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Have you heard the news? I wish I hadn’t.
The Portland Thorns have traded midfielder Hina Sugita to Angel City FC in exchange for defender M.A. Vignola and $600,000 in intra-league transfer funds, both teams announced yesterday.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision to make,” Thorns general manager Jeff Agoos said in the club’s release. “Hina is a special person and we don’t take these things lightly.”
Sugita joined the Thorns in 2022, helping them to their third NWSL Championship that year. She established herself as a key player in Portland’s midfield, known for her ability to read play, her skill on the ball and her relentlessness on the pitch.
In that time, she became beloved by both fans and her teammates, with fans taking up the title of “Hina Hive” and granting her one of the loudest cheers when her name was read off in Providence Park.
“Everything people think about her and love about her is true,” midfielder Sam Coffey told WW in July. “She is an absolute delight and joy.”
Sugita leaves the Thorns after four years with 13 goals. This season, she has three assists across 22 appearances and led Portland in interceptions—though her minutes started to dwindle come September, as her trade approached.
Despite the Thorns’ stacked midfield—Coffey, Jessie Fleming and Olivia Moultrie are formidable forces in their own right—Sugita’s departure leaves a hole in Portland’s squad on and off the pitch.
“My perspective on the game and the world is forever changed from our time together,” midfielder Fleming wrote on her Instagram story. “Playing alongside you brought me so much joy and I wish it could have lasted until we were old grandmas.”
The NWSL’s external transfer window closed in August, but teams are allowed to trade players within the league until Oct. 9. Such trades often occur after teams make competing bids for a player’s services—a process similar to free agency in other professional sports leagues.
ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf reported that Portland tried to keep Sugita “by offering an improved, extended contract.” But that wasn’t enough to compete with the offer from Angel City.
Defender Vignola joins the Thorns off a solid four years in Los Angeles. Despite battling through a handful of injuries throughout her NWSL career, she’s established herself as a reliable defensive force. Vignola brings that veteran experience to a relatively young Portland backline that’s in search of its first shutout since June.
“She addresses a critical need in our squad—a physical, no-nonsense defender who isn’t afraid to do the dirty work and sets a standard with her competitiveness,” Agoos said in the Thorns release. “She’s the kind of teammate you want in any battle, and her addition positions us for success as we enter into the playoffs and beyond.”
Portland has four games left of the regular season and sits at sixth in the NWSL after a 3-0 loss to NJ/NY Gotham last weekend. The top eight teams in the league advance to the postseason.
