SoccerWise - Haley Carter(ORL) On Record Transfers, Repeats & Running A Team + Kacey White Breaking Down The Weekend

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

A big show filled with top flight guests is on tap for Soccerwise. With Jordan away David turns to some favorites of the show in Kacey White & Haley Carter (Orlando Pride). First Kacey talks through the big news of the week from Bay's record crowd to Alana Kennedy's transfer and the unfortunate Barbara Banda's injury news. Then Haley Carter joins the show to take us behind the scenes of the biggest transfer in soccer history, how the transfer market is changing, covering for the loss of a Barbara Banda, and how hard it is repeat plus SO much more.4:35 - Bay FC Set Attendance Record19:12 Weekend Recap26:30 Alana Kennedy's Transfer News36:30 Barbara Banda Injury News53:26 Haley Carter interview1:00:36 Carter's comments on Banda Injury1:02:15 Behind The Scenes On Lizbeth Ollave's Record Transfer

Hey, everybody, welcome back to soccer wise, David Goss with you for another loaded NWSL episode. We have so much to talk about coming off a historic week in San Francisco, coming off some groundbreaking news out of Orlando as well. we're going to do it all with one of the best friends of our show. We haven't had you on in a while, but all around broadcaster of every league in the world. Casey, thanks for being back. Of course. It's been too long. I'm really excited to have this conversation today. It should be fun. We had a nice long month in the summer last year in which we followed the U.S.'s success to a gold medal. So the expectation is there will be a trophy at the end of this.

Of course. And whoever wins that trophy, we're unsure. We don't know. That's the precedent. Yeah, that's the precedent that we have set. I mentioned it there, though, in the intro, you, of course, have covered NWSL in-depth, but you also have broadcast USL, USL Super League, college soccer, MLS. You are all over the map.

Are you enjoying it? I really am. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm pretty much a soccer nerd. And so I just am always watching the game. I love the game. And so to be able to go across different platforms, different leagues, and just have that really robust viewing and being able to be a part of it is something that I really enjoy. Has watching more leagues change the way you see the other leagues you already covered? Like, how is the mindset going from league to league to league?

Well, it is interesting going league to league and keeping everything straight sometimes. I have to give the human element at times. It can be hard to manage your week and how you go about all of those things. But I do believe it's changed my outlook as a broadcaster to see all the different leagues, all the different players, men's and women's. And being able to do that, I hope, has made me a better broadcaster because it's not just focused on one style of play, one league. And I think that one, it's exciting for me.

but two, hopefully it helps me bring a better experience to those watching. It has been fun, I can say, from the outside, to watch you do your thing. I enjoy watching you every weekend across all of these leagues. I throw on the TV. I don't know your schedule. I'm just like, oh, that's Casey. I don't know my schedule half the time. I think I'm until the day, like days before, I'm like, okay, what's this week look like?

I think I've done 12, 12 games across four different leagues so far in August and still a couple to go. So it's a busy month, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love what I do and super grateful. I am excited because we're going to touch on some college soccer, which we have not covered as much as I would like here at this show. I am a huge fan of college soccer. I am now living in Florida so I don't get the smell of fall. So I haven't gotten the full feel yet of like, oh, it's time.

I need to get into it. So we switched. You went into Florida. I went out of Florida. I smell the fall now, is what you're saying. And isn't it glorious? It really is. I'm not going to lie.

It is the best season of the year. I will not have any debates against that. And it always, to me, is signaled by the start of college soccer. Of course, it starts in August. So you get those first few warm games, but then September and October is elite all the way heading into a college cup. So we'll chat a little bit about that. We have a big interview coming up in this show. We are going to be talking to the VP of Soccer Operations and the sporting director of the reigning champions, Orlando Prize.

and Haley Carter, but of course they have a lot of current news that have come out about them. Coming off the back of that big KC game last week, they made a world record transfer in bringing in Lisbeth O'Valle and have put the reigning final MVP Barbara Banda on a season-ending injury list. Morgan Gutra has headed over to England. There is not a absence of things to talk about with Haley Carter. So I'm really looking forward to that interview and getting into it. But we have a ton of other news and notes to get to before we even get to that.

And it has to start out in the Bay in San Francisco. 40,091 fans inside of the San Francisco Giants Oracle Park, breaking the record from last year that was set at Wrigley. And this is the funny part of all of this. Bay won that game at Wrigley, 3 to 2. And they lost this game at home now 3 to 2. to the Washington Spirit. So I don't know if it's Nationals Park. I don't know if it's Camden Yards.

I don't know if it's where the Washington commanders play. But watch out when the Spirit put their game there next year because they are headed for a three-two loss in that one. But it was a huge event. It was built up big by the club. It was built up big by the league and by all of us around it who cover it. And it delivered from a point of view. Now, it was not the easiest game to see, I would say, from television views.

But Casey's, they went to the drone shop. and showed the crowd with the water and the bridges and all of that and you could feel through the TV, I think the energy, it felt like a here we have arrived moment, I think, for NWSL. It really did feel that way. And although it took almost the entirety of the first half for Bay of C to get that first goal, I had goosebumps when everyone went crazy in the stands. And I actually, just to be a little personal here, I almost got a little emotional like hearing, because from a domestic league perspective, that's unprecedented and unprecedented for women's soccer. And so I get like a little bit emotional thinking about that because you don't really see that very often.

And obviously they were quiet for the three Washington Spirit goals because it wasn't the home team. But when that Kundanji header went in, it erupted. And it just, I think as a former player that at Sky Blue, our first like three games were at a minor league baseball stadium. And the viewing's not great. And it wasn't done to get a crowd. It was done because we didn't have a stadium. And to think back in 2009 doing that to now in 2025, seeing what this game has grown to, it's just very proud, I guess, a feeling of like pride to watch how much the game has grown

and that these players are being able to experience that. Yeah, it was, it felt like when Kundanji scored it was the opening goal, like the energy on it was as if everyone had ignored the three goals that had been scored and they were like we scored and we're excited and as you said you could feel that energy the red flags waving in the crowd like there was this explosion moment that everyone had waited for and I would say you'd rather that I think a three two loss than a zero zero tie like you want moments that people can remember agreed we've had many discussions and I will battle for a very enticing zero zero tie the former coaching me will battle for that or a one zero win when you have a situation like this a three two whether

it's three three three four three whatever when you're getting more and more fans involved in the game that type of excitement i believe is critical and i take my coaching hat off of probably both coaches think they could tighten up defensively better on set piece marking all these things exactly and better on building up out of the back so you're not giving up possession okay yes But ultimately, from a wider lens, that type of game brings in fans and brings the excitement even more so to the NWSL. They mentioned this in the broadcast, but to your point about where it's come, Albertine Montoya was coach of FC Gold Pride in 2010. They made it to the final, and he said they struggled to get 3,000 fans in San Francisco for a final. So now you're looking at a regular season, and this record is for NWSL.

It is also the highest attendance for an American women pro sports league game ever. I think college has broken that. I think Nebraska for volleyball last year had like 85,000 people at a game. I know Iowa women's basketball has done so NCAA Final Fours. But those are one-off events for a league, a fully fledged league. This is the record. And so as you said, 15 years on, 16 years on, it is wild to think how far we've come. It really is.

