SoccerWise - NWSL Playoff Preview BEST SHOW OF THE YEAR + Louisville Decision Day Drama & Boston/Denver Set A Date

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

The NWSL regular season came to a close in dramatic fashion on Sunday. David & Jordan join forces to relive the tension, celebrate Louisville, and wonder what's next for North Carolina. Now the playoff bracket is set to our hosts pick through all the big details to know matchup by matchup.3:30 Boston & Denver Home Openers Announced9:17 Reliving Decision Day For Louisville & North Carolina27:43 KC vs Gotham Preview40:35 Washington vs Louisville Preview50:30 Portland vs Wave Preview1:02:35 Orlando vs Seattle Preview

All right, everybody, welcome back to soccer-wise, David Goss and Jordan, Angeli, with you for the best show of the year. Decision Day is in the books. Playoffs are around the corner. A loaded weekend schedule coming up. We had drama last weekend. We're going to have more of it this weekend. And Jordan, it's just, it's the best week. It's the most teams still in with everything to play for.

I feel like we had playoffs last week with all of what went down. You were on the call for Casey San Diego, which became an NFL game in the middle of it. And now you're getting ready to do it once again. This is what you play for as a player and you dream of as a podcast. playoffs baby the air is crisp the days are shorter and you're just ready for win or go home it is the yeah the day shorter part i could take it too i could live without that i have to set up my lights for our recording because i don't know when the sun's going to set on me actually this is a good question would you rather just keep the darkness in the morning and have that little bit of light at the end of the day

I would rather have that. Yeah, I would never do daylight saving if it was me. But I'm not a morning person. Me neither, but like when I wake up and it's dark outside, I'm like, I am productive. I am up before the sun. Look at me, moving and grooving. For sure. But when it's dark at-grine set.

Yeah, when it's dark at 5 p.m., I'm like, I am a couch potato. I'm never leaving my house. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel the exact same way of like, okay, the sun went down, so I'm finished now. My day's over. And they're like, oh, it's 447. I know.

Yeah. Yeah. It is, it's not the best part, but I like the crisp air. I like the cold. Yeah. I like the playoffs. I like the high intensity. I like all of that.

And we felt it this weekend. And we've got a lot more to come, which we're very, very excited about. It's a sprint, the NWSL playoffs. As we learn every single year, we build towards it. We think about it. We get excited. We book flights to championships. And you're like, all that's in the distant future.

And then all of a sudden it's like, no, it's time. and it's on top of you. So we're really excited for all of our coverage. If you missed it, kickback committee, one of the shows on our network, had Chris Long, the owner of the Kansas City Current on our Tuesday episode. So you can go listen to that one, really, really informative conversation about what's led to Casey's success. He gave some advice to potential other markets out there that could join some ideas

about what they're doing to build for the future, what the league needs to do to build for the future, as well as what it would mean to win a championship for this team. That has set a ton of records this season because they're pretty good at soccer. We're going to preview every single playoff game coming up and we're going to relive what we saw on Decision Day, the biggest stories down at the bottom of the playoff race.

But I mentioned it. One of the things we asked Chris was advice that he gives as a member of the expansion board committee in NWSL. One, we asked him how many teams he would like to see. So you can go listen to that answer. if you'd like to, but we ask him what advice he gives to potential groups that want to join. And we've got two coming next year. I don't know if you've heard, Boston, Legacy, and Denver Summit.

And we now know the day that they will make their debuts in their home markets as the two home openers were announced. And Jordan, some pretty big news coming out of your little neck of the woods on a potential to have a pretty big crowd in the building for the first ever home game. Yeah, one, I like that their home opening. are on different weekends so you can really celebrate both of these new environments, new clubs in NWSL. And I, you know, I hope that Boston Legacy go out and have a record-setting opening day. And then a week later, Denver Summit go out and have a record-setting NWSL day. I am so pumped just to be a part of this community that has longed for soccer for so long

to play the first ever game for Denver Summit at an iconic stadium in the Denver area at Empower Field at Mile High is going to be great. I am going to have to teach the players how to do the Mile High Salute. Terrell Davis, bring him in the building. Oh, he is going to be there. He must.

He must. I love that you just found out that my agent, the laundry list. Yeah, my agent knows his agent. and I was like, so you're telling me there's a chance I could meet my favorite ever Bronco. He's number one? Yeah, easy.

Nice. Terrell Day. He was incredible. So you got to do the Mile High Salute if you score a goal. And yeah, I'll teach them all how to do that. A little history lesson about Denver sports. And it's going to be a great day. Everywhere I've gone this week, people are talking to me about it.

And where can I get tickets? When can I get tickets? So they go on sale next week. and you know I'm not I'm not going to put any limits on this I think we should sell the whole thing out we should sell the whole stadium out so as you mentioned Boston legacy they'll be playing the whole season at home at Gillette Stadium as they finish finishing their building that I cannot remember white I knew that there was a W.H but that I almost said Whitney which I think is where the US women's national team played last week in Hartford Connecticut and Gillette's capacity is somewhere between 60 and 64. thousand people. So they have the potential to sell that out. And if they're able to do that, that will be on March 14th. It would set the record for an attendance at an NWSL game. And then as you said, Mile High Stadium, a famous building where the Denver Broncos play has a bigger capacity at 76,000 roughly, depending on how it's set up, which would then surpass that

record. That will be two weeks later, though. So you're going to have a whole two weeks to try and drive up the attendance. So Boston set the line high so that Denver can try and fight to to surpass that. It's going to be really, really exciting. It's cool to get these two keynote moments on the calendar already for people to build their schedules around and get ready for. My assumption is that that first game that Boston's playing is the first weekend of this season. And that's where the gap comes from. But I could be wrong about that. We don't know anyone else's schedule. We don't know what teams the two will be playing. They could play each other. That might be an interesting way to go about it. I'll just, I'll give a shout out to Jen.

Cooper because I don't have the best of memories in this spring. It might be all the headers that I did when I was playing soccer. But she told me that there has been a professional women soccer game played at Mile High Stadium before. It was a double header between the cyber rays. And I want to say the Washington Freedom. And she went to the game back in 2002. Who was the home team? There wasn't, I don't know.

