PORTLAND, Ore. – Maybe all teams in the NWSL feel a version of this. Go online when they have news, and the feeling rings true. A player may only be with a team for three years, sometimes fewer, yet they can have the type of impact which makes that “only” feel rude. Fans tell us as much.
Still, there are parts of Dagny Brynjarsdottir’s time with Portland Thorns FC that feel distinct from that phenomenon – a product of the strange moment at which she arrived, and the unique and special moment at which she departs.
When she arrived, the Thorns were in the middle of club-defining transition, of which she was expected to be a part.