And Albertine, to sit there and witness that, it's one thing for me to remember playing in a baseball stadium and playing in the previous leagues, but to have actually coached experience a championship game and then to see what he's seeing now and being a part of it. That has to be a really special moment for him and in part of the country that is his home. There are now conversations around, and I would assume this is not new. So Bay FC is working on building a training ground on I believe it's Treasure Island, which is we're getting into my San Francisco knowledge here, but it's. It is located in San Francisco on an island, so you have to take a bridge to get there,

but it is in the San Francisco area, and part of the conversation coming into this game, I think from the Bay front office was, you know, San Jose is isolated to other parts of the Bay Area, which all are fans of Bay FC. So bringing this game to the stadium was a chance to set a crowd record, was a chance to grow the team a little bit more, but also to be accessible to some fans who would have to book a hotel room, even though they're in the Bay, technically, to stay over in San Jose to see a game. And so a chance to expand out. Off the back of that, there are conversations now of, well, are you looking for a stadium

site in the Bay Area? Can they build their own building? If not, is there space for them to play? All of this, I just think, is positive, which is if the team is in demand, if people want it, for the most part, people will find a way to get there. We see the Oakland Roots currently playing in the Oakland Coliseum, where the Oakland Athletics have vacated so that they can move to Sacramento to get to Las Vegas in the MLB. And there's talks about how could that stadium be outfitted a little bit different.

Maybe that's a project that Bay of C gets involved in. If not, I know there's an MSNex pro team that has launched all in saying real estate's not simple in the Bay Area, but the only people who get stuff done are people like the Golden State Warriors. And I think Bay FC is pushing into that territory of like they are a big deal. They are known. And the baseball All crossover jerseys were very, very impressive and very, very cool. And then as we talk about the moments and things people get to see, even though it's the opponent, Trinity Rodman makes her first start coming back from the injury. She gets, I believe it was the third goal in the first half for Washington to go up 3-0 in

the quick start. And that's the type of superstar that people come out to see. That's the type of player that people are signing up for. And she and Corey Bethune and Rachel Kuninanji and all these. these stars. It felt like delivered in what was, as you mentioned, a very wide open game pretty much the entire time. It was. And you mentioned just the chatter and the conversation. Relevance is important. When we see the relevance of professional women's soccer and they're in the conversation of all of these types of decisions, man, that's a good sign. That's a great sign

that we're seeing that. And when they're making these real estate decisions, when they're seeing what could be with these crowds. And yeah, it might go down a little bit until. they make those decisions on certain moves, but the fact that they're in those types of conversation is just really exciting. Then you have the star players step up in front of a crowd like that. So you win even more fans, even though, like you said, there were some heartbreakers. They were the spirit players, some of them. But to see Trinity Rodman getting that first start back and contributing Croy Bethune back from injury for a while now, and she's really getting into form, I love the wide open game at times.

I think it's the most exciting thing to watch and put on display. And the NWSL in a lot of moments this year has gone away from that. And I think that's just the world game and the sophistication and the footballing IQ that the game continues to evolve to. But at the end of the day, when it does become wide open, you do see some of those fun moments that turn into goal scoring chances. And I think the crowd loved it. I also think part of that the wide open name is. nature going away at times is as much as we all can continue to say, by the way, because coming out of this international break, I think it's the top four teams have won, like one game

combined outside of Casey and the bottom three have only lost one game, which is Utah, Houston, and Chicago, and we'll get to Ludmilla's Hattrick and all the insanity that's happened there. Even in saying that, I do think some of the parody has shifted in style and the ability of some teams to truly dominate games is different. And so you see teams react to that by saying, yeah, we're going to close up shop and change the way we play rather than can we win more transitional moments this week than we did last week. I say that in saying, though, that's not the case in this game.

I think going back to the playoff game last year, Bayfc has a lot of confidence that they could hang with Washington. And I think they came out saying like, yeah, we're going to open up, we're going to go, and we're going to play. And Washington made them pay for it for a while. But then you saw what you saw last year at Rowdy, which was that this Washington team struggles to close the game down against this Bayfc team. And I thought the way Bay used their width started to pull Washington's shape wider and wider. And they went with this back three that shifted into a back four at times.

Rebecca Bernal's flexibility is elite in NWSL, maybe in the world. But I think the spacing started to get lost. And you saw Bay play almost sideline to. sideline at times in that second half some purposeful some crosses going all the way through but then the scrambling that they caused really started to i think kick up the energy in this game and you started to see the the cracks in this washington squad oh you brought up so many things that made my soccer nerd heart happy so i'm going to try to address all the things i just thought about why you were saying that anything you want to talk about that's the nature of the show i love that

So you did mention about kind of the wide nature and like going forward at Bay FC and talking to Albertine, Montoya, early on in the season, he had adopted a bit more of a defensive structured shape coming out of last year into this year. And then a couple games in, I remember speaking to him again, it might have been more than a couple. He said, we got to be who we are. And he started to then go, you know, we'll figure out the counterpressing moments. We'll figure out the rest defense if we lose possession. but a big, expansive shape that loves to attack, that loves to go forward is who I am, it's who we are, it's what we've built this team off of. So I don't want to change that. And we're seeing that on display.

And there are going to be moments where they give up goals in transition and it may happen, but they're also going to score goals. So that's the first thing that came to mind was that Albertine Montoya even said, maybe I should change a little bit. Like, is there something to adopt because of the opposition? but it's that whole philosophical identity versus opposition scouting and what do you lean into into what game and I think we're seeing that the parody piece does make coaches think about the opposition and we may have to adopt a little bit different system this game or whatever the case may be but you don't want to lose your identity either and I think this was a game that was really a good display of two teams playing within their identity and going after it and not really

worrying about the opposition at all and we got a really good product yeah yeah and and i think for washington that's what you want to see right adrian gonzalez has taken over as they get healthy they have the talent to dictate games so go and do that where i think the first half of the year with all their injuries it was trying to hang in there what's fascinating about bay and i've said this since they joined the league is every time it feels like they overcompensate in one direction and balance has been so hard for them to find now abby doll camper out for this game that's a huge loss. You know, they're missing pieces at every level of the field, but they, it feels like in the original build of the team, they went so heavy on attacking superstars that maybe they

left themselves a little thin in between. And the ability to cover for those players has been lacking at times. And I think you see that in this game. The, what would have been explosion moment was the potential second straight game tying goal from a goalkeeper that we almost had. This time, of course, it was Jordan Silcoitz coming forward. And when you watch the play, what's amazing is she recycles her run. And it is like kind of pure center forward stuff where she's offside on a near post. She recycles her run back in and is able to get ball side of the defender and put a decent header on goal. You know what that is.

That is a goalkeeper that has told her back line to step so people can't recycle their runs and be on side. And so, no, but that was really impressive because you're right. She makes that initial run. She spins out, cycles back, and then also gets the header on frame. That was pretty, pretty impressive. And that place would have gone absolutely nuts. Insane. Insane, if that had gone in.

We've had some interesting games like that across the last few weeks. So it was fun to watch. And I think against a Washington Spirit team, you do mention all the attacking pieces of Bay FC. Washington Spirit having a burn all, a hurt. that Hirschfeld can cover so much ground, so it allows Bethune to be higher, which then allows your attackers to be higher than Bernal can cover and step in those spaces behind Hirschfeld out of the back line. They can build in the back three.

It's really hard to play a big, expansive shape against a team like the spirit. They just have the mobility and the creativity to make you pay if there's any mistakes. So Washington with the win moves into lone sole possession of second place. The reality setting in for Bay coming out of this game is the Houston Das. have jumped them. They are currently in 12th place in the league. They sit on 17 points, which is four behind the line for the postseason. And so as much fun as this event was, you get into a five-match winless streak where they sit and a lot of question marks for this team going forward. Oshallah, not used as well. Once again, in this game. And so

there is a lot to be decided still at bay on the field, but off the field, it feels like they're hitting every note correctly. And, of course, they will be the host for the NWSL champion. So another tent pole moment for them to sort of grow and be recognized in the region, as you said, be relevant to all the conversations that are happening. Let's dig into some other of the big results from the weekend that helps set up our table. And we've got to go to Chicago once again. So we mentioned it.

