SoccerWise - Upsets Across NWSL, Louisville Injury Concerns & Weekend Preview Of Some Must Watch Games

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

NWSL made sure we all understood this weekend THAT WE KNOW NOTHING! Jordan and David jump in to make sense of all the wild results this weekend. Then they dig into Louisville's up and down season in light of their current injury woes. Finally they dig into a massive weekend of games coming up.9:30 Chicago Surprise Gotham15:15 Angel City Upset Washington At Row-di29:05 Young Thorns Take Down Orlando32:25 Louisville Limping Through The Season38:45 Chicago vs Spirit Preview42:55 Courage vs Orlando Preview51:20 San Diego & Thorns Must Watch Game Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What is up everybody? Welcome back to Soccer Wise. David Goss and Jordan Angeley with you for another big show. We have a ton to talk about from the weekend that was in NWSL. We've got some unfortunate injury news to dig into and how it affects their teams. And then we've got a huge weekend coming up with some interesting matchups, maybe unexpectedly big time matchups

because of the wild and wacky nature of this league. Jordan, you were not on last week because like classic youth soccer style, you did like a full tournament this weekend, right? Two games a day, you had orange slices in between, you must've felt like very much back at home. Yes, it was like a youth soccer tournament. I had four games, which was a lot to prep for.

I think once you're there and you're doing the game, it's all the same, right? You're just calling what you see in front of you and trying to be more alert and aware of what's going on. But the prep for it was a lot. And so I was like, I'm going to, guys, I'm going to have to tap out. I'm going to have to tap out. I didn't have orange slices, but my new obsession is poppies. I think I've told you that, right? The drink, the poppies. Oh, like the healthy soda?

Yes. And I'm not like a big, I haven't, I don't drink soda. Yeah. So the fact that I like these and you should see my fridge right now. It's like, what's your flavor? There's multiple flavors. I like the Dr. Pop is one of my favorites. It's like Dr. Pepper. Okay. The orange cream is delicious. I like the cherry cola. And then there's a raspberry. I've heard people say raspberry rosé. I think it just reads raspberry rose, but it doesn't taste like rose. So those are my four favorite.

I don't have a fifth. That sounds like most of the flavors. I think you've once you've gone through the full brand. There's so many. There's so many. I am. I'm trying to get one of our segments sponsored by Poppy so that we can just sip them as we There's so many. Full brand. There's so many. There's so many. I am. I'm trying to get one of our segments sponsored by Poppy's so that we can just sip them as

we talk about all things NWSL. If anyone works for Poppy Soda that is listening right now, reach out to me at Soccerwise HQ. If not, I'm about to start digging in and looking for this because this is the dream. Do you like all those soda flavors, non-poppies? Were you like, oh, I used to drink Dr. Pepper and orange cream and all that? I would say, okay, my favorite soda, I'm just not a big soda, but if I want a soda, I either want a cream soda, I love cream soda, or a Dr. Pepper. But then I would have like two sips because they're so sweet and I'm like, I'm good.

I don't want any more. So that's where it's nice. These poppies, I can drink the whole thing. And those are like my treats. I think I had one before every game, which made it way more doable. Gave me a little bit of energy, some happiness. I just love you, Poppy. Yeah.

Wow. Love. That is an intense word. It's deep. It is deep. I really do. It's real. I'm also not a soda drinker.

I associate soda with some meals, so then I crave them in those moments where it's like, oh, basically anytime I eat fast food, which is not that often, I want a Dr. Pepper because you always would get a drink with it for free and then you'd have to pick one and that's the one I picked and then it would just be associated. I love how you said you got it for free. It's part of the meal that you pay for, but it's free.

But it comes, so I'm going to drink it. Yeah, you're right, I could've saved money by not getting the meal and just ordering the two things that I was already gonna eat. So that's like most of my soda, and then I've adopted a bit as like road trip, try and wake you up type energy boost. So I'm-

Because you're not a coffee drinker. I am a coffee drinker, but only in more select moments. Like if I drink five coffees, or if I drink a coffee drinker, but only in more select moments. Like if I drink five coffees or if I drink a coffee, you know, you're driving at 11pm, I will get the shakes and I will freak out and it's less ideal. So if I'm trying to manage that, that's when I do. But I drink coffee every morning and now living in Miami, I'm trying to learn to drink coffee more casually. We had this conversation last year when I first got here where I didn't know about Cuban

coffee and I almost lost my mind and I actually didn't drink it. I have only had it one time since. I don't think I can. I don't think I'm strong enough. At Vista, some of the workers there will make Cuban coffees and they'll just be sitting on the station that you can just go through the cafeteria area and if you choose, you can have it. Unfortunately, my games are at 10 PM and I feel like if I drank that at 8 PM, I would

just be going all night. You would run back to Denver at the end. Yeah, I know. If I had an early game and they were available, I would definitely partake because they are good because these guys really know what they're doing. But what's so confusing to me is the cup is so small. What's the enjoyment? You know, like you can't sip on that.

