SoccerWise - Denver History & First Power Rankings Of 2026 NWSL Season

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

HISTOrY WAS MADE! A mile high and 63,004 wide as The Summit played in front of the largest regular season crowd in global women's soccer history. Jordan & David tell you all about what the day was like, and what it means to state of Colorado and NWSL as a whole. Then they go on the field what did they see from Denver up close, are there worries for the slow starts of Gotham/Washington/KC and the top of the table clash in LA. Then they run through their first power rankings where everyone stands right now. Lastly they look ahead to the biggest games of the weekend.2:10 A Day To Remember For Denver Summit15:29 Game Breakdown DEN v WASH23:38 Top Of The Table Show Angel City v Houston29:44 San Diego Flying With Cat Macario Waiting In The Wings36:52 Boston Score First Goal In Loss To Utah43:21 2026 Power Rankings49:27 Weekend Preview

Welcome back to Soccer Wise, everyone. David Goss and Jordan, Anthony, with not in person. We were this weekend, but now we're back to the remote as we are going to give you everything going on in the world of NWS. Big weekend. That was big weekend coming up. Some power rankings sprinkled in between. Jordan, we were together on Saturday. What an incredible day. It was so great.

And it looks like you even put some of your memorabilia up on your... I've already got my scarf up. Your scarf wall, which I love. it was great goss and that we got to spend some time together at the beginning of the day before things got a little hectic Oh that was before for you? Yeah. Okay, because that was hectic. Yeah. Before 63,000 other people joined us in the stadium. Wow. I honestly feel like my cheeks hurt because I've been smiling and I haven't stopped smiling about this. For now it's been multiple days and I'm still like what this isn't just a record in NW. us out. It's not just a record in the United States. This is a record in the world when it comes to a single professional league, domestic league record. I know Champions League has drawn a lot of people, World Cups have drawn a lot of people, but the fact that Denver, in its first game it has ever played

at home, brought in 63,000 and four fans. We can't forget about those four, because they pushed us over that 62 mark and which is big it just is honestly bigger than I ever could have dreamed of really truly yeah it was um we arrived at 745 we were in line for the parking lot which was a line people were ready to go and like one of the fun things about a newish team for as established as it is there's still like some ingenuity required like yeah some people made their own shirts some people made their own flags. Some people made their own logos, signs. Like, you know, it's not like, oh, this is, I'm a Buffalo Bills fan. This is the thing I just go and do. It was like, everyone's experiencing it for the first time, which was huge on top of all the history that you're talking

about and the fact that it's not that it was the first Denver Summit game or the first NWSL game. It was this first of any for a lot of people around the world, which was awesome to see. Did you see the shirts that had the date? And it was like, like today we make history or something like that with the date on it. I got to find one of those. I don't know where they are, but I got to find one. And then the other shirt, it was one of your nieces' teammates, I think, that had made a shirt with the kickoff on it, the kickoff logo. Because honestly, you couldn't stand it.

Like, if you stood in line for merch, you were there during the game. I'm not kidding. The merch line was 12 sections long. Yeah. It wrapped up the tunnel, which went up to the upper deck where we were. So we came in and it was right there. And you look to the left, which is the walkway to go up to the second deck. And you couldn't see the end of the line going up the walkway.

So I don't know if it went all the way to the second deck or not. And it was like, okay, because I didn't buy anything in advance. It's like, I'll buy something at the game. It's like, I guess I'll buy something after the game. Yeah, more merch stands. We didn't really, I don't think the people thought about doing that. But maybe next time. right? Yeah. Yes. Next, next record. Next game. Well, at this point, it's like you got to play there again. For sure. If they host a

playoff game, I'm saying it should be at whatever it's called Empower. Yeah, good job. Yeah. You call it a high stadium. Yeah. I sat there staring at it long enough because our tailgate was perfectly positioned to it. But you mentioned, I came with my whole family. My niece's youth soccer team was there. My sister-in-law brought her basketball team that came and everything else. And you came over to say hi, which was very excited about. And then someone came over and said, we'd love to have you take a picture with the girls because you mean so much to what they've like are experiencing, which is awesome. And that proceeded to become Jordan as a celebrity and is just signing shirts.

You're like looking for good sharpies. Come on, Jordan. You're the big deal. That was funny because I started to. some of the girls that asked for autographs. And then I didn't know paparazzi was coming too because I look over and David Goss is just snapping phones. I was like this is the best content I'm ever going to get.

Yeah. I honestly didn't expect that either, but it was really, really quite just precious that they wanted my autograph. But they told me where their true alliance stands that most of them, their favorite player was Trinity Rodman, which I was like, I can't blame you.

Yeah. So I told them they could hope Trinity does really well, but also on that day, hope that her team loses. They were all stuck in this like emotion chamber of I love Colorado and everything about Colorado. And I want the Denver Summit to be the greatest thing it's ever happened. But I also love Trinity Rodman. And one girl wore her jersey and she had put in pink braids and dressed up as Trinity Rodman for Halloween last year. So I thought that was fair. But that's the one person who couldn't not.

But so my niece is captain of her team and she told them not to wear their Trinney Rodman jerseys, which I think is so funny. So good. And then I didn't hear this, but someone in my family overheard her when you were walking away, someone was like, who is she? And she goes, oh, it's okay. She's like a huge deal. She's on TV and she is the owner of the team and she's my uncle's best friend.

So it's like whatever. And that's all I was told. Oh, my gosh. I just love it so much. That is so cute. And then we walked back to your tailgate together. And it was like your wedding. It was like every person you've met in every stage of your life

was like emerging through this parking lot to come say hi to you from high school and college and youth soccer and from being an adult. And it was like, this is amazing. Yeah. You really got to witness it because I think at the time you got there, I saw someone that I went from like kindergarten on through school. with that I haven't seen since we graduated.

