Portland Thorns FC Is Home to All-Star Players

Sophia Smith and Sam Coffey head to the Olympics this summer.

Portland Thorns BOP (Craig Mitchelldyer)
By Veronica Bianco

Portland Thorns FC (thorns.com)—Portland’s professional women’s soccer team—is a staple of the city. On home game nights, thousands of fans clad in black and red stream into the team’s downtown home, Providence Park (1844 SW Morrison St.). (The Portland Timbers, the men’s team, also plays at Providence.) The place can get pretty wild: The Rose City Riveters, the Thorns supporters’ group, make sure that the stadium is never quiet, chanting (“Fuck Seattle!”), banging drums, and singing along with a trumpet player. The games are fun. The soccer is good, there are lots of food options, and there’s a rare sense of unity in the stadium.

There’s usually a lot to cheer for: The Thorns have three National Women’s Soccer League championships, including a win in 2022, along with two NWSL shields (the team with the best regular season record wins it), and a few other tournament wins under their belt. A few of the league’s (and world’s, if you will) best players call Portland home: Goal-scoring phenom Sophia Smith was honored as league MVP in 2022, and was recently named to the USA’s Olympic roster alongside teammate Sam Coffey. Smith led the league in goals last season, and already has 10 this time around. Coffey tallied the most assists in the league in 2023 playing as a defensive midfielder. Christine Sinclair, the all-time leading international goal scorer (men’s or women’s) has also called Portland home since 2013, the league’s inaugural season. This year will be her last: She signed on for one more season with the Thorns after her retirement from international soccer last year.

Coffey and Smith, neither of whom has competed at the Olympics, will head to Paris with the tall task of redeeming the women’s national team after a disappointing round of 16 exit at the World Cup last year.

Three other players are heading to the Olympics to represent their home countries: Jesse Fleming and Janine Beckie will suit up for Canada, and defender Nicole Payne will play for Nigeria.

The Thorns are on a break from the NWSL until the end of August (though there are still a few special games to catch the team in action). They’ll play at Providence Park until November.

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