And listen there scores the final goal of 3-3 comeback last week against Seattle on Monday night. This week, they did it somehow again. They come back, they tie 3-3 against North Carolina. They were trailing 2-0, then they were trailing 3-1, and eventually they tie it 3-3. On the back of Ludmila, who scored the fastest hat trick in NWSL history in terms of time span. So not the quickest in a game, but from the first goal to the third goal, it was 10 minutes and 9 seconds for a perfect hat trick for Ludmila, so left foot, right foot, and a header. and it was another rescued result Chicago now four straight draws

which doesn't sound like much for a team though that is on their third of what will be four managers this year at a guarantee five in a calendar year at a guarantee and has struggled at times it is big for them and Ludmila now moves into a tie for third place on the golden boot list and that's not like a flash

in the pan moment Casey we have seen her now for two years we talked about her at the Olympic last year coming out of Athletico Madrid when she signed with Chicago, we knew the talent was there. It's been tough because the team has struggled, but she is a player that was capable of this. She certainly was. She's electric. That's what I think of when I think of Ludmila. You don't need a player like that to play 90 plus minutes. You need a player like that to come in an impact. And that's immediately what I thought when she wasn't starting in that game. There's so many reasons potentially behind it, but I always felt that she was a player that didn't need a lot of time.

Now, 10 minutes, that's really quick. I thought she might need more time than that to impact. But when you have a player like that that can come into a game where teams are fatigued, it's more worn down, the spaces might be a little bit more open, and then you bring in someone with her power, her pace, her ability to go 1V1, her finishing efficiency. You bring that in late in the game, it can have impact. I don't think anyone expected. three goals in 10 minutes and change, whatever. I can't remember exactly what you said, but nine seconds, nine seconds, 10 minutes and nine seconds, no one may be expected that, but I do think that there was reasoning behind bringing

her in in that moment of the games because her skill set can impact so quickly. Yeah, and of course, playing the Monday game to the Friday game, a bit of a tight turnaround. So a need for some rotation. Let me ask you this, though, because obviously the loss of Mal Swanson for. the season has changed everything for Chicago, but I thought one of the decisions that I don't know, I fully agree with so far has been when starting using Ludmila as the center forward because she's so goal dangerous. And it feels like it makes the game harder for her. And when we've seen her on the wing, she will get ice, she, she will be isolated in ways in which she's not involved

very often. But it feels like when she is, it's her better spot. How would you balance the, well, we want someone involved more often versus in their best, more natural spots. You have to look from a team perspective first, what is best for the team. But I believe, and my observation is with someone like Ludmila, when she has put at center forward, it's a little bit more hopeful. If she gets in on this quick one, she may score a goal. So if you're down 1-0 or you're tied 1-1, maybe you put her at the 9 for a little bit because you're looking for one moment.

And moments centrally are usually more dangerous when you're hopeful and when you just want an opportunity. When you want to maximize Ludmila, you want her side on or on the full turn going at players or full sprints and behind. So if you're not building through the middle and getting your tens and your sixes facing forward to slip nines in, the more natural spot is to put them wide, get her on the ball and allow her to playmate. Because we know she can run outside to end.

and be very dangerous, make herself more goal dangerous by being in the central channel. But I think it limits her game when she's in the nine, I agree with you. Even though she can do it, I just think as a whole, it makes more sense for her to be more in those outside spaces as well.

And we saw, I think, for Chicago, when you go to the hopeful thing, the way they used Jasmine Joseph at times last year as well, was similar of like, she can stretch the field, she is dangerous, puts pressure on, can maybe press by themselves, so maybe there's a release,

least moment there, but not getting the best out of that player. And you can only do that, I think, with so many options and so many players. But to Elamancer's credit, they've gotten four straight draws in this reign of hers, which I believe is now her second time as interim manager. And she now sits a third all time as winning his head coach in the team's history because they have an absurd history and have not been the most successful team. Seems very open to the idea that she is just an interim and will be stepping aside and does not seem to be any stress about that internally in the club. On the flip side for North Carolina, post Sean Nejas, there are still question marks about this team. I think it's a team that's underperformed based off preseason predictions for everyone.

For the most part, it was goal scoring was the issue. And so that's heartbreaking to get three goals and not be able to get the result you would expect against the team that's last place in the league as you are clawing for a potential playoff spot. So a really tough result. result for them. Some of the other big ones from the weekend, Angel City, a late one zero win over Orlando. Alyssa Thompson with the game winner. We'll talk more about Orlando coming up in just a moment, but I sort of pose this question to Jordan coming out of the summer break of like, do we think Alyssa Thompson is ready to be the best player on a good team? And Angel City is debating whether or not they're a good team weekend and week out.

But this was another example of puts her head down, finds her spot in a game where there are a ton of chances for her team and ends up beating a very good Orlando team at home to get them off the snide and just an impressive individual moment for Alyssa Thompson. It was. And what I liked about that moment from Melissa Thompson to your point is she really did create that out of nothing. So we see a lot of her goals are those little slip balls in behind it or she'll get running at defenders straight on at pace, one little cut. This one was a, you know, a recycled ball. She had to get, she had to turn and face up from the side. She had to create an angle. So there were a lot of things where when I'm watching that, I'm saying that's a player that

wants to take over the game, not just a player that has talent that's being put into a good position and all the credit in the world for when she can finish those moments. But the best players that are goal scores find a situation that may not look goal dangerous and they make it goal dangerous and then they convert. And so I think that was a really good sign for Alyssa Thompson, not only getting that game winner, I guess the top team, but the way in which she set herself up for it. She is going to be a little bit lonelier for a bit as Angel City has officially announced that Julie Dufour is headed in an intra-league trade for intra-league transfer funds to the Portland

Thorns. That is one move that we could talk about. The other big one that flashed across over the last few days is the rumors that Katie Zellem might be headed back. to England to play with London City Lionesses, of course, one of the teams owned by Michelle Kang, as we have seen more investment come into them. And then on the back of that report, a connection that Alana Kennedy might also be in conversations to join that team. Now, I think Zalem and Dufor have not settled the way you had hoped and the way Angel City has hoped,

but the name Alana Kennedy is the one that stood out to me because she has been everything for this team, whether it's centerback or center. mid, scoring goals, putting her face on the line, whatever it has been. She has been there for a very young team, and she had originally signed a one-year contract. I think the hope was with the way it's gone, that that would be extended. And so this, to me, is a very worrying sign for Angel City because they have struggled to build on success over the years, and you had hoped they would turn the page with Mark Parsons and Struz now involved.

And then this pops up whether the report's true or not, we do not know. The veteran leadership and the experience is an intangible that sometimes I don't think people give enough credit to. And that's what Alana Kennedy brings to this team. And for me, this would be a huge loss for them from that perspective alone. Then you talk about what she can do from a combative standpoint, what she can do aerially, how she can build out of the back. If she's at centerback, the ground she covers. I was an attacking center midfielder, played on the wing. I wanted players like Alana Kennedy so I could be free flowing and be at my best because the sides of the game that she has were maybe my deficiencies as an attacking player. And so when you look at

trades like these or potential transfers, whatever it may be, I think you have to think about the overall natural impact. I'm sure they are. But that's always my concern that that piece maybe is understated a little bit. And you don't know the effect it'll have on the players that are above her and then playing with her because she does a lot of the things that people don't necessarily always notice. Yeah. She has been huge for this team. She does the things you don't notice so much that everyone started to notice, I think,

which is credit to her, right? How good she is at it. She has been out for excused absences over the last two games, whether that's connected to this. I do not know. But this is a huge story that we will continue to follow here because I think it dictates a lot of how Angel City is going to build and figure out who they are going forward. On the other two moves, Zalem, not surprised, right?