And he just surprised me and I was like, what is going on? And, you know, high school people, a teammate from college, a teammate from the U-20s, a guy I grew up playing youth soccer with my whole, like not my whole family, but a lot of my family. A lot of people that looked like you. A lot of people that look like me just was, it did feel like I have not had a wedding yet, but I can imagine that's what a wedding feels like where you just are in a conversation with someone and then you see somebody else and you're like,

squirrel and you got to go to that next one. But it was the energy I needed to start the day off and just feel the love. I only cried four times, Goss, which is not that bad for me, really. No. I mean, it's an acceptable thing to do as many times as you want to. I was a little nervous one or two times when you came on the big screen in the stadium because I know it meant a lot to you before the game you announced. and we talked about it on this show last week,

a number of players who came, who have come up playing, you know, some of the big sides in Colorado professionally, but never in Colorado. And they were that sort of guard of honor for the players coming out for the first time, which I was like, okay, Jordan's going to nail this, but I think there's like a 40% chance.

She does cry in front of 64,000 people, 63,4. Yeah, yeah. I made it through that exact piece. But, yeah, when the team walked out, and they announced the Denver Summit for a several time. Here's your home team. And the fireworks were going off and the noise in the stadium, gosh. There's a picture of me just with my hands over my mouth, like, crying because I could not.

I felt throughout the whole process of trying to bring this team here that we would find a way to do it. And there were these moments where I was like, oh, this is what the game's going to feel like. this is what this is going to feel like or look like. And this was like God just blew me away. It was like beyond what I could ever imagine. And that noise just rattling me was something I hope I never forget. Because it's one of those things. And you know, I started getting questions, you know,

throughout the tailgates with all these people who have, you know, not been to as many soccer events and what do you think and what's going to happen. And like I think we now, I feel like I have enough. experience across a few years of what works, what doesn't, what's engaging, what's not, what people are there for. And I think, obviously, you know this. It's very obvious that there is a soccer culture in Colorado. And obviously it is so heavily geared towards the women's game.

So having this representation of it. But then also, the work that you and your group did to build this was bottom up. And I think you can feel the difference between bottom up and top. down and top down can feel special at times of rich owner wants to do a thing and we'll you know all of a sudden create stuff but like the energy of the people as the players walk out and showing up five and a half hours early to the parking lot that can't be top down and I think I was you know as you hear the numbers that's what you're expecting but then being there was my chance to experience like oh this is for real that all these people who and it's amazing as well that it's the third game

So now everyone's like weird NWSL fans where it's like they hadn't watched before, but now they're like, well, you know, like Utah struggling and like, you know, Orlando's obviously going to be a problem. And you're like, wow, like you guys are all really engaged in this thing. And the success obviously quickly has helped probably. But like you see people experiencing it on their own and ready for it. And I think that was what's so exciting for me to see coming into it. Yeah, it was special from that.

And the team put out a really cool video of, of like people speaking about their experiences and what this team means to them. And I thought that was really well done of just the generations it's going to touch and the generations of fans, no matter what age they are right now at inception, that they will be the beginning of a fandom for them,

for their kids, for their kids' kids, and that, you know, that's the hope. And that's why we all love sports, because it's not about us. It's about something that we could I'll buy into that's bigger than us. And it was one of the cool things about being in that stadium and just seeing the variety of people that had come to take it in made me really proud of what we've been able to do

in NWSL over the last few years. And it feels almost too, Goss, like, I know we say this a lot, but it does feel like we're scratching the surface of what this sport and what women's sports can be and can do. Yeah, I mean, it's one of those moments you're like, okay, so is this every game now? Like it is for the Broncos, like it can be. And I think that's one of the things as we go through these conversations about soccer specific stadiums and what teams want to build.

And, you know, we see what Chicago is going through from a negative, but also could it be a positive? Is there a spot where you end up in an even bigger space that you can fill? And then, you know, Bay, I think their ambitions, right, to go up to Oracle last year and play, which is a different market sort of for them. And it's like, can they be moved around? Is there another stadium solution for them that allows people in? But I think this is the like if you don't put a limit on things,

if you don't limit the space, then you can fill it. Janine Becky said after the game, if you build it, they will come. And I feel like now we're at this precipice within NWSL. The competition on the field is really good. But now it does feel like the competition within ownership groups of like, you know,

Bay set the record. And they're like, oh, we're going to do this. And then Denver set the record. And now it feels like, you know Arthur Blank's like, there we go. We're going to set the record. But before that, I would not be surprised if another market doesn't set a new record.

And Leslie Osborne said this yesterday. She made a post about her and I and just are. We've been teammates for a long time and friends for a long time. And she's like, we did that so it would be broken. And the same sentiment, like I feel that same way. Like break it, proof that you can break it. because I think I think it can be broken. You guys also broke a second streak.

You set a attendance record and you did not lose. Like that's the record. Wow. Yeah. That's the record right there. Chicago said it. They lost the Bay at home two years ago. They said it last year.

They lost the Washington at home. Washington and our own Douglas came to play spoilers once again. And that was not the case, a zero zero draw in this one. And I will say for me, with all the little moments that happen in something like this, I think the coolest moment of the game was in the warm-up lineups as the players walked onto the field. They announced Janine Sonis as the Colorado's own captain. And I think it was the loudest moment of the entire day. I had texted Ali Brazer on Sunday because I was just recapping everything in my mind and trying to remember all the things. And when she came out onto the field, it was the same thing, Colorado's own, Allie, Brazer.

And the way that the crowd cheered, I'm like, don't forget that. Don't ever forget how much this community supports you and how loud that was. and just wanted a reminder of it. But I don't think I heard the Janine one. So that's really neat. And I loved how the PA, who was Alex Steck, a good friend. Oh, nice. Yeah.

I made sure that I didn't make sure. I really recommended it. I was like, you should bring her. Because I want her to be a part of it, too. She's done so much in soccer and does PA for the U.S. women's national team. And I thought, oh, this would be awesome to have her. And the way that they handled those moments and got Colorado. into it to say, okay, this is, you know, these purple people were born and raised here.

