Portland Thorns 2023 Schedule

[Monika]

2/8/23 --

The following is the 2023 schedule for the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League. 

Portland enters its 11th season as one of the original members of the NWSL. This season will feature 22 games; two each against each of the other 11 members of the league. There also will the fourth annual Challenge Cup which features six additional games which will not count in the standings. For the second straight year, the Thorns will play two games each against regional rivals OL Reign, Angel City FC and San Diego Wave; each home-and-away. That schedule appears above the regular season schedule.

The NWSL will feature the top six teams in the league with the first and second seeds receiving first round byes. The Quarterfinals will be held on October 22, the Semifinals on November 4 and the Championship Game on November 11. Last season the OL Reign won the Shield (most regular season points), while the Thorns came in just a point behind and earned the second seed.

The Thorns are coming off an exceptional 2022 season which saw them winning the NWSL championship. They became the first three-time winner of the championship in the ten completed seasons of the league. Returning is are most of the players from last year's team, including reigning NWSL MVP Sophia Smith. She also was named MVP of the league championship game last year. Joining Smith and the other returnees are the Thorns four picks from last month's NWSL Draft.

The Thorns play their home games at Providence Park, located at 1844 SW Morrison in downtown Portland. The location was originally used as a field before the actual stadium was constructed and completed in 1926. Providence Park has a capacity of over 25,000. The Thorns share the stadium with the Portland Timbers FC of the Major League Soccer, and the stadium was previously home to the Portland St. Vikings football team. 

Broadcast information will be noted following the time of the game once that information is released. The schedule appears below. Home games are noted in Bold Green. All times on this schedule are pacific time and are subject to change. Where applicable, click on the final score for the NWSL/Thorns Recap.

2023 Challenge Cup

Wed., April 19 - at San Diego Wave FC (L 0-1)
Wed., May 31 - Angel City FC (W 3-2)
Wed., June 28 - OL Reign (L 0-1)
Fri., July 21 - San Diego Wave FC (W 4-1)
Sat., July 29 - at Angel City FC (L 1-2)
Sun., Aug. 6 - at OL Reign (D 0-0)

Preseason

MARCH
Sun., March 12 - Racing Louisville FC (W 1-0)
Wed., March 15 - U.S. U-23s Women's National Team (W 4-1)
Sat., March 18 - OL Reign (L 0-1)

Regular Season

MARCH
Sun., March 26 - Orlando Pride (W 4-0)

APRIL
Sat., April 1 - at Kansas City (W 4-1)
Fri., April 14 - Houston Dash (D 1-1)
Sat., April 22 - Racing Louisville FC (W 2-0)
Sat., April 29 - Angel City FC (D 3-3)

MAY
Sat., May 6 - at North Carolina Courage (D 2-2)
Fri., May 12 - at Houston Dash (L 1-2)
Sun., May 21 - Chicago Red Stars (W 4-0)
Fri., May 26 - at San Diego Wave FC (D 1-1)

JUNE
Sat., June 3 - at OL Reign (W 2-0)
Sun., June 11 - at Orlando Pride (L 1-3)
Sun., June 18 - at Chicago Red Stars (W 3-2)
Fri., June 23 - Washington Spirit (W 4-2)

JULY
Sat., July 1 - Kansas City (L 0-1)
Sun., July 9 - at NJ/NY Gotham FC (L 1-2)

AUGUST
Sun., Aug. 20 - North Carolina Courage (W 2-1)
Sun., Aug. 27 - at Washington Spirit (D 1-1)

SEPTEMBER
Sat., Sept. 2 - at Racing Louisville FC (L 1-2)
Sat., Sept. 16 - OL Reign (W 2-0)
Sat., Sept. 30 - San Diego Wave FC (L 0-2)

OCTOBER
Sat., Oct. 7 - NJ/NY Gotham FC (W 1-0)
Sun., Oct. 15 - at Angel City FC (L 1-5)

Playoffs

QUARTERFINALS: Bye
SEMIFINALS: Sat., Nov. 5 - NJ/NY Gotham FC (L 0-1 OT)


NWSL Home Pitches 2023

Angel City FC - Titan Stadium; Fullerton, California
Chicago Red Stars -- SeatGeek Stadium; Bridgeview, Illinois
Houston Dash -- BBVA Compass Stadium; Houston, Texas
Kansas City -- Children's Mercy Park; Kansas City, Kansas
North Carolina Courage -- WakeMed Soccer Park; Cary, North Carolina
Orlando Pride -- Exploria Stadium; Orlando, Florida
OL Reign FC -- Lumen Field; Seattle, Washington
Portland Thorns -- Providence Park; Portland, Oregon
Racing Louisville FC - Lynn Family Stadium; Louisville, Kentucky
NJ/NY Gotham FC -- Red Bull Stadium; Montclair St. University; Harrison, New Jersey
San Diego Wave FC -- Torero Stadium; San Diego, California
Washington Spirit -- Segra Field; Leesburg, Virginia or Audi Field; Washington D.C.

