The Portland Thorns return to Providence Park to face off against NWSL Shield and Championship contender, Washington Spirit.
In the season opener, PTFC pulled off the 1-0 road win at 'Rowdy Audi' and stunned the 2025 finalists.
Now, they'll look to complete the sweep.
Here's everything you need to know before the game:
Becky Sauerbrunn returns in new role
On Wednesday, the club announced that USWNT and NWSL legend, Becky Sauerbrunn is returning as a technical consultant for the remainder of the 2026 season.
Becky Sauerbrunn: "I’m excited to be joining the Thorns for the remainder of the season. As a player, I loved watching film, talking tactics and details, working with a backline, and this opportunity affords me all those things with a lot less running. I had the privilege of a long career in this league, and I hope to be a resource for the players and staff as they work towards a championship season."
Her role will consists of providing high-level insights during video analysis to help athletes and technical staff review performance.
Robert Vilahamn: "Since I came into this club, I've heard so much good stuff about her, and I met her at Providence Park one time as well. We wanted to make sure we keep the history and legacy of the club and the players. We also have a gap in the tech team — I'm coming from Europe, my goalkeeper coach is from Europe, Sarah is from the college game, and none of us have really played in the NWSL over the last 10 or 15 years. Becky has that knowledge, but overall, she's Portland Thorns, and we want to make sure we have a good pathway for her to use her knowledge and experience. From now, she's going to help us at least once a week and focus on the players in the back unit, using her experience there. I'm also going to have her work with the captains to make sure they get some guidance and leadership from her — sometimes you forget that captains also need to be pushed in that way, and I think Becky is a great role model in that. We're going to use her to make a great start for the rest of the season, and we'll see how the future looks."
Transfer Window
I asked Robert Vilahamn about the transfer window and if he envisioned making an addition before the deadline.
RV: "We always look, especially with the injury we had on Olivia Moultrie, which gave us an opening in the roster if we want to use it. The European transfer window makes it tricky, though — it takes quite a long time to sign a European player and bring them overseas with the visa and everything, so it's very hard to go into the European market, especially with them in preseason while we're starting our season.
So we're looking and talking and staying aware if something could work out, but we're also very happy with the roster we have and the competition it creates, because we're getting Caiya Hanks back, Morgan Weaver back, Reilyn Turner back, and Julie Dufour coming back. We see them as new signings in one way, because they're getting back and making us stronger every week, so we're not desperately looking for a new player, but we're always looking at whether we can improve the roster for the playoffs. We're not rushing it, but we're absolutely looking."
Prematch Media Availability with
Robert Vilahamn
Portland Thorns head coach Robert Vilahamn talks to the media ahead of the crucial match vs Washington Spirit.
- Becky Sauerbrunn's addition to the staff and what that looks like
- Why it was important to add veteran leadership to the squad
- Julie Dufour's injury update
- Limited bench rotation the last few matches
- Consistency in the backline
- Nina Nijstad's impact
- Being away from home and from family & friends
- Washington Spirit preview
- Transfer Window plans
- Coffee order
