SoccerWise - NWSL Edition: KC Summer Cup Champs, USWNT Recap & NWSL Final Weekend Stakes

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

One of the biggest weeks of soccer in the year so Jordan & David have to jump into the studio to break it all down. First off they recap what they saw in KC's Summer Cup Series championship & USWNT friendlies. Then they dig into the final weekend of the NWSL Season with so much to play for. Who will finish top 2, who will avoid Orlando in the first round, and of course who will make the final playoff spot. Finally they get the score on their midseason standings draft and what they need to happen on the final weekend to win the whole thing. 4:33 Summer Cup Series Final Recap 15:52 USWNT Reaction 24:07 Jaedyn Shaw's Best Position 30:37 Race For The Top 4 In Standings 37:44 Battle Between Chicago, Portland & Bay For 6-8 44:10 Final Playoff Race 54:55 Soccerwise Standings Draft Status Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

what's up everybody welcome back to soccer wise another big week of women's soccer we've got us women's national team we've got the nwsl liga MX Feminal Summer Cup Series. I already tripped on myself and we just started the show. What a dream beginning for me. And of course, the final weekend of the NWSL season coming up. Dave Goss and Jordan Angeli with you for this one. Jordan, of course, here to exclusively talk about the Denver Broncos, which is her expertise now and the only thing you wanted to come on here for. So we're going to do about two minutes about the Broncos and then we're going

to get off. Okay, perfect. Is that my cue to just start talking about the Broncos? I don't know. It's up to you. I will say this, or do you, unless you actually want to talk about the Broncos.

No, I just think it's funny that I switched football for football. Like I've just, it doesn't matter if I get an off weekend, I'm at the sports that's I guess what we do it's I guess that's is what we do I'm going to the Knicks game tonight also known as the heat game because I'm in Miami but I don't care about that part but I will say one of the funniest things I think it's a South Park thing where they like yell like go Broncos and then everyone yells go Broncos I feel like when I'm in Colorado and someone someone does it someone else does like there is always someone in the space who like almost

unconscious subconsciously just goes like go broncos back and do you have to say it like is it like grumbly like that is that how they say it on south park let's go broncos yeah yeah that makes sense um no but on a different note south, Casa Bonita is now officially back open. I have seen this. I don't know what this is, but everyone I know is very excited. Oh, yeah, yeah. Next time you come out to Colorado, you're going to have to go. It was a childhood classic, and now it's revamped and back up out there.

So I have not been yet. Is it good or is it nostalgic? It's not like the food. Yeah. The food is not good or it never has been. It's supposed to be better now, but I don't know. It's basically like a cafeteria line that you go through and order your food. And then you sit down.

It's just like a bizarre concept. But the real star of the show is the ambiance and the cliff divers. You know about the cliff divers? Oh, yeah. There's like a pool, like a tiny little pool, and there's cliff divers that perform, I think, once or twice an hour. Like maybe every 30 minutes they do like a little performance. So, yep. So it's like Rainforest Cafe, but with real people.

Kind of, yes. Kind of. Kind of. Kind of. It is interesting. Colorado. It is its own country and its own world. And I appreciate it very, very much. Beautiful place.

So go Broncos. Go Broncos. And of course, here at Soccer Eyes, we are for Denver. So that as well as we go along. As I said, a big weekend coming up. You've got a couple NWSL games. And then we are into the playoffs. And you will be heading off to a playoff game. I am very excited about this as well.

Getting travel plans together for NWSL Cup also, which will be in Kansas City, of course. So if anyone's going to be there or plans on going or is thinking about it, whatever, feel free to shoot us a message. You can subscribe to our Patreon. You can get into our Discord and you can message us. Or you can tweet at us or respond to us on Instagram or anything else or here in the YouTube comments as well if you are watching live on Twitch or on YouTube or, I don't know, send me snail mail if you want to. Oh, snail mail. Yeah, I got a new address.

So I'm looking to rebuild up all of my trash mail that i can throw out before i get home but that wouldn't be trash mail from the people that not at all it would be treasured mail yes it would be sacred it will go up on this empty wall behind me with nothing on it um as i as i begin to decorate and all of that. Speaking of decorations, Kansas city has a new decoration to throw up. They have won the first and maybe only ever summer cup series championship, but it is the first one. And it is a huge moment for Kansas city for Vlako Ananofsky and his return to the club,

his first trophy now back after winning a couple of NWSL championships in his previous stop at what was FC Kansas City at the time. We talked about it a little bit last week coming into it. I sort of talked about what I thought it would mean if they won it. Now that it's happened, what do you make of what this experience was and what this championship is for this KC current group? Winning is contagious. And I think that's one of the biggest things about this is that you win a championship before a championship that you really want to win is on the line. And I felt like Kansas City, even though it was in the middle of the year, the Summer Cup, and then into the fall as well, it was, they really stayed true to who they were and we saw their identity in every stage of

the summer cup they were aggressive in the way that they played their performances and they relied on their money maker which is simwa showinga right they set her up and they let her cook and so i feel like those things for me especially winning just keeping it a habit is so big for them right now, going into the playoffs, knowing that there's one game left. And then it's those are the things that will matter. You have to win to advance. And once you get a little taste at what a championship looks like and feels like, all you want is more.

And I think it's a really it's a really good step for the current and a great step for vlako and anofsky because he came back in wanting to win with this team and they have proven that they're going to be contenders from the beginning of the season so it's nice to get a trophy under their belt we don't know what the under their belt however you want to call it in In their pocket? Yeah, pocket. Pocket trophy. Pocket trophy. That might be what the Summer Cup is in the end.

Everyone just gets their own to put on their key chain. Yeah, it is. I think if you're in it, you want to win it. And you had an opportunity to. And what I said last week was I think it takes some of the pressure off just to be able to say you won a trophy already. Like, they're ahead of schedule. There's no conversation around that. They lost in an upset in the first round.