And so I don't like when I travel, especially in Europe, I'll drink like 900 espressos because I find that there's less caffeine. I'm sure there's some research behind this of like the caffeine that gets added and doesn't get added. So I have this theory that there's less caffeine. So I'll drink 500 of them. And it's a bit of an experience. Like you go, you stand at the counter,

you sit at the cafe, that I get. The Cuban coffee, I'm like, so do you sit around with a thimble and everyone takes one sip and then walks away? Like there's no experience in that besides the fact that your heart feels like it's gonna pump out of its chest. I think everyone's very happy about this conversation.

I think so too. Thanks for joining us guys. I feel fortunate that you didn't have to hear me scream about the Knicks like I did yesterday or learn how poorly I make salsa. If you listened yesterday, I would like to say I appreciate everyone's feedback. I got a lot of advice of how to make salsa. I will try to do better next time and I will report back. That is my promise. My hope is that next time we do this, we'll have our third co-host with us, two-time Olympic gold medalist

and arguably the greatest skier of all time, Mikaela Schifrin, because she is technically best friends with us now, right? Is that what's happening? Yes. And everybody knows Soccerwise is for Denver. So yeah, what a good announcement, right? We have a really solid foundation of who our ownership group was. And now we get to add in some really fun pieces like Michaela Schifrin, who I've had the chance to meet a couple of times. And she's just for someone who's won everything. Like she's won everything.

What is she over a hundred World Cups? She's won. Which is the record now. Yeah, it's, it's ridiculous. She's so humble and sweet and personable. I'm really excited to have her as a part of the ownership group and we're not done yet, Gus. We're not done yet.

So I'll just say that. Wow. Should we start going through a list of celebrities from the Denver area that we should know? If I blink, then that means. Okay. Good to know. Mikaela Schifrin's a legend. And as you said, awesome human being, incredible Olympian, and will be hopefully skiing next year in Milan.

And then I think the next Winter Olympics is in Salt Lake City, right? I think you're right. It's coming back to the U.S. All the big sports are coming, by the way. We think the 2031 Women's World Cup is coming. We're not 100% sure. We're only 99% sure. 2028 LA Olympics, then you've got Salt Lake City and obviously 2026 Men's World Cup.

So the United States is becoming the center of the world in the sports world and Mikhail Sheffrin will be a part of for Denver to promote that the entire way, which of course, as it says on the bottom of our live YouTube show, if you want to listen, if you're listening via podcast, you can come there anytime the show stays up or you can watch it live. It says Soccer Wise is For Denver. I every week do a weekend recap show on Mondays that drops. It just gives you the highlights of what went down on the weekend. Maybe I'll dig in a little bit to one of the bigger storylines. This week, my opening line for the opening segment, which was about NWSL,

was that we know nothing. We approach things in NWSL and we say, okay, this is what's starting to become the realities. These are the top teams. These are the teams that have established themselves as powerhouses. These are teams that are struggling and In this weekend the top four teams all failed to win three of them lost one of them drew Gotham drew at home to Chicago Washington lost that home and Both Orlando and Kansas City went to Cascadia and lost 1-0 one on on Friday night, one on Saturday night. In a vacuum, each of those results you can sort of explain. Altogether, I think there was this feeling of what is going on in this league? What do we really know? I will ask you this, of the four results

coming out of the weekend as you look back, or maybe during it while you were calling some of these games or watching, which of them maybe shocked you the most or was it just the total amount? The one that shocked me the most has to be the Chicago result. Okay. Because Chicago has been leaky. They don't score a lot of goals. So you're hoping that you can just rely on your good defense to stop Gotham, who Esther was on a streak.

She had scored seven goals in four games. Like not even in seven games to start the season, which is true, right? Seven goals in seven games. But it was actually only four games that she had scored seven goals. And the fact that this Chicago team who was on the back of losing their head coach during the middle of the week to going to Gotham, playing an early game there, a lot of things had to go right and I felt like for them they really frustrated Gotham and that to me, if I look at all the other teams, I would say, okay, yeah,

I could see that result happening. But with this one, I just didn't think they had it in them to get that result. And it was a really good point for them. And it felt like a strengthening point. Like, okay, we can have a shutout. We can not give up goals. And they kind of needed to, they kind of needed to know that with the way that the season started. I think Sam Stopp came out of it and said,

like, it's, we're moving in the right direction. If we play that way, we'll be okay. So to have a defender of that experience, I think who's, who's dealt with a lot of chaos, not just her injury, but the way the team has been structured around her. To say that I think sort of shows you her feeling internally of this was better. Like this was an identity that we can live on. It was obviously Masaki Hemi's debut as interim manager. We don't know how long that title will last,

or maybe that will be the full-time manager. We don't know anything really coming out of it, but I think for me, I didn't watch this game live and it was one of those, Gotham's going to win early on Sunday, San Diego Bay will finish the weekend. That's like kind of how it felt as you look through the schedule. Yeah, absolutely. And it felt like that even, I would say as I was calling the game, one of the things that shocked me at a certain amount of time, I can't remember, it was in the first half, but I look at the possession stats and it was nearly equal for both of these teams and that was pretty shocking