I don't know who the home team is. Was in that case. were you at that game well that's what i mean i why would i not be at that game yeah but i cannot remember it but it was a double header the rapids played after them 2002 so this this game it was in march of 2002 this game will be like 24 years almost to the day after that so she was saying that since the cyber rays were in it we should play the bay in the first game and i was like there all right i am not the scheduler no you're not there it would be fun no matter what the opponent is it's going to be fun it's going to be a huge moment

you mentioned it the tickets go on sale november 12th um so exactly in a week so you can go and get those i will be there yes just because i like soccer and it will be fun and i want to be around it and be a part of it maybe i'll go to boston too it is interesting i didn't really think about the fact that you are so closely connected to both of the teams i am yeah coming in being a former boston breaker i would love to be in boston that would be so much fun i don't don't know. Again, I don't know who's covering debate announced who's covering that first game in Boston. The only phrase was it will be nationally televised, which kind of feels like a no-brainer because outside of, well, they're all pretty much natural TV unless it was streaming only on

this game here is on CBS in Denver. Oh, there you go. But regardless, I'm not working that weekend. I am a fan. Yeah. And I've got some really cool ideas that I'm hoping to implement with just the history of Colorado on that game. So Goss will be there. Soccer-wise people, please come. Come to Denver. Everyone is invited. Everyone should buy tickets and we will all go and it will be a special day. Once again, go listen to that interview with Chris Long. We've got some great stuff coming up over the next few weeks. We're going to be talking to some more owners, actually, that we have on the schedule. And we are hoping to have one of our committee members, Brianna Pinto, back on the show to break things down on the soccer side of things, unfortunately, because we won't be seeing the North

Carolina courage in the playoffs. So on Decision Day, there was a lot that could happen. Everything in the standings from three through eight, we didn't know where teams would fall. But the big storyline we talked about last week and the big storyline that we followed the whole night on Sunday was Louisville against North Carolina for the final spot in the postseason. North Carolina as we know sold out the stadium biggest crowd of the year it was pouring driving rain for this game against gotham fc the the it's one of those things where the fields you don't see it and then they they cut to shots of fans or coaches or players and it's just it looks like snow like it's just coming down sideways you're like ah that's not exactly where you want to be and then louisville on

the flip side hosting bay fc at the same time north carolina had to win and then They needed Louisville to drop the result, whether it was a tie or a loss for them to get in. And North Carolina understood the assignment out the gates. They scored two goals in the opening 10 minutes, Monaca, leading them from the front with Denise O'Sullivan back into the team, scores the second goal. It's a Jess Carter mistake, but that doesn't take away from the brilliance of Monaca on the first time chip from 40 yards out with Berger off her line as Gotham was preparing to pass it around the back. And it was two teams just in completely different realms of preparedness,

of anxiety, of tension of what they needed to accomplish. And North Carolina, flying high, pushed all the pressure onto Louisville. And when the two teams went into the locker room at halftime, North Carolina, it felt very clear we're going to win their game. And Louisville were tied zero zero with Bay, which means they knew the score. Yeah. All the pressure was on them. The responsibility was on them at home to win that game. And they come out in the second half they get the first ever professional soccer goal for hoss uh it leads to a one zero lead it was not straightforward to hold on to after that taylor flint has a foul on the edge of the box that i thought was a penalty kick i think just a lot of people watching mainly from the referee like it

felt like the referee yeah was signaling to penalty and the players falling into the box as the call gets made it's right outside of the box i think huff takes the free kick and blast it over the top of the crossbar and then Louisville able to survive. But Jordan, this is the drama of Decision Day. And we had that, we had 40 plus minutes where we sat there. And in the live standings, North Carolina was in and Louisville was out once again. Wild. I loved watching it.

I had the early game. So when all the games had kicked off and they're all playing, we had a bunch of screens up at NEP or Vista and just kind of like trying to keep a track of everything. And everyone's like, okay, well, what happens now? and what happens next? And I can just imagine everybody at home feeling that way, but also wouldn't you give to be a fly on the wall in that Louisville locker room?

Because clearly something was said by Bev Yanez, Janine Sonis, one of the leaders within that team because they came out and they scored a goal right away. It was direct. It was exactly what you expect from Louisville. And it wasn't as if they weren't knocking the whole first half, but this is this Louisville team. They create a lot, a lot of chances.

I think in NWSL, they lead with number of shots, but they're shot to shots on goal percentage are like really low. So they just needed to take a little bit more care and expose Bay with their high line. I thought they did a really good job of the goal that Haas scored. So I think what was really disappointing out of all of it is like, North Carolina we've been like this is we knew that it was in them and I thought that their game plan going into Gotham stretching them wide going quickly in attack having Linnehan back with that speed helps but also exposing them like knowing that if they win the ball and Gotham is super stretched there's going to be opportunities and we saw that on the first goal we saw it on the Monaco goal which is one of the highlights of the weekend and to have that performance when you need it the most and for it not to mean anything oh what a like dagger in the heart yeah it's one of

those things where you have to think as you walked off the field for the final time like it was a we did all we could moment for north carolina right because on the weekend they did everything they could but then you look back at the past games and you're like if we played this way in x game do we get one more results. And one more results would have been enough. And so as you said, like huge question marks of like, you know, 12 minutes in, you're like, you know, I'm watching with my wife and she's like, oh, they look good. I'm like, yeah, this could be this team. I know. But it's not this team often enough. You mentioned Linnehan. Awesome. Speck awesome as well. Having Denise Lollivan back and then Monaca playing up top then. Okay, she's dropping in. So she's drawing runners. And

Riley Jackson again, just awesome. Oh, she's so good. Is one of the best young players on the planet. I wish she didn't play last year at all so she could be one of these rookies of the year. I know. And I think she's kind of gone under the radar slightly because of the team success. Slightly because, like, it's hard to say, oh, my God, let's talk about great young players. Let's talk about North Carolina and people to get past Monaca.

And Jaden Shaw was on the team to start the year. So, like, she doesn't get discussed. She's not getting called in national team stuff. but like what she's doing is equal to what Claire Hutton has done over the last two years. And I think she's behind because Claire's playing in potentially championships and whatever into the national team. But like that's how good Riley Jackson is. And then you see it when there's runners in front of her because now she can pick up her head and find them. Yeah.

I think it's a benefit to her too that she is slightly different from Hutton too, right? She's not as like defensively. I think Hutton's strength is what she does defensively. she's added all these other parts in the attack at least at this level i know she had that before but at this level she's added to attack i think riley jackson her passing range is a little bit better her texture on the ball that she plays is a little bit better but i think some of the things she lacks are like those moments defensively where you're just like dude you're not getting past riley jackson not that she's a bad defender at all but just a little bit more grit in in areas but man i really

have loved watching her play and it is you know i i've been tooting monaca's horn for weeks now about like she needs to be in the MVP conversation if they make it to the playoffs she has to be in that and it's it's just unfortunate that her MVP season was on a season where north carolina don't make the playoffs yeah she may still finish as a finalist because i i don't even know coming out of the final weekend, then, you know, we went through the list last time that other people found ways to elevate themselves because there wasn't a lot of huge performances on the weekend of big names, you know, if Delphine Cascarino had led them to victory. Yeah.