They'd still be ahead of schedule. This is the second worst team in the league last year. So the turnaround is there. All the building blocks are there. Nothing about their build this year is short term. Like, we've talked about with Louisville of, like, making trades for the short term or signing older players maybe who aren't going to be around for a while like this group is there and most of it is locked in and most of it I think will be returning and they'll be building on it so you're able to get this done you are able I think to take off a little bit of pressure and you look at the top four and we'll talk about the race for those spots but in the last 12 months gotham have

won a trophy orlando have won a trophy so now you put yourself in that conversation and you have a little bit of experience of dealing with neutral site and high pressure and it's about these 90 minutes and all those things that you get with a final um and so i think obviously only positives in winning it you talked about showing and just her ability to be the playmaker and the chance creator and her ability to help you win the game. I think when you go back and watch this first half, like there were segments of this that were against Casey Gotham, even without all of the players we talked about. And it was a lot that you could still see their, their soccer philosophy. You could still see their fundamentals. And Casey was against the game for a large segments and they scored two goals in the exact same way. And it was against

Gotham strength, which was, it was straight through midfield. And you look at how it gets built up and the pieces in that group. And when I say like, I think this is built for the future Hutton was phenomenal in both the goals and over the course of the game, Labonta then recognizing the space and moving and Dubinia clearing out and allowing space for showing and then showing gets the finishes. And you know, she will if you put her in enough of those situations. All of that is repeatable for Casey, right? It's sort of the yin and yang of their attack. And so I think all of that is positive going into the postseason to say like, we could do this against the top teams, even if it wasn't Gotham's best 11. I think one of the things that was really helpful for Gotham, though, is even though they had to bring in seven national team

replacement players, some of those players those players actually a lot of those players already had been in the system before with Juan Carlos Amoros so they know what to expect from him I wasn't shocked to see Mana Shim come in and play such heavy minutes like I played college soccer with Mana Shim and she is just she's like this little energizer bunny that just can keep playing and playing and playing and never looks like she's tired. But she knows his system. And Sabrina Flores knows his system. Nicole Baxter knows his system. So it didn't matter who the players were. Like, I think even that group that coming in, they could set expectations for one another and help the players who didn't like Shana Matthews, who didn't know his system to to like hey these

are the things that maybe are expected of you try to catch them up to speed because i think that is one of the things that one carlos has been able to do just to give him credit is he he is very clear about how they want to play and there is fluidity in the way that they play but i think that was a good example of when they did have some of the possession gotham creating with what we see every day just different players on the field so um yeah credit to them for trying to make the most out of what ends up being a really difficult situation right when you make it to the final in the fashion that they did you don't really expect not to have half of your team there and and they did a good job of trying to piece together a team

and at least making, you know, challenging for 90 minutes. And two to nothing is not that bad when you're talking about playing this Kansas City team who has beat teams by a lot more than that. They completely deserve credit. To be able to contend on the different fronts they've contended on this year with the injuries and internationals and everything they have. Like, I think in an ideal world, they would have pushed for the shield because you look at their best 11 and then the depth that they have. And even in this game, as you said, like they played toe to toe and you give up the two goals in like a 10 minute span, right in the middle of that

first half, they dominated possession before that, and they dominated possession after that. And after that, you could say, oh, that's game states, but it wasn't the first 25 minutes. And that's what they did. And that's who they are. And like the play of Ella Stevens and what she's been able to do this year. And that's now the point of your attack in this one and to have the depth to be able to move amandie freeman into center back which is something we sort of debated last week right because you're talking about someone who probably should be a starter in nwsl week in and week out if she was on a different team and you've got a few players in this conversation in this group bruninho was a

starter for this team and has lost that spot and gets the start in this game and i think you saw a lot of that quality and like kc was running teams off the field early in the season. If you don't show up ready to play, this could have been four or five zero. And it wasn't because as you said, this Gotham team has the fundamentals in place, they have the understanding and then you add in that depth and quality. Now you come into the postseason, it feels like most of these pieces are going to be there. There's some injury questions, which is a bit of a concern. But overall, this is a team that I think every single game they step on the field in the postseason will believe that they should win and will be frustrated that they didn't get the chance in this probably because of the scheduling and all of that. But even to get here, this was a tournament

that occurred during an Olympics in which they were missing what seven starters as well over the course of the Olympics. And we're still able to put the results together in the Summer Cup series. So I think definitely kudos to Gotham. Congratulations to Casey, they get this trophy, they get the win. I can't even like, I feel like I can't describe how big of a signing Temuha Shawinga is at this point. I know, it's hard. And I know this doesn't count, but she's MVP, right? Right, yes. The hard thing, honestly, Goss, is every week when you call Kansas City games is coming up with another thing to say about how amazing she has been.

Because it has been every single game. I think she scored what now? Probably 12 out of the last 13 games. And she's almost, I mean, the Summer Cup isn't going to count, but she's had an eight game in a row goal streak. And I think she's at, if you counted Summer Cup, I think she's at seven again. Like she's just been incredible with how consistent she has been able to find a way and and that is also goss with her missing a lot of opportunities she has missed a lot of sitters this season she could have a lot more goals than she already does and i think that that if i'm black going on off ski i'm thinking man if we just sharpen up a couple of things and with her in front of the

goal, and in some of her technique, like some of her technique is a little rough. It's only going to be that much more difficult next year to stop her because her shots are going to have a little bit more direction. Yes, power as she always has, but precision that I think she's lacked in moments this year. And yet she still has 20 goals. It's just, it's incredible. Yeah, three goals in the Summer Cup Series, 20 goals in NWSL play. So 23 goals in all competitions. One of the things we sort of talked about

coming into this game is the one real hole for KC in this match specifically was center forward. And what would they do and the decisions they would make? It is now clear to me that Vlatko is not going to play Temuha Shawinga at the center forward position from the start anymore and it I think it's right there is a clear difference when Shawinga can choose her spots and break in through the back line rather than consistently having to occupy center backs and make the runs and in this game it was Dabinia as the center forward. That's not her best position.

