Touchline Talk

Morgan Messner gets preseason minutes: This is bigger than you might think initially- after Bella Bixby's SEI it's just Mackenzie Arnold and Messner on the active roster. Preseason is the perfect opportunity to give Messner low-risk minutes- if Arnold goes down in the regular season, Messner will be called into action right then.  Five people make their unofficial Thorns debuts: New signings Carolyn Calzada and Maddie Padelski and preseason trialists Sydney Cheesman, Jenni Immethun, Renee Lyles and Farrah Walters all appeared off the bench for the Thorns- and Lyles tallied Portland's lone goal. Lyles, in particular, is one to keep an eye on the next few years, as she subbed in for Portland's most dependable player- Olivia Moultrie. 

The Denver Summit's goalie room got a fairly major upgrade when Pauline Peyraud-Magnin joined through 2027. No disrespect at all to Abby Smith, but there's a huge difference between the 79 appearances for Juventus and Women's Champions League appearances like Peyraud-Magnin has and the 8 NWSL appearances that Smith has. Peyraud-Magnin will make Denver's backline play with a lot more confidence after competing in Europe and the WCL from 2021 to last year... not to mention that Smith will gain a lot from practicing with Pauline for two years, so there's a more natural succession plan for Denver. Add to this that Denver has two Ironwomen defenders in Megan Reid and Kaleigh Kurtz and the Summit's defensive third looks to be in great hands as their first official season kicks off in a few weeks. 

Alyssa Naeher, who recently returned to the Chicago Stars on a one-year deal through the end of this year, is a club legend with around 165 appearances since joining the team in 2016. She's also 37. Right now, there are three other goalies on the roster- Mackenzie Wood, who's 25 and who has three appearances for Chicago; Halle Mackiewicz, who's 24 and who has four appearances for Chicago; and Katie Atkinson, who's 29 and who recently signed with Chicago after 80 appearances at Racing Louisville.  I'm not suggesting that any of them slot in at #1 right away- I'm saying Chicago needs to look long-term at this position and use either friendlies or any cup games or any games where standings don't matter late in the year- where either they're already in the playoffs or already out of the playoffs- to play a combination of Wood and Mackiewicz and Atkinson, just so the coaching staff can evaluate all three and start laying the groundwork for a season without Na...

Bay FC keeper Jordan Silkowitz is in an interesting position entering the official start of the 2026 season in about a month's time- she was called up for the previous two USWNT camps but has not yet gotten her first senior-level cap. However , I think that Emma Coates being the new coach of Bay FC might change that for the better for Silkowitz. Why, you ask?  Coates has coached the U19 and U23 sides for the England women, meaning she brings national-team-coach experience to Bay FC. This means that Silkowitz can ask Coach Coates, "what do I have to do to appear in USWNT games, not just be on the bench for USWNT games" and Coates will actually have answers for her. 

For the defending NWSL champs, the third-place game at the Champions Cup yesterday was the optimal opportunity to have new goalie signing Teagan Wy in goal, rather than incumbent #1 Ann-Katrin Berger, but it was AKB who was between the pipes and Wy watched from the bench. A few reasons why this wasn't a good move- It would've given Wy pro minutes in a low-risk environment. You don't necessarily want to throw a 21-year-old, straight-from-college goalie into NWSL action in her first couple appearances. You want some games that won't count towards postseason seeding to get her game-speed reps... maybe a game February 1st, for instance. It would've reassured her that she's not just a benchwarmer.  She more than likely knew coming in that AKB would get the bulk of NWSL minutes. By that logic, having her between the pipes in a preseason encounter would've told her, "hey, you're a crucial part of our plans moving forward".  It would start a long-term ...

Thorns fans like myself got some more bad news earlier this week when Bella Bixby was placed on the Season-Ending Injury list with the 2026 opener scheduled for March 13, leaving Mackenzie Arnold as the only keeper on the active roster with game experience- 26 appearances for Portland so far. Arnold is more than likely the clear #1 heading into the season, but, with only Messner remaining on the active roster in the goalie room, there's going to be concerns about overuse if Arnold plays every NWSL minute this year, which is why, if I was on the coaching staff, I'd put Messner in place as the starter for any friendly games this year- she'd get actual in-game reps with the safety net of not having to worry about points or goal difference or anything like that. Plus, if she excels in the friendly games Portland has another option for later in the year if Arnold struggles.