SoccerWise - Cat Macario Blockbuster Move + NWSL Week 1 Highlights

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

Well the games have finally kicked off but the transfer news doesn't slow down! Jordan returns from Week 1 in the Bay to talk all about Cat Macario's big transfer. Macario is signing a record contract in global WoSo with her hometown club San Diego Wave. After that they run through EVERY single game from the weekend to hit on the most important things they saw, and then look forward to Week 2 with some big name rivalries.4:03 Cat Macario Signs World Record Contract With San Diego5:03 What This Moves Means For NWSL8:55 How Macario Fits In SD14:33 Houston Starts With Big Road Win17:05 Jordan's Denver Debut Experience18:34 Bay Shine In Week 122:19 Boston Hangs With Gotham In their Debut27:52 Angel City Offensive Release!32:15 Ashley Sanchez Leads MAK Lind To First NWSL Win35:01 Thorns Go Upset Spirit37:15 KC Rare Come From Behind Home Win Over Utah40:45 Seattle Break Losing Streak In Orlando44:30 Week 2 Preview Cascadia Rivalry + Cali Matchup

26 NWSL season has kicked off. David Goss and Jordan Angelo with you for an action-packed episode. We've got games to talk about. We've got games to preview. Jordan, we're living life. We are living. L-I-V-I-N. You got to love it.

You are a TV star. I know. Can you believe it? Big weekend for you. And it's funny because it's like, first of all, I think we all did the Leo DiCaprio. meme on the couch of like pointing the moment you're on camera being like I know her but also you are a television broadcaster so like being on TV is not rare but in this setting it is and that felt

even more exciting for me it was it just was so fun to be able to experience it in real life at a place that I called home for a big portion of my life in Santa Clara right next to Santa Clara University at PayPal Park and my parents were there and Jerry Smith my college coach was there we cried a a couple of times about things. I got to see so many former teammates. And yeah, the TV thing is weird because the crew that was calling the game has been my crew for two years and is no longer my crew, which I am so sad about. But they sounded awesome.

Mora and Marion sounded great. And McKenzie the whole time was coordinating with Lisa Carlin on the sideline to make sure we got an interview. And so Lisa's like, this is my easiest interview. I get an interview. Yeah, I was going to say. Yeah. It was, there's a moment, and for anyone who hasn't listened,

you were on kickback committee with Susanna Fuller last week, and you were talking about the season to come. And you talked about the 99ers, because we were talking about the She Beliefs Cup and the movie and everything, and you talked about being inspired. You told this story, which I've never heard before, of how you were a backup left mid on your U-13 team,

and you thought you were going to quit, and you watched the 99ers win and you got inspired and what you went on to do. And you said at the end, you and Suez were like, and now look what you're going to get to do and inspire the next generation of people. And I got chills listening to it. I was walking to the World Baseball Classic Venezuela DR game. And it was the thing that gave me the most chills on the day was listening to that. I got chills again just thinking about it.

And so like for your full circle moment, it was amazing. And I think for a lot of us, it's really, really exciting of what you're building. Thanks, Goss. It's really surreal. It's hard to even believe it's actually happening, but that is my why. You know, I want players from Colorado to come to games and to be like, that's what I want to do one day and know that that's a possibility. So it's now become a reality, and people can go do that, and they'll be doing it soon enough here in Denver. So, yeah, it's pretty.

Over 50,000 of them as of now are going to be doing it. Looking at two of them or listening to two of them. Yeah. We're going to have Gregory. We're going to have to build a graphic counter that just every time a ticket gets sold, while in the bottom corner of the video, just re-up that as we get closer and closer. Boston, of course, made their home debut this weekend. So what we wanted to do, because I think we feel the excitement everyone does early,

is we're going to sort of hit one big point from every game, and we won't have time to go deeper because of that. We wanted to sort of give touch on every team and everything we saw. And then we're going to talk a little bit about the weekend to come at the end of the show. And reminder, we're shifting here a little bit to Tuesdays if you're listening via podcast, Wednesday nights if you're listening via Serious Radio. So welcome. Thank you for joining us. But of course we have to start with the biggest news because you're not the only one with a big homecoming and a big team in your hometown.

Katerino Macario, originally born in Brazil, but raised in San Diego. is headed home to the San Diego Wave for the biggest contract in women's soccer professional history in the world. It is a groundbreaking move right as we get to the edge of the transfer windows, right at the end of it being possible. It'd been rumored, it'd been talked about, but it finally comes through. And so she will be joining up and having the opportunity

to lead the San Diego Wave. It is a team that we've talked about a lot in the offseason in unknowns. This feels like a big answer. But I wanted to start on the NWSL side of things because you got to believe the first thing I did when this news came out was text my friend who is Chicken Little on NWSL every time someone transfers to Europe

and a rumor starts. And I said, is WSL in jeopardy yet? Yeah. Are we panicking about WSL yet? It is, I think you could argue, maybe the biggest move of this off-season or transfer window. And it happens from Chelsea to the NWSL.

with a player that could be a starter for the U.S. Women's National Team come, what, how many months now, 15 months from now? And this is gigantic because when Katerina and Macario left Stanford after winning two Mackermans and said, I don't want to play in NWSL. A lot of eyeballs were like, why, you know, we want you to be here. But I think life just, you know, you mentioned she's from Brazil. She has a different flair to the way that she plays. She just wanted to experience something different. And I think it ran its course. And now I think it was, Ava Gatino actually was talking to Lisa Carlin on A3.

