PORTLAND, Ore. – Preseason is never a good time to dwell on final scores. If you did so after Thorns FC’s 1-0 preseason-opening loss on Sunday to the Chicago Red Stars, you probably missed the bigger picture around Mark Parsons’ squad, one that left the Portland head coach effusive about his team’s performance in the wake of their Thorns Spring Invitational presented by Tillamook Yogurt opener.
“The message to the team afterwards was, we asked just a couple of things from you tonight, and I thought you exceeded that,” said Parsons. “You gave a lot more in return from what we asked for, and I think that, hopefully, we can do that always.