In Mark Parsons’ first season as Portland Thorns FC head coach, the team claimed the 2016 NWSL Shield, finishing top of the league in the regular season.
That award commenced a three-year stretch where every major team honor has gone to either Portland or, when you consider the history of the relocated Western New York Flash (which, officially, the league does not) the North Carolina Courage. The Flash won the 2016 NWSL Championship title, the Thorns did the same in 2017 – with North Carolina taking the Shield – while the Courage finished on top of the league after this, the 2018 season.