And she said, I got FOMO about NWSL and what was going on there. And I wanted to be a part of it. And for Katerina Macario, I think she's coming out at the perfect time coming into this wave squad, but also NWSL, where it is Uber competitive. It absolutely is going to prepare her for what she's hoping will be next. summer, a big World Cup in her home country. And the timing coming to San Diego Goss is kind of perfect, too, because you're playing with three other Brazilians in this squad. So last year it was the French contingent. Now it's the Brazilian contingent. And Kat has, you know, even though she's American and plays for the United States, she does have a little bit of that yoga,

Bonita in her in the way that she plays. I think there's going to be an amazing fit. And, you know, If I would have known this a couple weeks ago, I would have gotten a better off-season grade. I know, I know. The moment it came through, I was like, is it too late to switch my standings? I put them really high, remember? And I was going to change it.

Yeah, I think you had them in fifth or sixth. Yeah. And I was very excited. I'm very excited about this team. I think even watching this weekend, the style is still there. They play through lines. They connect.

Like, watch, it's harsh, but watching them versus Houston, like there's just, okay, there's two different ways that they're playing the game. That doesn't mean it will be more effective, but like there is a very clear DNA to San Diego. And it's connection, it's ball on the ground, it's ball to feet, and it's the ability then to mix moments happen through off ball runs of isolation and creating chances. And all of it, as you said, makes sense for Katerino McCarro. And it's obviously a huge moment for the league and now this offseason where if you go down the list, and I think this is what we've, been saying on this show a lot is this is not an issue this is the global transfer market like there are i i don't want to say 16 teams because i don't know that that's true in nwsl but let's say

there are 10 teams in nwsl that are in the same ballpark as barcelona and leone and psg and chelsea and maybe they'll lose sometimes sam coffee will go in one direction a player like katerina wakaro will leave college and choose to go to leone like that will happen but all of that, it doesn't feel like there's a deficit in one side or the other. It's just like players move around and that's the reality of what happens in that space. And I think you kind of, with the Macario move, especially, you look at the entire offseason. I think that's where you net out of, you know, Ava comes in one direction. Lindsay Heaps comes in one direction.

Sam Coffey goes in another direction. Like, over Amanda Gutierrez comes into this league from outside this league. Like, I think overall that's what it feels like to me at least. is that acknowledgement, I hope, at the end of all of this, that there is not a problem in one direction or the other, and you have to keep pushing, which I think is some of the frustration with the hip rule is, like, doesn't give you enough space to push, and I'm not sure.

But clearly these NWSL teams can keep up if they want to. They can. And I love that San Diego opted to exercise that and bring in Cat Macario, because as you said, this squad, just watching them play, and it looked, you know, it's the first couple, games of the season. And if you remember last year, Gia Corley was flying high the first couple weeks of the season as well scored, I think, her only two goals. Yeah, I do remember that, Jordan, because I bring it up all the time because I want it back. Yeah. And she looked up to that speed again,

finding the right pockets, sitting in behind that 424 of Houston, finding the pockets to then pivot and start the attack. But now I'm thinking just with her in that 10, cat in the nine, those two and how they could work off of each other. And they don't really have to play either position. They both can play both the positions and how much flexibility that would give Jonas Idaval in the identity of this squad. Because at times it could look like a box with two speedy runners in Duginia and

Ludmila going in the spaces in between the centerbacks and outside backs. I could see that. There's just the rotations and. the free flow style of San Diego is picture perfect for Cat Macario and how she likes to operate. So I really look forward to her playing with Kenza Dali and what that's going to look like. And I think this could be an excellent, I mean, it is going to be an excellent move for the wave. Yeah. You watch this weekend.

And so they started with Duginia, Ludmila, and Porchio as the front. three with Gia Corley behind them and then Fazaire and Kenza Dali as the deeper pieces. Obviously, one of those four players I just named in the front. If everyone's healthy, we'll not be starting because Katerina-McCarrho will be starting. So I think we'll see as it goes along, like who fits where. Ludmila, we've seen she's played on the right. She's played in the middle. I think that's and the amount of money they outlayed to get her in.

It seems obvious she'll start. And I also think in that her flexibility. to fill spaces that Macario drops out of makes sense of like the two of them can also swap from the right wing centrally. Ludmila can be a finisher on the end of things. So I think, and especially with Moroni pushing up from that left back position, that feels like the obvious thing. I would have told you hands down three days ago, Portio is not a starter on this team. I was really, my one note coming out of this game was she had pop. And it was a reminder to me of soccer identity of like, oh, she's in a team where maybe the pieces are more similar.