Former Manchester United Captain, a thought would have a huge place to play. It feels like by the time she got there, Kennedy Fuller had taken over so much of the role that maybe the world's last minutes and didn't maybe fit into new coaches' plans after that. Julie Dufour is an interesting one. This is a team that has always struggled for danger from the wings. And then Claire Emsley now out for the year with maternity leave. on maternity leave and so it felt like finally there would be a space there and yet for portland i like this move like you are a team that was worried coming into the year Morgan weaver out sophia wilson out then you find all these pieces that work kaya hanks being one of the big ones

hanks thing goes out for the season and so i can understand from like a pure minutes play making this move as well as you have proven an ability to help young players get to a higher level so far and I think Dufour fits into that and maybe brings a little bit of a different style more of a connector than a field stretcher to add to the attacking core for them as you know a tough loss this weekend to Kansas City not a curveball that's a team people struggle to be but I think Portland's been one of the good surprises so far this year you're 100% right on that and and I do think it has to be said though for Angel City something has to change they're doing some good things but they're still right below that playoff line.

So there are moves that need to happen for Portland. I think you're right. I think it's a really good fit for DuFord to go there and to develop and to just add other layers to the game with the absence of Weaver and Wilson. Like they have had to adapt. They've had to play in different ways and in different styles. And they've shown that they can do that. And I think everyone has been pleasantly surprised by the way that they've come about and

develop throughout the season. For the Thorns, as I said, loss to Kansas City this weekend. Guess what? Temwa Shenuhinga scored again. That tends to happen. One of the other big games we wanted to touch on before we dig in a little more on Orlando is racing Louisville's 1-0 win at San Diego. So Louisville came into the final two weeks of the first half of the season in second place in the league. Huge shock. They since then have played six games and all six were against the other teams that were in the top four when they were in that spot. So they played at Kansas City, home to Orlando. Then they come out of the international

break. They played home to Kansas City at Orlando. And then they played Washington and San Diego. They went two, three, and two in that stretch, including undefeated against Orlando across the two games that they played for. And now there's one zero win on the road at a San Diego team that, yes, has struggled a little bit more and more recently. But I think it all goes to Casey, what we felt early on and we're wondering is, was this for real? Was this a run that this is the best group Bevianess has had? They are playing to their strengths and it is the most comfortable. I think we've ever seen Louisville look in NWSL. It is. This win was huge in my opinion. It was a obviously 1-0. Anytime you don't let San Diego score. I think that that's a huge win. And yes, there have been

some struggles, but they have so many scoring threats. And so you get the shutout. but you also get the goal, but you do it in a way that you didn't dominate possession at all. In San Diego, absolutely dominated is one of the most lopsided possession stats that we had seen. But you were able to stay within your defensive structure. You were able to find the goal, find the finish, which was a wonderful finish from Sears.

I think what this does for racing Louisville, it just builds more belief. And Bevianez is a coach that so many players have said they believe in, and they believe in what she's doing. But you do still have to get ties and wins. And that just really helps the whole process. And they're starting to do that. They're a hard team to play against.

They love to press. They love to defend all of those pieces. When the goals are coming on top of all of that, you know you're in a good spot. So I think it could still be hard for them down the stretch, but I think they're in a really good space right now to take on this fall portion of the season. it felt like a clash of styles in this one and both teams felt comfortable in who they were correct but for louisville it was like the right time you know the right style at the right time so you mentioned the domination um it was two x g for san diego and zero point eight xg for louisville across this game um louis uh san diego outshot louisville 14 to eight and it was a 75 25 25 field tilt

And yet, it felt like Louisville was dangerous throughout the game. And part of that is Emissier's ability to stretch the field. The other part of that is Louisville traps as well as anyone in their moments. And so the more you pass against them, yes, the more dangerous you can be to break them down. But the more opportunities for Taylor Flint to read the play at the right time and launch something the other way. And I think that's what I felt as this game played out of like, yeah, Louisville is going to get their chances almost through San Diego. possession. I want to give the coaching staff credit because one of the hardest things for player buy-in at times is to dominate without the ball, out of possession. That is something that it's very

hard to convince players because it's not the most fun way to play all of the time, but it's effective. And if you buy into it and you find these pressure pockets and these trapping moments for players like a Flint, like you said, to step in and win balls and you have willing runners above the ball, It can be an exciting way to play, but it takes patience, it takes discipline, and most of all, buy-in, and that's what this coaching staff has created with Racing Louisville in this season. We are all hopeful, I think, that the ninth place curse ends for this Louisville team that currently sit in 7th in NWSL, and that would be the hope is that they're able to maintain something like this and continue on for the rest of the season, for San Diego.

As I mentioned, it hasn't been the easiest run. they won their previous game. It was three draws before that. So it has been tough coming out of the international break. It feels like Cascarino maybe carrying a little bit of the energy it took to be who she was at Euros and then come back and refined herself. And so without that unstoppable force on one wing, maybe just it gets a little bit tighter for the rest of the team and gets a little bit harder. And so San Diego trying to refine their feet right now, they will play against Seattle coming up this weekend on Friday. A number of Friday matches on this Labor Day weekend.

So that's one thing to note for everyone a little bit of a weird schedule. And then a Monday game once again in NWSL. So on Friday night, we have Racing Louisville against Houston, Orlando against Gotham, Seattle against San Diego, and Portland against Utah. The lone game on Saturday is Casey, North Carolina. Sunday is Washington against Chicago. and then that Monday game is Angel City against Bay FC and all California clash on Labor Day weekend. Let's dig into Orlando a little bit more now. Barbara Banda, I don't really think I need to explain when you talk about Barbara Banda,

but I will do so a little bit here. She has been put on the season-ending injury list with a hip-abductor injury. Orlando was very specific about what happened. It doesn't mean anything to me. I'm not a doctor. I don't understand what's going on. If you understand more than me, feel free to let me know. Not enough to interject.

I'll be honest. Great. If anyone needs it explaining, Barbara Banda has eight goals so far this year and 16 appearances. Last year, she had 13 goals. Reminder only joined midway through the season, recorded four goals in the playoff run, including the winning goal in the NWSL championship. Those four goals in the playoffs,

the all-time record for most goals scored in one playoff run and was eventually awarded finals MVP was a finalist for the regular season MVP and was voted best 11 so 25 goals and seven assists across her 41 appearances a ball and door finalist as well this year that goes to show the global nature of the sort of acceptance that she is an elite player and one of the best in the world and now out for the season let's just talk first big picture of like how does a team react internally to a moment like this not just tax but like emotionally for a player who has become the face of the franchise. It's really difficult moments because on a human level, you feel for your teammate and you first want to be there as a human and say, are you okay? You know, can we help you? So there's that emotional tug of wanting to help and wanting to be there for your teammate. Then you have the setting in of, oh, this is a big player for us and we still have a job to do. And how do we? And how do

replace that? And this is where I think leadership really comes in of how long do you dwell in the piece of what have we lost and when do you actually move towards how are we going to use this to galvanize us and to become maybe not always a better version, but a different version of ourselves to accomplish the same goal. Because in my opinion, and I think everyone's, you don't really replace Barbara Banda. You can't replace every single quality that she brings to your team, even outside of the statistics and the production piece. So you have to figure out as a staff, as players, what that's going to look like going forward

and how you still take the steps towards accomplishing the goals you've set out prior to the season. So for this team, this week, it was Ali Lemos, which, again, is not fair to say is a direct replacement. Obviously, a lot of eyes will look towards Marta. And Marta being the star that she is and, you know, the attacker that she is, a like-for-like change, it will probably lead to more pressure on her. And then Ali-Watt

will, I think, be the other main one inside the team already that people are talking about saying can they step up. Then there's, of course, the big story in which Lisbeth Ovae is headed over on a record transfer availability coming up, but the transfer has been secured. And that now will add a lot of pressure on her right out the gate, which I think is probably worst-case scenario for Orlando, and it's something internally they're going to have to manage, which is they are not bringing her in to win the championship this year. They are bringing her in to establish who they are for the next four years and, like, lead them going forward. And you don't want that to blow up because it doesn't hit quickly when she arrives. And that's all well and good

for people to say that, but a player like Ovillet, who's used to impacting on the stat sheet, that's used to having the enormous production that she has, from a player's perspective, She's always going to feel that pressure. I think every player does, but especially someone who contributes from a goal scoring and assist perspective, that internal pressure is there. So how do you just manage it? I think you use the right word is what is key because you're not going to get rid of it. And you don't want to because that's the fire of a player that's impactful and that can come in and make a difference.

