Eight weeks have passed in the 2017 NWSL regular season and Portland Thorns FC has their first NWSL Player of the Week. Lindsey Horan has been named Player of the Week for the first time in her career. She is also the first Thorns player to be awarded this year and the 12th time in their history.
Horan, 23, scored two goals in her team’s 2-0 win over Sky Blue FC this past weekend. These were also the first two goals of the year for her. The first goal, which was named Goal of the Week, came in the 20th minute. Teammate Nadia Nadim sent in a long free kick into the Sky Blue penalty area and Horan dove for the ball and was able to head it to the far post to give the Thorns and early 1-0 lead.
Three minutes before halftime, she struck again. This time, a cross was sent in by Meghan Klingenberg and Horan was able to hammer it home with her right-footed strike. She finished the game with four shots with two of those being on target. She completed 71.8% of her passes and had 53 touches in the game.
Horan now has seven goals in her NWSL career after joining Portland prior to the 2016 season. She has four game-winning goals and has scored 57% (four or seven) of her goals with her head.
Portland currently sits in third place of the NWSL table with 15 points in eight games played and only trail top of the table North Carolina Courage by three points with a game in hand.
The Thorns are off this week, like every other NWSL club, due to a FIFA international break and will be back in action on Saturday, June 17 when they host Sky Blue FC. The Thorns have not lost a game since April 22 and need to be considered a threat to win the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship this season.
Previous Winners
The NWSL Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by the NWSL Media Association, a collection of writers that cover the league on a consistent basis. For more information on the NWSL Media Association.