So let's, let's make sure they know that we got their back. So all of this electric, unbelievable experience. And then we get onto the field, which I assume was as a little less intensive, watching for you as you had the 500,000 people. You were on screen a lot, giving announcements, including announcing the official attendance, which is a huge moment, obviously, for the team, but also it's always like a fun big event in a game. I was like laser focused in on the game.

So a couple of my thoughts, including one with Ali Razir, who should have been on the field earlier. And my big complaint of this whole game was it felt like third game in a week, two of them on the road, one of them in New York. And I think there was one sub made before the 81st minute. And on top of that, the way Denver set up with Yasmin, Ryan and Yuna McCormick as the quote unquote wide play. players. It was very narrow. And you're not going to play through Rebecca Bernal. You're not

going to play through Hal Hersch felt. This Washington team is not a team that you're really going to be able to connect through consistently. And I thought it did open up a lane for Sonis, who I thought was the most dangerous player. All the dangerous run of play moments came through her bombing forward from the right back spot and getting into that right channel. But you're matched up against Trinity Rodman. Like, you're only going to take so many risks. And there's no. player in the world who pins back trinity rodman because your fear is going to be more than the threat you can impose so i thought that was like my big frustration as the game went along and i think you could see sort of the legs tire a little as denver got through it but also goss not not just the all those things

but it was 80 degrees it was the first hot hot game these players have played all year and i'll just stay from experience and there's zero cloud cover no cloud coverage until like honestly right like when the game ended. Yeah, it was wild. Comical. But it was so warm. And when you play that first warm game, it kind of smacks you in the face. Like, who, I thought I was fit.

I thought we were ramping up. But it don't have that little, maybe it's a mentality that you have to push through these things. And you could see it. It was slow. The game was slow. And so inserting some substitutes earlier in the game would have added a little bit of a spark. And Allie did add a spark almost nearly.

nearly scored. I mean, that had the best chance of the latter part of the game where she gets the breakaway and that place would have erupted if she finds the back of the net there. But it did feel like, all right, this is, it's hot, third game in a week, maybe just some more changes earlier in the game would have been effective. Now, for an expansion team to play against the team that went to the last two, finals and to give up less than, I think it was 0.5xG in this game. And to keep, for the most part, the game in front of them, all of the best looks for Washington. While I thought they were like

more well worked than Denver, so you could see these are our styles of play and whatnot. And they came in more predictable ways of like, we got the right person coming in on their right foot with a chance to shoot from the top of the box or whatever it was. They were all from distance. They were all with bodies in between. Like there wasn't really a moment where Washington, broke Denver shape, which is a huge credit to, I think, Kaylee Kurtz and Abby Smith and the structure that they've built early on, which I think is why we're looking at a Denver team that is doing well for an expansion squad. If you look at that back line and the goalkeeper, like, that's where all the experiences in NWSL and winning championships and winning shields. So it,

it doesn't surprise me that that's where the organization comes from. And we've seen this going, in building teams, even in just new coaches coming in, is the hardest thing to do is the final third and that final pass and the final moments. It's easier to destroy than it is to create. And I felt like there were moments, even in the first half that the probably 15 minutes that I was sitting and watching,

I thought that even when Washington broke Denver down, the recovery and support to be that second defender, to be the third defender at times too, to just cover support for Trinity Rodman or whoever, Cantore, who was on the ball, was always right there. And that builds confidence within a group and for that to be the week where you get three points off of Gotham and a point off of Orlando and a point off of Washington, that's going to instill some belief in some real like, hey, we're going in the right direction and this is this is going to work yeah uh last two Denver thoughts and then we'll we can talk about

watching for a second um in that recovery stuff devon lynch is a player like unbelievable in central midfield recovery winning tackles calm with players around her it's really really impressed by her and then costler up close there is a lot of creativity and body movement that opens up space for a a true like center forward with a big frame and a little bit of bursts of speed. And if she has any bit of support, there's probably a goal in this game, either coming from her or she's creating. And like, I don't know, year one, I think that's a real center forward that can be leading the line for a good NWSL team.

And it feels like the connection between her and Tosh Flint is continuing to develop, which is going to be, it's going to have to be on point for these next, few months to make sure that Denver finds Custler in a place where she can be effective. So on the Washington side, there's been a slow start to the season for them. I don't have... Slow start for some of the big guns, huh? Pretty much all of them. And I don't have a clear explanation in terms of like, this is what I see.

I think coming out of week one, I talked about to Googly, Giamo, struggling to give with on the left side. So now it's been Wisner, the last two games, getting the start there. I still think, I guess the question will be, if Andy Sullivan is fully fit, and so Lacey Santos can play out on the left, is that the most dangerous for this team?

Is it they need more from Rose Coasi to come in and be fully fit? It just felt very one note from this Washington team, and while it's hard to shut down Trinney Rodman, it's easier if you can send three bodies every single time because you're not worried about other pieces. Where in the past, obviously, Corey Bethune, a huge factor. It felt like you couldn't load up on anyone with Washington

because otherwise you're getting beat somewhere else. That's, I mean, I feel like for this Washington team, the expectation is so high because of the players that they have. You just mentioned a few of them, Cantori, not in that mix. Like they have people that can beat you individually. But it feels like to me right now it is too individual. Mm-hmm. which is surprising and I spoke a little bit just momentarily to Adrian Gonzalez at the beginning of the

match before the game started and warm up started and everything and you know he's scratching his head too and I said if anyone can figure this out I know it I really truly believe it's him I think he is just so has such an intellect about the way that the game is played and you can imagine like for me I wouldn't want to be the team that's playing Washington this weekend because with a full week of training, you really have a, you really feel like they're going to tweak a couple things to be more effective. And I do feel like there's something off with the mixture in the midfield. And I don't know what it is, but it's too safe at times. And that's not really what's allowed them to be successful.