She does not have game breaking speed. What I think I saw in Gotham was like, she can beat someone, but then she loses the advantage pretty quickly. And so she was never able to really break out and then create the chances you'd expect for a Gotham team. And then you watch her in San Diego, and it's like, oh, she can anticipate the pieces around her. There are options closed there, so then she can use that to manipulate defenders. I think she's going to have a good year. And so my guess is it'll just sort of be a rotation. It's very rare that everyone is always healthy. But as you said,

Macario fits perfectly of like the style of soccer they want to play. And I think for her, what's fascinating is you are the face of the team. And she's scored big goals for big teams. She's played for Leon and Chelsea. She's played for the U.S. women's national team, but she's not been healthy to play, obviously, in the Olympics or a big competition or anything like that. And you look at her record.

She scored 23 in a season for Leone. She scored 11 in the season for Chelsea. But she's never had this experience. And I think this is the chance where the right move at the right time. For Alyssa Thompson, it was the opposite direction of like, I've been the face of this team taking as high as I can. I need to go challenge myself in a different way. This is the different challenge for Katarina Mikario is it's on your shoulders.

She's probably going to end up captain at some point. You're the face of it. Like you're going to be on the side of the stadium and it's all going to run through you. And you get to go home. Yeah. it just is it feels like it's going to be a really fun few years for the san diego way team but yeah i don't know when when she'll be able to start playing but i think everybody's anticipating that game and how it really all clicks together because although san diego lost this game i thought

there were portions of this game where it looked like the exact same san diego and that's with losing major pieces on every single line um just to close this out should we talk houston a little bit since they were the other. Well, I was going to say my one thing about San Diego when I dropped them in the standings is, I believe they'd play the same, but the pop Cascarino gave them of, I can make things happen when the game breaks down had gone.

Macario brings that back in. And so now it's like, if you play us even, we've got a game breaker. And the last piece I'll throw out here on the women's national team side, and we'll get into this more over the next months is, it is a battle between Trinity, Sof, Mal, and now Kat. they're all going to be in the same league. They're all the biggest face on their team.

That is just going to be fun to watch go down over the next 16, 18 months, whatever it is, into the World Cup from a battle point of view. And obviously, it saves Emma Hayes, some air miles. She doesn't have to go back to England all the time to watch these players play. But is she giving her? So she has to come here. Maybe. I don't even know. But let's move on to, yeah, let's talk Houston for a second.

Yeah, excellent. I just feel like to get that type of win on the. the road with what actually they're going to be a little bit disappointed about this it should have been a corner kick ends up being a goal kick from that goal kick they score the goal and i i would imagine san diego's not very happy about that but it's always mackenzie roby she finds a way to be um one of the most just i just think consistent you know what you're going to get you're not going to get a ton of goals but when there's a goal that is needed mostly off the bench for her and the last couple years in San Diego, she'll find a way. And so I think their goal was really good,

but I was most impressed with just their defensive organization, especially as the game went on. It's not as if San Diego couldn't have scored a goal. I think they missed a couple of sitters that should have gone in the back of the net. But Jane Campbell showed us that she's ready to get after it this year and propel this team. But one of the things I'm not a fan of in general, because I don't think teams work on it that much is going into a five-back and trying to kill a game off. I thought they looked really comfortable in it. And that's the only way I think you can do it, is if it is truly trained, if you really know how to not give up too much space, you can still get pressure on the ball.

And I thought Houston did a good job and then just defending for their life in their box. Like you have to have that if that's the way that you're going to grind out games. Yeah. We had Jane Campbell on the show last week as part of our preview series. you have a number of interviews that we've done. They're all up on YouTube. Sarah Gordon, Jess Carter, Jane Campbell, Carly Wickenhouser, Kate Delfava,

and I really hope I'm not missing one right now because I'd feel really, really bad about that, but I don't think I am. And I asked Jane about the national team, and she's like, it is what it is. But if she plays at the level she can play at and this Houston team has a year, I think that's reasonable.

And the reason I think it's reasonable that they can make a playoff push and improve is they started four, in this game plus Maggie Graham. The way this team will get better is the same way Louisville wants to, which is individual improvement from young players getting better inside of the team. I thought the rookies look good. Outside back, I can't remember her name.

Klank? Yep. She was good and Fosse was good. I don't know what happened. Fossi is good. I don't know what happened to her, though. That looked brutal. Like her ankle was touching the ground.

That did not look good. So hopefully she's okay, but I would say in general all the rookies that they play. looked good and ready to play at this level, which is a credit to them and the scouting that they did and their incorporation with those players during preseason. Yep. Let's move to the next set of games. As I said, we'll talk through all of these for a little bit.

Denver against Bay, we have to hit. You talked a little bit about your experience going in, your Santa Clara teammates, and all of that. It was probably a perfect spot for you for them to launch. You were on TV, you were in the box, you're at the game. Like, as you look back on it now, what do you make of sort of what the day was? It was just, I think, awesome. It was perfect weather in California.

Everything you could have written up minus red card early in the game, right? I think when you're looking at the actual game, and we knew this. Like, we had a feeling Bay was going to look like Bay 2.0, right? A revamped team. And under Coats, they look like they have a true identity. with some really good pieces. And I was, I thought, and as I was watching the game, Denver looked like it was their first game for the first 15 minutes.