But it does have to feel like there's other players that can lighten the load perhaps a little bit when she does come in so she can adapt to the league, to the style of play and all of that. Who knows that she'll need it? Maybe she comes in right away and it's completely fine, but I think it's important that everyone around the organization does help that.

I think from a media perspective, you always want to kind of create this bubble around players like that, but you can't do it in this day and age with social media and everything going on. But if the players and the coaching staff are communicating with her and are picking up

different pieces of the load that Orlando needs, it can inevitably help her. So I think that'll be important. You mentioned Marta as well. Marta's going to be Marta. I think she knows how to handle these types of situations. She's, like you said, not like for like, but I think she'll continue to float in different areas. The coaching staff is just going to have to figure out how to be still vertical at times.

You mentioned Ali Watt. Ovill, can not as much. Julie Doyle, like there's so many different people. pieces. So they're just going to have to reconfigure that. But Seb Hines loves playing with systems, loves having fluidity. And he has a team that knows how to flow in and out of different types of systems. So that's what I expect to see going forward. Yeah, it's, I think one of the things, and you mentioned, so with Elvay, for anyone who doesn't remember, we mentioned it when she signed, 20 goals and 58 appearances with Mexico, 136 goals in all competitions in League

MX Feminol. She's, she can score goals. She will. It's just the, so much of the, the success we've seen from March over the last year and half has been their space in the pocket for her to attack defenders at pace because Barbara Vanda has stretched the line over the top. Some of that goes away. I wonder with Ovaya coming in does Alley Walk get slid central permanently

because she can a little bit give something similar. But the one side of things, and I know it will be a different conversation internally, but externally for us, is this still a cup contender? Is that still the convo we're having is this is a team looking to repeat as champions?

I think that a contender, yes. Do I think it just became a whole heck of a lot harder? Also, yes. So that's the obvious answer. But it's worrying a little bit because they're still not in the greatest of form right now, not only just in play, but in results. And so that's not a great trend. So something has to kind of be that line in the sand of like,

are we going to go that route or is something going to change that? Yeah. There's opportunities when something happens like this that it shakes it up just enough that it kind of wakes up everybody and it's not on purpose it's not because they didn't want to win or anything like that but that can certainly happen whether it's injuries i mean whatever the case may be it's kind of like when you're playing down a player and you have 10 players on the field and you're like oh i might i might need to pick it up a little bit and it's not a conscious choice that you weren't doing it before or that you're now doing it i see it in that way

a little bit that orlando has a chance to use this to maybe just at that little extra 1% from every player. Will they do that? We don't know. But that trend has to stop a little bit. And this might be the opportunity for them to write that. Honestly, the only comp I can think of right now, the easiest one is Croy Bithoon last year, who was on her road to being an MVP, goes down injured, and Washington still makes the final. And one of the things I've talked about many times is the deals Washington made, Rose Colossi, the players they brought in that sort of filled. You're looking at an Orlando team that's already started that process with Ovay coming in.

On the back of all of this, what a great NWSL career for Morgan Gutra. What an incredible player, probably my favorite on the 2019 World Cup winning team. She is headed to Newcastle, which is in the second division in England to continue her career and take sort of that opportunity to go play overseas. So a loss for Orlando because she has stepped in and played a lot more minutes this year than she did last year for this group, especially in central midfield, which has allowed them to push some other players out wide as well. I will say for Orlando, the core of this team is still the spine.

It is still Morehouse through Sam's and the Daner into that central midfield, Angelina and all these players. That doesn't go away. So yes, your outlet to say, oh, we can defend with numbers and play band into space goes, you know, is not there. But like the strength of the team, even without the best player, is still there. And so I think the expectations will still be really high inside the group. On Barbara Banda's side of things, the injury is obviously a heartbreaking.

Like a Ballandorf finalist has played for her nation as often as possible in some really tough conditions. And of course, has been one of the bright lights of NWSL. As I said, a hip abductor injury. There was a quote in the athletic piece about the injury from the NWSL Players Association, executive director Megan Burke, who looked back in the game, of course, that Banda got hurt in, was the long heat-delayed match against Kansas City, in which the players warmed up twice early on before they finally were told the game wouldn't be played

and then came out and had a 20-minute warm-up going into it. And the quote from Megan Burke is, anytime one of our members sustains a season-ending injury, it is devastating. The cost of mismanaging warm-ups and extreme heat are not abstract. They are real, personal, and career-altering. This has to be made clear, comprising core values of player safety

for short-term business interest results in paying a far greater price in the long run. I mean, we talked about it coming out of that game. That should have been the headline moment for the league over the season. They lost that because the game couldn't be played in the style and pace it should have been played in because it wasn't on national TV the way it was meant to be because of it being moved. And now one of the faces of the league is unavailable. Whether it is exactly down to that, I don't know.

I don't know the exact science. But it does not bode well that she went down 13 minutes into this game in a non-contact injury in a game that had sort of this management around it. And then now you look forward to now Barbara Banda has to worry about when can she be back next year? What is her process to getting back? And that is a lot for this player to manage who will have the expectations of herself that she then has to be who she is the moment she steps back on the field. Well, that is what is the important piece that you just said is. when you have a player that's just itching to get back and they're such an impact player, you have to manage that return to play.

That is going to be critical. And yes, that's a future conversation. But I think you bring up a really good point there because there's so much pressure she'll probably put on herself to be able to come back in. But you do have to wonder about the warm up pieces and that because it happening so quickly. Like those are the things that the league and the teams have to get right. Because you want these players to be in the most optimal.

situation that they can be. Otherwise, things like this do happen. And like you said, you don't know all the science behind it or what it comes down to, but it is unfortunate that this happens right after that. Let's move on to a topic that we don't get to hit on the show as much as I would like, but one that you are well versed in. Let's talk a little college soccer. You have been covering the SEC and ACC mainly broadcasting a ton of the games, your fellow Tar Heels, of course, who have been underwhelming to start the year and a look to try and do something special once again, but give people an idea who maybe have not been tuned in yet what some of the big storylines are in your mind of like, if you're going to go follow and watch call and talk or

what you should be looking at. Well, I will mention Florida State first and foremost. I had them the first game of the season. The Gators traveled up to Tallahassee to take them on, which was not necessarily unique, but I thought it was a great step from San Boe. Mohan from Florida because they had a really rough season in 2024. And they're like, let's just start with Florida State on the road and see what happens. And they lost 5-0, but there was a two and a half hour rain delay twice happening. It was 1-0 going into those rain delays. So they definitely didn't manage coming out of that or maybe Florida State just managed it that much better.

But you have an opportunity to go test yourself. I like that. And I think we're seeing that from a lot of different programs that they're testing themselves more than ever in non-conference play. A lot of ACC, SEC, SEC crossover games. Florida State looks more dynamic than I've seen in a while. They've always been a team that possesses to wear you down and then they go through you.