The way this team is built, if you don't have your best 11, the first step for Vlatko is how do I maximize Schwing? How do I get her in her best spots? And then everyone else can fall into place from there. And Dabinia doesn't like to have her back to goal. She doesn't really occupy the center backs. She's not a threat on crosses when Cooper gets to the end line, all of that. And yet her movement out of that area and showing her coming in creates the two goals for them. So whether it's Bia or someone else, this is going to be a consistent, I think, talking point for us over these last few weeks.

Just think about what you said, though. Dabinia's movement out of that position creates space for Shawinga. And that's exactly what we love about when Bia plays up front, right? They're very different players. But Bia is not a traditional nine where she's just going to sit on the back line, right? She has a lot of movement in her game, and she does want to draw off the back line. And I think that's why those two work so well together. So I don't know if that was something that was talked to a little bit more to Dabinia because she's played that spot a number of times this year, but I do think as the year has gone on and she's been more comfortable with what she needs to do to set up showing.

If she is playing in the nine, she drops a little bit more and allows space for showing it to get into. It is going to be fun to watch this team down the stretch. And we are going to talk about it because we are going to try and figure out where they're going to fall in the standings. But before we get there, the U.S. Women's National Team. Two matches so far in this window.

One more coming up in like a couple hours tonight. So we won't talk about that one against Argentina in Louisville. But the two games so far against Iceland, it hasn't been easy. They're two 3-1 victories. The first game, it was tied in the second half all the way through to the 85th minute when Jaden Shaw broke through for the first goal and then Sophia Smith for the second goal. And then in the second game in Nashville, the U.S. was losing 1-0 to Iceland up until the 72nd minute and then the subs scored all three goals in that one.

So we wanted to see some of the new players in this camp. Emma Sears came off the bench in the previous game. She helped win that game. They've rotated a bit, but this hasn't been a simple window for the U.S. They've been tested and pushed, but they've gotten two wins. I think it's been really important that they have Iceland for two games. And now they're going to play Argentina, which Argentina is a team that goes to the World Cup, right? This is a really quality squad. But one of the things that I like about these opponents is they're challenging

this US women's national team, which actually Goss, you and I were talking about this before we came on is you wouldn't expect for like a victory tour or what are they calling this? Like celebrate gold or something. I don't know what the tour is called, but they're celebrating the Olympics win and you would maybe not expect for them to bring in a team that really challenges them. And maybe this is Emma Hayes. Maybe this is just what the schedule gets. But think about Emma Hayes coming from Europe where a what the schedule gets. But think about Emma Hayes coming from Europe, where a lot of the friendlies that you play are against European opposition, who are really good. And they're going to make you better game in and game out because you're

going to be challenged. And I like that the United States have had some challenging moments. I like that they were losing for a little bit. I like that they were in a tie and had to figure out how to find their way, that they gave up goals through some poor defensive moments. And because if you don't have those types of games, you're not going to learn what your weaknesses are. And you want to learn what your weaknesses are now, early, early as you start to build into who you're going to be going into the World Cup in a few years. So I like that these were a little bit more challenging of opponents. We'll see how tonight's game goes. But I think that's my biggest takeaway right now is there's a little adversity and you figure out how to, with a lot of changes in each game, right,

because there were a lot of newcomers in both of these games, you figure out a way to still be the United States and find a way to win. I completely agree with you. these games you figure out a way to still be the united states and find a way to win it um i completely agree with you looking back 2019 they played ireland they played portugal korea as well so similar type teams but i don't think as competitive um and then obviously those teams got better over the next few years and ended up qualifying in 2023 but 2019 was a different world for the portuguese national team and you know things like that so i agree with you of like it's fun to see it's also i think like for me it's this level of

respect of like you don't have to do this emma hayes the the push was to the olympics right challenge your team figure out who they are you want it like you do have time as much as any national team manager has time until the next thing. So it's really good to see that they're not wasting it and saying like, oh, yeah, let's play some easy games. Let's rotate some teams in. Let's get some wins and continue to pad the stats and feel good and all of that. And then we'll get to the hard games, which is something we have seen, as you said, in the past. It's like let's challenge ourselves in every single window.

It's very odd that it's a three-game window. We don't normally see that, especially at this point in the past. It's like, let's challenge ourselves in every single window. It's very odd that it's a three game window. We don't normally see that, especially at this point in the season. Emma Hayes has said anyone playing in NWSL games on Friday won't play in the match tonight, but it's a bit of a difference, but Saturday and Sunday are right around the corner. And like Mal Swanson has played, has started both these games and will play on Sunday. So it'll be interesting to see where the minutes go there and where it falls. In the course of this week, Emma Hayes has won the Ballon d'Or's Coach of the Year. I guess it's the magazine that gives it. I don't know if the title is Ballon d'Or. Obviously couldn't be there for the ceremony, which occurred yesterday,

because they have this window, which Emma Hayes talked about when she was invited. She said you should be planning this around the women's international window as well if you have an award for a coach and a player on the women's side. So, yes, we still have some ways to go in terms of figuring out the level of equality that is deserved in all of this. But for Emma Hayes, it's a huge moment. Obviously, it's probably heavily on the win with the gold medal although in technically the year covers her time with Chelsea as well um but a big award for her and I think it's sort of what we talked

about coming out of the Olympics of like one of the things that was really nice in the Olympics I think for the team was that Emma Hayes is a star and she has swagger herself and it doesn't all fall on the players to actually like be the face and voice and talk pregame and talk postgame and, you know, have all of that. I think Emma Hayes and this type of award continues to sort of add to that, which is like she can carry a couple moments herself and allow the team to sort of work underneath her and not have to be in that limelight all the time. I like that point. I think that's really an interesting way to think about it. And it's, it's also cool to watch Emma Hayes as she's progressed through her coaching career, because really, she started here in the United States and cut her teeth in WPS and then really grew so much back in England. And I think she's very

well deserved of this. Because of Chelsea winning their fifth championship in a row, and then only getting the US team for what was it like six games before they played in a major tournament it's incredible what she has been able to do and also i think it is why she put so much importance on every time they're playing the opponents that they're playing from what we've seen so far which is a very small sample size is because she doesn't want to waste anything. She knows growth can happen exponentially because it has to her, you know, it hasn't happened in decades. It's just been a handful of years where she's found herself really get better and better and better. And I think that's what she wants her players. She wants her players to have that same kind of success and that same kind of growth really quickly. So I think she deserves it. And it was, you know, a lot of the times I'm not sure

about those awards, because I don't know who's voting for them. But I think this one was really well deserved. I had up here. Maybe I don't have it anymore. The voting how it ended up in the for the player award. Bonmati won it again. I believe Sophia Smith finished highest of the... Yeah, I think she was fourth. Yes. Lindsey was fifth and Swanson was sixth. Yep. And then Rodman, I think, finished ninth.

Good Colorado trio there. Four, five, six. Just saying. I wish I hadn't closed that lower third. So I had four Denver. Sacrifices for Denver up there. Yeah, it is a D. So Colorado probably the

only state in the in the world that had three of the top 10 that's what i'm saying you'd have to guess i don't know how the states are set up if that doesn't get you an nwsl team i don't know what will someone explain it to us someone explain it to us if you have to um which i don't know that any of those players based off the calendar 12 months, deserve to win it. This is a very tough award, as we talked about. We mentioned Naomi Gurma when we first talked about it. Emma Hayes mentioned Naomi Gurma this week as well. And the fact that she was left off saying, I believe her quote was the best defender I've ever seen.

Which coming from Emma Hayes is pretty high praise. Also, that's probably one that a coach uses depending on where they are at each time. Whatever team you're on. So you don't know how much you can trust it. But a big week. A couple big moments for some young players to get into the group. Yasmeen Ryan was one I was excited about. She got a start.

You talked about Moultrie, who got the start as well. In central midfield, Sears coming off the bench. But it was really nice to see Jaden Shaw get the goal. And I will say this. That goal. The goal was phenomenal. I don't know what San Diego does, but Jaden Shaw should be the nine, right? Like, that's her best position.

And that's what you, if you are now rebuilding in the offseason, the only money they have spent really is on wingers. So like you have the option if it's a 10 or a nine, what her role is. And without Alex Morgan, I don't understand why you wouldn't go into this season trying to build it around her being there. Yeah, I just feel like that's interesting. I think her best position is a 10. But she can play the nine. And I think that's one of the benefits of her and she could play the nine. However, but she can play the nine. And I think that's one of the benefits of her and she could play the nine, however she wants to play the nine. Right.

And that could look very different than what we traditionally see or what we've seen from at least Alex Morgan in a San Diego uniform and how she plays the nine position. I just think that one of the things San Diego is going to be hopeful for is that Jane Shaw is healthy because that's been the difference this year is she hasn't been healthy. She hasn't been on the field. But it makes sense. I like her in the 10 just being able to play Cascarino and combining there. But you also want her on the end of those opportunities that Cascarino is going to create so i think there's flexibility in that and it depends on who you can get this off season if you can get a really good 10 shoot player at the nine and then maybe there's some fluidity there but um yeah that goal was special like i don't know how she swiveled her hips like that and so and so the the part to me of playing her at the 10 which i get is just like you want her involved in the game as often as possible. But as you said, you can play the nine in a couple different ways and you can sort of be that.

I just feel like when she's on the last shoulder and she's in the box as often as possible, she scores goals and scores. Yeah. Clearly, that wasn't an easy thing for San Diego this year. And her run. It's not even I mean, when she gets the ball, it's great, but her run to get create space was really nice, too. Like, pulling off, like, staying with the defender and then pulling off at the last second. Really, she's just a smart player. And, yeah, it'll be interesting to see, one, who San Diego's coach is going to be and how they want to utilize her.

Well, Landon Donovan just announced a new podcast every Thursday. So maybe we'll hear there. Well, OK, well, then I'll have to tune in. But only after you listen to SoccerWise. SoccerWise should be your number one podcast. And then I don't know, whatever their show. I'm sure it's big, intense, fancy word with the word soccer in there. You can go there as well. Let's dig into the NWSL.

Final weekend of the season. San Diego actually playing in a very important game not for themselves but for some other teams so if you don't recall because it's been a little while we are back around uh in all of this top eight teams make the postseason uh we have the number one seed orlando who have clinched the shield they will be the number one team they will host through the semi- the shield. They will be the number one team. They will host through the semifinal. And then the final is going to be at a neutral site, which is Kansas City, which is going to be really cool and a great event as well. Someone in the chat here. Who did I just announce? Melissa Etheridge is doing the national anthem.

Oh, yeah? I think I have that name right. Okay. That's big. Yeah, I can't think of a song that name right okay that's big why can't I think of yeah I can't think of a song that she's like it's a throwback I would have thought yeah she's um man my wife's gonna yell at me because she's gonna say oh you didn't remember this I don't I don't remember myself so she can yell at me too okay cool we'll be in that one together yeah but anyway so it

should be a great thing so keep going back to what you're well douglas reyes serone said that he went to casey a couple months ago and watched showing in person and that she's faster in person than you would think so i can't wait to go to kansas city and we might see uh we might see showing her there so that's going to be the final neutral site uh with melissa etheridge as the national anthem i'm going to make that a lower third so that i have that to put up the nWSL final X date on at current stadium, all that CP Casey stadium, whatever. Two through four will all host their first game of the postseason. We know who the three teams are. We do not know the order they will be in. As we said a week ago on the previous show, the schedule is set for the postseason of when they will play and on what

channel they will play on but we do not know their opponents yet so i believe it's washington and gotham that will play on sunday um casey will play on saturday and orlando will play on friday night on the amazon prime game they are all fighting in the standings to see who will finish second third and fourth which decides your opponent and then it decides who fighting in the standings to see who will finish second third and fourth which decides your opponent and then it decides who hosts in the semi-final so the number two seed will host in the semi-finals for the chance to go to the final that is all still up to play for North Carolina is like or they hope they do right I mean number two seed could lose so you want to be as high as possible to get that second semifinal.