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[Monika]

[Yeseeka]

SEASON UPDATE (through July 1): The Thorns have been successful in the first portion of the season as they defend their NWSL championship from last year. They find themselves in second place to the North Carolina Courage, just one single point in standings, 26 to 25. The Thorns are 7-3-4 on the season. They are 4-1-2 at home and 3-2-2 on the road. In late June they won back-to-back games,  against the Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit, for the first time this season. The Thorns goal differential of 12 is the largest in the league.

Portland has eight regular season games remaining; four at home and four on the road. They make a trip to the east coast to face NJ/NY Gotham on July 9.. They have a chance to make up some ground on the Courage with a home date on August 20. There is a break in the season in late July and early August while the World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand.

Forward Sophia Smith, most valuable player of the league and the championship game last season, leads the NWSL in goals with 10 and is second in assists with five. She also leads the NWSL with 59 shots and 38 shots on goal. Sam Coffey leads the league with six assists and Morgan Weaver is third with 31 shots. As a team, the Thorns lead the league with 33 goals and 26 assists, 213 shots and 111 shots on goal.

[DiamondThief]

This isn't necessarily Thorns-related, but I thought this Nike intimidation video featuring USWNT/Thorns forward Sophia Smith was really cool.

  

[Monika]

It's 2023 Picture Day for the Thorns. Just going to leave these to the tweets from the team's account (yep, still calling them that).

[Monika]

A little behind the scenes.

[Monika]

With their win today over NJ/NY Gotham, the Thorns have clinched a spot in the NWSL playoffs with home-pitch advantage in the first round. They can win the 2023 NWSL Shield with a victory in the season finale on Sunday, October 15 on the road at Angel City FC.

[Monika]

REGULAR SEASON ENDING UPDATE: The Thorns have secured the second spot in the final 2023 NWSL standings following their 5--1 loss at Angel City FC on October 15. San Diego Wave FC claims their second-straight Shield after their 2-0 win the same day at home over Racing Louisville FC. 

Portland will have a bye week in the first round of the playoffs (as well as the Wave). All four West Coast teams have reached the postseason The first-round games will be played on October 22 with the semifinal round matches to be played on November 5. The 2023 NWSL championship will be played on November 11 (pacific). Here are the playoff matchups:

First Round
NJ/NY Gotham FC at North Carolina Courage
Angel City FC at OL Reign
Byes - Portland Thorns FC, San Diego Wave FC

The Thorns playoff schedule will be updated above when it is announced.

Related: Thorns forward Sophia Smith wins her first Golden Boot Award with a league-high 11 goals. She was first in the league with 39 shots on goal and second with 60 shots. Thorns midfielder finishes the regular season with the league lead in assists with eight. Morgan Weaver finished in a tie for fifth with seven goals and Hina Sugita came in amongst a multi-player at eighth with six goals on the season. Bella Bixby's 67 saves were good for fifth in the league among goalkeepers.

As a team, the Thorns ranked first in the league in goals (42), assists (31), shots (285) and shots on goal (150).
   

[Monika]

Note: All times in the bracket below are eastern rather than SCtoC's official time of pacific.

[Monika]

The second-seeded Thorns will host NJ/NY Gotham FC, the sixth seed, in the NWSL semifinals on Sunday, November 5 at 4 p.m. Gotham defeated the North Carolina Courage 2-0 in the quarterfinals on October 22. In the other quarterfinal match, OL Reign defeated Angel City FC 1-0 on October 20. the Reign, fourth seed, will visit San Diego Wave FC in the other semifinal on November 5 at 6:30 p.m.

Should the Thorns and Reign both win, that would set up a Pacific Northwest showdown for the NWSL Championship. Here is the updated bracket from the official NWSL website.


  

[Monika]

SEASON UPDATE: With their 1-0 overtime loss to NJ/NY Gotham FC, the Thorns bid to repeat as NWSL champions has ended. The lone score of the game came in the 17th minute of overtime as Katie Stengal scored on an assist from Kristie Mewis which eventually gave Gotham the win and opportunity to play on November 11 for the Championship against either San Diego Wave FC or OL Reign.

[Monika]

The NWSL Expansion Draft is coming up on December 15. Bay FC and Utah Royals FC will be selecting a pool of players from the rosters of the 12 previously existent league teams. This message from the league outlines the guidelines of the draft. Scroll right as there are several pages.