to me. Granted, I don't know, sometimes you get these day games that just feel a little wacky. It felt like everything was off for Gotham. They didn't have Jess Carter, another player in their back line where they have been so solid in their back line, but now they're losing a player it feels like every week to a short or long-term injury and then they're shuffling and reorganizing. It just felt like they lacked their connectivity and their ability to truly be themselves

because there were a lot of players in different positions. But I think for Chicago, I saw them keep the ball more than I ever have. I thought Jamis Joseph continued to look pretty good at being a target and on the dribble, creating either finding Ludmila. They should have scored a minute into the game. Yeah. It should have been one to nothing Chicago.

And if it was, I wonder how the game would have ended up because do they then let down a little bit, uh, because they had the lead? I don't, I don't know. We'll never know, but I just thought there were a couple of really good individual performances in the Chicago team that allowed them to keep possession, look like they want to be. I mean, they've always said this, but they want to be a little bit more ball dominant. And there was some good moments for them, I would say, after what really minus one bright

spot in that Bay victory has been a pretty dreary start to the season. They finished on 43% possession. I think overall for the game, I think it was 46 at halftime and their season average is 40. Yeah. So like what you're saying is exactly what it was, which is it wasn't elite, but it was better for them. And I think that some of what Sam Stopp was mentioning was like, you're not defending

on your heels the entire game, you're not defending on your heels the entire game and you're not defending from such a deep position the entire game. And that's some of the hope for them. For Gotham, you said it, the injuries, they were so deep last year. I mean, Maitani is starting in this league, right? You have numerous players who are part of this rotation in the back line last year who left and it felt like the strength was still there at its peak but the depth wasn't there and now it's being tested and Tiana Davidson's injury is one thing but to continuously lose pieces Mandy Freeman and Jess Carter and whoever else it is and Nealey Martin has now basically played everywhere on the field which is tough for her because she was so good last year and she had established herself as the

Six and it felt like that was a real position for her to thrive in and for a lot of the midfield to be built On and right now out of necessity She's getting moved around and I think it hurts the team Centrally poor Chiyo's injury doesn't make things any easier and you're still working a midge purse back where you can't get a full game because I think midge purse one of those players were in a game like you just talked about. She can break it open for you and then you can kind of rely on her and lean on her Ella Stevens hasn't been that way yet this year where I think there's expectations and so it sits somewhere in the middle for Gotham right now of. of, can they get that fortunate first goal and if not, there's not really anyone to take the game by the reins and force it to happen. Roosevelt I guess would be one of those players as well. If you were able to get her back.

I would say for me, the most shocking one of the weekend has to be Washington because of the way it played out. Again in a vacuum. Angel City beating Washington with Washington's injuries, fine, but for Angel City to go to Orlando, lose, come back, I assume to LA, go out to Washington DC, go up 2-0, lose the lead,

go up 3-2, lose the lead, and end up winning the game. I just wouldn't have thought that that would be something that would happen to this Washington team because with all the injuries, the strength is the back five. And they're not as strong in central midfield as they'd like to be.

Hal Hirschfeldt is a massive loss for them. There is, I think, serious questions about where Bernal should play as Hirschfeldt's unavailable, whether it's truly just in central midfield to help block things before you get to the back line, or if you're safer in a back five, or Esmé Morgan playing as that left back, whatever it is, I think there's questions of how to set this up because of the injuries you have, maybe not big picture of the way your team is built.

And so I just wouldn't have thought that Angel City would fall again and yet somehow get back up and get the win. They were unbelievable in this game. Washington still had their chances and their opportunities. I think they'll be pretty frustrated with the end result in this one. Yeah. I think credit to Washington that things weren't going well and they, they really utilized set pieces to keep themselves in this game. They were able to get two goals from Esme Morgan really off a two second wave of set pieces and to keep it alive knowing that there was an opportunity for them because Angel City really has been weak on set plays this year defensively. I think it, it is a very shocking result because of the, the result for Angel

City against to, to be up, they were up to nothing again, right? And you just think, okay, are they thinking about what had just happened? Are they already thinking, okay, we got to hold this because last time we didn't and is that starting to eat away with them? But it felt like, although this game ebbed and flowed at times, when I watched it, I was really impressed with Angel City. I loved how they, you know, to me, Washington, yes, they play in a five back, but it really, a lot of the time looks like a three, four, three or a three, four, two, one. Especially with McKenna Morris playing as that wing back at times in this kit. Yeah. And Carl then with those, with Bernal in the back line.

