Morgan Weaver: The Original

Morgan Weaver has been a Portland Thorn since 2020. Six years. In a league where players come and go -- traded, loaned, released, chased to Europe by better money -- Weaver stayed. She scored 19 goals and added 10 assists in 75 appearances. She was part of the 2022 championship squad. She hit her stride with 7 goals in both 2022 and 2023. She became a fan favorite not because she was the flashiest player, but because she was always there. Portland through and through. And now she's hurt. Again. The same right knee that required surgery in May 2024. She's on the Season-Ending Injury list. She will miss all of 2026. Some stories don't have the ending they deserve.

The 2022 Championship Season

Weaver's best year lined up with the franchise's best year. Seven goals in 2022. Part of the squad that won Portland's third NWSL Championship. Wilson was the MVP, but championships are won by rosters, not individuals. Weaver contributed. She ran the channels. She pressed. She scored when it mattered. She matched that 7-goal total in 2023, proving it wasn't a fluke. Two consecutive career-high seasons from a player who was improving every year. At 26, she should have been entering her prime.

The Knee

May 2024. Right knee surgery. She came back. She worked through the rehab. She got back on the field. And then it happened again -- the same knee. A different injury, but the same joint that had already been opened up once. She's on the Season-Ending Injury list for 2026. The timeline for her return is uncertain.

Knee injuries are the cruelest thing in soccer. Especially when it's the same knee. Especially when you've already done the work to come back once. Weaver is 28. She has time left in her career, but these injuries compound. Every month away is strength lost, timing dulled, confidence tested.

What She Means to Portland

Six years. In the modern NWSL, that's an era. Weaver has been in Portland through the championship, through the coaching changes, through the roster turnover. She watched Sam Coffey leave for Manchester City. She saw new faces arrive every winter. She stayed. That loyalty means something in a city that values it. When Weaver comes back -- if she comes back -- Providence Park will be the loudest it's been all season.