Portland Thorns’ Bye-Week Affairs

Portland's beloved women's soccer team has this week off, but Thorns FC isn't taking part in this opportunity for leisure. The women are using their bye-week to fine tune their weapons in preparation for battle. A week of pressing training sessions and effective medical refinements has made Portland far more dangerous than they had been prior.

Monday through Friday Thorns FC has been at Providence Park training for their match May 9th against the Washington Spirit. Two weeks of training without Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath have been immensely beneficial for Portland.

Following their first season draw, Thorns FC needed time to re-evaluate what their team would look like without two of their brightest stars. The good news is, after 10 days of non-stop training Portland looks better than ever.

The rose city club also used the opportunity to tend to the long-lasting injury effecting the front line. Forward, Jodie Taylor underwent a successful lateral meniscectomy on her right knee. Taylor's procedure was performed by Portland Timbers chief medical officer Dr. Kevin Murphy. Taylor will begin rehab immediately with Timbers and Thorns FC sports medicine staff. She is expected to miss approximately three weeks.

After a week of training and healing, Thorns FC looks forward to taking the pitch once again this Saturday at Providence Park. Portland (2-0-1, 7pts) enters Saturday’s match unbeaten in seven straight matches at Providence Park.

Thorns FC faces the Washington Spirit for the first time this season. The Spirit are 2-2 in the 2015 NWSL season, and are only one point behind Thorns FC. Portland is clearly the higher authority in the match this Saturday, but Washington has the opportunity to give Thorns FC a run for their money.