We're a little nervous and just trying to clear the lines as Bay put a lot of pressure at home, trying to get the early goal, which they did. But then from about, what, 15 to 26, it looked like Denver settled in. You could see some of the patterns of play that they were trying to operate in once they started to find Tosh Flint on the opposite pocket. I thought that they really helped, that really helped open the game up. And from there, it's, you know,

it's just how do you defend down a player for the majority of the game? This bait team's going to be good, Goss. Yeah, let's talk about them. Okay. Because I think that was, it's always going to be an underrated story when you go play and expand,

or when an expansion team comes and plays you in the first game, it's hard to figure out what to take from it. I wasn't there, but I would say from TV, I think you could feel the imprint of Claire Hutton on the midfield. Yeah. And similar to the Cat Macario Convo in a way that you didn't in Casey, not because she couldn't because they didn't need it.

And I started to see like, oh, this is why you make a move like this. Like you can really spread your wings. And it felt like she was coming and being options and turning up field just, and it felt like she was everywhere. The midfield of Bay were excellent in general. They matched man for man at times with the. the Denver, you know, for the first 25 minutes with the Denver midfield. And so they, they made it difficult for them to build out. But when they had the ball, there was a combination

like, I think midway through the first half where it was Hutton to Bbar to Huff. And it was this quick interplay throughout the heart of the midfield. And I looked, like, I think at my head tilted, and I thought, whoa, we have not. seen that before. And that is something that I think is going to be one of the X factors. It's just this midfield and how much ground they can cover. They can be everywhere. And then just to see Claire Hutton play in real life where you're right there in front of her, there was a moment where she opens her hips up and she's going from the left to the right and she plays the right back. And it's not, gosh, it's not a perfect pass. It gets there. It's a good pass, but it isn't perfect.

And I could see her go, like, just roll her eyes and just drop her head and just be like, wasn't good enough, Claire. Like, I could see her thinking that in that moment because it just, it just slowed the progression of the build slightly. And to her, that's not good enough. And that's why she is as good as she is. So I think she is going to run this team. And they are going to go through her.

She, her work rate, her ability on the, with pressure coming to her to dip her shoulder and spin out of something is pretty impressive. And I thought that the way. that Bay set up with Lima as the top striker next to Kuninanji, those two really stretching. And then Alex, Alex Fifer running like crazy on the right side. Like I think this was one of the underrated pickups in the off season. And I don't know how much we talked about it, but her ability on the dribble is good. This girl like bets on herself.

And you can tell when the ball's at her feet that she wants to get after you and she wants to make you look like a fool. like I love that about her and what you I think if you if you have a team that has Rachel Kuhnaanji on a wing you should go to the other winger and say you will always be 1v1 and we trust you to just go after it which was and if you win one out of yeah and if you win one out of eight battles it's enough for us

like you don't have to win all of them and it felt like that's how Alex Weifer played this game yeah she was hard to handle And I think the question I had going into this game about Bay that I still have about Bay is their back line. It is, you know, that is not a back line that has the pedigree that you would think will be able to withstand a lot of the talent in this league. So we'll see how that goes as the season progresses. But very impressed with Bay and some of the little nuances that they had in this game.

Yeah. So a big 2-1 win for Bay FC to open up this season. Let's go to the other expansion team. Let's talk Boston. Boston hosting Gotham, early game at Gillette Stadium, new kids on the block in the building, which was a fun little adding and all this Jen Hildreth freaking out about it. I appreciate it. I've also seen new kids on the block once in person and it was worth the wait.

So I can say that it is very, very exciting. Back in the day. Not back in the day, but also a long time of gone. Yeah. Okay. So not when they were big, but not now. Like in 2008 or something. Oh my.

They kind of like re-came out with a bunch of music. And they, I think they did Good Morning America. And I went to the like opening show. Oh, a little bit. Because someone invited me. So, so a big moment there.

Obviously a huge moment for Boston. Really interesting, like talking to Roosevelt before the game. And obviously you have a Boston Breakers connection. And she does of like, you know, there's soccer history there, even though it's not connected to the legacy. and it felt like a really good atmosphere in the building. And I think that's the type of start you want,

even if it's not on the field. So a few things popped out on the field. One is there's a few pieces, I think, missing from this Boston team. The big one being Amanda did not start in this game. And I think the expectation is she will sort of be the center of a lot of the attack. And the second is that Felipe Patel just like doesn't care about rules. Like just say whatever you want. She's going to start a winger at centerback.

I don't even know what position Kaka was playing in this game. She's going to be off the bench screaming. She's also going to walk away at times and just go sit on the bench and be doing something else on the iPad. Like it just feels like she is going to be an experience the whole season. She has talked about it's going to be 11 dogs and they're going to, you know, fight and all of this. And I think you could really feel it in the team. Like it felt like Boston hit the ground ready to run in that first 20 minutes. They looked better than you could expect from.

expansion team. You're playing the champions. You're playing a good team. It's going to be hard to maintain. But I think it was a really positive start for Boston. I have a question for you, because I have not got to watch this game back due to the travels that I had. With, with Ella, why can't I think of her last name? Ella Stevens. Ella Stevens playing the 10. Like, do you think that's a long term? Or is that, like, did you, how much did you like that? Do you feel like she's better on the wing? Yeah, I didn't love it. I think she kind of disappeared at times. and I do think her superpower is 1V1 ability on the wings. I respect the idea of like she's good enough to run your team through.

