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. Before this season she had 19 goals and 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. Then the same right knee that required surgery in May 2024 went again, and 2026 started without her. She returned on July 24, 2026against NJ/NY Gotham FC, and has 10 appearances (4 starts), 1 goal since. Some stories get a second act.

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, and it cost her the first half of 2026.

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. So the comeback matters: back on July 24, 2026against NJ/NY Gotham FC, with 10 appearances (4 starts), 1 goal in 2026.

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 came back, Providence Park got its Original Thorn back.