Related Slideshow: Oregon’s Most Devastating Sports Injuries

Here is GoLocalPDX's list of Oregon's most devastating injuries that have occured within the past 10 years. Prev Next Greg Oden Sept. 2007 — Micro fracture surgery on right knee Dec. 2009 — Fractured left patella Nov. 2010 — Micro fracture surgery on left knee Dec. 2011 — Arthroscopic surgery on right knee Unfortunately, Trail Blazer fans everywhere already know how drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant worked out for their team. After being be the #1 selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Oden was never able to play a full season due to ongoing knee injuries. The team eventually waived him in March of 2012. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next Dennis Dixon Nov. 2007 — Torn left ACL During the 2007 season Dixon had the Oregon Ducks as the #2 team in the country. That was until he suffered a torn ACL against Arizona State and attempted to play on it the following week against Arizona. After Dixon went down for the season the Ducks lost their remaining two regular season games. Fortunately, they were able to end their season on a high note with a victory over South Florida in the 2007 Sun Bowl. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next Brandon Roy Sept. 2008 — Cartilage removed from left knee April 2010 — Meniscus tear in right knee Jan. 2011 — Arthroscopic surgery on both knees Brandon Roy is perhaps one of the most beloved Trail Blazers in the history of the franchise. After being drafted in 2006, and leading the team out of the "Jail-Blazer" era, he had to make the tough decision to retire at the young age of 28. His degenerative knees prevented Rip City from seeing their superstar ever play to his full potential. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next Jacquizz Rodgers Nov. 2008 — Grade II separation of the acromioclavicular joint During the second to last game in 2008 Jacquizz Rodgers suffered a separated shoulder that ended his season. Unfortunately, this meant that he wasn't able to play in the Civil War, which was perhaps the biggest game of the year for the Beavers. If the Beavers had been able to defeat the Ducks they would've been able to book their tickets to play in the Rose Bowl. Instead, they went to the Sun Bowl where they defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next James Rodgers Oct. 2009 — Torn left ACL After participating in only 4 games during the 2009 season Rodgers went down with a torn ACL while playing against #9 Arizona. This couldn't have come at a worse time for Rodgers considering he was expected to have a breakout season. Rodgers, who was a senior at the time, was able to end his career at Oregon State as the career leader in all-purpose yards. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next Joel Pryzbilla Dec. 2009 — Ruptured right patella tendon and dislocated patella In December of 2009 the Trail Blazers' backup center, Joel Pryzbilla, was lost for the season with a ruptured and dislocated patella. This was a huge blow to the Trailblazers' frontcourt because they had already lost Oden for the season a few weeks before. Pryzbilla was also the team's defensive anchor who provided an inside presence. "The Vanilla Gorilla" was sorely missed for the rest of the year. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropepd) Prev Next LaMichael James Oct. 2011 — Dislocated right elbow The 2011 season couldn't have started any better for LaMichael James. After the first game James became Oregon's career rushing leader, surpassing Derek Loville. During the second game he rushed for over 200 yards against Missouri State. Unfortunately, James' year was slowed by a dislocated elbow suffered against Cal. Luckily for Duck fans he was able to return to end the season. Photo via Facebook (image cropped) Prev Next Nate Costa Nov. 2010 —Torn Right ACL After suffering a multitude of knee injuries throughout his career at Oregon Costa was forced to officially retire from football after tearing his ACL for the third time in agame against Washington. Although Costa's career was hobbled by injuries many of his teammates looked to him as their leader. Oregon's coaching staff referred to Costa as the "heart and soul" of the 2010 team that won the Rose Bowl. Photo via Addictedtoquack (image cropped) Prev Next Sean Mannion Oct. 2012 — Torn Left Meniscus During the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, Sean Mannion was enjoying one of his best as a Beaver. Unfortunately, he tore his left meniscus against Washington State that resulted in him missing around half the season. With Mannion leading the way the Beavers had the Pac-12's fourth rated offense, averaging 459.5 yeards per game. With Mannion sidelined Cody Vaz became the starting quarterback Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next Marcus Mariota Oct. 2013 — Partial MCL Tear Marcus Mariota is widely regarded as one of the greatest Oregon Duck quarterbacks to ever play at Autzen. Unfortunately a knee injury hobbled his sophomore season. After Mariota suffered a partial MCL tear against UCLA he conintued to play the remainder of the season. With Mariota's knee not allowing him to be as mobile as he was accustomed to teams were able to take advantage. In the weeks following the injury the Ducks suffered losses to Stanford and Arizona. Duck fans everywhere would like to know what that season woud've loked like if Mariota had stayed healthy. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next CJ McCollum Oct. 2013 — Broken fifth Metatarsal In Left Foot After being taken 10th overall during the 2013 NBA Draft the shooting guard out of Lehigh wasn't able to start his career the way many had hoped. After breaking the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot the rookie wasn't able to take the court until January of 2014. Before the injury McCollum was in consideration for playing time behind Lillard. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next Alex Morgan Oct. 2013 — Stress reaction in talus bone During the 2013 season Morgan suffered an injury that doctors misdiagnosed as a mildly sprained ankle. After a few additional tests were performed it turned out that Morgan had suffered a far more serious injury. She actually suffered a stress reaction in the talus bone that put her immediate future with Team USA in question. After rehabbing for 7 months Morgan was able to make a full recovery. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next Bralon Addison April 2014 — Torn left ACL After exceeding expectations as a freshman and sophomore at the University of Oregon Addison was expecting big things from his junior year. Unfortunately, Addison suffered a torn ACL during last year's spring practice that kept him sidelined the entire year. Without Addison in the lineup the receiving core never lived up to their full potential. If he had been able to play this season the National Championship may have wielded a different outcome. Photo via Facebook (image cropped) Prev Next Ifo Ekpre-Olomu Dec. 2014 — Torn ACL In preparation for the first ever college football playoffs Ekpre-Olomu ended up tearing his ACL during a routine practice. This was a huge blow to the Ducks considering Ekpre-Olomu was one of the team's better defenders. He was also one of the best corners in the country who many analysists expected to be selected as high as the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev Next Wesley Matthews March 2015 — Torn left achilles Just 2 months before Matthews suffered a torn achilles he had become the Trailblazers' all-time leader in 3-point field goals made. It looked as though the Trailblazers were poised to make a deep playoff run. Things took a drastic turn when Matthews was lost for the season. With the team in a 0-2 hole against the Memphis Grizzlies it doesn't look as though they will be making it to the second round of the playoffs this year. Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped) Prev

Greg Oden

Greg Oden

Dennis Dixon

Dennis Dixon

Brandon Roy

Brandon Roy

Jacquizz Rodgers

Jacquizz Rodgers

James Rodgers

James Rodgers

Joel Pryzbilla

Joel Pryzbilla

LaMichael James

LaMichael James

Nate Costa

Nate Costa

Sean Mannion

Sean Mannion

Marcus Mariota

Marcus Mariota

CJ McCollum

CJ McCollum

Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan

Bralon Addison

Bralon Addison

Ifo Ekpre-Olomu

Ifo Ekpre-Olomu

Wesley Matthews Next

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