New Women's Pro League!

DaTruRochin wrote:Thorns fans should be very thankful for the facility they get to use for their games.

The Boston Breakers play at a high school multipurpose stadium that barely seats 2,600 out in north Somerville that has no direct public transit routes and a half mile walk minimum coming out of Boston proper. Apparently Harvard Stadium was too expensive this time around...

Doomed, IMO...

Apparently you can never have too many Tarheels.

[url=New signee]http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2013/04/thorns-fc-acquire-midfielder-elizabeth-guess[/url]

Guess so.

Article concerning this on AWK. AWK Guess Article

And one on equalizer that I think sheds more light.

http://equalizersoccer.com/2013/04/25/answers-on-nwsl-rosters-rules-regs/

While I raise my eyebrows (understatement) about the UNC alums, this looks to me like a coup for the Thorns.

It seems like everyone is confused by the yet to be published NWSL rules.

Something else for which I credit the Thorns: They apparently still had cap room to sign Guess.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:Something else for which I credit the Thorns: They apparently still had cap room to sign Guess.

Hmm, apparently there is not quite enough money, because according to Tina Ellertson, she “couldn’t agree to contract terms with the Thorns.”

She went on to say she didn’t rule out resuming her playing career “if the money improves,” but for now her focus is on sharing her expertise with local players while coaching three girls soccer teams and acting as the assistant director of coaching for FC Salmon Creek.

“This is my career now,” she said of coaching, “and I’m diving into it.”

Too bad, I think her ability as a defender could be of great help to the Thorns.

DoubleDipper wrote:

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:Something else for which I credit the Thorns: They apparently still had cap room to sign Guess.

Hmm, apparently there is not quite enough money, because according to Tina Ellertson, she “couldn’t agree to contract terms with the Thorns.”

She went on to say she didn’t rule out resuming her playing career “if the money improves,” but for now her focus is on sharing her expertise with local players while coaching three girls soccer teams and acting as the assistant director of coaching for FC Salmon Creek.

“This is my career now,” she said of coaching, “and I’m diving into it.”

Too bad, I think her ability as a defender could be of great help to the Thorns.

Maybe, but it looks to me like she's doing what she needs to do with her family and it likely would conflict with professional soccer at this time. Sometimes, other things are more important.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:Maybe, but it looks to me like she's doing what she needs to do with her family and it likely would conflict with professional soccer at this time. Sometimes, other things are more important.

I DON'T disagree! I know the family....Tina's in a good place, and is apparently "moving on" with her life before many care to; something that can be very difficult to do, but the early start at coaching should server her well.

DoubleDipper wrote:

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:Maybe, but it looks to me like she's doing what she needs to do with her family and it likely would conflict with professional soccer at this time. Sometimes, other things are more important.

I DON'T disagree! I know the family....Tina's in a good place, and is apparently "moving on" with her life before many care to; something that can be very difficult to do, but the early start at coaching should server her well.

And what I have read about her family, the income is important. It sounded to me that there just wasn't enough of that available for her as a non - allocated player to make it worth her while.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:Something else for which I credit the Thorns: They apparently still had cap room to sign Guess.

It's not clear what they are paying her. And maybe they were saving money to get Amber Brooks, which as you recall was a Draft pick who went to play for Bayern.

She tweeted today that her contract was extended for next year, which appears to make that pick a complete waste for the Thorns along with every other pick but Williamson.

One interesting thing is that according to Equalizer, she had to clear waivers through the league, which was in the same order as the draft. So no one else either wanted her or had money for her, as the Thorns drew last pick in the draft.

Who knows? Maybe Cindy stuck gold, but it would be going against her history so far.

PurpleGeezer wrote:

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:Something else for which I credit the Thorns: They apparently still had cap room to sign Guess.

It's not clear what they are paying her. And maybe they were saving money to get Amber Brooks, which as you recall was a Draft pick who went to play for Bayern.

She tweeted today that her contract was extended for next year, which appears to make that pick a complete waste for the Thorns along with every other pick but Williamson.

One interesting thing is that according to Equalizer, she had to clear waivers through the league, which was in the same order as the draft. So no one else either wanted her or had money for her, as the Thorns drew last pick in the draft.

Who knows? Maybe Cindy stuck gold, but it would be going against her history so far.

Guess for Brooks might not be a bad exchange?

Here is a report on Libby Guess from a BigSoccer poster -- UNC fan -- I trust:

I must admit to having lost track of Libby over the last 5 years or so. I believe that she played briefly in Europe last year.

While at UNC she was not one of the superstars (as in Heath and O'Reilly) but developed nicely into a real solid player over her career and contributed significantly. I suspect she is in Portland at this time because Cindy Parlow knows her well from her time in Chapel Hill and has confidence that she will be an asset -probably as a sub. She may not be spectacular, but she'll be real solid and will play hard and smart. I guess I see her as a a "utility" player whose calling card is reliability. She won't embarrass herself or the Thorns but she won't necessarily dazzle. She may be a reliable feeder for Sinclair and be an assist leader. .... But as I always say, I've frequently bee proven wrong.....she may come on really strong.

She played 46 minutes in our game with UNC in 2006

She appears to be one of their platoon players from that team.

Came in at the 17 minute mark in the first half and the 63rd minute in the second.

Played forward. Took no shots.

Pretty hard to tell from that. That team had HAO, Averbush, Engen, Washington, Heath, and Noquiera ( who poached their goal).

Pilots 2, Red Stars 0

Yup. The Thorns are on top the league for now with 7 points.

Goals by the Fox in the Box in the 70th off a rebound from a Morgan shot, and a side better from in the 81st.

Sky blue beat Washington 2-1. Sophie got the game winner.

Thorns-Red Stars highlights.

http://m.portlandtimbers.com/news/2013/04/thorns-highlights-chicago-0-portland-2

From Twitter:

Grant Wahl ‏@GrantWahl 27 Apr
Starting to wonder if NWSL might be better off with 2 Portland teams #IntraCityRivalry

Might help with the league's bottom line...

Portland already has two Portland teams. I have season tickets to both.

Posted earlier on BigSoccer:

I thought it would be interesting to see how scoring so far has gone by NCAA college and conference. I admit, I saw where some of it would come out and it made me happy to do the work.

First, however, for the internationals that did not go to school in the US: points for goals 6 plus points for assists 2 for a total of 8.

Colleges (points for goals + points for assists):

Portland 8 + 1 = 9
North Carolina 6 + 1 = 7
UCLA 2 + 4 = 6
Oklahoma 4 + 0 = 4
Princeton 4 + 0 = 4
Virginia 2 + 1 = 3
California 2 + 1 = 3
Texas 2 + 0 = 2
Santa Clara 2 + 0 = 2
Florida State 2 + 0 = 2
Penn State 2 + 0 = 2
Boston College 0 + 1 = 1
San Diego 0 + 1 = 1
Michigan State 0 + 1 = 1
Florida 0 + 1 = 1
Illinois 0 + 1 = 1
Arizona State 0 + 1 = 1

Conferences (points):

ACC 13
West Coast 12
Pac 12 10
Big 12 6
Ivy 4
Big 10 4
SEC 1

So, I understand the Thorns won tonight on a PK from Morgan and shot from outside the box by Washington…..but how was the telecast? Any better than the KC game?

I also understand the Spirit has no more than 5,000 seats where they play, so it must have been a good soccer atmosphere without the volume level.

The telecast wasn't too bad. It wasn't hd, but it didn't cut out like the last time I tried to watch it.

The crowd actually seemed pretty good, and about 3600 were also watching on line..

I also watched the Reign play KCFC. great broadcast in hd and with UW coach Leslie Galimore as the color commentator.

Unfortunately, the Reign still had zero out of its forwards and lost 1-0 on a score from Cuellar.

I agree, it was a pretty good broadcast. The announcers were knowledgable and fair. The only thing missing was replays.