Orkenza Dali, do they sneak back in? Wasn't the case. Estere didn't play. And again, playoffs are not part of MVP consideration, like all the votes already had to be in. So it is purely on the regular season. I completely forgot that Gotham scored two goals. Oh, yeah, at the end of the game. I thought it was a three zero game.

No, three to two. Yeah, in my head. Roosevelt scored a PK in the 88th, and then Portillo comes off the bench and scores in the 93rd. But their story was Louisville. Had to take care of business. At halftime, you're thinking, like, they can't let this happen. I know.

There's no way this happens again. They're going to finish ninth if they don't get this result. And they get the goal. and as you said, I would love to be a fly on the wall of the halftime. It was funny postgame, Bev Yanez and Haas were on the like post game interview together. And there was kind of like a look that went between them of like, yeah, we all know, we all know what happened. Like we'll all have that story for later. But as you said, Louisville, 24 shots, six of them on target.

Technically only one big chance, 1.5 XG from 24 shots. That's the way they play. And I thought early, there was a lot. little worry of like okay base fullbacks are getting inside channels there's a little bit of space when you beat louisville's press but we had sort of discussed last week what do they what does louisville do they have a couple options they have Weber or fisher up top they could play okay or not in midfield and it feels like right now that decision to play okay is the big one right her ability to press and put pressure on the game and keep them going forward and get them into the attack quickly

is really really key for this team and then has sincere are that's the threat right that's the attack the go-to attacking moment for them is getting those two players in space on the wings and i the thing that also makes it interesting with those two is sears can beat you one-on-one but she doesn't want the ball there she wants the ball in behind the back line and so you have that on the right side that on the left side you have hoss who yes can beat you in behind but also this is the best left-footed like one v-one the speed that she can get in a one-v-one going at somebody and being a left-footed player. I think she's up there in the league already with the qualities that she has.

And those are only going to get better because you can tell she's a footballer. And she plays multiple positions. She can play outside back as well, which I'm sure at some point that's going to be her spot in this league because your forward line is where you spend all your money. So I just think it's really interesting that you have someone that can check short and get the ball at the feet to then drive or get in beyond. and then you have this direct threat on the other side of Sears and it works perfectly with Beth. Let me try that again.

With what Bev Yanez wants to do with this Louisville team specifically. And you look at this team, you know, we had a conversation preseason as Louisville clinches the spot in the playoffs for the first time. So in their fifth year in the league, they finally are able to not only get above the line,

they get two spots above the line. They end up finishing seventh because of Gotham's loss and the way it goes. But you look at this club and we sort of had said in preseason, like, okay, they didn't make the playoffs last year and they didn't really do a lot

to change the group. And that's like one of the ways you can get better. It is on cohesion. Yeah. And to their credit on scouting. They got difference makers out of college soccer. They got difference makers who weren't national champions

and obvious players to maybe get in those spots. But Bethany Balser has, you know, didn't start the year with them, has been a non-factor most of the season. and Savannah de Millo going down with the disease and unavailable for them right now. And then they're able to put players into place who understand the system, understand what they've built, and are these young college graduates, you know, first, second year players that they've

leading on across the front three or four. And they are, they are a true unit. Like you can feel that they are all playing together. They understand the next motion. They understand the next action. and that's what's been able to elevate them into the playoff spot.

I would argue this team does not have one Superstar. And that's the identity. That's kind of the identity. Mm-hmm. Is like we want players who are going to work their butts off and that is going to be what we're about is the grit, the hard work,

the humble mentality, the blue-collar Louisville vibes. and it works. It works for them because they're all so bought in. And this is why when we talked to Kristen Hamilton a couple of weeks ago, she said like the difference maker and winning in NWSL is buying in. Does everybody buy in to what is set as the standard or what is set as the how you're going to play?

And they are bought in. Yeah. This is an unnecessary pushback. going to do it do it i do think that we have seen an elevation of emissiers's game that if it continues on that trajectory and not very far we're talking about okay this is top of the scouting report when you play against them and she's a guaranteed double-digit goal score every season the other is taylor flint who is awesome right but i think what i think of a superstar i think of someone who's like, sorry, not like a diva, but like it is more about them.

The team is built around what they do rather than what they do fitting into the team and the way it works, where I would say Taylor Flint is she's the perfect player for this. Yeah. We are seeing all of her attributes elevated because Louisville is set up to take advantage of it. And I think both of those players are great. I just, I guess my definition was different, like in my mind was different. like you're you're not like this flashy like even emma sears is not flashy like she scores a goal and she's like okay yeah yeah i don't know like and and i think so on the kickback show on tuesday after

we interviewed chris long we sort of did like here's sort of the rundown of what you should know if you haven't been paying attention and in terms of like stars to know and names to know i wanted to put taylor flint in because i'm a huge fan but like it was there was not an obvious louisville name to put in. And the biggest story around Louisville, which we should talk about here is Bev Jonez is the first person ever to now play in an NWSL playoffs and coach in an NWSL playoffs when they kick off on the weekend. I assume she won't be injured for that. So she won't be the coach of the game. And that's the biggest storyline around this team, which I think is great. And we had talked about her as coach of the year option. And because it's, it is now this 18 month

period where she found a system and built it in last year and kept players connected to it and believing in it through the off season into preseason into this year and even with the dips that they were able to get over the line it's a big moment for her it's a big moment for the club it's also a big moment for the league like this is the growth you want from a league that the players are becoming the next step of leadership absolutely and if they if that's what they want, right? That they have a pathway to go from playing on the field to coaching a team at a team that is in the playoffs. I am so happy that Bev is the person that did this too because she was the player that you wanted on your team. Like she did all

the little things right as a forward. She was excellent in her timing and her movement and was an awesome teammate and you can see some of the mentality that she had as a player transfer into how she's leading this team like right it's it's more about the unit than it is about the individual and that's how Bev played and it's just really cool to see that transfer and yeah she's been through a lot she's talking a lot about what she's been through over the last couple of years and it has not been easy I don't think that this is ideally the style of play that she said would say like hey I'm a coach and this is how I want to play but being a coach is also having to be a doubt you have to adaptable. And I think that that is what's been most impressive is how adaptable she is,

and she has been a leader that this team buys into. They want to play for Bev. They want to win for Bev. So I just, I'm so proud of her, and it's so cool to see her continue to set the standard for, you know, what's it going to look like for a player to coach in NWSL. And you were right to bring up the interview we did with Kristen Hamilton, of like, what creates winning? And she said pick a style, be committed to it. So it allows players to fit into it. And the ones that don't, maybe they'll no longer be a part of the group and maybe that's hard. But for the ones that do, it gives them a clear pathway of how to earn time and how to win.