I just think you probably have to shift it where it's like put her in her comfortable spot and gear the attack towards that area. You know, make her a high volume player, but I don't know that doing so centrally because it felt like a lot of the game early went Ariel over her head and now she's battling for second balls and first balls and it's just not really her game. And so I thought it was not the worst idea to have, but I would be surprised if we walk away after three games

and say like, yeah, you know, when Yasmin and Ryan has shifted from wing to 10, you're like, oh, yeah, she's a 10. And like, that's fine. I don't know that that's going to be the case with Ellis Stevens. I think the Bianca St. George, you know, attempt at centerback. I think it's really tough to have someone do that in the first game, a team plays together.

Yeah. So it's like, oh, you've never done that. Yeah, you've never done that. we've never done this, so let's do it all at the same time. But I do understand that like, I think for a winger, she's very physical. Like for an attacking player, like you could see her be one where a coach looks at her and is like, you're clean on the ball. Like I can put you as a ball playing centerback and I can make this happen.

It just was a really tough situation to be put in. And I think you see it on the red card of like unnecessary tackle through the back at a moment that I would hope a senior experience centerback is like not going to make that tackle sitting on a yellow card. But I think there was some pop trial. It's clearly a player. Yeah. Like didn't finish the few half chances, but created a lot purely out of her movement and out of her touch. And all of that should be super exciting.

I thought Michelle Prince looked really good at that right wing, right wing back position, whatever it was. So I think there's there's a lot to lean on for this Boston team to feel good about that final. I mean, similar to what we said about San Diego of like final third pop, like special moment. Yeah. It didn't feel like that was in the team. team and I don't know if that's the players that were unavailable, if there's more pieces still to come in, or if that will be sort of this wall that they bump up against the season. And then on the flip side, Gotham brought maybe the best player in college soccer and the best

goal score on the planet right now off the bench and halftime in this game. Good thing she scored in the first game. Yeah. That's a good point. Well, you're a big Gotham fan. That was so weird. I can't believe I picked like all Gotham. I didn't even think about that until afterwards.

I'm like, man. But then you get into it and you're like, oh, right, Rose LaValle might be the best player in this league. Yeah. Mitch Purriss is a game breaker. Like the centerbacks are good and Catchman Burger is good. So I think you saw a lot of that with Gotham. My question still stands of like, can they game to game be dominant and therefore go on a run that wins a shield? And it just doesn't feel natural sometimes with them because there's so much change that they go through and they are reactive to opponents.

But they're going to be one of our games we're going to talk about coming up this weekend because there's a huge opportunity to see it. every single game this weekend was a one goal difference, except for one. So we're going to do that one now, which is Angel City just coming out, smothering the Chicago Stars 4-0 victory at home at Bimo Stadium. Yeah. Got to remember my sponsors on that one. And a big moment, Jordan, for an Angel City team that I think we both were very high on coming into it.

Both of these teams, we circled this game because we knew that there has been transformations for both of these squads over the off season. Unfortunately, for Chicago, this season starts, much like last season did, where it's not a result that you would want. And honestly, I find it hard to talk much about what happened with Chicago, right? They look like towards the end of this game

like they had given up, that there was no hope. And it kind of didn't have that dog, that fight, which is disappointing. So I'm hoping it's a one-game thing, and we see them revamp and come back this weekend. So I don't know how much we're going to focus on Chicago. Can we just talk about how good Angel City was?

Yeah. One, we in our previews talked about Kennedy Fuller and how she can play in the 10 and be super active and find the right spots and she did all of that. But I think Neuse, Mariah Neuse, is going to be a player that we're going to talk a lot about this year. Yes, she gets the goal, but she was everywhere. She has a big frame, but she's tidy on the ball,

can help them when they pivot play. find those little pockets to just swing her hips open and bring the ball to the opposite side of the field. And then when you have two ball playing centerbacks like they have, you at times can just make it difficult on defenses. The Angel City had pressure on Chicago nearly the whole entire game. So they regained the ball in their own half time and time again. And even sometimes, gosh, when they regained the ball, they went all the way back to Angelina Anderson and said, come on out. Like we want to reset and restart. And I love that because I don't think we've seen that from Angel City before.

They're like, we're in control. We're going to dictate how we attack and when we attack. So come on out. Like, come get us. And there were times where Emily Sam's on the dribble drove into the midfield. And then it's a little bit of chaos to say like whoever steps and then it's finding the right pass. And they did this time and time again. and one of the big things I was kind of curious about with starting Jan's daughter as a center forward.

I was like, how is this going to work? I actually think it works really well because her movements in those little button hooks, yes, she held up the play from time to time, but she's just trying to stretch the back line and create the space for Noose, for Fuller, even Tiernan at times when she would come into the pocket. So then it opened up space for the outside backs to get higher, which Jaze Thompson was like, thank you very much. I'll do that. I've liked a lot about what was going on with Angel City.

