | América | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage | — | — | — | 7–0 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage | 3–1 | — | — | — | 2–1 |
| 3 | San Diego Wave FC | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 9 | | 0–1 | 3–2 | — | — | — |
| 4 | Whitecaps FC Girls Elite | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 16 | −14 | 3 | | — | 0–6 | 0–2 | — | — |
| 5 | Santa Fe | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0 | | — | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | — |

#### Semifinals
## Transactions
### 2024 NWSL Draft

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2024 NWSL Draft was held on January 12, 2024.
| R | P | Player | Pos. | College | Status |
| 1 | 11 | Payton Linnehan | FW | Pennsylvania State University | Signed to a two-year contract with a mutual option on March 1, 2024. |
| 2 | 23 | Olivia Wade-Katoa | MF | Brigham Young University | Signed to a two-year contract with a mutual option on March 5, 2024. |
| 2 | 25 | Kelsey Kaufusi | DF | Utah State University | Not signed. |
| 3 | 39 | Kat Asman | GK | Pennsylvania State University | Signed to a one-year contract with a mutual option on March 6, 2024. |
| 4 | 53 | Katie Duong | MF | Stanford University | Not signed. |

### Contract operations

| Date | Player | Pos. | Notes |
| January 17, 2024 | Gabby Provenzano | MF | Re-signed to a one-year contract extension. |
| January 18, 2024 | Meghan Klingenberg | DF | Free agent re-signed to a one-year contract. |
| January 22, 2024 | Christine Sinclair | FW | Free agent re-signed to a one-year contract. |
| January 23, 2024 | Becky Sauerbrunn | DF | Free agent re-signed to a one-year contract. |
| February 13, 2024 | Olivia Moultrie | MF | Re-signed to a three-year contract extension through 2026. |
| September 12, 2024 | Morgan Weaver | FW | Re-signed to a five-year contract extension through 2028. |

### Loans in

| Date | Player | Pos. | Previous club | Fee/notes | Ref. |
| February 18, 2024 | Nicole Payne | DF | Paris Saint-Germain | Loaned through the end of the season. Permanently acquired on July 2, 2024. | |

### Loans out

| Date | Player | Pos. | Destination club | Fee/notes | Ref. |
| September 5, 2024 | Lauren Kozal | GK | Tampa Bay Sun FC | Loaned through the remainder of the NWSL season. | |

### Transfers in

| Date | Player | Pos. | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| January 9, 2024 | Isabella Obaze | DF | FC Rosengård | Acquired in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed to a three-year contract with a mutual option. |
| January 31, 2024 | Jessie Fleming | MF | Chelsea | Acquired in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed to a three-year contract. |
| February 2, 2024 | Marie Müller | DF | SC Freiburg | Acquired in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed to a two-year contract with a mutual option. |
| March 14, 2024 | Marissa Sheva | MF | Washington Spirit | Preseason trialist signed to a one-year contract with a mutual option. |
| March 20, 2024 | Ana Dias | FW | ZFK Zenit | Signed to a one-year contract with a mutual option. |
| March 21, 2024 | Mallie McKenzie | MF | Georgia Bulldogs | Preseason trialist signed to a one-year contract with a mutual option. |
| April 20, 2024 | Emily Alvarado | GK | Houston Dash | Traded in exchange for $35,000 in allocation money and a maximum of $50,000 in additional funding pending performance conditions met. |
| July 2, 2024 | Nicole Payne | DF | Paris Saint-Germain | Loanee acquired permanently in exchange for an undisclosed fee and signed to a two-year contract through 2025. |
| July 10, 2024 | Mackenzie Arnold | GK | West Ham United | Signed to a three-year contract through 2026 with a mutual option. |
| July 18, 2024 | Marissa DiGenova | DF | Lancaster Inferno FC | Signed as national team replacement players. |
| July 18, 2024 | Rebekah Valdez | FW | Grand Canyon Antelopes | Signed as national team replacement players. |
| August 19, 2024 | Alexa Spaanstra | FW | Kansas City Current | Traded in exchange for $25,000 in intra-league transfer funds and $15,000 in allocation money. |
| August 21, 2024 | Reilyn Turner | FW | Racing Louisville FC | Traded in exchange for Janine Beckie. |
| September 2, 2024 | Sophie Hirst | MF | Houston Dash | Traded in exchange for $25,000 in intra-league transfer funds and a conditional $10,000 in intra-league transfer funds. |

### Transfers out

| Date | Player | Pos. | Destination club | Fee/notes |
| January 23, 2024 | Rocky Rodríguez | MF | Angel City FC | Traded in exchange for $275,000 in allocation money and conditional fees. |
| July 26, 2024 | Meaghan Nally | DF | Odense Boldklub Q | Mutual contract termination. |
| August 15, 2024 | Emily Alvarado | GK | Club Tijuana | Mutual contract termination. |
| August 21, 2024 | Janine Beckie | FW | Racing Louisville FC | Traded in exchange for Reilyn Turner. |
| August 26, 2024 | Ana Dias | FW | Tigres UANL | Transferred in exchange for an undisclosed fee. |

### Retirements

| Date | Player | Pos. | Ref. |
| November 10, 2024 | Christine Sinclair | FW | |

### Injury listings

| Date | Player | Pos. | List | Injury |
| March 13, 2024 | Gabby Provenzano | MF | Season-ending injury | Left Achilles tear. |
| May 9, 2024 | Morgan Weaver | FW | 45-day injury | Right knee injury sustained in match against Bay FC. |
| October 11, 2024 | Olivia Wade-Katoa | MF | Season-ending injury | Right knee injury sustained in match against Santa Fe F.C. |

### Preseason trialists

Trialists are non-rostered invitees during preseason and are not automatically signed. The Thorns' initial preseason roster, which was released on January 24, 2024, did not feature any non-rostered invitees. However, the club added three non-rostered invitees to their preseason roster on February 20, 2024.
| Player | Pos. | Previous club | Status |
| Taylor Aylmer | MF | Racing Louisville FC | Not signed. |
| Mallie McKenzie | MF | Georgia Bulldogs | Signed to a one-year contract with a mutual option on March 21, 2024. |
| Marissa Sheva | FW | Washington Spirit | Signed to a one-year contract with a mutual option on March 14, 2024. |