And I thought that Angel City found the free midfielder in the middle of the field time and time and time again. And it didn't feel like Washington had any, any answers for that. Now Washington midst a pretty big sitter, right? And it didn't feel like Washington had any, any answers for that. Now Washington missed a pretty big sitter, right? Towards the beginning of the game with that quasi was a quasi that missed it. Yeah. Yeah. Quasi like you don't expect that from this group, but I think angel cities

mentality to keep themselves in the game, to press at the end of the game for an extra for that game-winning goal. That was pretty ballsy away from home with the game going so back and forth, but that was a fun game. Maybe my favorite game of the weekend up there with the San Diego game. SIDDHU It was a blast. It is fun because Angel City while they have these fatal flaws They don't try and change the game states to avoid them They try and maximize what they're good at right now, like they open up the game Like you said, they try and push they try to create

I think Alyssa Thompson's in the elite category of must-watch players and it's not just her but like to have that star quality on the field and then I think a lot of the pieces around her, especially Tiernan, are understanding how to use her strengths to your strengths. And so one of the things I love what Tiernan is doing is when Alyssa Thompson's playing, she floats inside, Tiernan finds the channel and is able to get whether it's a ball over the top or get into space and create pullback opportunities. And then reading on the flip side, when to make the run into the box to get on the end of what she's creating. The Zalem goal was awesome. Like that rollover with the bottom of your foot where everyone's going at 100 miles per hour and it's that pause, I think some countries call it La Pauza, like that moment where you're reading

the game quicker and then you don't need to finish with pure power from that position at that point. I thought that was really impressive from a player who I thought would have a huge role, hasn't really, but should fit this style. And I think it's a good day or was a good night for Angel City to see Zellem fit into this group and say, okay, that's someone we can lean on going forward. Well, I think they were utilizing Macy Hodge because she was a little bit more of a disruptor. But I think that this Angel City team actually has the disruptors in the back line that they can just count on.

And they don't really need their midfielders to do that. Yes, can the Zellem and Kennedy do that? Absolutely. But I think what those two give you going forward is, uh, is better than maybe what hodge right now gives you in her disruption and creation. I thought Alana Kennedy was probably the best player on the field. She was so good at advancing the ball, winning it back, winning the first, they, they won so many first and second balls, but you're right. Tiernan is, you know, I think for a long time, we've looked at this Angel City

team and said, Hey, you guys got a lot of good pieces. Why isn't this working? And to have a true nine, someone who's just like, all right, I'm going to occupy center backs, but I'm going to score goals. So you have to val, you have to now shift the way you defend her because you clearly can't give her space at the top of the box because she has that shot at the end of the game where she nearly gets it past McIver. Okay, can't give her space. Well, can she run in behind? Yes, she can run in behind. Can she occupy a center back and give space to then Thompson in the channel. I think she does a lot of really things simply a lot of things really simply. Yeah and That really helps Angel City because they know where their outlet is She can hold the ball up and just lay it off and say okay play the next pass a lot of up backs and up

Back and throughs work for this Angel City team. Well They're pretty fun to watch and we weren't thinking that at the beginning of the year Yes, if this is similar to how I've said about Portland, I think this is best case scenario They're pretty fun to watch and we weren't thinking that at the beginning of the year I guess. No. If this is similar to how I've said about Portland, I think this is best case scenario. I don't know that this is a top four team. I don't know that this is a guaranteed playoff team. But like if you're a fan you're going to enjoy it.

It feels like there are building blocks going forward. One you're getting a ton of young players minutes. So like from a roster point of view there there's building blocks. Uh, let me ask you this savvy King of centerback. I think she is. Yeah. She, she was a center back in college, granted a part of a three back and she has the qualities to go forward as an outside back. But I think, I think playing as a center back actually simplifies a lot for her and it allows her to win the foot race and recover possession. It allows her at times, not just options in one direction, like she has a little bit more,

not 360, but like everything's in front of her, right? So she has outlets to both sides. She has an option centrally and then option long. I just feel like it has set her up to be more effective with what she's good at. And it's not going to, you know, she's not going to be a world beater on the ball. Her distribution is not great yet. I don't think, but I think she looks a lot better than what we saw of her last year with just staying home. Maybe there's a couple of times she can go on the dribble and like Gordon does on the other side to just beat that first line of pressure.

But I feel like it's taken a lot of pressure off her to just kind of stay and defend and that's good enough. Which is super interesting because normally you start young players outside because your faults are can be hidden a little bit more. And so it's an easier way to get introduced into the game. And then if you think they're a true center back, you move them inside. And it feels like it's a little bit different here.

And I think they talked about it on the Prime broadcast about her speed. She has weaponized the things she's good at and it covers up for the things she doesn't have, which is pure natural size. And I think that's part of the set piece issue is you've got a lot of quick young players that probably are not as comfortable defending set pieces and winning that battle and maybe it's not organized as well as you'd like.