Yeah, I mean, there's a moment in one of the goals where Kennedy Fuller pulls off the right wing. She pops up on the left wing. There's an overload there. Ball pops through and you're like, oh, that's where Fuller would have been, but she's not, and Jasele Thompson's there. And you're like, oh, the right back's playing inside the 18, like just through a sequence of play. and that's because you've got the stability in central midfield. You've got the confidence, which is if it gets recycled,

we're clean enough in possession through Sarah Gordon and Emily Sam's that will keep the ball and we'll be able to rotate it. And like, this is a lot of what you wanted to see, which is this is a team that's now can go after you. They've got a lot of pieces that can switch and move. And obviously putting it in the back of the net for a club that just like has never. Like we were worried about who the goal score would be. But like they've always had this problem pretty.

much. I was like, good. Keep scoring. Like, that felt like the right decision in that moment to just feel like, hey, we, and the goals were all very different. So I like that aspect about it, too, just to say, hey, we're going to be threatening. Maybe not the best, like, gauge against the Chicago team, unfortunately. But they, this is what we're hoping. And we'll see if that can continue for Angel City. But what a start. What a start. We will take a week on Chicago. That is our gift to Chicago on this one. And, you know, a day to forget for a listener for sure.

Let's go to the team that ended up having, I believe the player of the week, Ashley Sanchez has just been named NWSL player of the week, a player that I've been very excited about, but just had kind of given up on as we talked about North Carolina. They are obviously one of the clubs that is missing some really big players because of the Asian Cup. that includes maybe their best player, but there is still talent there.

They end up with a 2-1 win over racing Louisville. In this one, Jordan, and I think you were pretty excited about what you saw. I thought it looked great under Mackland, the first look we got to see from him, 433, real, like, pretty traditional in the way that they set up. But one of the things that I liked the most, when you go watch this game, the way that they're playing in the channels on both sides,

because racing in the first half was just like, the way that they pressed there, they allowed North Carolina to pick which channel they wanted to go down, which I probably wouldn't want Ryan Williams advancing too far forward. But it's constant triangles in the channel and it's a pass and the player would move quickly to find a new space. And just the way that they interchanged and rotated and made sure that there were always options in the channel to create quick combinations, not only allowed them to succeed in progressing down one side, but it really opened up then that big switch to the opposite side, going through Shinomi to then go and find either Ashley Sanchez on one side

or Linnehan on the other. And I just, I mean, we know this North Carolina team can play, right? We know that they can utilize the ball. But now with some of their other, like some of the ideas from Mackland, there were times where centerbacks are breaking two lines of with one. direct pass into Shinomi in the pocket who's turning and going at the defense. And you have Kalin Sheridan. I counted three excellent passes from Sheridan, pulling out the defense, getting Louisville to high press, because you know Louisville's going to press. You know they're going to, you know that they're going to come with some energy, and then picking the right passes and bypassing the press to then allow North Carolina to start an attack. Um, I'm,

think Sharon is going to be disappointed on the goal that they give up because it wasn't the correct decision there, but that's what you get. You know, it's a, you have to have some risk and some reward. So I was very pleased with what I saw from North Carolina and probably could have scored another goal too. Let's move to Portland, Washington, which if you watched, I'm sorry. I think it's kind of expectation one that NWSEL season starts maybe not the energy we expected

as though you're always excited and then of course like massive upset where it's like oh yeah, none of us know anything about this league right out the gate. Don't you love that when it happens? First game. I'm watching and it's like

I was watching with my in-laws because I was visiting and they're asking me questions and I'm sort of explaining it and it was like clearly not what I explained was like oh yeah Portland's gonna come and win this game. And then they score and it's like, everyone looks at me like,

oh, so you've spent this whole time talking and you know literally nothing about what you're talking about? And I was like, that is correct. That's exactly what's happening. Sophia, obviously returning, massive. Like this was one of our unknowns. We just don't know how many minutes, how quickly, how often. So to be able to play, I think almost 30 minutes in the first game,

it's huge to see. But obviously, I think the connection of the team, their ability to stay behind the ball, to not let Washington break their lines. Really, really huge. And then Olivia Moultrie, if Sophia is back, she may not be the most important player or might not all be on her shoulders,

but she's 1A with that based off what we saw last year and what this team needs. And I'm still not sure if the first touch is purposeful or not on the goal. It's genius either one. It's this long touch with backspin. So it's the long touch takes it past the defender, but the backspin keeps it in front of her to keep it away from the keeper.

And then I saw this with Corey Bethune's goal as well, which is actually fitting in this matchup. You see like the moment the great player shift where it's like, I'm in, and then they know exactly what they want to do with it. And there's just like no question about the finish. And that's where you see that elite level. And so that popped out. I think for me, the big issue for Washington was the imbalance in the attack, where Gabby call started on the right in this one and Trini Rodman's on the right.

And Rose-coastie wants to come inside. and it felt like there was no balance on the left side. And that's where you miss a Croy Bathoon in the left channel for sure, or Carl being out there from a left back position. And so I think there's probably some tweaks coming for, cannot remember his name, the head coach of this team from Spain, who took over. Audrey and Gonzalez.

And so, yeah, but for Washington, I think they're one of the favorites, and you're not going to panic about it. Out the gate. Ready for some Casey, Utah? Yeah, let's do it. Casey come from behind two, one win. So they didn't trail a single time last year at home until decision day when Schoinger was hurt and they had nothing to play for.

They trailed in the first half of the first game at home under Chris Armist with a whole new group of players. And it was a first half where it was like, okay, things have changed. It was not their tempo. They did not impose themselves on the game. Utah, while they didn't look super dangerous, looked comfortable. Tato Malazzo puts her body on the line for the goal. Like, okay, if you're going to punch through me, it is what it is.

