BEAVERTON, Ore. – It was one month into Portland Thorns FC's 2019 National Women’s Soccer League season that the true reason for Katherine Reynolds’ return came out.
A defender with the team since 2016, the 31-year-old saw her previous season ended abruptly by a knee injury, one that required major surgery on her right medial collateral ligament before the Thorns’ campaign was over. She watched from the sidelines as her team made a second-consecutive NWSL Championship game and went into the offseason with questions about whether she wanted to continue. After nearly a decade in professional soccer, the thought of a long rehabilitation process created a difficult decision.