A small league makes it easier for players to claim places at the top of leaderboards, but even with that in mind, the number Portland Thorns FC players who finished atop NWSL categories may be surprising. Perhaps it’s because the team’s season finished so soon, one game before the final, that we’ve looked beyond silver linings, but in terms of some individual performances, those silver linings are there.
Whether it be at the back, where Emily Menges and Meghan Klingenberg led the team, through the middle behind efforts of Lindsey Horan and Dagny Brynjarsdottir, or via name attackers like Tobin Heath and Christine Sinclair, Portland had players excel at all levels of the field, and while the numbers they dominated don’t carry high profiles, they show were, in a season of highs and lows, Portland’s talents stood out.