And that's where I think the question will come in how it all fits together. I would love to see her in a three back setup because I think attacking out of that wide center back position is something that we've seen as the game sort of has progressed globally of it's a real way to create danger because there are runs you don't expect whether it's in the channel out wide, which I think she could do. But she's been phenomenal at that center. And this actually hatch is not an easy test. And that's like, worst case scenario for you of all the things Ashley Hatch does incredibly well are the things you we think a young undersized

center back would struggle with. Yeah, well even in that game, Goss, it was 3 v 3 a lot of the times with the three up front for Washington and Gordon, Giselle Tom. I don't I can't remember if it was Giselle or Vignola. It would probably switch back and forth depending on which side Angel City was attacking. But to feel that confident to say, okay, we're going to go 3v3 with Monday, Quasi, and Hatch with our three of our defenders. Sam Lady has said we have the fastest back line in the league. And if you look at all of them, I don't, I don't think he's wrong in saying that.

They're speedy and that you're confident enough to say, okay, when you're one be one battle, it doesn't matter if it goes, which player goes to you guys are all in a one be one battle win it. And they did a really good job of doing that in this game. Yeah. There were moments that they didn't. You saw Rose Koasi show why she was so good out the gate last year. And I think that's a huge element for Washington to bring back into the team. Uh, and Croy Bethune came off the bench and played in this game. Not as many minutes. How about her first touch? She just like brings it down out of a punch with the outside of her foot or something.

And I talked about this on Monday She had two I think it was two moments where they played her into the channel and it's like, oh right This player can get up to a speed other players can't but touch and possession at that speed is so elite and like people started scrambling and if you can see it over 90 minutes where whenever anyone turns off mentally or if the game just breaks the right way and rest defense isn't in the right position, she's off and running. I think it's clearly going to be a huge relief for this team to get her back and get her involved.

I think especially for Ashley Hatch. Can Hatch then stay a little higher and not have to drop in and constantly be basically the 10 for this team? Lacey Santos missing in this one as well. The injuries keep piling up. Aubrey Kingsbury didn't get the start. It's one week. I don't want us to dig into it yet.

I think maybe if this continues, we can talk a little bit about the goalkeeper battle for this team. The other two games that we didn't select Seattle knocking off Kansas City at home, one zero and Portland knocking off Orlando at home, one zero. I think part of that is obviously road games. I think part of that is a testament to Seattle and Portland, who have been really good so far this year. But we saw the cracks for Kansas City, no Schwinga, and I think you saw a little bit

of the just like threat and danger go away, even though there's still so much quality on the field. And I liked what Laura, I mean, I just felt like Laura Harvey out coached Focco in this game. She played a 5-2-3 and there was no space in behind and even when the ball got in behind and there was an extra defender to help with the cover. Just similar game plan to how Laura Harvey, how they played against Orlando, but Orlando got that one chance and scored. And in this game, it just felt like Seattle looked more cohesive in it.

Sam Meza was absolutely everywhere winning all of the duels centrally. And you know, when you, when you then get a couple of opportunities and you're playing against a Kansas city team, and if you don't put them away, then it's, they start to eat away from you, eat up at you. And so to get that goal from Biondolo in the first half, it just felt like, okay, this is, it was the first half, wasn't it? Yes. I don't have the exact minute down, but it was the first half.

It just, I think makes you feel like okay now now we can really trust what we're doing defensively is working and we don't have to press as much for the goal and we can't get this win so I was very impressed with that win from Seattle. 37th minute. So in there Seattle as well you see the mix now of young, you know, newer players and more experienced players. I think early in the season, it was like very inexperienced lineups. And then when players got healthy, fully experienced, and I think now you're starting,

Laura Harvey's starting to find the mix of how it all fits together and works. And I think this is one of those matches, we've talked about Serena Gorsovich and where she fits in. And I've been really impressed by some of her performances, not getting in there. I think this is one of those matches, we've talked about Serna Gorsovich and where she fits in and I've been really impressed by some of her performances, not getting in there. I think this is one of those games where it's like physicality, ability to win 50-50s

and just experience and knowledge of when to take risks and when not. That's what you lean on in a game against the Kansas City, which would be different maybe against a different opponent. And it feels like Seattle starting to have a couple of those options. On the Portland side, Olivia Moultrie is phenomenal. You can build attacks around her. This team's ability in transition is really impressive. And so I think against this

Orlando team, you saw large stretches where Portland had possession and they were able to dictate the terms of the game. They didn't have to sit in. And so Orlando was against the game. And at home, you get the crowd behind you. That's what you want. The goal is unbelievable. And yeah, that's not really like what you're probably writing down going into this is, can our left back hit the best goal of her life in this one?