Right. And that's what it feels like Louisville is doing. So a huge moment for them for North Carolina. They finish the year with a temporary coach. There's a lot of young talent that we like. We just went through. There's a lot to like about this team. it feels like they bumped up against some things right losing caroline coming into the year

and some of the other players it feels like north carolina sits in a band of spending an ambition that's maybe not equal to what some of the newer or more ambitious teams are pushing the league and they're trying to figure out how they win inside of that and it felt like they had landed on it internal trade for a jaden shaw right already have ashley sanchise and then going young and saying like, we're going to develop these young players. There was a blip this year. They let Sean Nejas go in the middle of the season, which throws everything back.

So there's a lot of question marks for this team. And I will note, the manager of the team, the owner, closed their USL championship team yesterday, told the players that they won't be playing for at least the next two or three years, released them from their contracts. That is not affecting NWSL. And the NWSL team has more capital in it

because they've brought it. in Lauren Holiday and the group that she's a part of to be potential owners of it. But it does sort of show that there are question marks right now of like, what is the viability in future in that region or in that market? And there's a lot to like about this team. Like they sold out the game. Yeah. And they have all these young players,

but they probably need to do a little more to help support them. And we're going to talk about that. We are going to break down all of the off seasons and everything that these teams need to do going forward. But we want to stay locked into the playoffs as we get there. So what we're going to do is we are going to run through based off the standings, not based off the schedule. And we're going to talk about each of these games and matchups and what we expect to see and what we are hoping to see and what we are excited about. So we're going to start at number one with Kansas City.

And the unexpected part of all of this, maybe the biggest surprise of the weekend is that Gotham is the one on the other side of things. The three seed last year and the postseason, they won the championship as a low seed two years ago going on a great. run, but the 3-2 loss, which I'm just going to keep calling 3-0 on Decision Day to North Carolina, drops them down to the 8-seed and this road game. For Kansas City, you were on the call. A 2-1 win against San Diego come from behind the first time that they've come from behind at home this season. They finished the year with 13 goals conceded across the whole year, which is the fewest

of any NWSL team, no matter the length of the season. so they've played more games than other teams played and they conceded less goals not per game on raw numbers wow it's wild and I going into that game it felt like there was a lot even though there was nothing in store for Kansas City right

like if they won it didn't really matter if they lost it didn't really matter but for San Diego they needed to win to get a home playoff spot so it felt like there teetered like towards San Diego when it comes to is it a must win but i felt like with losing time with shewinga this team is questioning their identity because you can't replace temwa this is a player who changes you know she just i think i said it earlier like she manifests

space on the field like she moves and everybody gets pulled towards her and it creates things for other players that nobody else can do on or off the ball so it quickly turned into like this has to be a good result for Kansas City, and then they go down to Golgoss. And so I think that this win might just feel like another win for some people when they look, oh, Kansas City won again. To me, this is one of their biggest wins of the season, heading into playoffs, getting things back right on track, because it wasn't just, Timwa is most likely still out again. To, Bia could be out as well, because Bia went out with an injury in the first half.

Yeah, so she went down with the injury, was taken off the field and walked directly into the locker room. And those are the two faces of the attack. I mean, it's hard to say that even because of how good this team is. Temuisha Winga is, to me, hands down, as you said, the most dangerous player in the league. She is the difference maker. She can be a one-of-one attack if necessary. Yeah. And Bia has been the gap this year, I think, between last year.

year, which felt very transition-based and less controlling in the attack to this year where it feels like if they sit deep, they can score in transition. If not, they can create chances against low blocks, which is probably what they're going to face if they play two or three playoff games and two of them being at home. And so Bia going off is a huge conversation, but then Devinia scores a free kick, which brings her into a sole possession of second place in NWSL for all-time career goals and Michelle Cooper helps lead the attack and Michelle Prince comes off the bench and it goes to show why even if they don't have their two superstars, this is still a team to be reckoned with. Absolutely. I think they're still everybody's frontrunners because they

have so much depth and their depth has contributed even this season to some of their success late in games. It's just now what type of roles will these players play and that that's going to be different than it was before. So instead of relying on showinga to create space, how do you utilize Debenia? How do you utilize Prince is Hopkins start? And I think that really all depends on your matchup. And now that they know they're playing Gotham, like these are the fun things that

they're going to get to figure out this week and really hone in on what's going to be best against this Gotham team who tends to play a pretty high line can but also is the second best team when it comes to defensive goals against this season yeah so for gotham of course the struggle in north carolina it was not maybe a full compliments of players for them they have a lot of players who came back from international duty they knew they had clinched a playoff spot they just didn't know where they would sit so no lily real rose level comes off the bench portio comes off the bench no esther which is a huge part of of all of this, who didn't even attend the Spain camp because of her injury.

So that's a huge factor going into this game. Sonnet, of course, came off the U.S. appearance. Brunini coming back from Brazil. So there was question marks across this Gotham team, but they just didn't look prepared for the moment. And maybe this is the shock they needed to wake themselves up and realize what this next level requires. These two teams faced off less than a month ago on October 11th.

It was a two zero win for Kansas City at home over Gotham. I thought Gotham looked okay in that game. We talked about it coming out of it. I was like, oh, I think Gotham can hang. I think they have potential. This was me expecting that to be a second round playoff game or maybe a championship game. And I think for Kansas City, this is like, it doesn't, I'm not sure that there's a huge factor, but this is kind of worst case scenario.

It's a fairly veteran team with a lot of talent in round one that you could, do better. You could do without having to have this experience. And as we sit today on Wednesday, Roosevelt is still healthy. And you talk about Kansas City losing their, their game changer. Well, Roosevelt is the game changer for Gotham. And really, when she's on the field, anything is possible, I think. And that's one of the reasons why it's so disappointing when she isn't available due to Knox or health reasons because she's the difference maker for this team. Now, I would say Esther can be that too. So if Aster and Schoenga both don't play in this game, Goss, it's much different than that game that we just saw a month ago in Kansas City just because of those two not being available. But I wouldn't want to play Gotham the first round of the playoffs. I think for this Kansas City team, they were probably shocked when they saw that Gotham fell all the way to eighth and now they have to face not just the veterans on this team. the best all-around goalkeeper as well in this league.