Jordan, I had not even considered that in my whole write-up here thing of what could happen. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, if Orlando loses, they're not hosting a semifinal. It's what we saw last year. So for all of this could be for naught, but that is a really good point. North Carolina are locked in at the five seed, so they will play the number four seed on the road no matter what. Six through eight all could still move between each other, which would all be in the postseason, but in different spots. So Chicago are in six right now, Portland in seven, tied on points, but better goal differential than Bay, who are in eighth.

All of those spots could still move, and you could see Bay move all the way up to sixth and Chicago fall all the way down to eighth, which would not be as bad as the other thing that's still up to play for, which is the final spot in the postseason. So Louisville, three points out of the playoffs, final game of the regular season. They need Bay or Portland to lose and they need to win and overcome the goal differential to jump them. Bay are playing or excuse me, Louisville are playing against San Diego and Jaden Shaw that we just talked about. Bay playing against Houston and Portland start the weekend on Friday night against Angel City in what will be Christine Sinclair's final home game of her Portland Thorns career. And it's going to be a pretty emotional moment. And I think it's going to be the perfect start to what is going to be a wild weekend of standings

moving and teams watching and what do we need to do and figuring things out and all of that as we go along. I think we'll start at the top side, fight for that top three, those top three spots in the conversation. Gotham hosts Utah on Friday, North Carolina hosts Washington on Saturday, and Chicago hosts Kansas City on Sunday. We did get a confirmation that Kuwasi has had an additional game added to her suspension for the fight in the game against Chicago last week. So that means Kulasi will miss this game and the first playoff game. Ludmilla's had an additional match added,

so she will have three games suspended, which means she's done for the rest of the season all the way through unless Chicago makes it to the final, which feels unlikely with Ludmilla out of things. What do you make of this race of what these teams need to accomplish and sort of how this weekend tosses up for these three squads? Well, I actually think Utah hosts Gotham. Oh, that's a very good possibility, yes.

Yeah, I think – I know that Utah has been to Gotham, so I'm pretty sure Utah hosts Gotham. And I do – you know, I'm on this Utah train. Still? I wish they wouldn't have – I'm still on it. Because I think one of the benefits for Utah right now is they've all been together, really, through this international break. So they've been tweaking and working on things and trying to be a little bit of, or as much

of a spoiler as they can be through these last few games. I think they could hand Gotham a really good game and a loss because of how good they can be going forward, the unity that they have. And now I can't remember what your question was. I don't know. Just what you made of the standings. I think that's a good starting point. So I think when you look at these three games, Gotham at Utah, in theory, should be the easiest one.

They're the only one not playing a playoff team. I don't think it is. I think for the reasons you said, Utah has turned things around. They've had things to play for. By the way, we did the show last Wednesday. We talked about Jimmy Conrads becoming the official head coach. It was about 18 hours later where Utah officially announced that. So I think there's a lot of like this team wants to show well.

They want to go out on the right note. You're basically trying to do what Orlando did last year. Like, can you finish this year in a way where you restart it next year, and you're on that role. And then you've got North Carolina with nothing to play for, which is a very odd situation. Yeah. And a Chicago team, as I just said, that's missing Ludmilla. Mal Swanson has started both games for the U.S., played 90 minutes in the second game. We are obviously recording this before Wednesday night. We don't know how much she'll play in that game, but she is not playing on Friday,

so it feels like she's in the plans for Emma Hayes and a Chicago team that is really struggling down the stretch. And I would argue Gotham maybe has the toughest game in this whole setup because of the stakes for the other teams in this conversation. Yeah. And, and you can, for, for Gotham, they go into that knowing that like they can advance their positioning, right? Secure a second spot. But in the other two games, you can treat them almost as playoff games, right? You can really, and you've had time now to hone into how can we, if we're North Carolina,

how can we beat this Washington team? For North Carolina, they do have something to play for in the sense that it's not going to change where they are in the playoffs, but they're still riding this unbeaten streak at home. And I think for them, they're going to want to finish at home in front of what have been record-breaking crowds in North Carolina on a really good note

against the Washington team who, you know, for a lot of this season, Goss, I've been saying this is the best team in NWSL because of how stacked they've been. Now, we don't know who Washington is going to have available, but it will show you, like, will North Carolina's system, can that beat some of the best teams in this league i think that's what they're kind of looking at right there and then the chicago kansas city game i we've seen all year chicago be really defensive and give up you know plus three goals against xg goals against you know like sorry the opponents have gotten over three xg in games because they've just sat back and defended and done a really good job of blocking shots and making it difficult on opponents but i i don't know if you can do that against kansas city

i really don't know if what they've done all year is going to be enough against a kansas city team and chicago has not been on a run that they're going to feel good about going into the playoffs, especially with Noam Ludmila. Now all the attention goes back to Mallory Swanson. You mentioned the minutes that she's played. That's going to be, that could be mentally a really difficult game for Chicago if the results, yeah, Chicago if Kansas City comes out all guns a blazing and I mean they could beat them by multiple multiple goals and it just feels like

coming off the summer cup series that Kansas City are kind of in a good place they weren't all of the second half of the year and it feels like they've gotten healthier it feels like alana cook has settled in as center back obviously the change at goalkeeper has worked for them hutton was away with the u20s she has returned she has now stepped back in and looks super comfortable that allows you to play a little bit with di bernardo and labonta's positioning if you want to it feels like a lot of the pieces have sort of, you know, fallen into place for that from there for this KC team, and they're in a really good spot. And we haven't seen that from Chicago. We haven't seen a single game where Chicago has pushed the impetus. Chicago gives up, as you said, one of the worst XGs. Like this is a Chicago team struggling

coming into this moment. The Washington side of things is very interesting because of all the injuries. I'm like, who are we going to get? Clearly, Casey Kruger is healthy. That's fantastic. That's at least one step in the right direction. Your hope is that Trinity Rodman spends the international break, is able to rest and come back. But if you're Yonatan Heralda, second place is not worth the risk. So I wouldn't be surprised if Rodman comes off the bench anyway, even though she's out. And because you already know you've lost Kouassi for the first round of the playoffs.

