Credit: © Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
“Overwhelming” is usually the word Portland Thorns opponents would use to describe the feeling of playing the jewel of the Pacific Northwest. Yet while she spoke with media in Beverly Hills in January, Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey deployed the adjective in a different context — namely, the amounts of change the organization has seen at every possible level over the past year.
“We are turning the page,” Coffey said during the league’s first-ever Media Day on Jan. 25, in Los Angeles. “There’s a lot of change, there’s a lot of movement, and that can feel overwhelming sometimes.”
Three National Women’s Soccer League titles, two NWSL shields and the best historical attendance in the league speak to a club that hardly ever puts a foot wrong. Only once have the Thorns missed the NWSL playoffs. Two players have been named NWSL Most Valuable Player while wearing Thorns colors. A legend like Christine Sinclair never played a single NWSL minute for another club. Becky Sauerbrunn…
