The sobering prospect of a rough start to the 2025 season

Both PTFCs (for different reasons) are staring down tough starts to the new season - here's how to cope

Not gonna lie, the past four days have been rough for Soccer City, USA.

First, the Portland Timbers tripped over their shoelaces and fell into the mud face-first while their Canadian rivals danced all over them again. Fans were subjected to a 4-1 opening day loss did nothing to exercise the demons of the 2024 season.

Match Recap: Timbers vs. Whitecaps

Then, the Portland Thorns announced that not one, not two, but three potential starters were all going to miss the 2025 season with season-ending injuries. For a Thorns team that is as equally under pressure to move on from a subpar 2024 losing talents like Nicole Payne and Marie Mueller is not a good way to start. And that’s before we discuss the impact of losing an emotional leader like Morgan Weaver for the year¹.

The Portland Thorns announce three season-ending injuries

As one particular blog boy posted on social media, the glimpse of optimism for the new year has been quickly dashed by the one-two punch of a bad loss and some bad news.

It’s pretty much the last thing RTCID and BAONPDX wanted to be confronted with at the dawn of a new year: a difficult and possibly disappointing start to the season. And dear reader, I’m hear to say that yes — we should all probably reset some of our early-season expectations and brace for a rough start to the spring.

But I am also here to say that it probably won’t last forever, and that there is a narrow but feasible way through to still capture those “happy optimistic soccer times”.