Like they've had stability, but I don't think they need to be as safe in some of the things that they do going through the middle of the field. Well, it's going to be Bay on the weekend who's going to get the experience of facing a Washington team that I think is fairly frustrated with their start so far. Okay, let's talk about some of the other big games from the weekend. And then we will get into some power rankings that we want to do and talk about the weekend to come, including that Bay, Washington game. The weekend started with the top of the table, unexpected clash. Friday night, Angel City hosting Houston in L.A. And this was, as we said last week, like, okay, these are two of the three teams that have won every single game. Unexpected. What does it mean? What do we make of it? And I think for me in watching this game,

I obviously, I think I had belief in Angel City before. So that is one where they have to convince me less. But in the context of that, if you believe Angel City is a true top four or five team in this league, then you have to believe Houston's for real. Because Houston went to their building, and I thought Angel City came out and pressed them, and Houston was comfortable playing through it. It doesn't mean they were super dangerous, but they did not change the way they played.

I think they showed confidence in the face of the pressure coming at them. Then I thought they controlled large segments of this game after that, including getting the goal to go up one zero. And while they end up losing 2-1 in sort of like a spring of madness moments for them, I don't walk away from that game thinking there's a huge gap between those two teams. And for Houston right now, that's sort of the opportunity to prove whether you get the results or not, which is that these young players can hang with some of the best players in this league. Just from what I saw, I didn't catch this game because Friday was also a little hectic for me.

Did Eli and Bryce and Brandy have things for you to do? Yeah, I didn't drop the name. games you did um yeah there was many events on friday that i was attending and a part of so i didn't get to watch the game but i saw some of the quotes afterwards especially from tiernan where she said that wasn't like us in the first half what was houston just better did was l a off like what what did you notice in that first 45 and what changed in the second so i think once houston scored it was Houston's turn to sort of to press off the goal kicks and to play high and to go man to man and sort of like force Angel City into mistakes and Angel City wilted under it.

And I think that's where Tiernan would think so far this season, there is not a segment of time where that's been the case. They've either been the aggressor or when they've not been, they've broken the other team and they've played it with confidence. If you think about Bay, their ability to play over the top and then get Jan's daughter into space and dominate the game. And this was the first 30 minute segment of play, maybe 25 in the end, where that was not the case. And that's where I look at it and say, okay, like these Houston players, they had the belief to go out there and do it on the road to put the pressure on.

And then I think they were fairly effective. When they won it back, they were quick in possession. Like you just look through the front four or five of this Houston team. And there's a lot of interchange that can happen. And everyone's trying to turn up field. Everyone's trying to be aggressive. and something's going to drop well for you if that's the case. Yeah.

I feel like Houston's been slowly building and kind of been so on the periphery that people haven't been noticing. And if I were Fabrice Gattra, that's kind of where I would want to be in this build. And kind of not catch people by surprise, but just be able to focus on what they need to focus on. Because let's be real, it's probably there's a lot going on in Houston. And the focus is, can feel like it's anywhere but the field.

And so they've kind of created this bubble to say, all right, we're going to focus on what we can control. And they've had in some really good rookies that have stepped up right away and made massive impacts. And this is, we talked about Louisville coming into the season. We probably should talk about Houston the same way of like,

the thing you're offering these college players is a chance. To play. As much as other teams can say, hey, we think you'll be important. And I think it's now clearly proven over the last two, three years with now no draft where it's like good players can come into good teams and be factors right sarah shippansky doing it for gotham you know all the players who've gotten on the field year one for

bay and you take a look at what ternan did last year for angel city but i think there is still probably a thought of like no matter how good you are right zara shivushi goes to Orlando like if emily sams and hafela and kaila and diana are help that you are not going to play yeah and so there are teams that have to target these moments. And in the past it was, all right, let's trade veterans for draft and let's load up in a draft like Washington did three years ago and got Croy Bethune and Hal Herschfault and everyone in the same draft. And now it's just going out into the market and offering these players opportunity. But like Houston clearly had the ability to sell that one option. And a lot of these players wanted to take them up on it. And you're talking about players who

are going to believe they're the best player on the field every time they step on it. because up until this moment in their life, that's been the case at UNC and Duke and wherever else. And so it's been really cool to watch those players sort of like untethered in these moments. And to me, this was the best soccer probably Houston has played in that first half, even better than what they did against Boston. Maybe that's me taking the context in it as well.

Then, of course, half-time speech, two goals and five minutes for Angel City. And like part of it falls apart, but they hung in there and they end up losing two-one. So Angel City now. Three victories in three games. They sit at the top of the league.

They are up there alongside three teams that have all played an extra game than them. So Angel City, the lone 3-0 team. I haven't asked this, but I should ask Jen Cooper, our stats extraordinaire for NWSL, but I don't know if Angel City's ever scored multiple goals in three games in a row. Yeah. A lot of this stuff is already records for them. Yeah.

And they've been like trying to get it all explained. Yeah. And it's like you guys have been bad and you're good. Like everything's a record. We get it. We get it. But that's probably a good question to ask because there's definitely something in there. So that was a huge game. And then later on in the weekend, the other one of the other teams in California in San Diego, they hosted Chicago. We're hoping for the best for Brianna Pinto, one of our co-hosts, who took a little bit of a tackle there early on in this game. and this was always one that was sort of going to be, you know, San Diego was going to be favored. But Kat Makaro was presented before the game to the crowd. Talk about homecomings, being from San Diego, coming back.

She's born in Brazil, raised in San Diego. She's about to play for San Diego alongside three Brazilians in the front line. Like, it is probably as perfect a setting as you can get. Seriously. And often when that happens, we talk about, like, oh, the energy that's going to provide and, like, where this team's going to stand. And while I think she's going to be massive, massive and a huge piece.