But they're going to be excited because they saw some weaknesses in this Gotham squad come on Decision Day. And there's a few ways to hit that. So Shawinga, abductor injury, missed the international break, was in the suite for this game. We didn't get clear if it was a playoff. Yeah, and we didn't get clear. Like, you know, sometimes coaches will say, like, if it was a playoff game, they would have played or they would play you know kansas city had nothing to play for so there was no reason to play showinga but they did also then play most of their starters so sort of under

trying to understand like where she sits and what the possibility is i think you have to assess this game without her i think it just yeah it just feels like there's too many question marks with bo we don't know what it looks like um and there are you know there are pieces that they can move around alley sentinor is a huge piece that that she can play as the 10 she can play on the wing she can play as a forward like you have a few different options michelle cooper is actually naturally a center forward i don't they'll move her at this point but i think all of it to me the x factor for this kansas city team is their ability to bypass midfield to have it whether it's de bina or sentanor and lola bonta and then a claire

hutton stepping into the attack and i think if they can move gotham centerbacks a little bit they'll be gaps and there'll be opportunities and that could be in transition or against a set defense but either way you watch this last game you watch the last few weeks the connection between emily son and jess carter is not strong enough i think to hold up with the lack of natural defensive ability around them and i think if you can put enough pressure on that part of the field you'll create chances if if i'm blakow and i'm picking my starting lineup elizabeth ball and Kayla Sharples are my two centerbacks. I think Sharples is much more comfortable on the left

and I actually think if you do the other things that I'm saying, she can help add to the quick transitions and with her ball playing skills with her left foot. I think I am not saying they're the same player, but I am saying when you look at player profiles, Prince is the closest profile to Schoenga. Debenia is the closest profile to Bia.

So in the second half when they had Bia, or sorry, Debenia up top, and Prince as a left, left winger. I think that's why they looked more like themselves. They felt more comfortable in those moments where they did drag and play players through. They could use prints over the top. Cooper could isolate and do whatever she wants over on that side. It felt like those were the and and Sharples was on the left. I wouldn't mess with it. You're already messing with too many other things that that feels like the most comfortable this team can be going into a win or go

home and you don't want your first loss this year at CPKC to be in the playoffs no absolutely not uh i think that makes a lot of sense the one that i would question or figure out is do you put sentinor as the center forward because what we've seen in the past is de bina gets lost when she plays as that quote unquote center forward where i think i just want her facing goal more often and if you don't have shawinga and bia and you're looking for goal scoring from Debiania it's more likely she'll score coming out of that number 10 role but it may be better for the team set up yeah she's playing as the nine to help a michel cooper and a nechelle prince or or whoever it is get into attacking spots which i don't know the answer to any of that and i think

you have to figure it out sentinor can stretch the field like she has breakaway speed and that also can open up some space for you then the flip side for gotham is like how do you play play do you sit in and say well any break is midge purse or portio or jaden shaw or rose level in transition i don't know that this team is built to mean to sustain the pressure and be able to hold up but the other option feels pretty scary which is trying to stretch your lines and push the game yeah gotham has to be the most mindful when they're playing out of the back because this is a team that wants to play, but they have shown, I would say,

in the last three games, that they are susceptible to high pressure, giving the ball away and careless positions and it costing them. We just saw it with that Monaco goal in the last game. So how they play out of the back, I think will be vital and how much care they play. Like, you don't have to overplay here.

Like sometimes maybe the right move is just to play it and behind this back line of Kansas City and then go counterpress. And don't get too stretched, but make sure that you play it into the corner and you go lock in. Because one of Gotham's X Factor's Goss is the way that they press and is the way that they can get numbers in and around the ball. So it without, you know, I think this game looks a lot different without the players that we, I don't know, I don't know as Sarah what's going on with her. I don't know what's going on with Schuenga. But let's just say those two don't play.

this game for both teams looks much different and I think it will be a little bit more like back and forth like Gotham has control for 15 minutes Kansas City has control for 15 minutes it's going to be one of those types of games it's a hard one to pick which it shouldn't be for an 8-1 but the injuries and the question marks make it that and it's going to be a fun matchup Casey you know they are the behemoth right now in the league so the expectations on their shoulders the energy will be in the building you know because that's never in question do we do picks is that the thing we should do um sure we'd never discuss this we did it who do you have winning kansas city i also have kansas city i think it gets harder as we go along yeah i don't think this was going to be the hard one yeah uh for this let's go to the two seven game and congratulations once again to louisville for jumping over gotham it earns them a chance to travel to rowdy for the playoffs which has been a fortress over the last few years and is hoping to be so once again Washington went on the road and lost one zero at Utah in a game that both teams had nothing to play for Washington was locked into

the two seed in Utah was locked out of the playoffs it was a less than full strength Washington team they didn't even have the full option of players off the bench for this game that traveled and were available for them I think they had two goalkeepers on the bench too yeah it was very much a how can we pretend we're playing in this game but then at the same time like rebecca burne all starts who's been in and out with injury and is arguably the most important player at times like yeah there were some weird stuff in this one i have to admit it was not the one i was laser focused on as i was watching thanks for being honest soccer games at the same time at the same time um and then of course louisville the one zero win over bay so on the injury front or so sorry, first, these two teams have played twice this year, the most recent one, August 15th, a two-two tie in Washington. Louisville had an own goal that Rebecca Bernal scored and then scored a penalty kick. Pretty late on to take a two-one lead. And then Rose Kowasi had a stunning goal in the 90th plus 10 to tie the game to two. And then they played all the way back in April.

And it was a two-zero win for Washington in Louisville. But Corey Bethune was listed as a thigh injury for this game. Lacey Santos was an illness. And then Rose Coasey and Giff Monday were, quote, excused absences for the previous game for this Washington team. And then on the Louisville side, no new injuries to worry about. They've obviously lost, you know, Savannah de Millo for this season and have had some other pieces that have been unavailable. But none of that is new to what they are going into this weekend. it's a fascinating game for a couple reasons my big one is we know who louisville is and washington

has a little bit of metamorphosis in their game they can be a transition team they can be high possession it seems obvious how you'd play louisville but i don't know if that's natural for a home playoff game to kick things off and i'm not quite sure what washington team we will see when you say it's obvious how you would play louisville how would you play them I would probably try and sit in and make them have the ball and try and break me down. And then if I'm especially Washington, I would try and get a Rose Cawesi or Croybuthun or Trinney Rodman into transition with one-v-one opportunities. My feeling would be that if they came out and played high and in possession had to push a

couple numbers, that at some point I could get a Mickey-Oan or a Bernal ball into one of the channels. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a really good thought. But wrong. No, no, no, I don't think it's wrong. I think Washington, the hardest thing is to pick how they're going to look is just Adrienne Gonzalez has tweaked a lot of things. And he looks at the matchup and he changes things every game. So they could very well do that.

And I think they have the defensive wherewithal to hold that type of like be disciplined enough. and I would say start in a mid-block and don't high-press the back line of Louisville make them be the playmakers and then you pick off the ball and you get the ball to Croix Bethune in space because I don't know thigh doesn't seem too egregious to me

thigh sounds like I'm ready to play in the playoffs and not against Utah at altitude but I'm just saying I'm just saying and you get Croy Bethune in that spot where she's great in transition and then she has options right So I don't think that that's a bad look for Washington at home because they have played like that. They are one of the best teams in that mid block where their pressure doesn't come until maybe the top of the circle in the opponent's half.

