With preseason over and just a week and a half remaining until the girls in red head to Orlando for their season opener, the interminable offseason for Portland’s most successful soccer team is almost over—and your favorite Thorns column is back just in time. Here are a few of my takeaways from the Spring Invitational, and a look at the season ahead:
A rose to the team veterans.
If there’s one major positive to take out of last week’s first game, against the Red Stars, it’s that the big players who carried the team’s offense last year—Lindsey Horan, Tobin Heath, and Christine Sinclair—still very much look like themselves.