They can do that, but they also have so much dynamism up top. One of the big players, of course, is Jordan Dudley. She is adding more and more layers to her game. She can get in behind and she can score, but she's also assisting. everyone's scouting her and wanting to be on her, yet she continues to have the same impact. So she's a player of the future for sure. So I think that's a big one to watch my tar heels, like you said, had a rough start against the SEC. They won the games that

aren't against SEC opponents. So they're two and two. And they have a bit of a stretch here to iron some things out. They lost to Tennessee who went on to beat UCLA as well. So it looks like a better loss, if you can even say that. And Georgia is really good as well. And so do I think that UNC could have figured some things out? There were some goalkeeping mistakes. They weren't super efficient in the final third. Yes. But good opponents and the style of play, UNC still looks pretty good at this point. But they've got to just figure out how to be dangerous and how to how to finish off chances. So between the SEC and ACC, I think there's a lot going on between those two conferences. You mentioned Jordan Dudley, a player that I thought we would see in NWSL this year,

but NIL and the ability with no draft to control where you go, it's great. It has changed the reality for a lot of players. We saw Evelyn Shores just sign in NWSL. Big start this weekend. Looked really good for Angel City as well. Are there any other names that NWSL fans should be looking for to watch out for the future Kayanks of the world who could come in and make an impact, unfortunately, before the injury, quickly in NWSL.

Well, you mentioned Jordan Dudley. We actually talked to Brian Pinsky about that, and she had many opportunities, but she really feels like she's developing still at Florida State, and I think that was a very personal decision. Evelyn Shores was a big loss to UNC, and you can see the impact that she's having already in Angel City. One of the players that I had the privilege of calling the game was Ali Perry from Mississippi State, which is not one of the bigger names.

And, but she received interest from Juventus during the off season before the spring. Nick Zimmerman's in his first year as head coach there. He was there six years as an associate head coach under James Armstrong. And we had a nice conversation about her. She also trained with some NWSL teams. They remain anonymous. We do not know who they were. But when you're getting interest from NWSL already and Juventus, there's a wide range of interest in you.

I think she's one to watch. she is not someone who is going, I think, to score a lot of goals. She is going to have the balance of production of goals and assists for Mississippi State. And they just beat Wake Forest, who is a very good team this year. They beat on this past Sunday. So there's a lot of parity between, you know, all of these teams and some really good players coming through. We saw Macy Hodge just come out of Mississippi State as well. So they're starting to grow their presence in NWSL and Kikki, or even more well.

Well, Casey, we won't be far from you because we will be watching you, I'm sure, this weekend everywhere. Is there anything you'd like to promo before we get out of here? Well, I've got three games in the next six days. UNC versus UNC Greensboro tomorrow night on ACC Network Extra. I'll be with Apple TV in Boston or at Foxborough, I should say, for New England. They'll be hosting Charlotte. And so I'll be on site there with Jessica Charman. We'll be calling that game at 7.30 on Saturday.

and then I'll jet off to call the Angel City Bay FC game as well on Monday, September 1st. So it's a busy few days, but really fun should be some really good matchups. And of course, it's across three different leagues. Why not? We started talking about that. We'll end talking about it. You, the frequent flyer miles are racking up, as is the credits across all the leagues. But we're going to enjoy watching it all of it.

And of course, you can keep following Casey on all of these games. And we'll have to have you back soon. because we had a lot of fun with this one. So thank you for joining us. Of course. Thank you for having me. Always a good time. We are very excited now to have on one of our favorites on this show for the second time here at Soccerwise.

We have the VP of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director of the reigning champions of NWSL, the Orlando Pride. And that is Haley Carter. Haley, thank you for joining us. Yeah, thanks, David. Thanks for having me on. So it's been a hectic few weeks, just in general. How does it feel maybe for the team for the first time to be home and settle? and take a breath with another couple hectic few weeks coming out.

I feel like we've not been home long enough for me to feel that way yet. But we'll get there. We're excited to have Gotham this weekend and be back at home. And, you know, we're at home for two matches. We've got Goth Champions Cup game following the Tuesday. So, and then we're back on the road again to Chicago. So we've got to soak it up while we've got it. I wanted to ask you about Concaf W Champions Cup because we saw finally

Washington enter the fray last week to start NWSL appearances for the 2526 version going forward. I'm just curious, the added comp, much different travel, what type of strain does it put on the team? And how was that a part of your calculation in building the squad for this year? Yeah, so it obviously, it increases the player load quite a bit. You know, we've got multiple games with three games in six, seven or eight days. you know but I think it's it's a good experience for the athletes if you you know if you look at European players European players are also experiencing that pretty often I think the difference for us right is is the travel you know when you compare loads that our athletes face versus

loads that European athletes face for instance you know we're dealing with significant travel and you know example for us you know we've got a week coming up makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit just thinking about it but it's like a home game against Bay on the 13th and away game in Panama on the 16th and back home again against North Carolina on the 19th. So that's three games in six days and with a significant travel in the middle of it. And then when you look at the stretch, we go San Diego and then from San Diego to Mexico City, Mexico City to Houston just to avoid going San Diego back to Orlando to Mexico City to, you know.

yeah you know you we have a fantastic director of ops and you know the the partnership between our head of performance and our head coach and technical staff and the ops team is is really good so everything is mapped out you know pretty specifically and pretty precisely in terms of player loads but i also think it's a good opportunity you know we've got a lot of athletes with international level aspirations you know whether it's competing for the u.s women's national team or or our zambi or like Oyani looking to get back in with Spain. And the ability to play three games in eight or nine days is critical if they want to succeed at that level. And so I think it's a good opportunity when you reframe it for the athletes to think about how to prepare for that sort of play.

If they want to compete at that level, they've got to be durable enough to navigate those loads. And recognizing, right, this notion of being 100% ready is not a thing. and pro football. And, you know, so how do you maximize your performance knowing everyone's going to be tired by the third game? And, you know, of course, for us, we're playing against teams that aren't having those additional matches. So, you know, roster rotation is going to be really important, ensuring that everyone's getting an opportunity, everyone's going to contribute to the matches, and it's going to be critical to our success. and the success you're looking to accomplish is to repeat as champions the shield i will say you don't

have to say anything about it yeah yeah i mean that's a that's a tough that's a tough play but you know how it goes right this is a this is america we love playoffs and a championship so um yeah you know that's the key is we need to perform as well as we can going through um we want to make sure that we're in a place where we're peaking you know and and and that we're staying competitive and we qualify for playoffs like that's it repeats not just an end of yourself in every sport leagues it feels like we're talking about right now how impossible they feel how difficult they are you're living in an attempt to do one right now what is it that makes it so hard well i think the nature of this league inherently right like it it is the most competitive league in the world the parody is is outrageous

and even if you you know take kansas city and that kind of runaway train out of it for a second you look at how close the standings are, right? And it's true in this league, any team can win on any given day. And so the inherent competitive nature makes it really difficult, but also it's a long season. And, you know, we've talked about internally among our staff, like there's still a little bit, especially the first half of this season, of a hangover from last season. And athletes put a lot of time and effort and emotion into being successful.

as do the staff. And when you experience that kind of success and then you come out of it, I think what really separates, you know, dynasties from everyone else is the experience level and ability to navigate what you do after you win. And I think that's something, you know, we're still figuring out. Like Orlando doesn't exactly have a history of winning. So, you know, so just pragmatically speaking, trying to figure that out and ensuring that, you know, we're always constantly improving but you know you move from being you know kind of the hunter to being the hunted and and flipping that mindset is you know it takes experience and and you know we're we're kind of living through that experience so um you know i got a lot of belief in the

athletes and the staff and i'm happy with where we're at right now obviously you know we've gone like five games without getting a positive result we've come away with some draws and a couple elves but um you know it it's there's been a lot going on and you know i think again we've we've the human condition is very real and we've got to meet athletes where they're at and give them the support that they need to find success and then go from there we saw got them deal with it last year the exact thing you said of hunter to hunted um i'm wondering is the trophy in the training center like is it talked about like you are champions you are holding that's not a thing that's talked about in the group. No, it's not a thing. This is, this is, this is, that was last season.

