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The USWNT U23s will head to Portland at the end of March to participate in the Portland Thorns’ four-team preseason mini-tournament. They’ll join the Thorns, the Houston Dash, and the Chicago Red Stars from March 25 through April 1, with all games taking place at Providence Park.
Sunday, March 26
U.S. U-23 WNT vs. Houston Dash 2:30 p.m. PT
Portland Thorns FC vs. Chicago Red Stars 5 p.m. PT
Wednesday, March 29
Chicago Red Stars vs. Houston Dash 5 p.m. PT
U.S. U-23 WNT vs. Portland Thorns FC 7:30 p.m. PT
Saturday, April 1
U.S. U-23 WNT vs. Chicago Red Stars 5 p.m. PT
Portland Thorns FC vs. Houston Dash 7:30 p.m. PT
Individual tickets will start at $8, which is an insanely good price even for NWSL tickets, even though it’s only preseason.
Last year, the Thorns hosted a mini-tournament in the same four-team format with the Dash, the Seattle Reign, and Oregon State women’s team. It’s a cool way to rev up early interest before the season proper begins and to get teams real 90-minute games in a friendly environment.
The U23s will be facing many of their full WNT counterparts, assuming the senior team doesn’t go on strike through the beginning of the NWSL season. On the flip side you have players like Jane Campbell, who is a U23 but also got drafted by the Houston Dash, and will no doubt be showing up for her club as part of reporting for preseason. Tyler Lussi and Morgan Proffitt are also players who have spent time with the U23s but got drafted by Portland and Chicago respectively.
No word yet on whether these games will be livestreamed, although it’s a fair bet they could be given Providence Park’s setup and NWSL’s familiarity with youtube streams.