PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Thorns FC today announced the team’s season-opening roster for the 2017 National Women’s Soccer League campaign. Thorns FC open the 2017 NWSL season at home Saturday against the Orlando Pride, and will be featured in the first NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime; kickoff is set for 12 noon p.m. (Pacific).
Led by 2016 NWSL Coach of the Year Mark Parsons, who begins his second season with Thorns FC in 2017, Portland returns 18 players from a 2016 squad that won its first-ever NWSL Shield. The 2017 roster includes four players who were named to the 55-player short list for the FIFPro Best XI (Amandine Henry, Meghan Klingenberg, Tobin Heath, Christine Sinclair), three NWSL Best XI selections (Heath, Allie Long and Emily Menges) and a total of 10 players on the current active roster who have been capped by their respective national teams.