Mega Town
Thorn Town catches up on a few weeks that transformed the franchise
Oh, have the Thorns been doing stuff in October? Oh, the fate of the franchise seems to twist in an entirely new direction every couple of days? Got it, got it, got it. Here we go:
October 5: Utah Royals 2 - Thorns 1
Folks, we’ll keep the recap of this one pretty short. Here’s what Thorn Town wrote on October 1st, a few days before this contest:
The Thorns have only gone with three defenders against one of [the NWSL’s] bottom-five offenses: Angel City, San Diego, and Utah. Portland has given up multiple goals in each of those games, getting cumulatively outscored 7-3.
And, yes, if you can believe it: Portland rolled into this game with a three-defender lineup.
October 9: Karina LeBlanc reassigned
A few days later, we received the first sign about how the Bhathal family has felt about this up-and-down season, with the news that Karina LeBlanc will no longer be the team’s General Manager. Interestingly, much like when the team took Mike Norris off of the sideline earlier this year, the Bhathal ownership group did not fire LeBlanc, but reassigned her — to a more business-minded role that will overlook both the Thorns and the future WNBA team.
Here at Thorn Town, some drafts that were previewing the offseason, but are now headed to the trash, wondered if the Bhathal family would make this move if they felt like the 2024 season was more than a concerning bump in the road. Looking back at the Thorns’ 2022 championship team, there are four every-game players who have departed: Crystal Dunn, Natalia Kuikka, Rocky Rodríguez, and Yazmeen Ryan. Out of those four departures, only one has been replaced with a player of at least comparable skill — that would be the arrival of Marie Müller making up for the loss of Kuikka. The arrow has subtly, but surely, been pointing down.
This reassignment also now throws into question the Thorns’ player acquisition strategy throughout 2024. The plan — which was often praised in these parts — was that the Thorns were basically conducting a “second draft,” and bringing in young players who had unrealized potential from a first, brief NWSL stop. In retrospect, the plan has not equipped the Thorns to be a meaningful championship contender in 2024. So: where to go from here, now that all of the deals have been done? And, in some cases, those deals have been done extremely recently, with Portland adding four veteran players since the Olympic break.
This move seems to be an omen that the Thorns will make plenty of aggressive moves in the offseason, with lots of changes to the roster. But: who is it that will be making the moves for the team?
October 11: Thorns 2 - Orlando Pride 0
And, suddenly, in the midst of the franchise’s worst-ever free-fall, the season’s most stunning result. Now, it is true that Orlando, with first place guaranteed, was more interested in resting their star players than winning this game. The Pride’s three leading goal-scorers (Barbra Banda, Marta, Adriana) and one of their every-game defensive stars (Emily Sams) were all healthy scratches out of the starting lineup.
But, even still, it sure had been looking like the Thorns weren’t capable of getting a result against anybody in the NWSL. I’m still not really sure how this one happened. What I do know is that, early in the second half, Christine Sinclair produced one last vintage moment, firing home a shot from the top of the penalty box. It has been, for the most part, a completely gloomy season. But, here was one moment where the history, the tradition — shoot, the majesty of the Thorns — it was back.
October 15: Alexa Spaanstra Contract Extension
And now: a move that felt extremely puzzling — given that the news of LeBlanc’s reassignment was only a few days old. The new forward Spaanstra — who would have been a free agent at the end of the season — agreed to a two-year contract extension with the team, through the end of the 2026 season.
But: agreed to a contract extension with who? Oddly, in the team’s press release announcing this contract, LeBlanc herself was quoted, and also labelled as “General Manager and President of Soccer Operations.” And: why did the team double down on one of LeBlanc’s final acquisitions, while also moving LeBlanc away from a player-acquisition role?
All together: a contract that, under normal circumstances, would have felt like good, solid business — suddenly felt confusing, in the face of the organizational changes.
October 19: Racing Louisville 1 - Thorns 0
At this point, most teams in the league had their playoff fates decided — whether in, or out. This was a match-up between two of the few teams who still had their final destiny up in the air.
Maybe that was why this game felt extremely tight, and slow, with very few shot opportunities generated either way. This also turned into one of the most physical, aggressive games the Thorns have played in years. Portland committed 17 fouls in this game, a crazy jump up from their season average of 9.8 per game.
The good news for Portland is: Sophia Smith is back. After missing slightly over a month of action, Smith appeared in the last 30 minutes of this contest. A wholesale line change at forward — with Smith, Morgan Weaver, and Reilyn Turner all getting substituted in — finally ignited a sleepy Thorns offense. Four of Portland’s six shots on goal came after Smith entered the field.
But, in the end, it was yet another last laugh for the league’s ultimate Thorn-killer: Taylor Flint (who went by Taylor Kornieck when she was with the San Diego Wave). In a moment of revenge for the traded-away Janine Beckie, Beckie laid up a corner kick for a textbook Flint header deep in the 88th minute of this game, and that was that. Flint has scored 10 goals in her NWSL career — four of them have now come against the Thorns.
If the Thorns had managed to secure even a tie in this game, then the team would be 100% locked into a playoff spot. Instead, right now, the team is close-to-100%-but-still-not-100% as they enter their 26th and final regular season game. Thorn Town returns later this week to preview the pivotal contest against Angel City FC.