Portland Thorns center back Emily Menges is continuing to work her way back to full health and could see her first minutes of the season Saturday when the Thorns host the Orlando Pride at Providence Park.

Menges has missed the entire 2018 NWSL season so far due to what has been classified as right tibia stress syndrome. But Menges took a major step forward when she returned to training last week.

Thorns coach Mark Parsons said that Menges will remain in Portland to continue to train as the Thorns head to Houston to take on the Dash Wednesday. But Parsons also said that he is hopeful that Menges will see her first minutes of the season when the club hosts Orlando Saturday.

"We're not traveling her because we feel a really good, solid week of training without the travel, without losing two travel days, puts her in a position to maybe get minutes against Orlando," Parsons said. "This is our hope."

Thorns goalkeeper Bella Geist (left quad strain) remains out, but is making progress. Parsons said Geist could be out for another two weeks.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg