PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Thorns FC have signed forward Sophia Smith to a new contract, it was announced today. Smith re-signs with Portland on a three-year deal through the 2024 season.
“It was important to sign Soph to a long-term contract to show her that we are invested in her and committed to her,” said Thorns FC general manager Karina LeBlanc. “What she brings to the game on the field is an ability to score goals, but she also adds so much more. It is what she brings to our team culture, the community, who she is as a person, that is what we want from a Thorns player. In looking at the team now, but also into the future keeping her in Portland was a top priority.”
HIGHLIGHTS | The goals of Thorns FC forward Sophia Smith
The 2022 campaign will mark Smith’s third season with the club. The No. 1 pick in the 2020 NWSL Draft out of Stanford, Smith became the first teenager at the age of 19 to be drafted in league history after concluding her sophomore season. In her first two seasons with the club, Smith appeared in 31 matches across all competitions (24 starts), tallying eight goals and one assist. In her first full NWSL regular season in 2021, Smith scored a team-best seven goals, ranking among the top 10 in the NWSL in goals scored. The Windsor, Colo. native played in 21 games, making 16 starts, while also tallying one assist as she helped the club win the 2021 NWSL Shield, Challenge Cup and the Women’s International Champions Cup.
“Soph has been wonderful to get to know. She is a young player who already has a good level of experience in the league, and that experience has given her a new level of confidence going into this new season,” said Thorns FC head coach Rhian Wilkinson. “Her explosiveness and dynamism on and off the ball is exciting, it is clear when watching her play, that she loves the game and always leaves everything out on the pitch. There are many more goals to come from Soph this season, as well as a step forward for her in her leadership role on the team.”
INTERVIEW | Thorns FC's Crystal Dunn interviews Sophia Smith
Smith became the first player from the 2000s to earn a cap with the U.S. Women’s National Team, earning her first cap on Nov. 27, 2020, against the Netherlands. With the USWNT, Smith has made 13 appearances, tallying one goal and three assists. Most recently, she featured for the USWNT in the 2022 SheBelieves Cup, starting all three matches of the tournament.
