Life on the east coast’s terms meant today’s news had a different course. Instead of breaking in real time on their Twitter timelines, most Portland Thorns FC fans woke up to the announcement: that the National Women’s Soccer League would be back soon; a 25-game tournament would begin in Utah on June 27; and a champion would eventually be crowned for a first of its kind NWSL Challenge Cup.
“I couldn’t be more pleased than to announce today that the NWSL is going to return to competition this summer ...,” the league’s commissioner, Lisa Baird, said on a mid-day conference call.