Okay. Um, you know, you, you, you do it once and you're lucky. You do it twice and that skill, um, you know, so it, it, it was fun and it was a good experience, but, you know, we, we, we don't even wear championship t-shirts. You don't see anything around 20, 24 in our training facility. We got rid of that as soon as preseason started. Wow. Um, so the run to, to repeat was made a little more difficult this week with the news coming out that Barbara Banda has been put on the season ending injury list. Of course, MVP of the NWSL Championship, one of the leading faces of the league. You're not the coach, of course, so not asking on the field, but as an organization, how does a team compensate for a loss like that? Yeah, I mean, you know, navigating how this team responds to injuries

and significant things. You know, last year we navigated some pretty hard things with Luana and losing Simone Charlie early on to another ruptured Achilles. And so this group of athletes has a lot of experience navigating adversity like that. So, you know, I'm confident that they were going to pull through and reframe things and respond positively to it. The reality is it gives other opportunities to athletes, you know, that haven't perhaps gotten the chance to step up, to step up. And, you know, everything we do, we do collectively and as a team, and no one person is bigger than the club. And that's true even of Barbara. Now, practically speaking, right, You can't ignore the fact that she's contributed eight goals this season.

And, you know, that's a significant offensive threat to us that we're going to lose. But this is a deep, a deep squad. You know, if you look at the number of forwards that we have, the people that can contribute, we've got Ovaya obviously coming in that can play on the wing. You know, she can even play as if we play with two tens. Like, there's a lot of options, a lot of versatility there. You know, but from an off-the-field standpoint, we've got a great group of athletes that are really rallying around Barbara and are there to support her.

And I'm confident that, you know, it's a group that's going to pull through and find a way. You mentioned, Ovae, it is one of the big stories in the world game right now, a world record transfer from Tigris. Can you just walk us through this move from your experience through it from the start? Like, is there a global wish list for players like this that you keep coming back to every window? How did this come about? and what was the process?

Yeah, I think you, you know, obviously our scouting departments, we have targets that we look at. I think, you know, what people don't understand is that these signings take many, many, many weeks. And they are a long time in process. And, you know, if you look at the moves that we made early on in the window, like, I had to free up cap space to make it happen. So we've got athletes out on loan. you know we've made some moves we had to bring two athletes off of SEI right with Luana and Simone and that was really important for us as well so ensuring that we had those two roster spots open was going to be critical you know we as many people know we weren't

going to exercise the option for Morgan Bryan so in free agency she was exploring opportunities she got the opportunity to go and play in Newcastle and we worked really hard with her and her agent to make it so that that was going to be what was best for her and her family. And, you know, she's actually going to wind up seeing Fabrice more playing in Newcastle because they're going to fly her home during international windows. And, you know, that's not feasible for us. So I think, you know, being able to benefit the team while also, you know, benefiting an individual athlete like that and making sure that they're supported in their personal life and personal goals was really important. You know, so a lot of things have to happen before.

signing like OVAe can be made. And, you know, it's not like we don't see the things that fans say online, right, where they talk about, oh, they haven't made any moves. Well, you know, it takes time. Like, these things take time. And they're complicated. And you have a transaction like OVA, similar to last season when we moved Barbara. Like, these are complicated transactions. There's a lot of parties involved and a lot of things at stake from a financial standpoint, from a negotiation standpoint. So, you know, it's just, it's a process. And obviously, Ovi is a highly talented athlete.

Like I said, she brings a lot of versatility. You know, one of our main targets after losing Audrey, people don't know this, but Adriana's agent dumped that transfer on us three days before we reported for preseason. And we didn't have a lot of choice in it. And so, you know, my job is to get the maximum amount of value that we can, and we wound up getting, you know, 500K out of it. But, you know, when that happens, you don't have the time to turn around

and go and make a massive signing in a short amount of time. We knew coming into the next window that we were going to have to find an athlete that could replace Adriana. So we needed a technical winger. We needed somebody that could break down a low block, somebody who can also threaten him behind a back line, but can create space in pockets. and Ovi, you know, she really offered what we were looking for

and to finish her, you know, somebody that is a goal score finds a way. So, yeah. When you're looking for a move like that and you're talking about the numbers that come out, is there a moment in a room, whether it's them coming to you or internally where someone says the biggest number that will ever happen and everyone freezes and takes a breath, like you're you're sort of crossing a threshold that no one else has crossed before yeah i'll be

honest with you there were a lot of nwsl teams that were that were in on this and um you know it wasn't for lack of funding i think there were other nwsl teams that were willing to pay the same amount that we were um you know really came down to just certain aspects of our club and our leadership that that got ovae here um yeah you don't i'll be honest with you like i think for me one of the things that's important for me is not just bringing in a good player, but moving the needle in the women's game. You know, and you see people talk about, oh, well, now the transfer market is cooked. Well, I mean, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? So, you know, I think based on where we're at, like, this is 100% going to be worth every penny. And yeah,

there were, there were parts of her contract where, you know, people are like, oh, well, she was free in six months. Not exactly. Whoever, told you that is mistaken like she was not going to be free um there were extensions and options to be exercised and um so you know i think for us being able to play a role in that is is important but it's not like you know nobody clams up over over the number necessarily it's what do we need to be successful what do we need to win and if that means spending 1.5 million on an athlete who you know is is going to move the needle in the women's game then that's what we're going to do And I'm fortunate to be, you know, working for an ownership group that supports that, for sure.

This is the third time the transfer record has been broken in women's soccer in basically 2025. This window, basically. Yeah, 2025. So Naomi and the winner window and then these two, yeah. So I think there was fear on the outside from fans and viewers the way it happened from Naomi and then to England and then in England that NWSL wouldn't be able to compete with these numbers or wouldn't be in the outside. the ballpark with the way it changed. And then I think this transfer has shifted some of that thinking. What do you make of sort of the landscape now globally of as these numbers move and where NWSL sits in all of it? Yeah, you know, we've got a transfer threshold, right? So, you know,

we've got to navigate within that and around that. You know, we've got, so her contract is basically a two and a half year contract with a mutual option for a third year. And that was really important to her. She wanted the flexibility and we were willing to do that. And so what we did was we just spread the cost of her transfer fee over the three years that are guaranteed. So this year and then 26 and 27, which from a cash flow standpoint, right, is helpful. But also it allows us to manage that transfer fee, that net transfer fee threshold without hitting our salary cap. And I think people have to appreciate that transfer fees don't have anything to do with the salary cap, right, outside of that net threshold. And so long as you can manage that net threshold, you're all right,

And Adriana's transfer, for instance, was split between, because I was trying to manage the transfer fee threshold. We took 250 now and 250 in 2026. So, you know, half of the 500,000 in 2026 is already covered by Adriana's incoming transfer. So, and half of it was already covered by Adriana's transfer in this year. And then we also had moves like Ali Watt, right? So we transfer Ali Watt to Denver. they loan her back to us. Well, we got transfer fee money out of that, which is also contributing to that. So it can be difficult, I think, for folks on the outside to track those, like, transactions.