And so you're going to need someone to start out on the wing or at the 10, whatever you choose to do. We don't have updates on Lacey Santos and what's going on there. So yeah, this is a Washington team. Ule Sar has been out for what now? Two and a half months? Everything is still sort of up in the air for them in a way in which it'd be huge to

get a win. But on the road against North Carolina with everything to play for the following week in the playoffs, I just don't think it has the value for them. Where for Gotham, I think you're starting to get all your pieces back together post international. And it's like, let's put everything on the line in this game because we know we're going to go home next week. We know we're going to play at home.

But they haven't had that many chances to play together. So I would expect to see a really strong 11 for Gotham in a really big game, even though it is a really tough moment for them or a really tough place to play and match to play in in the six to eight conversation um Chicago I didn't realize could drop into eighth on this final day after sitting in six where it felt like okay them in North Carolina were clearly in this middle space they're not a part of this conversation they could fall all the way and have to go to Orlando in the opening round of the postseason and And then Portland and Bay sitting tied on points just behind them in the standings.

I don't know why I got rid of the standings in the middle of this conversation, which I had in front of me. Here it is. So Portland and Bay are on 31 points. Chicago are on 32 points. Goal differential is the tiebreaker. Chicago have a minus five goal differential. Portland minus one. Bay minus 11.

So if in a scenario like this, Portland and Bay tie, Chicago loses. Portland would move up to the sixth spot and Bay would stay in eight and Chicago would move down to the seven. Obviously, you don't know. For Portland on Friday night, they don't know who they're fighting to play against against but it's worth it to try and get up as high as you can and of course you have the added moment of christine sinclair's final game we talked about it a little bit last week but like this is a big moment for young players for players in this group like to be a part of that event you know the environment is going to be electric for this one at Providence Park. How do you make of what this team, how this team sort of handles this match and this sort

of experience around all of this? It's really important to manage your emotions because we've seen earlier this year, and granted that retirements were very different, but we saw Alex Morgan retire and how the emotions were not handled well by the San Diego team. And they really collapsed and North Carolina took advantage of that, right? Angel City is in a place where they could play spoiler. And they have been wanting to do that throughout the time where they got points taken away from them, right?

They don't care who they're playing. They want to make sure everybody has the hardest time. And what better thing to do than potentially knock Portland out of playoffs, a team that is perennially in playoffs. So I think you as Portland have to manage, first of all, this is a really, this is a big game. So you have to manage those emotions. But now you also have to manage the, I don't know if there's a ceremony, if there's things talked about, but there's going to be talk about this is Christine Sinclair's last time playing in Portland. And could they potentially find a way to make it, not potentially, could they find a way to make it the best that it could be? But it's focusing on the little things that can help you succeed during the game.

So I think that is the biggest thing is just managing the emotions of the actual day. Because I've gotten to talk to a lot of players on Portland throughout this year. And everybody talks about how Christine Sinclair has taught them so much in their time there about how she is always helping them learn how to be a better pro how to get out of certain situations, they go to her for advice, and she just creates this really good atmosphere within the group so you know that they're all going to be eager to want to make sure that that game in Portland is going to be a win.

And it hasn't been that a lot lately for Portland. They have had, out of their last five games, only two wins at home, which is a streak that they've never really had before. And the other three games in the middle of those two wins were losses. So for Portland, it's really important. And I think it's kind of nice you play on Friday because you're like, let's go. Set the tone.

Yeah. Yeah. I think it's a great opportunity. You also have Sophia sophia smith has only played 20 minutes in the last month and a half of soccer she clearly looked healthy for the u.s in this um window as well so on top of the sinclair being back and sort of the emotion there and all of that or sinclair being you know in her final game in the emotion you've got Smith coming back which is your best player your MVP and like a huge factor and we talked about a little bit last week I do think they've settled on something with Fleming and

Moultrie in midfield a little bit more possession the the issue for them is like okay what does the possession turn into how do you create chances out of it? Well, having Sophia Smith coming off the wing is a huge part of that. And her movement will open up a ton of space for Moultrie and whether the fullbacks want to get forward and all of that. And that's a wrinkle we haven't gotten to see yet because she hasn't been there. Well, and you know who we haven't seen together too is Weaver and Smith together because they've been hurt at different times. And so this, since the beginning of the season and that is something that we could see because um those two have always worked really well off of each other in thorn's past and i think that that would be a really nice way to start off

this weekend to be able to see sinclair alongside smith and weaver like that those are three of the the prominent attackers in this Portland team and and they're hoping that they get to see them all play together because it's been a long time since they all play together yeah this game's gonna be wild it's gonna be so much fun um this atmosphere is gonna be special obviously it's gonna be one where I think everyone's gonna sort of have the stories there's always these jokes with these great games and great moments where everyone was at the game. And like if you collect everyone's stories of being at the game, there's normally more stories than tickets were available. And like all of a sudden, 50,000 people were at the game. And yet that wasn't possible.

And this feels like going to be one of them of like, oh, yes, in Claire's last game, I was here. I remember the goal, all of that. And she's played well over the last few weeks. I think she's really settled into being the starter again and the way the game has moved around her and she's obviously scored some goals as well which would be huge in this final game for Angel City a little bit of news in the LaRue announcing that she has signed a contract or a new contract so she'll be back with Angel City for the next three years, I believe, after this. And again, a player who tough beginning of the season, but has settled in and has been a big part of Alyssa Thompson's emergence this year as a consistent game changer.