But they were able to take advantage of it. And I think to Portland's credit, they pushed the rest of the game. They didn't sit back and try and defend the one goal lead like what we saw for Angel City last week and for Portland and made it worthwhile that they were able to get the full three points. And it just, I think this game really, after the Portland result last weekend without Sam Coffey, it just feels like,

man, how important is she? So good. Not, not just dictating where they kind of shepherd a play into defensively and picking up those free balls, but also her times where she picks and chooses when she's going to get into the attack and says, all right, if you're not going to follow me as a midfielder, then I'm going to be free and you guys are going to be down a player because I'm going to be free and you guys are going to be up or you're going to be down a player because I'm going to put myself in this attacking situation and just overload of space. I think she's just so intelligent. And if this would have been, I think a different case where she was still gone on, I think it was her brother's wedding last weekend. So she

was excused absence for that, but now she's back and I don't think they get the win if she's not in there just because how she leads this team. I talked a little bit about her possession play in the show on Monday. I think it's the goal where she goes and makes the, they take the throw in quickly because she like comes and is an option high up the field. And then there's moments throughout the second half, there's one moment where she comes and she stabs at and outside the football that's like,

okay, the ball's being played into her centrally. Orlando rests for a moment thinking that it's gonna then be slid out to the opposite side. And she hits this outside the football down the same sideline. And now Portland is flying forward when he didn't think they would. I just feel like it's one of those, there are things that take space and if the space

is open you see them take it and it feels like this is the best we've ever seen her play because she needs to. And like that's really cool to watch play out of. If she would tell you I'd rather have Sarebron and Sinclair in front of me and behind me so I don't have to. But she does and she has stepped up to that level in a way in which I think we're going to see the best soccer that she can play because this group relies on her so much. Yeah that's a good good way to put it and it's really entertaining. Portland is an entertaining brand of football. It is way more open than I think I would have thought going into this season, but there's

some good players on that team who are making a name for themselves. It is one of the must watch groups as is this Angel City group. We will talk about them coming up in just a moment. But let's go into the unfortunate news that we got out of Louisville in that racing Louisville coming off a 2-1 victory against Houston. So a good come from behind win for this Louisville group. It makes back to back results for them after the 3-3 absurd game in Portland, which we'll talk about in just a moment as well for a Louisville group that started the year pretty slowly to get that victory.

Their first victory of the year is huge. But then off the back of that, they get the news that Katie Lund will be put on the season ending injury list. Lund unavailable for this game. So Jordan Blumer stepped in for her. Katie Lund had started 79 consecutive matches, stretching back through the 2022 season. She set the record for saves in an NWSL season that year.

I think it was 113, I had it. I read it, I didn't write it down. And over the course of the years, 18 shutouts, over 300 saves overall. That is a rock and stabilizer to lose the get the victory in this game against Houston. As I said, coming from behind the Avery Patterson goal. So it was a high a low. What can we take from them so far? And what does this mean for this club? Yeah. I felt like Jordan Blumer came in and did a really good job. And it makes you appreciate number twos in this league,

or maybe one and a half as Saskia Weber always likes me to say is. Joe Lloyden has just entered the chat as well. They do a lot of work on pushing the, the number one keepers to make sure that every week they are prepared and ready. And I think because of that, it actually sets them up to be prepared and ready when the time is called. Like look at Angelina Anderson this year. Is she perfect?

No, but she'd been playing under Didi Haricic for really a year, minus those few starts she got at the beginning of 24. And she stepped into this role with some confidence. And I think that's the biggest thing I took from Bloomer and she stepped into the role saying like, I'm good enough to be here and I can make the saves when called upon. Not every Patterson goal. Sorry, no one's saving it.

It was so good. Like that was so good that you just got to like throw that one away and say, whatever, but to get a victory, to have some massive saves like Bloomer did to be confident in some of the areas where she's good shot stopping crossing I thought that she had a pretty you know all it for all encompassed purposes like this is a good start for her knowing that she's gonna now have to take on that role of being the leader in the back because they're not gonna have Katie Lund which which is disappointing. I think because of what Lund was able to do in that first year, I'm not saying that she

shouldn't have started, but I think it was easy to keep her in that position because things were going well. I hope that everything with her injury, I hope she recovers perfectly and is back better than ever. I think if you're Jordan Blumer, you have to think about the, you know, now it's my opportunity to perform well, not just for this team, but you're thinking, okay, next year there's two more teams coming into this league and that means four more spots, you know, really?

Cause can you go in there no matter if you're their first or second pick and, and try to win that spot. So I thought you think with the history of Lund, okay, this is going to break this team and I was really impressed with how Louisville with that weather delay, how they were able to respond and get the results with a new goalkeeper in net, it showed some cohesion to the group that we have been hearing about all year that they really get along, they really enjoy playing each other, with each other, they feel like they're just that close and these are the types of games

you have to win because it hasn't been going great for Houston and you have to find the victory when you when it's right there presenting in front of you. And if you're Louisville you have to be looking at it and saying these are the teams around us so can we, these are are six point games, can we take them off other teams or at minimum get ties and then try and steal points in other places? I do think that that backup goalkeeper into starter conversation is fascinating. This is in a weekend where Jordan Silkiewicz made a penalty kick save as well. Another player who now is finally getting the opportunity and clearly is ready, which is such a huge part of all of that.