And you have to know that Louisville is going to want to win first and second ball. So you have to be up for the dog fight. and they're going to try to jump passes, get a foot on anything that's going through the passing lane. So playing up and over wouldn't be a bad solution. There are so many lineup options for this Washington team, and that all goes into their flexibility. Is it Nerumi in central midfield? Does Lacey Santos get a start? If she does, is it out wide?

Is it central? Is it Cantori up top? Is it not? Well, now Bernal's healthy, too. So is Bernal Central? She drops in. You play through a three back. Your outside backs get forward.

Both of them at the same time. I don't know. And then is it Avidian as a fullback or a center mid or not playing? There's a lot of, yeah, there's a lot of options for this Washington team. It is the luxury they have built themselves. But in all of that, there has to be that decision of like, this is who we want to be. And this is how we want to play. I think the dogfight is key to.

like Washington has to be up for the game, right? They didn't have a decision day game they cared about. What do the first 15 minutes look like is going to, I think, feel very telling. This could be an upset. That's how I feel as well. It's also these are the only two teams, Washington and Kansas City, where it's like, if Portland loses at home to San Diego. The other two don't feel like upsets or Seattle beating Orlando.

Right. It's hard to say that. This one feels like the big one. Louisville's unknown. So one, what do they look like in the playoffs? But also it feels like they just played a playoff game or five or ten. And then the other is how Washington reacts to it. And I think back to last year of like Washington going to the playoffs riding high and then just how tight the game got.

Right. And they struggled to score goals. They had to score late goals. They needed PK shootouts. Like the two home games they played last year were not easy and they were not indicative of the last two months of the season and the way they were. we're playing in the regular season. So in that way, I feel like it's going to shift. And in that shift, it might open up space for Louisville to sort of dictate the tempo

and dictate the feel. And if that's the case, is Louisville more comfortable in this game? And in 55 minutes in, are you looking at it saying, okay, it's been Louisville's game, which is a best case scenario for them. And if your spirit, you don't want to go to penalties because Jordan Bloomer is proven this year that she will stop a penalty or two or three or whatever. Yes, absolutely. Um, on top of all of that, though, sometimes these games come down to special players and match winners and Washington's full of them and we just, we just talked about how great Louisville is as a unit, but not having that one individual who's capable of that special moment. Um, to me, this is a Croy Bethune game. Like if she is in transition moments, she's one of the best in the world. And it's, you know, box office must watch, but it's, it's effective. And if not, if not,

not we've seen how dangerous she can be on the edge of the box connecting beating one player in tight space um and that's where lacey santos running off of her kawesi stretching space for her narumi coming around and being an option as well like there's a lot of ways this team can go about it um last year in the playoffs one of the things they didn't have was the option off the bench as a center forward right ash had to start they didn't have ule sar if kentori's coming off the bench or if Giff Monday's coming off the bench like they have that extra 10% maybe to get over the line

so I think this is the most potential for an upset but I'm picking Washington me too I know we're boring we're going to be boring I know but I'll just say I won't be surprised if Louisville wins it will it would feel like

I don't know I just there's something about this team this year that in my bracket that I had to submit for NWSL. I chose Washington, but I had this little Eric Krakauer voice in my head that he told me before we left Vista on Sunday. I don't know.

I think Louisville's going to beat Washington, and now I can't stop thinking about it. Yeah. There's a famous scene from, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Do you watch that show? No, but tell me anyway. One of the characters turns to the other one.

He goes, I'm playing both sides. That way I always come out on top. And they're like, you're not supposed to tell us. That's kind of, I just want it to be known that if Louisville wins, I'm not surprised. So I kind of picked Louisville. But no, I feel that way as well. I think this is the game I'm most excited for because the atmosphere in Audi is great. Yeah.

The quality on the field is great. And the potential for this clash of styles and like the fireworks. I mean, K.C. Gotham's going to be scrappy as well. Like, it's going to feel like a playoff game. But like this one, it feels like is going to. be with the crowd on top of things it feels like it's going to be special and we just haven't we talked about audrey and gonzalez maybe not being eligible for coach of the year right but i really enjoy how he coaches his team i think he really has such a mindful and like his the tactics are

always on point as to whoever they're playing and i'm interested to see what he comes up with to play louisville yeah this is going to be fun it is going to be a big game game. Let's move to the three six seed, which ends up being Portland. So the Portland Thorns, who we had preseason picked 14th in the league, are able to finish 13th. We didn't pick him last. We picked them. Okay. Yeah, 13th. Uh, they ended up finishing. Sorry. Why, listen, if we stay within that 10 spot range, we're okay. Yeah. As long as you're within 10, if it was 11, it would have been embarrassing. But within that 10 spot, it was a 2-0 victory over the Houston Dash to close out the regular season.

Dania Casayanos gets the goal, which is big for this team because she has that X factor that and a little bit of experience as well. Not a lot of the attackers on this team can say the same. And of course, San Diego closing out the regular season with the two one loss at Kansas City that we already talked about a bit. Big note coming into this is Olivia Moultrie has signed a contract extension with the Portland Thorns through 2029. So the young attacker who feels like she's on the verge of being.

a permanent fixture in the national team. She chooses to make this club her future. This is all within the context of we believe Sophia Wilson is coming back to this team next year. And they have a couple other players that are going to be coming off injury. But this is a young, exciting group. Olivia Miltry is probably the most exciting of them. And I think for the club, really big to see that that foundation's in place.

Yeah. And the Kaya Hanks and Rylenternet, all these other players around her have the opportunity to sort of continue to play off of her and they can all grow together. Yeah. Just a note, like Sophia Wilson, we have no idea. She's a free agent too.

Yeah. In the middle of this. So like, for Portland to lock down mulchry, I think is gigantic for them. Great. What a story. And she just continues to get better and better.

This is going to be interesting because the last time these two teams played, the first half, it was like San Diego, actually for the majority of the game, game. I felt like San Diego played Portland off the field. It was the best game San Diego played, maybe the second half of the year. Yeah. And they gave up a late goal. It wasn't a late goal or when, yeah, Terranera is off

of a set piece or something. She came in back post and put the ball away. It'll be interesting because a San Diego, a little bump in the road in this last weekend, but they've been playing really well, creating kind of the same. amount of chances, but the chance, the quality of those chances is better, if that makes sense. So same amount of chances, better quality. And they feel a little bit like they've got their groove back in some ways. I would say at least the first half of that last game against Kansas City they did. And the question is, is who's going to be, like, I think for all these teams, it's like, who's going to be available? And for Rob Gale and the Portland Thorns, that's been

kind of the case all year. I don't think M.A. Vignola played in that game. She did not. Which you bring in this player who is going to really help you in attack and then you don't have her out there. And she's been great. She's been great. I think that would be really rough.