This team is just good. And this team is already very good with the pieces they have in place. Finally, we get the announcement for Katerina McArio. It felt like it was just on the precipice there for two weeks. And I loved the video of her watching her old clips of growing up in San Diego. And whenever you can get somebody like that who a place means so much to them, you know that I just feel like big things are going to happen. and she's coming into a team who, if I were her,

Kenzadali alone would get me to want to play for this team. But then you bring in the flare of these players around you who you understand, you understand that Brazilian culture, you understand how to get the best out of them, how to communicate with them in times where maybe something complicated is happening and you need direction right there out on the field. Like she can do that quickly and efficiently. And I just, San Diego,

looks like they're clicking. And not just that, it feels like their, last year at the beginning of the year, it was kind of the same thing, right? The football was beautiful, but it was like their XG was not very much. And they were, they were scoring beyond that. But it feels like they're creating the- I think it's actually flipped this year. They're XG is higher than what they scored.

And they still scored. Yes, and they're still scoring. So it just feels like, I mean, probably, unfortunately, unfortunately, not a, like, not a barometer for a barometer, barometer for them with the Chicago team. But they have to be one of the best pressing teams in the NWSL right now, winning the ball back high on the field, which allows them to keep players forward, overload the channels, isolate then in the opposite channel. They're just doing a lot of good things in a variety of ways.

And I think from last year, having the experience is obviously huge. I think for us externally, there's now that you've seen something for two years, there's more belief of like, Kenny Wesley's for real, one of the best centerbacks in this league. I'd say her and McNabb are one of the best partnerships in this league. McNabb is good. Yeah. And flexible, can step in, is comfortable in different spots on the field. We know Moroni, flying forward is going to be a threat and has been now for 14 months.

Ken Zadali is obviously one of the best in this league anyway. you want to talk about possession, whether it's line breaking, whether it's keeping it, whether it's, you know, cycling it, whatever it is. So I think there's so much now, okay, this has happened for so long that it's probably not going to go away. And I think the exciting part with Macario coming in is I thought that her addition would get them back to basically this is the replacement for Cascarino in a different style, but at a talent level. And now we're looking at, okay, sixth in the league last year, maybe you're still around there. With the way Junia has played so far this year and the addition of Ludmila and then the

addition of Godfrey, who is for real and the development of Barsanias, which we didn't even talk about her goal yet, which is absurd for an 18 year old to do in this league. And she doesn't care about anything that's happening. I showed her highlights to my niece, because who's been playing on the wing recently. And it was like, if you want the example, like, this is kind of it. It's not really one any of us can follow, but that's fine. But Dugenia is, she is like, she's done a lot of what Cascarino did last year. She gets isolated.

She will break her defender down. It's a guaranteed chance coming. And then she's still good at coming in and connecting and potentially being a finisher. We saw flashes last year, but this is on a whole other level. If she figures out that final pass too, because there were, even a, in the first half two specific examples where she just smokes her defender. Because she just, the way she stops and starts, she'll just like go fast stop and the defender will be like, whoa.

And then she'll just go one more time. And that is so hard to defend. But she just blazes it across the face of the goal over people's heads. And like, if she can pick out a pass in those moments, San Diego scoring the most goals in the league this year. Yeah. Well, we shall see. They might be on pace for it. I think I sent you some XG numbers that I found in an article today before we jumped on here.

And they are in their own quadrant all the way up in the top right corner for expected goals and then expected goals against. So they're like the must watch entertaining team. Orlando is actually the one right behind them on that list, which I think maybe we'll talk about them in a little bit goes to show shouldn't be. some worries for what's been happening with them so far. On the flip side for Chicago, I actually, in all of what we just said, I thought through the first 45 or so minutes, the game was completely against Chicago. I thought Chacon was way too isolated as a center forward. And I just think you lose any ability for her to be effective in that. If you put her out on the wing, even if it's not close to goal, she can connect with players. She can use players

to help manipulate, manipulate defenses and whatnot. But I didn't think Chicago looked overwhelmed in the way they defended through that segment of time and then they give up the goal they have to stretch a little bit to try and get back into it and that changes things a little bit more but I don't think it was a terrible performance for Chicago in this one on the road and I would say it's the most balanced game they've played so far because of how wild some of their games have been end to end. That's a good point that's a good point I just feel like Chicago is is that sustainable to defend like that? No not at all. out of season. That I think is what I think of. And yeah, in the moments, like, those are the games

where you can see, you see the vast difference between the game last week when Grosso shows up and is the connector and when she doesn't. And I'm not saying it's all on her, but it does feel like she can be that player if she can do it consistently, no matter who the opponent is. Yeah, absolutely. One more game from the weekend, but we're going to talk about all these teams. as we go through the power rankings. And it's Boston. They scored their first ever goal in NWSL. It took three weeks to do it.

They did it coming back home. Another good crowd for this one at Gillette for them in the early game against Utah on Saturday. They fell behind two zero in this game, both goals against the run of play, especially the first one. Like Utah had not been dangerous at all. And they score the goal, Tatum Malao, her second of the year, and a red card already. So coming back from the ACL surgery, she has been fully involved for this team. She wants her stats back. Exactly.

So she puts them up one zero. The first half, Boston had a penalty kick claim that didn't go their way. And in the second half, Utah got a penalty to open up the second half, which they're probably the same play. So neither should have been called or both should have been called. I mean, a foot gets kicked in the box on both of them. Wait, was it a penalty? was it the red car potentially the defalva for boston in the first half wow i just couldn't say your name the red card was charleret running over the top which wasn't in the box so it wouldn't have been a penalty

right okay and then there was another play where someone on boston i can't remember who now cut inside inside the box and their foot was kicked they went down v a r said no penalty yeah i thought none of them were a penalty which which would be fine as well and i think that was boston's yeah that was boston's point So it's a little bit tough to say like Boston lost this game to one. They end up scoring their first goal then late on trailing. Amanda comes off the bench to play alongside Trierre. So neither of them have started a game together. This is now the second time that they've played together both times late on chasing a game.