For Louisville, they also did this without Ari Borges, who we then get word from NWSL that her suspension extended three more games besides the red card because of the actions around that Portland game. I think it's probably for the statements post game, as well as the actions on the field and the comments to the referee Yeah, she

there was in she touched the referee there was engagement with the referee after the game and so that's where the Suspension comes from which is a huge loss. I think Louisville at their best Is that midfield humming and possession and gorgeous? I, not only is a huge part of that, but then is one of the players who will break out and play a cutting ball, right? Where Flint's going to cycle possession more often, DiMillo is going to do it out of her runs out of, I think, that midfield position, but Borges is the one who's going to break lines.

And we see in this game, Emissiers and that threat and ability over the top at the right times That's probably this team's best attacking outlet and Borges I think is a large part of playing into that and it's not a very deep Louisville team They haven't been able in their entire time in the league to build depth at most of these positions And so they're gonna be playing with one hand behind their back through this stretch and to lose a big deal like Lund. But on top of all, but they won. That's the like most fascinating part of all of this. And so as you said, maybe it's a galvanizing moment for this group. Maybe it's a reset for this group. I think the Portland game is probably one of those where you're in that sort of mud fight. And if you like your teammates, then you come out

of that and say, look what we were able to do. Look what we were able to fight. And if you like your teammates, then you come out of that and say, look what we were able to do. Look what we were able to overcome. And then you get the weather delay and all of that. And you try and continue that and move it on. And we move into what is I think a really fun weekend. We put down our top games we like to preview. We like to talk about. They are probably not the games preseason we would have put down. I think that's to the nature of the way this season has played out. We start with Chicago against Washington. You talked about it. Chicago, a little bit more possession, a better overall performance. And while Washington is struggling with injuries, to have a new manager start with Gotham away and Washington

at home is not an easy start in this league. No, not not at all. And this is a big game. I believe it's on ABC. So this is a game where you're hoping that both of these teams feel at their best and start to really figure out the tactics of how to break each other down. I think for Chicago, you have to take a page out of the Angel City book. And even though they're playing, Chicago

has been playing in this four four two essentially with Schlegel and Ludmila as the two center forwards and Schlegel a little bit more as a false nine dropping into the midfield. They're going to have to utilize Schlegel in that position really well, because if you can pull out the two holding midfielders for Washington, we saw in this angel city game, there's space to be had right between the defensive line and that midfield line. And it'll be a good test because we just talked about, is Chicago

going to be a ball dominant team? Are they going to get more possession? Are they going to do a better job when they have possession to create into the attack? And I do believe they can with some of the players they have, the more possession they have, the more players they can get forward, and then there's options inside the box. But it'll be a test.

I think Washington, with their front three, the way that Chicago is building, you have to be a little bit more cautious with the speed and the pace of that front three, if it is Kowasi, Hatch, and Monday, because there was some good interchange by the three of them, which might be difficult for the back line of Chicago to be able to just handle, keep in front of them, not give up space and behind without the game getting too stretched. Yeah, I think it's a fascinating game for Julia Grosso, who can you come inside

and and create those overloads? Can you find those gaps on the side of midfield? And if you do, can you get on the half turn and be aggressive and make it turn into chances for this team? I think Grosso's attributes not game breaking, but she was brought in as one of the bigger names in this group and to not have your biggest superstar, like you need those players to step up. Ludmila did it in the one win.

Can Grosso do it in a game like this? I think is absolutely massive. And then on the other side for Washington, it's the same as every week. Like where the Washington game starts with the injury report. Every Friday you get that injury report and that's where you start to understand what it's going to look like

on the weekend. It's unfortunate. I think again, fingers crossed. Can Cory Bethune give you more minutes? Can you find can Lacey Santos get back on the field? Because if she does, Lacey Santos, I think what we've seen is it's partially her possession and how good she is, but they are better defensively when she's in midfield. And she works hard and I think she also makes the game more predictable for them to be in the right positions in rest defense and that's something they definitely lost this weekend. And the way I liked the couple of games where we saw her actually play lower with Narumi because her

picking up the ball in that lower pocket and playing it forward then left this big gap for her to run into and occupy a little bit later. And she's such a sophisticated player that she thrives in that assist zone right at the corner of the box. Like that is her favorite part of the field to play in because she knows where her targets are, she knows who, who they are. And I just think with those three upfront, it would be, it would be really nice if you had a player like Lacey Santos, who's very forward thinking,

um, very aware of what the next play is even before she gets the ball. But I don't know. I don't know if Washington is going to even have her, if she's even going to be available off the bench. So it is unfortunate that that's what we have to talk about with this Spirit team before every game. Let's move into the Saturday evening games. And we wanted to talk about North Carolina.

They are facing off against Orlando. The North Carolina Courage are looking to make it three straight wins for the team that went winless for the longest stretch to start the season. They're starting to find their feet 2-0 victory over Utah on the road in the last game. This again a massive test with Orlando, but this streak started with a victory at home over Kansas City and there's no reason to believe this North Carolina Courage team can't keep rolling in this one. Especially if they play like they played against Utah. Granted, Utah tried to switch formations.

