It’s the biggest acquisition of an already busy offseason, so big that it demanded an emergency podcast.

In the wake of the Portland Thorns’ acquisition of four-time NWSL Defender of the Year Becky Sauerbrunn, head coach Mark Parsons stopped by to talk about his newest defender, what her arrival means for the 2020 Thorns and what the team still has planned for a transformative offseason.

Bella Bixby has just returned to Portland after a loan spell in Israel, where she saw her first competitive time in goal since finishing her collegiate career at Oregon State over two years ago. Now into the third year with her hometown club, the Thorns goalkeeper is ready to fight for her first NWSL minutes, taking the another step for somebody who may be Portland’s goalkeeper of the future.

On this episode of Breaking Lines, we talk to Bixby about her time abroad, her goals for 2020, as well as her view as a soccer fan who has seen the game’s growth in Portland. And, perhaps most importantly, we meet Moose, Bixby’s three-month-old chocolate labrador.