And it's Amanda playing a through ball to Trawore who then is able to get behind the back line and score. But not a long ball over the top. It almost feels like maybe that's a decent thing for Boston to try and lean into. from for 90 minutes maybe try to do it for a little bit longer i was we don't know the ends and outs of what's going on within the legacy camp but it it seems to me that when you have the ability of amanda up front with her hold-up play but then also when when boston did get forward and get numbers and attack her ability to on crosses to she can score in every single way you can think of in the air she can score with both feet she can score in tight spaces in

behind a back line she can find the backside of a shoulder of a defender so i'm just i am curious why she doesn't go from the beginning and i i do feel like there's a good combination between triore who stretches and amanda who can hold up in some of those transition moments for boston but throughout the game goss i one i'm still trying to figure out what boston's doing oh you don't say yeah trying to figure it out is it a three four three It looks like a two front at times. Sometimes from the three, they actually push one of the centerbacks in the midfield. And Kaka wasn't even playing in this game who has a license out of that back three that I've never seen before.

Right. So I think their structure is not setting them up to keep the ball and get numbers forward as well as they could. Because it feels to me that there is almost, they're almost like, pressing the game too much when they do get the ball forward. It's like then everybody bombs forward with these straight runs in behind the back or in behind their line of attack. But they go beyond the ball. So no one, to me, it's like if I'm watching that, I'm saying, okay, um, carrot, go,

just go right and behind the, the midfielder or Kanye. Go in, not behind the midfielder, but the forward who has the ball and just provide a layoff and then the through ball. Yeah. It's like an up back and through calling it like they're calling for it, but there's no back. There's nobody to lay the ball back to. So it's a constant like one v1 duel where the player on the ball has to turn with pressure on their back and try to slip a ball through to these runners who are trying their best to be aggressive in attack.

But it is making it so hard on. They're making it hard on themselves. I appreciate you going through this because I would like to successfully state that I finished the depth chart. for the 2026 season for our NWSL. So if anyone wants access to that, subscribe to our Patreon. If you're in the Discord, I'm going to drop it in the NWSL channel.

I finally finished it. In doing so, I have to create something static. And some teams are really hard because it's like, you know, look at Washington. They have four fullbacks who both play on both sides.

So you're like, okay, I don't know what to do. With this one, I think I put Kakat, like not in a position between the two centerbacks. And I'm like, well, it's a five in the back,

clearly, but there's so much movement in it. And none of that's bad. Like that can all be good. It doesn't feel comfortable for the players. And the other thing I'd say now is, I think one of the issues with playing Amanda and Trierre is they don't want to play two up front together. So either Trier has to play out wide or Amanda has to play deeper. That it feels like the reason for that is probably because they don't trust two of the centerbacks to play in a back four and they don't want to go to whatever it is, a five,

three, two. but like then you've set yourself up very specifically with your roster build if that's the case and if Bianca St. George is one of the center acts that probably is the case and if she's not then that's fine like I don't know how much they've invested in any specific player that they have to have them out on the field clearly we thought Amanda was the big addition she has not started 50% of the games they've played so it's not like a cultural thing there but it feels like maybe they're stuck in an idea of what they thought they'd be and they're struggling to adjust to what the reality is right now. And it just still feels like a team where you're like,

it feels like what I thought San Diego would be where it's like, great, all the pieces are there except the star in the middle. And now you're going to put the star in the middle and you're going to be okay, except they don't have a cat Macario coming in. Like the roster is built and it is what it is. And they hence are in last place in the league right now. All right. Let's talk about our power rankings. We're going to be putting these out every single week via graphic on social media, but we had to do our first one here. So I figured we could just do it live and in person. How much, let me do a big picture question for you as you think about power rankings. How much is decided by the standings for you and how much is like what you're seeing and what

you believe in? I think early in the season, it's more, I feel like you can start to see which teams are going to be successful. So me, it might be more vibes than standing. even if they're not scoring goals. Okay. Okay. What do you think? I can, I can, I'm kind of the same where it's like I believe what I believe. And then at some point it's like when I have tiebreaker issues, I'm like, I got to go with what the standings are.

The other question would be then how much we are tied to like our preseason of, I assume we're not going to have KC 13th in our power rankings, which is where they sit currently in the league. So starting from the top, do we have Angel City number one? one? Yeah, I think so. Okay. I think so, too. Do we have San Diego, too? Oh, goodness, gracious. From what I've seen from other teams, I feel like San Diego has to be pretty high up there. So I would say that the two big, I guess you could call them giants, whatever you want, that I think are still at the top, even though they haven't gotten the results, would be Gotham, Orlando so far, maybe Washington as well, where it's like I'm still going to

trust them over the course of the season until I'm proven wrong on that one. So we could slot those teams across these front four spots in theory. Yeah. I would feel like the next out of that group, I think San Diego, Washington, and Orlando would be like two to four for me. Okay, great. That's what I'm putting in. That's what we will have. Then after that, we would be, I think we're into like Portland, Gotham and probably Denver territory. I think Portland next, don't you? Okay. Yeah, I think so too. Yeah. So I'm going to put Gotham sixth. We have Portland fifth. I'm going to put. I don't know. Would you put Bay ahead of Gotham right now? I would. Interesting. So I don't know if maybe...

Gotham has scored one goal. Yeah. But also this is what Gotham did last year and then they went and won the championship. I thought Bay, if you look at their season so far, I didn't have big expectations for North Carolina as good as they looked. And I get it. They went and got to draw Gotham. Bay, I thought, looked very bad against Angel City. I'll just put it that way.

and they played for 70 minutes at home against an expansion team in Denver up a player. So I don't know that I have like a lot more of data points. Would you say Seattle would be than Seattle over Bay? We can do that. I was very underwhelmed by Seattle as well in the win over Louisville. Okay. So you're saying go Gotham next after Portland and then. And then I would say we could put Bay in Seattle then.

after that. And then we're probably at Denver at that point. Yeah. Does that feel right? Oh, Houston. We totally miss Houston. Oh, yeah. Who I was all in on.