And, of course, like, we're kind of a black box in terms of how it's divided up. But, yeah, it's not $1.5 million in one year. And so it's spread out. And I think that that's really where the strategy lies, right, in terms of – and I'm not saying anything that, you know, competing GMs are going to be listening to and being like, oh, that's a great idea. I should steal it. Like, that's, that's how we all operate, okay? So it's, you know, but it, it really comes down to, you know, like, can you, one, can you figure that financial strategy out, which most of us can. But two, like, can you manage the negotiation piece? And there were certain aspects, again, that she, you know, really appreciated about our club and our leadership.

And so, you know, that's what, that's ultimately what got. the deal across the line. And so, yeah, it's always a fun one when you're competing with like six other NWSL clubs. She, of course, though, is in this like entering her prime period. And you now are a club that wins last year, has this core from Morehouse through Sam's. And of course, Barbara Bandaugh, part of that clearly. What does OVAe mean to the club? Like, what does this moment, this move mean for the next three years, whatever it is, of what she means and what, Orlando Pride is building. Yeah, it's just continued investment in women players and women athletes. And, you know, again, moving the needle in the game. And, you know, we're excited

to bring her in. You've constantly got to be improving your roster. And you've got to be moving forward. And, you know, that's the unfortunate reality, right? Our most important assets are human beings. And every so often, like, we've got to make upgrades to the roster if we want to continue to be successful. But I've found that if you have the professional conversation, you're candid about it, but kind about it, right, then you can navigate your way through that. But Ovaya is somebody that we definitely want to build around, and you're right, she's entering her prime years, and, you know, we're really excited to see what she brings to the table, and I think she'll balance out our attack quite a bit. So, yeah. I'm wondering, as you enter

Conccaf competition, is this a space where you get a chance to scout these players in the region up close or against your team? Is this a change or an opportunity for you to look at more players south of the border in Central America, whatever? Yeah, I mean, inherently, right, your exposure to these athletes in person is increased, but we have a scouting department. That's their job. Their job is to get out and see these athletes, and not every club has that. So, you know, that's, like, Again, that's another one of our competitive advantages. Kat Conner, who's our director of scouting and analytics, was a college coach for 30 years.

Like, she's brilliant. She knows how to identify talent. She's got a good eye for it. Aaron Higgenberger does all of our analytic stuff. He's like a boy genius. So, you know, he shows up with the science of the game, and she shows up with the art of the game, and, you know, we work things out.

I wanted to ask you big picture now, spending some time now finally working under the new CBA. how has it changed the way the job of a GM functions with the way trades have changed, the way the draft has been eliminated? I mean, it doesn't. Like, I know this is like a big talking point. Like, what does the CBA change? The reality is the CBA now just makes NWSL football match everywhere else in the world.

You know, every athlete everywhere has free agency. You know, when they get within six months of their contract, they can exercise free agency. They can have conversations with other clubs. and so now we're just aligned with what's happening everywhere else. And, you know, when you're looking at the college game, not having a draft doesn't impact how you scout. You know, you're always scouting. So whether there's a draft or not, it doesn't make a difference.

I will say not having a draft and having, I'll be curious to see what the second year of no draft looks like. But in the initial year of no draft, I think that there are a lot of athletes who didn't get opportunities because one aspect of this. CBA is that it increases the cost of bringing trialists into your environment. So clubs as a whole collectively across the league are spending less. Like they're bringing athletes in on trial that they have a pretty good idea they're probably going to sign to a contract, which means they're bringing less players in.

So if you think about previously under a draft, you've got four rounds, and let's just assume a team has rounds, picks in every round, they're bringing four athletes in on trial. there were some teams that didn't bring any athletes hardly in on trial so you know you go from having four athletes who are at least going to get an opportunity to be seen on trial to now you've got an athlete coming out of college that's signed right away and maybe one other trialists and it just depends on where a roster was at right you've got teams who weren't maxing out their 26 player roster who had 18 or 19 under contract they'll bring in the trialists that they need but that was one impact so I'll be curious to see what that looks like but then that's also why

thank goodness for the existence of the U.S.L. Super League because now a lot of those athletes are getting opportunities to play under contract in U.S.L. Super League. And so, you know, my stance on that's always been really clear. I think more opportunities for women to play the game. More opportunities for staff to coach in the women's game, for women to be involved in the women's game is always a good thing. So, you know, it's nice to kind of have U.S.L. Super league, you know, in the landscape because I think, I think also, like, how they navigate things, the fact that they were not going to have a draft, you know, I think also influenced our board's decision on whether or not we were going to have a draft last season. So,

all good things. All good things. Last big picture one for you and then let you get back to work and what you're doing. I'm just curious off the back of, and I know maybe not your side of things as much, but seeing the moment and the event in San Francisco, and seeing Bay FC, you know, have this record crowd and this event is their ideas floating around other teams, like how do we make a big swing moment or how do we do something like this? Or is that a one-off thing that you watch occur and you're happy for and then you move on? Yeah, I don't know what Bay thinks about it. But I'll say that I think, you know, the interest is there. And so, you know, when you look at stadiums and opportunities to be able to,

to play in bigger spaces. You look at, like, Lumen Field, for instance, and the amount of folks that Seattle can get to a game. And, you know, you look at potential plans, like if Washington moves into the RFK, like what the commanders are going to wind up doing, you know, and you look into, like, these other teams are doing that are, like, looking to play into, in larger stadiums. I think that's really exciting because the reality is the demand is there, right? You look at Kansas City. Kansas City has got a great stadium that's built, you know, specifically for women's football but it holds you know 11,500 people they're selling out consistently if they had a bigger stadium those seats would be full right so I think the demand is there so to to see what happened

at Oracle is exciting because it's just proof of concept right that um you know the the interest is there the desire is there and so um I expect to see high numbers and turnout in San Jose at every game because now we know like what the interest is and you know so so I would hope that fans would come out and see it. So if it was their first game, their first opportunity to watch the NWSL and Oracle, I would hope that they would come out and watch the athletes in San Jose more consistently.

So the demand is there, the interest is there. You know, everyone watches women's sports. So, yeah, I'm excited to see where it goes. I think, you know, even for us, like trying to fill out our stadium is going to be really critical and important over the next couple of years and, you know, continued investment on that side is really important for us. Yeah, the fans have proven to be there, and we will all be there for the end of your sale

championship coming up in the fall, and we hope to see you there. Hopefully, participating either way. I'm going to be there regardless, but I would appreciate it if our team were in it. That would be ideal. I would assume so. But I appreciate you taking the time to come on the show. Always a blast to chat with you, and we'll talk to you again soon. Yeah, thanks.

I appreciate it. Thank you so much to Haley Carter for taking the time to talk with us. I could do that all day. Every time she comes on, so many deep nuggets and thoughts about the way the world game is changing, the way the women's game is changing, the way NWSL operates and functions. And I think a lot of insights for fans about the way that Orlando has handled the last year, the transfer windows, all the movement within their team and trying to compete on so many different fronts. And once again, thank you to Casey for the conversation, so much fun with her.

So I am going on vacation now. So I will be away for the next four days, which means tomorrow there will be no soccer-wise show. There will be the live happy hour that Susanna Fuller and Claudio Pagan will be on to finish things up around Idaho, our 50th state of soccer. And the next week, we're going to do a crossover episode. We are going to be doing a special USM&T conversation. going into the two friendlies that are coming up. So Tom will be joining Susanna for that one that we'll be putting out on both the kickback committee feed and the soccer-wise feed.

And then we will be back with our normally regular shows from there on out. But with the USA game happening, maybe some different schedules and whatnot, we will keep everyone updated on all of that. But a lot to cover and a lot to talk about. Enjoy the League's Cup semi-finals. enjoy all of the NWSL games on Friday night all the way through Monday night. The MLS games there as well, and we'll be back together to talk about the national teams. Thank you to all of you for listening, and we'll talk to you again, very, very soon.

Thank you.