The Portland Thorns have traded away midfielder/winger Yazmeen Ryan for a pair of draft picks and $200,000 in allocation money.
Entering her third pro season, Ryan ends up with NJ/NY Gotham FC after a series of trades. Portland sent Ryan to Angel City for the No. 5 pick in next weeks NWSL Draft, Angel City’s second-round pick in 2024 and the allocation money.
Ryan appeared in 38 matches with 21 starts over 1.5 seasons with the Thorns after staring at TCU. She scored three goals and had five assists. Her five assists last season were tied for second most in the NWSL regular season.
The NWSL Draft is Thursday, Jan. 12 in Philadelphia. It begins at 3 p.m. and will be televised on CBS Sports Network and streamed on Paramount+. The Thorns hold picks 5, 12, 24, 36 and 48 in the four-round draft.
The Thorns have not yet announced who will replace Rhian Wilkinson as head coach. An announcement is likely before the draft.
Portland selected Ryan with the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft.
To acquire Ryan, Gotham sent the top overall pick in this year’s draft to Angel City, which also sent $250,000 in allocation money to Gotham. The New Jersey-based club then sent $350,000 of allocation money to Orlando for the No. 2 pick in next week’s draft.
• Three Thorns called into USWNT: Becky Sauerbrunn, Crystal Dunn and Sam Coffey are among 24 players called into the January training camp in New Zealand for the U.S. Women’s National Team. The team is scheduled to play friendlies on Jan. 17 and Jan. 20 against New Zealand, both of which start at 7 p.m. and can be seen on TNT or HBO Max.
Notably, Thorns forward Sophia Smith is not participating. USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said Smith is rehabbing a previous foot injury.
• Portland Timbers begin training: Timbers players are scheduled to report Friday for the start of preseason training camp. The Timbers open the MLS season at home on Feb. 25 against Sporting Kansas City.
In preseason, they will spend Jan. 15-21 at Phoenix, Arizona during which they will play a Jan. 21 closed-door scrimmage with Sporting Kansas City.
Portland is scheduled to play in the Coachella Valley Invitational Feb. 6-18 at Indio, California. The Timbers will play the LA Galaxy at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 12, Toronto FC at 2 p.m. Feb. 15 and New York City FC at noon Feb. 18.
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