Portland Thorns sign Katy Byrne, Cheyenne Shorts, Jada Talley as National Team Replacement players

With the Concacaf W Championship just a few days away, and the Women’s EURO 2022 starting on July 6, the Portland Thorns will be missing some key players on the roster.

The United States Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski named the roster that includes defender Becky Sauerbrunn and forward Sophia Smith. For Costa Rica, coach Amelia Valverde confirmed the inclusion of Rocky Rodríguez among the 23-player roster. And for Canada, Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie will be with Bev Priestman’s side.

In Europe, Finland is set to play in group B of that tournament. Therefore, the Thorns also won’t be able to play Natalia Kuikka in the following weeks as well.

With a number of key players missing, the club has signed three national team replacements: Jada Talley, Cheyenne Shorts, and Katy Byrne. You can read more about the rules of NTRs here.

Jada Talley is a forward that was picked by Orlando Pride in the latest draft, but she ended up being sent to Kansas City Current, who signed her as a COVID replacement player this year. She got her debut against Angel City in the 85th minute on May 21.

This is what she can do on the field:

Another player coming into the roster is Cheyenne Shorts. She also was drafted by Orlando Pride ahead of the 2020 season. Not having any minutes that year, she decided to play in Europe and was signed by Saint-Étienne in September. Hungry for minutes, in 2021 she moved to Scotland after signing with Celtic FC where she found time on the field— and also some goals, like in this game against Aberdeen where she got a goal and an assist:

It is important to notice that Shorts will be the second University of Denver Pioneer on the team, as she and Natalie Beckman both come from the same school.

The third player the Thorns added to the roster is Katy Byrne. She’s a known face in the club since she served as an NTR player at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. The Pepperdine alum will have another shot with the team after having played with DVTK in Hungary and AHFC Royals in the United States. She’s a versatile player and is listed as a midfielder on the Thorns roster.

Thorns FC

The Portland Thorns will be back in action when they travel down to face Angel City FC on Friday July 1 at 7:30pm.