Liz Tertadian (The Beacon)
By Elizabeth Tertadian, Editor-in-Chief
Soccer city, here we come! As of Nov. 21, Portland can expect another professional team to be settling in: women's soccer.
It's about time.
I could not be more thrilled. I mean, hello. I go to UP, and cheer like a maniac at almost every home game. I've been playing and watching soccer since I was a kid, so having a professional women's soccer team in my backyard is about as good as it gets.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Timbers. But let's not forget that it was the women who took home gold this year in London. We have some darn good women's soccer talent, and they belong in Portland.
I'm even more excited about the prospect of seeing former Pilots back on the field, such as Megan Rapinoe, as well as Olympic stars like Abby Wambach. Both players have recently made Portland their home, and have not written off the option of playing professionally for Portland.
Portland is one of eight cities including Seattle, Boston, New Jersey, western New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Kansas City that were selected to field teams in the new league.
After two failed attempts at a professional women's league, I'm hopeful the third time's the charm - and it should be with Portland in on the action. With no football team and a sloppy basketball team (sorry, Blazers), Portland has carved out a place in its heart for soccer, and a packed JELD-WEN stadium with green and white flags is the proof you need. Soccer is Portland's sport.
Playing off the Timbers franchise success, the Timbers will be partnering with U.S. Soccer to operate the local women's franchise.
The new league is expected to begin preseason play in March and regular season play in April. The league will play a 22-game regular season, three matches against each of the other seven teams in the league. Each will have 11 home games.
Want to stay updated on the status of the new team? Follow their new Twitter account,
@PTWomensFC.
If you're really gung-ho (like me) you can reserve your season tickets now for $25.