And Utah goes up. And then the second half you saw, I think, the DNA of Casey come back a bit. And what a huge thing. Cory Bethune scores on her birthday. First time she thinks she's ever scored on her birthday because she can't remember. Because she scored a lot of goals. So she should remember. But I think that's more to the number of goals she scored in her life.

Yeah. But happy birthday to her. She scores. They get the second goal pretty quickly after that. They get a two one win. And it feels like probably in the end the right start for Chris Armus in his group. Yeah. And I just talking about Malazza scoring too, that was her first game back from ACL injury to score a goal. Like that's a double thing for Utah.

Utah looking pretty good. And, you know, it's interesting because this Utah team, we're trying, you know, it's hard not to get your hopes up and then they go in there beating the shield winners at half time and can't hold on to it. But this was a depleted team though to Goss. And I think there's actually, you know, I'm kind of glad I'm keeping my hopes held tightly. Guarded. Guarded. Because with the likes of Tanaka and other Japanese international.

Nerumi. Narumi back. You do think there's going to be good things ahead for Utah. Yeah. I think our assumption is Kiki Palacios will play down the wing. Prasnacar will be the center forward. Neither of those things happen because you're missing Tanaka and Arumian. So that's like a huge part of this team.

We didn't see Prasnacar that much last year. No, she's a player. Yeah. Like she played in the 10. She had a pass perfectly weighted through the lines where it's like she's seeing everything. The ball's clean in her feet. She's able to turn. It's sort of what Kate Alfah talked about with us.

on the show where she's like, she's strong and physical, but like the ball is a magnet on her foot. And I think the ideal scenario is now you get her closer to goal, get her in goal scoring situations. But if you can't or you don't, like she looked like a true 10 in this game. So I think with Tanaka or whatever it ends up being, there's flexibility to move these players around. So I'm not selling any of my stock on Utah yet.

Like, okay, fine, be, be guarded the way everyone wants to be. But you know what? I'm just going to jump all in and jump off the cliff. into the water. But for KC, I think some positives, you can see Michelle Cooper being available, huge comes off at halftime, so probably only had 45. They choose it from the start. I think that makes sense. Obviously, no showing up, Nolo Labanta, which is really big. And I think you saw that miss in midfield. And it will be hard to judge the loss of Claire Hutton until you get Labanta back to really see like what this group is. But then the end of the story is like, there's so much

talent. Yeah. They won this game. Ali Sentner scores a goal you shouldn't score. That's another player who can do that. And like that's kind of where I think the floor is just really high with Kansas City no matter what happens. Let's close out with my Shield winning pick losing in the opening game at home. This was a tough game to engage with. It was a long weather delay at halftime, which came back and then eventually Seattle gets the winner on the road. I only was able to see the worst portion on this game post delay pre-goal for that second half but what did you make of of this one yeah that's not the place you would have been dying to watch from this game the first 45 minutes were so much fun goss and i i think because i'm going to go watch it yeah i think because both teams found themselves

in good attacking positions time and time again so better on the attack than the defense in for both of them so i think when you have that long at half time to they probably rewatch the whole first half and broke it down because they had that much time in the weather delay but in that that first half i just thought this is what we've been asking from seattle they play in a four three three which i liked utilizing both curry and werta in the channels getting forward um no jordan bug it was mason that's that played as the other center back next to mcclernan but going forward meza as a holding mid fish lock higher and then And it's Mondecir, who I think last year, it was just so disconnected in the attack for Seattle

that we did not get the best of her. And this first 45 minutes is the best we've seen from her in NWSL because she could tuck in the pocket. She plays the first minute and a half of this game, Seattle has one of the best passages of play straight through the heart of Orlando, tiki-taka little soccer to find a slipball from Mondecere in through to Fisiel. You're thinking they're scoring like a minute into the game. And it is the pace on her pass with that is perfect. And it's what she can do because she can connect centrally,

but she can also beat you on the dribble out wide. I liked a lot of things about what I saw from Seattle, mostly because it was more connected. It wasn't, hey, we're going to defend for our lives. It is we're all going forward. We're all coming back. And the connections within this group look like they were spot on. Mondesier signed a big contract extension just a week or two ago.

You have to think that gives you sort of that security, that comfort, that you're a part of this team that they're committed to you. And clearly they believe she can be that difference maker like you talked about. So that would be big for Seattle. And Seattle, they break the duck. Three straight games at Orlando. Two losses coming into this one. So now they're able to bookend it with the victory. And they come into this weekend with a big.

game. So to close out, we want to look. Can I have one thing on Orlando? Yeah, they get Banda back, but I do think, I think it's Castane, the new winger playing on the opposite side of Ovaye. Had two big chances put in on goal? Yeah. Yeah. She's pretty legit. She finds herself in really like really cheeky moments where you're not thinking she's going to get to the ball and she finds a way to take the long touch that's around the defender or connect with a midfielder right behind her. This is a rookie to watch out for because I like her, especially with the forward line that they have and the support that this Orlando team gets behind their front three. So Cascadia to start the weekend, Friday night, Portland hosting Seattle in this one, 10 p.m. Eastern time.