But I would say in general, both of these teams want to have the ball, San Diego, a little bit more aggressively than Portland. So can Portland utilize their best threat? which has been Raylan Turner all season long. Like they're going to have to find a way to withstand not having the ball for long periods of time. And then where's Moultrie? Where's Turner? And how quickly can they connect with one another?

So on this game from the previous matchup that they played, which is on September 20th, Kennedy Wesley got a red card in the 41st. Jaden Perry scored a PK in the 98th minute. Oh, that's not their most recent. That was the one at San Diego, and then they played at Portland. This was on September 20. They played since September 20th?

No. Are you sure about that? No, you're correct. This is May 10th. Okay. Your memory is so much better. Because I called that game, too, and it was a silly, silly, silly, it was Pearl Moroni trying to dribble out of the defensive third with like two minutes

left in the game, took a long touch, took out a player. It's a tackle insider box, and they got a penalty and tied the game. so they love a dramatic game what are you doing Savannah McCaskill scored a goal in this one from distance who obviously has been unavailable which has been big and yes Rainer Reyes free kick from the top of exactly on the top of the box off the crossbar yeah and then oh sorry didn't take the free kick

that's why right she followed up and she followed up yeah I will just say the midfield for Portland is so crucial yeah so crucial and we've talked to rob gale before like how the midfield goes this team goes i think this will be a really big game for sam coffee like how does she lead this team because they're not going to have the ball very off very much and that's a difficult place to be in and she i think i think she's the best six in the world right now which is not a relevant statement to what i'm about to say but the balance between do i close down or do I manage the field of who's closest and who's going to close her down? That's going to be

the balance. Like how does she help Jesse Fleming and Olivia Mould be difference makers in that part of the field and keep things organized without going to win it? Because if she goes to win it, she will. But what happens around you? Does Cascarino come into that space? Does a second ball if you do win it bounce back out and now you're exposed in transition the other way? Like those are all the factors of what can happen to you because that's how good this you know that that's how good um san diego's midfield yeah can be yeah um and i think that's the clear like position to watch and and understand for san diego the other thing that just pops out is who do they choose a center forward what's the rotations across the front of the attack a lot of just

it feels like there you had a lot of young players that you relied on and there was so much pop to their game in Gia Corley and Kimiascano and all these players early in the season. And the games have gotten harder and harder for them, which makes sense. Like, it's more games on your body. There's more tape on you. There's more pressure. And can any of them elevate? Because the feeling I felt like coming out of last week is like, okay, Cascarino is still a difference maker. Yeah. Do Genia can be? Like, is there enough help there for them to take advantage of the chances that could fall to them. Corley is a 10. And I think this team looks, better when they have a specific 10.

Like, if they play Leon up top as the 9 and Asconio as the 10, I think Asconio can do so many things that she actually doesn't do what they need her to do as the 10 in that spot. Whereas Corley does what they need her to do as the 10, but she doesn't produce like a 10. Two goals, two assists. The two goals came, I think in the first three games of the season and back-to-back games. The two assists came more recently.

But I would agree. I think Fazera has stepped up and has become the six that they need without Savannah McCaskill has to be a little bit more careful in playing the ball. Like she has to make sure her passes connect, just especially with the way that Jesse Fleming presses. Dolly is elite, but Corley needs to find a finished product because you have either, I don't know, will they start a sconio?

It depends on, it depends on where they, think the game is going to be played and in where they want it. If you want some space in behind, you start Adriano Leon, right? If you want to utilize that space. If you want to play into your nine and a little bit more target and her to play as a duel, 10 at times, I think you play Escanio. I've really liked what she's been able to do and has had leaps and bounds, like has grown leaps and bounds over this year. And then you have threats on both the wings. And that's where you really feel like the San Diego team has found their mojo again is because their rotations are there.

They can overload and isolate from one side to the other and be successful no matter if that's on the right side or the left side. Yeah. It is, we said this coming down the stretch. It's fascinating where I think in totality, it's been a good year for San Diego. If they win this playoff game, it's like no questions asked. And here's the keys to the car and like just keep building in the same direction.

if it's like what we saw last year with Chicago and I can't remember the other one of like first playoff game blown out like there's a gap between you and everyone else and you leave with a sour taste in your mouth I don't think it's going to be that drastic though I would be surprised if it was yeah but like if it is that but then that creates the if it happens it comes out of nowhere and therefore are we reassessing like where do we stand I just think there's a lot of different ways this could go um and it could have been a six three game in the other direction like that's how tight these teams were in the regular season they both had their spells of positive play but then they both had a lot where they struggled and it's real i think it just comes down to that like

who is the team that comes in and plays this like their best form of the season and who's the team that comes in and plays this on the opposite side of things military will be huge turners had bright spots. Yeah. Tornins has bright spots. All of them have had big moments in the season, but it hasn't been consistent. And who will it be, um, this weekend will be really, really big for these two teams. Do you have a selection?

San Diego. Ooh. We can't just go chalk across the board. I'm going to go with Portland. Otherwise, we're going to be the same going forward. By the way, for everyone, if you've been part of our Bractober, um, competition, we've had picks that people have been putting. in everyone put in for MLS,

USL Championship, USL League 1. If you miss the other ones and you just want to do NWSL, that's okay because you could win the NWSL category, which would get you some swag. If you've already done the other three, make sure to do your NWSL one because it means you could win the total prize,

which is a $200 spending spree with your favorite local club that we will fund. Also, can I just say if you are in that USL championship one, like is anybody's brackets together? that's been wild me me and sues both made the same mistake with which worked out really well for us so the way it works for anyone who hasn't done it and is thinking of doing it for nwesl is because the leagues can't be compared one to one because there's a different amount of playoff teams and all of them rounds games whatever we've done tiers and you have to pick a team in each tier and you get points for that team advancing but because we do it that way in theory you can pick teams who play against each other me and sues both accidentally chose or purposefully i don't know charleston and rhode island who played each other so we both at least got one team into the next round but you you get more points the lower the tier team is and then you pick one team that you can get double points for so the one that you feel best about or that tier that you

feel best about i think with this one we have Washington and san diego or kansas city as the top tier i think we had three teams in the middle tier and then everyone else at the bottom yeah so you have to choose like what do you what's your sort of game theory on that or what i sat with was like do i just pick kansas city try and double it up and feel like i'll be right and get to the end so it is a it is an interesting one they'll get your brain no working it does i'm going to pick portland in this one let's get to our final game which is a rematch orlando against seattle they faced off on decision day and they do so once again so it was a one one tie on decision day in orlando our understanding was Seattle had their international players travel directly into Orlando last week

so that they could train there and they brought all their stuff to stay if they were going to play on the East Coast, which it ended up being in the same city. I think Laura Harvey's been in Orlando for like 10 days now and we'll spend a little bit more time there. I think she went to Disney World with her new assistant coach named Chat GPT, which has become its own conversation on its own side of things and we'll see tactically what they can cook up for. for this second matchup. And so these two teams play to the one-one draw with Portland's victory in San Diego's loss.

