2013 Portland Thorns FC season

Portland Thorns FC

2013 season
President	Merritt Paulson
Head coach	Cindy Parlow Cone
Stadium	Jeld-Wen Field Portland, Oregon (Capacity: 20,438)
National Women's Soccer League	3rd
NWSL Playoffs	Champions
Top goalscorer	Alex Morgan Christine Sinclair (8 goals)
Highest home attendance	16,479
Lowest home attendance	10,886
Average home league attendance	13,320
Home colors Away colors
2014 →

The 2013 season was the Portland Thorns' inaugural season in the newly created National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of women's professional soccer in the United States. The Thorns ended the 22-game regular season with a 10-6-6 record, qualifying them for the NWSL playoffs. In their semi-final game the team beat FC Kansas City 3-2 in extra time, qualifying them to play Western New York Flash in the championship. The Thorns beat the Flash 2–0, making Portland Thorns FC the NWSL champion.

The league's founding was announced on November 21, 2012, with Portland as a host for one of eight teams.^[1][2] At that time it was announced by Portland Timbers' owner Merritt Paulson that the Timbers would own the team.^[2]

The chosen team, Portland Thorns FC, was announced on December 13, 2012, accompanied by the unveiling of its logo.^[3][4][5] Both the name and logo were intended to invoke Portland's nickname of the Rose City.^[3][6]

Cindy Parlow Cone was announced as the first head coach on December 19, 2012.^[7]

Majority Owner & President	Merritt Paulson
Chief Operating Officer	Mike Golub
General Manager / Technical Director	Gavin Wilkinson
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	Jeld-Wen Field (20,438 / 110x70 yards)

Updated to match played February 11, 2013
Source: Portland Timbers

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Cindy Parlow Cone
Assistant Coach	John Galas

In the National Women's Soccer League's (NWSL) inaugural season, the eight founding clubs filled out their rosters through numerous mechanisms. First, teams are allocated national team players from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Next, teams go through the NWSL College Draft, a free agency period, the NWSL Supplemental Draft, and the signing of Discovery Players.^[8]

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of Birth (Age)	Previous Club	Signed Via / Notes
Goalkeepers
1	Karina LeBlanc		(1980-03-30) 30 March 1980 (age 44)	magicJack (WPS)	National team allocation[9]
23	Adelaide Gay		(1989-11-03) 3 November 1989 (age 35)	University of North Carolina	Discovery player[10]
Defenders
2	Marian Dougherty		(1984-11-25) 25 November 1984 (age 40)	magicJack (WPS)	Supplemental draft[11]
4	Emilee O'Neil		(1983-03-26) 26 March 1983 (age 41)	Stanford University	Discovery player[10]
5	Kathryn Williamson		(1989-08-01) 1 August 1989 (age 35)	University of Florida	NWSL College Draft[12]
7	Nikki Marshall		(1988-06-02) 2 June 1988 (age 36)	Western New York Flash	Free agent[13]
11	Jazmyne Avant		(1990-01-30) 30 January 1990 (age 34)	New York Fury	Discovery player[14]
16	Rachel Van Hollebeke		(1985-08-26) 26 August 1985 (age 39)	Boston Breakers	National team allocation[9]
Midfielders
3	Elizabeth Guess		(1985-01-11) 11 January 1985 (age 39)	Boston Breakers	Waivers[15]
6	Meleana Shim		(1991-09-25) 25 September 1991 (age 33)	Santa Clara University	Discovery player[10]
8	Angie Kerr		(1987-03-29) 29 March 1987 (age 37)	Sky Blue FC	Supplemental draft[11]
10	Allie Long		(1987-08-13) 13 August 1987 (age 37)	New York Fury	Free Agent[13]
12	Becky Edwards		(1988-05-22) 22 May 1988 (age 36)	Kristianstads DFF	Free agent[13]
17	Tobin Heath		(1988-05-29) 29 May 1988 (age 36)	Paris Saint-Germain	National team allocation[9][16]
20	Courtney Wetzel		(1989-02-25) 25 February 1989 (age 35)	Oregon State University	Discovery player[10]
21	Nikki Washington		(1988-08-01) 1 August 1988 (age 36)	Canberra United FC	Free agent[13]
Forwards
9	Danielle Foxhoven		(1989-11-08) 8 November 1989 (age 35)	FC Energy Voronezh	Discovery player[17]
12	Christine Sinclair (captain)		(1983-06-12) 12 June 1983 (age 41)	Western New York Flash	National team allocation[9]
13	Alex Morgan		(1989-07-02) 2 July 1989 (age 35)	Seattle Sounders Women	National team allocation[9]
18	Jessica Shufelt		(1990-05-29) 29 May 1990 (age 34)	Ottawa Fury Women	Supplemental draft[11]