So I'm putting Houston sixth. And I'm moving everyone we just said down one. Okay. Houston. So now we've got bit. I know. I love me some Houston dash. Then I'm putting Denver at 10,

which I think is a fairly comfortable spot. We still don't have KC listed. And then we've got, yeah, so KC 11, then we've got Utah, North Carolina, Chicago, Louisville, and Boston. North Carolina, Utah, Louisville. Okay. Then Chicago and then Boston. Look at us. Right out the gate.

We've got, we officially have a power rankings. some obviously huge like notes notes on some of these teams um one being louisville eight players out injured for this weekend so like they don't have a huge amount of depth they don't have a lot of wiggle room over the course of the season and on top of that they are now like kind of playing with one hand behind their back which is super unfortunate it is unfortunate I would say out of all the teams because their identity is so based on without the ball and their work ethic and how they're pressing. Like I think over the last two years, Bev Yanez has really honed in on what players

she wants to bring in. I'm not saying that with those players, they wouldn't be better. Of course they would be better. But that's why they stick in this game against Seattle, who has looked pretty good this year. And I feel like it really, without that goal that goes through. I was going to say Silkowitz, but that's not right. Why can I think?

Bloomer's leg. Blumer. Yeah, Blumer's legs. There's a one-one game against Seattle. So even with that depth being tested, they can stick into games because their identity is so true to the players that they have. Yeah. And my hope is for them, there's some turnaround in there coming where they can maybe get some more pieces back.

I think it would, at a minimum, you'd love to not play Taylor Flint at centerback. like that just feels like such a loss for them with what she's capable of. And then not only that, I think she's struggling at centerback. So you have the best player on your team not giving you what you want. And then you're sort of having a struggle at the same time at the position she ends up covering for what should be the strength of this squad. For the upcoming weekend, there was three games that we wanted to focus on. We've got Kansas City versus Gotham on Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern time. this is the like two teams that are struggling out the gates with huge expectations.

Yeah. It's like the sort of can they get right game. Casey, another loss. So now it was a one week two game road trip where they struggle in both games. They lose both games. This time a two zero loss at Portland. And now they come home to host Gotham in a rematch from last year's playoffs. What do you make of what this match up is right now?

I think that there's a lot of, it's an early season matchup, but there's a lot of pressure on this matchup because both of these teams are not where they would like to be. More pressure, I would think, on Kansas City, because they have not looked like themselves. And the biggest thing that I would say, and I'm hopeful for this week of training, is you can't play the same way without Claire Hutton. You can't be in a 424 press without the distance. that Claire Hutton covers centrally in the lanes she cuts off. And then if that is the case that if you stay in that 424, you have to make sure your wingers on the outside track back.

Because although I didn't see the game against Portland, the game midweek against Seattle, I was on the call for Kansas City. And if you don't track back as one of those wingers, that gap behind you is just this no man's land for a, a central player can't get out to pressure. And typically the outside back is occupied by a forward. And so that's where Sophia Werto was just like, okay, how many assists can I get?

It's only the league's career assist leader. Yeah. And she nearly had a hat trick of assists. Like probably should have had a hat trick of assists. She gets two in that game. But that's the difference to me is like for Kansas City, there has to be adaptation. And we can still press in a way that fits. the players that we have, but it's too aggressive with players who, without Claire Hutton and with

two, I don't know who played centrally in the midfield for this weekend, but you have to be mindful. Scott, right? Yeah, probably Katie Scott and Lowe. I don't know if Lowe started. I'm not, this is bad. It was just a crazy weekend. So typically I would know these things, but you have to be able to cover that space.

Is it time for me to stop talking about this? No, not at all. not at all yeah so i just am that is what makes me a little worried is the responsibility put on those two center midfielders um can they take a little bit of that away and redistribute it to others i think would be helpful it was kate scott by the way that's what i was trying to figure out which i should have at and lo la bata yeah in this one no that's incorrect um i don't know who got this start in central midfield and i'm still trying to figure it out while talking to you.

Great. Great. Nailed it. For Gotham, on the flip side. So we see another game where Dudley comes off the bench and gets put in at the forward position. It feels like right now, Jaden Shaw, not fully healthy, not available on the weekend. And they're sort of, I mean, they're struggling to create chances. Like, that's the whole ball game.

As you said, they've scored one goal. Orlando is a really dangerous team. And so it wasn't one where you're going to like push all out and not take any risks in this and I think over the last 10, 15 minutes, they finally tried to create some chances, but it just feels very disconnected for this Gotham team. And you end up hoping for some 1V1 sparks. And like in a game where you start Shepansky and Lampson as your wide players around Esther, you're just not really going to get that from those players.

So it just feels too reliant on the individual talent. Like I thought once Mitch Mitz first came in, it was more. dangerous. She had some clear opportunities to cross from dangerous areas, but you can't just wait on that. And I think there just needs to be, one, I would like to see them play a little quicker when they're higher up the field. And then, too, I'd just like to see Esther play with Dudley at this point. And whether it's Esther as the quote unquote 10 or out wide, I understand you don't want to pull her away from goal at all, but you couldn't potentially make her more effective to the team, even if her goal scoring numbers come down because she touched the ball more often and create more

chances for you. This is a comfortable matchup, I think, for Gotham because of what we saw last year, which is like, they're going to go, they're going to sit in, they're going to try and counter, like they're going to try and tie Chi it and use Casey's momentum against them. And Casey can't really turn that off. They have to be who they are and who they've been. So I think this is sort of like as tough as it is to go to CP Casey. It could be sort of a comfortable matchup for this Gotham team. That games on Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern time. We also have Orlando against Angel City on Friday at 8 p.m., which was one of the ones we were looking forward to. All the compliments we had for Angel City, this is the first, like, big trip for them. Like, their only away game has been

at bay. So now you go cross country. You go play a team that is really stout defensively. You go play a team that has this outlet in Banda. I think every game you see the flashes from Ovalier. She's skilled. she's dangerous. Like even when she doesn't score, the way she strikes the ball is clearly high level stuff. We just haven't had the breakout yet. And the way it'll be interesting too, because Orlando really good defensively

have shown that already in this season as well. But some of the rotations that they have through their midfielder is with McCutcheon and how she gets wide. And I think Marta's getting healthier. And I don't know how many minutes she'll be able to play in this one. But it do feel like their rotation. will ask something different of this Angel City team that they haven't quite seen yet in the games that they have played.