They get locked into the four or five seats and Orlando will host Seattle once again. Huge note from the first matchup, five days ago, that Ali Watt was injured in warm-ups. So she was originally on the starting lineup. She goes down. Julie Doyle replaces her in the starting lineup. And we do not have an update

on whether or not Ali Watt will be available for this. team. So that is a really, really big piece for this Orlando group. And I think dictates a bit of the starting lineup. You could see how it affects them over the first 45 minutes of the game. Although I will say, I thought Marta stepped up and filled a lot of that void by making vertical runs off the wing and being an option over the top to try and stretch out Seattle's shape a little bit. Yeah. I was going to say, I know I got an email from Orlando while we were filming this. There might be an Allie Watt in the Seb Hines talking to local media,

but we haven't had a chance to listen to it. So I don't know what's going on with Allie Watt. I think it's a difference maker, right? And they've already been hit with Barbara Banda not being able to play from the middle of the season on. So then to lose Watt, who is it similar to Barber Banda as you can get? I think they started to find a little bit of cohesion. And then it just gave stability to rolls around, right?

Like you could play Ovaya on the right. You could have Marta on the left. But you said it before last week, Goss, that Marta has to have really big performances for Orlando if they're going to, one, make, like have a good ending game of the year, but two, in the playoffs, she's going to have to be huge. And she, it felt that way earlier. this game orlando five undefeated to close the year is what it ends up at as the Seattle

but not a lot of wins in there for the two teams uh yeah the opening 30 40 minutes i mean martha puts the goal a ball in the back of the net 10 minutes into the game that gets called back um but you know she's played us a 10 she's played a center forward she's a winger like she knows what to do in space if you can get her the ball there and the question with this team is just yeah it just feels like there's a lot of attacking responsibility on her shoulders and where does she find the game and what role can she play for them and um Seattle found their feet as this game went along but they sat so deep when this game opened I mean McCall Zeroney on the call was like if you're a defensive midfielder in a with a five man back line you cannot be sitting in

the lap of your centerbacks because you're not splitting them in possession yeah and there was times where me official was within 20 yards of her defensive box as the most advanced player like this was a game that Seattle didn't really come to play and I don't know if that's end of the regular season we don't really know what you know what are we playing for how much are we putting out there but even with the result I feel fairly strongly that Orlando was much more impressive and goes into this game with much more positivity this is where I'm really excited that they're playing each other again because you don't want to show all your cards like that they very much knew that this could have been the result that we saw right because if somebody else won if portland

one or san diego one they would have jumped them both but if they each got a point they would have kind of stayed in the same they would have stayed right next to each other so there was a couple of scenarios where this was going to be the game that they ended up playing yeah call me crazy I know chat GPT said play a five back, but I think the Seattle team can go 433, use Dahlene higher, change everything up to play this one game, score a goal early with a different look, say, all right, we're just going to look way different than we looked in the last game, kind of try to punch first, and then sit back and defend. I agree with you because to me I'm looking at this team saying how do you get Dalian back in the team like she is she's been one of the best rookies and she's she doesn't do anything in this formation because unless she's called upon and like the crazy way that their games have been ending where they find a couple of chances and they score them both right but you have where to you have Curry in this team that's going to play as a wing back which is where Dalin has played a bunch of this year and

has been the lone X factor in some of those games. But she needs to be in the team. She makes the game happen for them in ways that they're just not having with other players, whether that's down to personnel or tactics, you know, like, yeah, if you're playing five in the back and you're sitting fairly deep and Mesa is close to the back line, like there's just not a lot of options. Yeah. But if there's space, then Dahlene can be dangerous in that space.

And if there isn't, she's still a factor with her runs off the ball that you have to track. and you have to chase. So I agree with you. I would be shocked to see Laura Harvey do it. It just doesn't feel like over the last two years. She takes risks like that. Like it feels very much, how can we set up,

manage the game, manage the moment, and get something special, whether it's against the runner-player onset pieces or late on just fish lock coming off the bench or got a start on Decision Day as well. And like, can we get a second ball and win a battle?

Which Orlando is, struggles to score so much that you're going to be in the game like you're not getting blown out if that's how you go about things worse you're probably trailing one zero in the 75th minute and then you can try and change things up and tactics go out the window and it becomes an effort and energy and focus moment and maybe there's enough in there for you but the longer this game goes draw like a draw or nil-nill-nill i think seattle gets the upper hand especially with how Claudia Dickey's been playing in goal. You think, I mean, this game feels like penalty kicks to me.

Yeah, I would agree. Could this be one where Jordan Heitima pops up? Like, she can be a factor in the box, hasn't finished at the rate you would like. Also, what do we get from Ovaya? Like, you watch the last game and it's like, okay, you get the news. Broadcast says it as the TV comes out, but obviously we don't know. And it's like, okay, so it's Avaya and Marta. like that's where it is and i think the expectation is we're going to see the best of ovae

a next season like it takes time to settle in new country new league new team all of that but they bought her for a reason and between these two teams like Orlando's still one of the best defensive teams in the league that's going to be their core that's their base mccutcheon has done so much in the attack but i think that's because they're sort of looking at it saying someone else needs to get involved we need you to be yeah yeah we need overwhelming numbers we need a third runner we need the fourth runner, whatever it is, and Ovae and Marta, the two that are capable of it as individuals. So coming off a one-one draw on Decision Day, the rematch in the playoffs, what's your pick? Seattle.

Yeah, I'm going to go with Orlando. I went all chalk on this one. Normally, I'm like a big upset person. That means the chalk means the higher seed. Yes. I don't know why. I don't know what the basis of that is. Yeah, I don't know.

Um, yeah, I'm going, I'm going to Seattle. All right. Well, we're going to find out on the weekend. So the first game, this game is Friday night on prime. Then we've got noon on Saturday and then a double header on Sunday noon and 3 p.m. Eastern time. All these games, if tied, extra time and penalty kicks based off what we've seen over the last few years in the postseason. That's not unlikely.

Uh, the game gets tight in the playoffs. It's single game elimination. It's a totally different style of soccer than what we see in the regular season. And what we saw this year was outside of Kansas City, the margins are really, really tight. And all of these teams have the potential to get a victory. So we're excited for all of that. And we'll be back with you next week for some NWSL coverage. We've got MLS playoffs as well.

We've got U.S.L championship and U.S.L. League one, which we've been covering all of them, all across the board. And then we've got World Cup qualifying around the corner on the men's side coming up next week. So we'll talk about that. We've got a lot going on across soccer-wise and the kickback show. So thank you to all of you for listening. You, Jordan, for being here. We'll talk to you all again very soon.