All times Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00)

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
22	38	11	6	5	32	25	+7	5	4	2	19	17	+2	6	2	3	13	8	+5

Last updated: August 18, 2013
Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

No.	Pos.	Name	League					Discipline
			GP	GS	MP	G	A
1	GK	Karina LeBlanc	21	21	1890	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Marian Dougherty	19	19	1666	1	1	2	0
3	MF	Elizabeth Guess	4	1	67	0	0	2	0
4	DF/MF	Emilee O'Neil	4	1	141	0	0	0	0
5	DF	Kathryn Williamson	22	22	1944	0	0	1	0
6	MF	Meleana Shim	19	17	1416	5	2	1	0
7	DF	Nikki Marshall	22	22	1871	0	1	1	0
8	MF	Angie Kerr	15	9	762	0	1	0	0
9	FW	Danielle Foxhoven	21	7	997	4	0	1	0
10	MF	Allie Long	22	22	1956	3	3	2	0
11	DF	Jazmyne Avant	4	2	212	0	0	0	0
12	FW	Christine Sinclair	20	20	1783	8	2	2	0
13	FW	Alex Morgan	18	18	1525	8	5	4	0
14	MF	Becky Edwards	10	10	900	0	0	3	0
15	DF/MF	Casey Ramirez	4	1	159	0	0	0	0
16	DF	Rachel Buehler	20	20	1800	0	2	2	0
17	MF	Tobin Heath	7	7	630	0	3	4	0
18	FW	Jessica Shufelt	4	0	31	0	0	0	0
19	FW	Tiffany Weimer	10	5	522	1	1	0	0
20	MF	Courtney Wetzel	16	6	602	1	1	0	0
21	MF	Nikki Washington	11	10	776	1	2	3	0
24	DF	Tina Ellertson	3	0	40	0	0	0	0
26	GK	Cris Lewis	1	1	90	0	0	0	0
Portland Thorns FC			22		1980	32	24	29	0
Opponents			22		1980	25	19	18	0

Statistics accurate as of October 11, 2013^[18]

Last updated: October 11, 2013

No.	Nat	Player	MIN	GA	GAA	SV
1		Karina LeBlanc	1890	23	1.1	92
23		Adelaide Gay	0	0	0	0
26		Cris Lewis	90	2	2	0

NWSL Player of the Month

Month	Result	Player	Ref
April	Won	Christine Sinclair	[19]

On January 11, 2013, the league held its player allocation for the national team players, with Portland receiving seven players: Rachel Buehler, Tobin Heath, Karina LeBlanc, Alex Morgan, Marlene Sandoval, Luz Saucedo, and Christine Sinclair.^[9] On January 23, 2013, Heath signed a six-month contract with Paris Saint-Germain and expected to join the Thorns FC once the French club's season is concluded.^[16] On March 21, 2013, Sandoval and Saucedo, the two allocated Mexico national team defenders, were removed from the team roster, due to an injury and decision by the Mexican Football Federation, respectively.^[20]

Each team in the NWSL got to pick once per round, with the draft order based on how well each team did in allocation. The Thorns picked eighth (last) in each round.^[10]

Date	Player	Pos	Previous Club	Round (Overall)	Ref
January 18, 2013	Kathryn Williamson	DF	University of Florida	1 (8)	[12]
January 18, 2013	Nicolette Radovcic	MF	University of Central Florida	2 (16)	[12][21]
January 18, 2013	Amber Brooks	MF	University of North Carolina	3 (24)	[12]
January 18, 2013	Roxanne Barker	GK	Pepperdine University	4 (32)	[12][21]

Any player that wasn’t selected in the NWSL College Draft, and was done with her college eligibility, was eligible for the NWSL Supplemental Draft. The draft lasted six rounds. Again, the Thorns selected eighth (last) in each round.^[10]

Date	Player	Pos	Previous Club	Pick (Overall)	Ref
February 7, 2013	Tina Ellertson	DF	magicJack (WPS)	1 (8)	[11]
February 7, 2013	Angie Kerr	MF	Sky Blue FC	2 (16)	[11]
February 7, 2013	Michele Weissenhofer	FW	Chicago Red Stars	3 (24)	[11]
February 7, 2013	Marian Dougherty (Dalmy)	DF	magicJack (WPS)	4 (32)	[11]
February 7, 2013	Jessica Shufelt	FW	Ottawa Fury Women	5 (40)	[11]

Date	Player	Pos	Previous Club	Notes	Ref
April 24, 2013	Elizabeth Guess	MF	Boston Breakers	Signed off Waivers	[15]

Date	Player	Pos	Destination Club	Notes	Ref