And so how can they manage the transition moments of Banda in one direction, but also this Angel City team show how good they have been in building through pressure and utilizing a lot of the different threats and weapons that they have when they do get possession and build through the thirds? this is I think we talked about it too last week with going into the Houston game that was going to be the hardest defensive test that they had had and this feels more to me like okay this is a full team with the weapons in attack with really good midfield play and really good defensive play how does Angel City prove that okay we can score goals against these other teams but here's us scoring goals against one of the most solid teams year after year these past couple years in NWSL and a fascinating thing that we're going to follow here is like this is the best angel city team we've seen which means there's not a spot for everyone if everyone's healthy and sarah gordon now coming off the bench that's the team captain and it's fascinating them that emily sams is wearing the captain's arm band when gordon's not out there so it's like literally the new addition player who's basically filling her role and no one's healthy every week so this may not be a huge like decision point over the course the season, but it's a big cultural thing to have your captain go to the bench.

Absolutely. And that's one of the reasons why in preseason, we talked about this team playing a three back because of these three players, right? And the ability to utilize savvy king on the left side to get a little bit higher. And they're able to do that without going so defensive and dropping another centerback into the back line because they have the likes of Fuller and Tiernan and, you know, Yon Stotter and Nuse who are all really good attacking players. They don't want to drag another player back in the back line.

So I think these are hard decisions for Alex Strauss. And maybe we will see that wrinkle at some point of a three back with those three in playing and more of a three, five, two. But if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And they've seemed to be finding a really, really good flow right now. And you just want to feed the beast. Yeah. And you better believe that Emily Sams is starting in Orlando.

Like there's no question about that one. So the odds are that she's going to get the start. And as you've said, Sevi King brings things to this team that if she's able to be out there, you want her to be an option for this team. So something to follow there because I think it's going to be really interesting as the season goes along. And then the last game that we wanted to highlight from the weekend, Bay versus Washington, as we talked about for Washington still trying. to find their feet still trying to get right.

I will say in sitting in the crowd with some people who are not as hyper-focused as I am, there was a couple of comments about Trinity and like maybe looking a little off and a little uncomfortable. I mean, she holds her back a lot and maybe I'm overly analyzing that all the time when you watch her. But we haven't seen pop from her yet. And this is part of coming back from injury and finding yourself again and changing sort of who you are so that you don't get injured more going forward.

and all of that is without Croy Bethune, like you're looking for it. And you said it, I think there could be connection with this team, which doesn't require her to be this special player, but the other side is the pressure that's on her all the time to be a difference maker. It's not as if this Washington team doesn't have the ability to, I think even just switch it up. Like, can you, I was talking about the midfield earlier, right? You focus a little bit more on Trinity, but can Lacey Santos play as another wing?

you bring Kentore in centrally and you bring some more speed up front with GIF Monday or with Kowasi or play those two from the start and bring Trinity off the bench. Like I do feel like there's a lot of pressure on her and I don't which good. There should be pressure on her. She's one of the highest players paid players in the world. Right. And I'm not saying there shouldn't be pressure on her because I absolutely do think she wants that too. But you also have to play this game of like the opponent doesn't know what we're going to do and going

against this weekend when they go against Bay, what could you switch up? And if it's me, I'm thinking, speed up top to try to break this back line because they haven't proven that they can handle that at all. And maybe you mix some things up where Cantore is a little bit more of your distributor deeper in the field than she has been. So we'll see what they have. But I think the nice thing is there is depth in this group. And if it's not working, you have to just kind of fiddle with some things and figure out what works best. Yeah. It's probably some fiddling that they didn't expect to have to do so early in the season.

And so I think that's the part where we've seen Adrian Gonzalez swap the fullbacks a little bit. We've seen him move like small pieces around, but most of it has stayed the same. And it's also like they've played midweek. They've played a ton on the road. Like there probably could be some swaps in and out where it's like, let's just get a breath of fresh air here and see what we can get out of some of these players. So a big game for them against Bay to close out the weekend. And all of the talk about Trinney Radman, I thought of triple espresso and I forgot that Sophia Wilson made her first start of the new season on Sunday.

Drew a penalty. Maybe wasn't the like pure Sophia Wilson that you expect at the top of this, but she may not have to be because there's like a ton of talent in this team. And Olivia and tree looks like one of the best players in the league right now. All stuff I'm excited to talk about, all stuff that we have weeks and weeks to cover here. So a reminder, full slate of NWSL this weekend, a ton of games on Friday night. So check your schedule there. And then we go into an international break, the last one before the Men's World Cup break, which comes in the summer. So we'll have a ton of analysis to do. We're working on some interviews as well. And then we will, of course, be talking about the U.S. Women's National Team in their games against Japan, who went

and won the Asian Cup. So they qualified for the World Cup via that, and they went and broke 80,000 hearts in Sydney in that victory. To knock up back into starting lineups immediately, which is like ridiculous to me. And a number of players coming out of those national teams who have rejoined in MLS, McKenzie Arnold, getting her first start for Portland.

So good to see that infusion of talent for a lot of teams and the players that they were expecting to rely on for the season. Once again, Jordan, congratulations. congratulations. What a weekend it was. What a day. And now we could talk to soccer forever. We don't have to worry about crowds and stadiums and all of that, except now we've got five more stadiums to play in and whatnot. But yeah, huge moment. I was glad to be there. All of us are very excited for you. And we'll just keep talking about this team. Yes. And all the teams are going to do.