And we saw it for Thompson with the U.S. as well in this last window. So the final game of the season for Angel City there. And the one game here that goes both in this standings as well as talking about this final playoff spot is Houston against Bay FC, which I anointed Bay a playoff team a week ago. And then I came in here and you sort of tried to rattle me a little bit. You dropped this stat on me right before we started, which was the last time these two teams played Houston won 3-2 and three goals were scored in the 87th minute and beyond. Houston is hosting here. Houston, last place in the league, nothing to play for. Bay, a chance to make the playoffs in their first year. Should I be worried about jinxing Bay FC? I don't think so. I think Bay right now, and I'll go back to that game against Houston was at the beginning of the year, which is when Bay was much more front foot minded. Like, let's get as many people in the attack as possible. We'll worry about defense. We got to worry about defense. And so they were giving up a lot of goals, especially late in games. And that's when that happened. Diana Ordonez was a part of that. She was playing as a 10 in that game I think in this game um it's been

interesting over the last few weeks with Houston and everything that's gone around gone on around them they're playing in a 4-3-3 again which I think has helped them settle down a lot and looks like not look like they're constantly trying to figure out like what's the right thing to do but I still think the way that Bay has been defensively over the last I mean really since the summer break how how good they've been defensively with Abby Dahlkemper back in there and a consistency within their lineup it's going to be hard to stop Bay because they have threats with pace they have the skill of Tess Bode to pull the strings Dorian Bailey getting herself in really good spots.

And I actually wouldn't be surprised if Dorian Bailey coming from the midfield is one of those players who has a really big game in this because she's gotten herself in so many good spots, just hasn't found that final product. And if they can find her to add to that group that I just mentioned of the attackers who done a really good job going forward. I think Bay will continue to feel like they're starting to hit their peak as they go into the playoffs. So I do think this is a game where I feel like Bay should get the win. They should get the win. I agree with you. And I think the point where like Bay has changed who they are, right, and the floor has changed in their defensive identity.

If for some reason they go down 1-0, then I'm worried. Because they are a team that has not finished their opportunities and has not created an abundance of opportunities. They have been efficient with the chances they've created in this streak of undefeated runs the last few weeks. And the defense has been the strength. And I'm not saying they're going to concede. But if they do early, now you get into the Louisville place tomorrow, we have to win. Like we have no choice. We have to get the result. Now a tie gets them in. So that's that advantage. But this is just it's not a team that feels like if they have to score, it's as easy. It's when it's 0-0 and both teams are sort of taking half chances and not where they've been able to create chances. Although in a year in which it felt like the big signings haven't hit.

The other stat you dropped on me before this is that Oshawa and Kunjananji have been more dangerous than I would have said if you asked me in abstract. Yeah, I saw that too. So one of the great things about calling games is we get these opti-packs with little tidbits of information in them. And Oshwala and Kununanji have accounted for, in goal contributions, half of Bay's goals, which coming in and I saw Oshwala being one of the best goal scorers in in the game and what she's been able to do year after year at Barcelona and with the Nigerian national team I think we

would have expected it to be more than seven goals for her this year but with that being said that's what you want right you you expect those two to carry a lot of the load, and a lot of that has happened here towards the end of the season, which I think has a lot to do with their fitness, getting them more fit, getting them accustomed to this league and what the demands are. Every single game, I cannot harp on that enough, how hard this league is every game. There is no other league in the world like this where you play every team. They're going to play Houston, who's the worst team in the league,

and Houston could very well beat Bay. That doesn't happen anywhere else. And those two don't know that. So I think they have grown so much and we're just scratching the surface. But if you're Albertine Montoya, you're feeling pretty happy that in year one you're getting 50 goal contributions from your two superstars and i think um as much as they've adjusted the rest of the team has adjusted to them and i think we are now seeing you talk about the movement of bailey and and what we've seen from test bode and even on the set pieces with doll kemper and the service now from kundanaji in the last game like i think oshual, we're seeing whether she's scoring or not, defenders are going to track her because you feel the threat. You know the danger.

Now Bailey's starting to see the spaces underneath that. Or when Oshuala goes one way, now Kundanaji making sure she's on the other side to get 1v1 space to hit on the counter and all of that. I think the team's really come together and adjusted and gotten a lot cleaner with them in the team. I think I said this last week. I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs.

If I was a postseason team, if I'm Orlando, I'm probably looking at this saying, would love to see Bay lose and Louisville sneak in because I think Louisville is a little bit of a cleaner matchup. Or Chicago drop. Because of what? Or Chicago drop to that eighth spot. That's like a whole nother thing where I think everyone's looking for a Chicago matchup.

And you might have KC playing a little bit with that final match because think about it. KC on Sunday are going to be head to head against Chicago, kind of knowing where everyone else stands and what they can do. I don't know how much you do that. You don't want to mess with the soccer gods. You don't want to anger them too much and get in the way. But that is out there. And then Louisville will play the final game on Sunday where they could already be completely eliminated or they could be in a scenario where they know if they win, they are in or if they win and get the right goal differential, they are in, which could be very interesting to close the weekend out. San Diego will be playing for pride. They've been doing that for a couple weeks.

It was good for a few weeks where they kind of found post-Alex Morgan a little bit of spirit and a little bit of life, and it looked like maybe they'd make a late postseason run. That hasn't been the case. They've kind of fallen by the wayside. But we're seeing more of Cascarino now. Jayden Shaw healthy as well. This might be Landon Donovan's last game as coach.

You have to think San Diego at least are in a scenario where they have nothing to lose. They're going to go for it in this matchup. And again, I think you can't underestimate these teams who can play spoiler. And I think that that is going to be something that San Diego, after coming off a great year last year knowing that they can maybe make some amends to what this season was by by their last game being a win at home and taking Louisville out of the playoffs you look for those types of things as a player you want to you want to be the spoiler in that situation I think San Diego is going to be the spoiler in that situation i think san

diego is going to have the better matchup with cascarino against what i would expect to be courtney peterson um and and they're going to have to help that situation that's going to have to be ursig being a good second defender because cascarino has shown how how good she can be in 1v1 situations and now you add jayden shaw into that half space right next to her that could be troublesome for this louisville team and i'm interested to see goss how they how they start going forward because we saw de mello start at the 10 in the last game she's typically started um as a right winger and then slid and slid inside yeah slid i'm like what is the correct um conjugation of that verb she slid inside to be a dual 10 but with emma sears coming off a national team camp is scoring a goal getting an assist she