So both of them go on the road, start with a victory. now Seattle travels down to Portland and a reminder that they won't be playing at Lumen for a little bit. There are some games in Spokane, which is technically home, but it's like a six and a half hour drive from Seattle. So it's going to be a tough start for Seattle overall. But coming off a victory, this is a big way, Jordan, for like these two teams to sort of set the momentum. I think Portland surprised me a little in that first game. I think whether Sophia fully starts or doesn't, whatever it is, I think now you're, saying, okay, what's the next progression?

You hung in a game against Washington. You were good against the ball. You were able to score in transition. What do you look like in possession as a home team? Can you knock the ball around a little bit? In midfield, can Jesse Fleming pull the strings a little bit in that area of the field? And that's sort of that progression that you're looking for, which will be now two weeks under a new coach.

So it's like an eternity based off Portland standards. Yeah. I mean, if we even count it two full weeks. I just think the last time these two teams played at Providence Park. It was electric. There were multiple goals. Seattle came out firing right away, scored a goal.

I feel like this is going to, even though it's early in the season, I think this is going to be a really fun matchup in Gascadia between these two ones, one that will be remembered because of what we just saw from Seattle, knowing that they can take that momentum going down to Portland. And Portland's going to have to have that good defensive structure that you just mentioned. But also, can they find a little bit more cohesion at that. moments when they're going forward because Seattle has been hard to break down over the last couple of years and it's going to take some some excellent passages of play to find that.

But if anybody could do it, it's probably Olivia Mulchery, right? Knowing how much this means. Yeah, it's going to be a huge game for her and a huge start to the season. So that one, as I said, 10 p.m. Eastern Time. Then on Saturday, there was two games that we wanted to highlight that we think are must watch. It starts with two teams coming off victories in the opening game. Gotham against North Carolina. It was the Decision Day game last year where North Carolina just came out,

ran Gotham off the field, pushed Gotham down to the eight seed, but was not enough for them to sneak into the playoffs. And now they get a chance with Ashley Sanchez coming off those goals to come back here and to go and face Gotham, where I assume Gotham is putting up whatever they're going to put up in the stadium, get rings, however it works. I do think they're making an announcement at City Field, which is they're going to play some games there this season as well.

Is that what the riddle was on the? I think so. I mean, what's the other announcement they make with the Mets that they're going to be playing right field for the New York Mets as a team? I hope so. That would be great. I hope so, too, because the Mets were very excited about this season. So that would be really, really cool.

But no Tina Davidson in the last game, Mitch Purs started at right back and truly played at right back. And maybe it's because it was Boston's day and the energy. She just didn't get forward. She wasn't super in the attack. and I think you lost a lot of like this is one of the great attackers in the league. So it will be interesting to see. We talked to Jess Carter on this show.

She was like, I haven't played right back in a while. And I haven't played right back. She worded as if the game, the game has changed so much that the requirements. And it's like, yes, but you've played right back not that long ago. Like just a little bit ago. But she's like, you've got to cover so much ground. I'm older in my career, but whatever I have to do, I have to do. but it's something to watch out for with this Gotham team.

You assume Mandy Freeman's an option there when she's healthy. But it was in Brunia, but is Brunia? I guess injured. Okay. Yeah. So something to watch for with this Gotham team and then for North Carolina, Jordan, there's a huge test to say, like, no, we're for real this year. Yeah, absolutely.

Especially, like, who doesn't like being spoilers on a big day for Gotham at home? they're going to get the rings after the ceremony. It'll be interesting. I think whoever wins the channel wins this battle, because like I said, I really did feel like North Carolina's rotations in both the left and the right channel were difficult to manage.

And this Gotham team, they're going to have, like if Rose does play as a winger, like that's going to ask a lot of her in the defensive moments to be able to manage the players that will come at her. So I think that that's going to be something that I would look at in this game, between Gotham and North Carolina.

And then to stick with a rivalry, we stay in California, Bay against Angel City. They both come off wins in opening day, and it's two clubs. We sort of did these primer videos we put together coming into the season. It's like, I mean, obviously Bay hasn't been around that long, but there's not that many high points. And arguably a win in this matchup in week two to go undefeated,

to stay at the top of the table. Could be the case. I think for Bay, can we learn a lot more? And you asked the questions you're asking about Bay are along the backline, and based on what we saw in week one, if you're going to try and prove there are answers, the St. Angel City team is a good team to do it again. Yeah, absolutely.

Especially after putting four goals up in their last game. How do you manage not just the front line, but the players coming out of midfield too? This is going to be a fun one. It's at Bay, I believe, right? Yes. Yeah, at Bay. They're the home team.

So many good things from both of these teams in the first game day. Now against, hopefully, 11 v 11. I'm really curious to see how both of these teams look in this second week because are there some little nuances that we see? Can we see Bay's backline be challenged a little bit more and how they deal with that challenge? And is Angel City for real?

That's a big question. I think a lot of people are asking. We put them fifth in the preseason ranking, so we're hoping so. And we are fingers crossed, but we are going to be here every single week to cover everything going on across the NWSL, great show. Thank you to Jordan being here. Thank you to all of you for listening and we'll talk to you again very, very soon.