started in the last game and then she's she's their outside right winger, right? They're playing her now on the right. And it is allowing Malay to not be the the width, but to be the inside pocket. Second 10 in a lot of a lot of opportunities. Well, that's typically Naomi Gurma's station, right where she tries to defend. So there are some good matchups in this game and some good ways that I think both teams can punish each other. But yeah, I hope I really hope that there's meaning in this game. And that means somebody slipped up and I don't know who that is that should that could potentially slip up. But it would be fun to have this final game of the year with some meaning on the line. So one of the things that's interesting to think about here is depending on who slips

up, it changes the way Louisville has to play. So if Portland are the ones that slip up and make the mistake, and let's say they're probably not going to get blown out. They lose by a goal. They go to negative two goal differential. If Bay gets the result there, Louisville are chasing Portland. Louisville are at minus four. So now you look at a matchup where we don't just have to win. We have to score goals. If Bay are the ones who slip up, they have a worse goal differential. Louisville are just win and wear it. And I think in the

conversation you're talking about there, I think some of that's going to affect it. Like, I think you're looking at a change at left back, a change at right wing, and a change in central midfield, depending on which results you need for Louisville in all this. Maybe that's a little bit too much. And Bevinet says this is the team, and at halftime, that's where they make some adjustments but we saw ari borges getting the starts in central midfield how much more dangerous they

were and all of that and i think that's actually a decent group for a matchup against san diego because san diego don't physically dominate in central midfield right but that's a different play style then let's get a one zero win off a set piece and let's survive and let's just get into the playoffs for the first time, which is exactly what they've been trying to do. So there's a few different ways that can go. And that's why this weekend is going to be fun. I think it's going to be really interesting to watch this all go down. You can listen to Jordan on it. I'll be back on Monday with the weekend recap, and then we'll be back on Wednesday to react to all of this,

but mainly to preview the postseason because we are into single elimination and win and go home. Now, NWSL Cup will be lifted on November 23rd. The Shield has already been won. The Summer Cup Series has already been won. But the only trophy people really care about was

the arbitrary draft we did coming out of the summer cup series where we selected every team and the lowest points won for spots in the standings we alternated i believe i gave you the first pick i hope i did because i think you did okay thank god because looking at the one the teams we picked man i would hate myself if i didn't and you don't know this i did the math i did the math again i did the math a third time because i can't figure out what this extra team i selected was over you it turns out i just picked bad teams and you picked better teams uh currently you sit at 46

points cumulative and i sit at 59 points cumulative in crunching the numbers. And when I say that, I mean that almost jokingly because I cannot really do math and that's not my strong suit. That's why you host the podcast. Exactly about soccer specifically. I don't think I can catch you even if the results went perfect for me. So what I at minimum need this weekend, you have Orlando and Washington. So you're already locked in at one. I have Casey and Gotham. So at a minimum, I need Washington to drop from two to four. Those were our first four picks.

So it felt like, I mean, no matter who we got there, we were probably in a pretty good spot. Yes. Orlando was a great pick by you because at the time it was like, is Orlando or Casey going to be the team that goes undefeated the rest of the way? KC at the time had only lost the one game head-to-head. So you got that one right, which is credit to you. And then the rest of them are all going to be toss-ups. But the nice thing is if you drop Washington,

I pick up points as you gain points. You know, like they go in reverse. That's there. You have North Carolina, so you're locked in at five. Your next pick was Angel City. After North Carolina. So I'm looking at this going, Jordan screwed up. Here's my opening.

Here's my opportunity. And you are fine. Because then you went racing Utah and Bay. And Bay was your final pick, which is probably going to be the one to save you. I went Chicago because I was really high on Chicago. I think I may have taken Chicago. No, I took Chicago after you took North Carolina. Okay. So at least I didn't take them above. Yeah. Then I went with Portland and then this is where it falls apart for me. I have San Diego, Seattle, who I was very excited about.

Seattle. I was like, who is the team you were excited about? It was Seattle. For unnecessarily. And then Houston, which is obviously a paperweight on my ankle. There is some world. So this is what I wrote down. Gotham beats Utah because then you would have Utah drop. So Utah would be dropping in this scenario from 10 to potentially all the way.

They can drop all the way to 12. Oh, 13. Yes. No, 12. San Diego could jump up over Angel City as well. And Seattle could jump up over Utah. That would save me a couple points. And then some miracle version of Seattle beating Orlando in this scenario

and San Diego beating Louisville. And I think I would still lose by like four or five points. So that is where we stand. So if you want me to send you the rubric so you can watch the games in this context. I think people do. I think we need to understand where the points are coming from and what the scenarios are because it's all about scenarios right it's all about scenarios we need it we need it written down and i better hear you on the broadcast at some point cheering one way or

the other this weekend in favor of the standings in this draft yes because that's the most important thing the soccer wise draft yeah what did we call it was like our mid-season i don't remember trophy uh standings draft yeah yeah yeah well you know what we also this is the thing about nwsl you just have no idea yeah you don't know what's gonna happen and was there a moment where seattle i mean seattle at that point were on this tear where they were they were winning and i don't think they were there yet i think they were they weren't there yet well i don't we did it on august 15th which i think was like one week after play resume they then went on that tear after san diego made a little bit of a run obviously utah made a run as well uh it is funny though that like bay was the team we all

ignored and they are potentially i remember we had a conversation about Bay like, I just don't know. I was like, I guess I'll take up. And you're like, okay, well. It was definitely the right pick over Houston. That is a six point swing right there. Right at the end, which might pretty much be all of this in the end. Okay. This was fun.

I'm excited for the weekend. The season coming towards a close. This has been a blast doing this so far we hope you've enjoyed our coverage we are going to continue it of course all the way through to the final and beyond um enjoy the weekend everyone out there good luck to your teams whoever you're rooting for i'll be back on monday with the recap and then we'll be back wednesday again so thanks everyone for listening. Thanks everyone for watching. We'll talk to you again very, very soon.