To be honest, they look lost in the first half. It felt like they didn't know how to build out Utah, did it? They are a pretty possession oriented team. I think they're like fifth in possession in the league, which actually surprised me when I was prepping for that game. So the fact that they didn't have that possession because they shifted formation and were trying to play a box against North Carolina's box, it was just too stagnant and North Carolina like played straight through them.

And I think that this is why this game is interesting to me, Goss, is because North Carolina's midfield is ridiculous right now. And Orlando's midfield is the least confident we've seen them. And that is a shocker because I do feel like this, and I don't know if there's any teams that you can relate this to, but last year with Orlando, it felt like they had this confidence about them. It was almost an aura. Anytime anybody would come to play them, it was like an, oh crap, like we have to go play Orlando.

It was intimidating to the other team and that boosted the confidence of Orlando. And we've seen that fluctuate this year. Not to say that we haven't seen that, but there is less of a fear factor when teams go to play them. And I think the weaknesses are starting to be seen, which if I'm Seb Hines, I'm grateful for that, right? Because now we have something we can truly work on and get better at. And you'd rather it now than in the post.

We'd rather it now. But if I'm North Carolina, I'm licking my chops saying, all right, we can, we can get after this team centrally, pull numbers into the middle of the field, isolate on the channel, get Ryan Williams Williams high continue to cross from that space her and Sanchez have had a really good understanding of each other and it'll be about stopping those channel progressions for North Carolina where they have at least in these last two games looked elite in the way that they can get numbers overload space in the way that they can get numbers, overload space

in the channel and that half space on especially the right side and then find the final pass like that was was missing is the final pass and it feels like they're they're getting there. Yeah, that Orlando fear factor I think I think part of it is just as good as she has been just having played Barbara Banda. I think last year a lot of teams it was like no we watched it on tape but like I've never lived it so then you at least have some form of some frame of reference and I think the other part is once you see someone get a result other people have belief like okay we we can actually do this too and there was an element

last year of like they can't keep getting away with this of like they rode this line and every break went In your way and that's just not gonna happen all season every season But they are still I'd say one of the giants of this league and I think there is still The belief that like you have to you have to steal points off them You're like dragging results out of them and for this North Carolina team That's how I felt though when they went into that Kansas City game. And you talked about that final third quality, right, it all came late in that game, trying to make that run.

But then you saw a lot of the confidence roll over. And it was like, they just were waiting for that breakthrough. I've talked about Ashley Sanchez a ton. I thought she was unbelievable last year. I thought it would, having Jayden Shaw would unlock her this year. That wasn't the case.

But now you're seeing her play with this, I think the swagger that she had last year and she needs to be a finisher for this team as much creativity as she has. Like they don't have pure goal scores. She has to be a finisher. And so to get her, if they can get what with and have her come inside sometimes, that's when they're at their best. I don't think people understand how difficult of a goal that was that she scored jumping up meeting the ball in the space that it was at the short swing hitting it back into the ground there are so many things that are just like pin perfect about the finish from Sanchez so I agree she she needs to be and she will be more in this four or three four two, really with two tucked in tens, I think she'll be in those situations a lot more.

And I'll, I'll just say like, I think Jayden Shaw can help Ashley Shaw, Ashley Sanchez a lot, Ashley Shaw. I just squished their names together. Uh, but I think I know, right. I feel for Jayden Shaw right now, because I've been that player where you put expectations on yourself and you can't, you just feel like, gosh, it's not, nothing's going right. And then when you think that it just, you're pressing the

game and it's not natural and it's not you. And I feel like when I watch your play, that's what it feels like. She's just putting so much pressure on herself to be what everybody expects her to be when like, she just needs to be Jayden Shaw. Like feel, she is such a good feel for the game. And I hope what a lesson to learn when you're 20 years old, right? I, you know, I learned that lesson when I was in college, I wasn't playing in front of all these people with all these expectations of national team on me, but I do feel like it was such a valid lesson of like, I can contribute even when I'm not scoring,

when I'm just myself. And I hope that she gets to that place because watching her, you just kind of feel like there's so much weight on her shoulders and, you know, you just want to shake it off her and be like just go play like enjoy it go have fun because that's when she's truly at her best. And you want to also like sit down and watch the Brazil game with her and be like this is this year that's the way you played like she played free in those games and the pressure was higher obviously for the moment because it's national team in front of everyone but

I think she probably felt less individual pressure because there's more talent on the field and it wasn't like I need to make the game. It was I can fit in, but she was the best player on the field against Brazil. I don't know if it's pressure or if it's expectation, right? Now the expectation is there and when you feel like you're not meeting an expectation, you can kind of get down on yourself. Whereas like pressure, I think a lot of these players want to play in pressure situations. But I think to me that those feel like two different things. And I think the expectation is just a little heavy on her.

And I hope that there's just a breaking point and it just flows because Monacasha and Sanchez could be the three best individual creators in this league and all together could be really something special. And I think we'll see it. We just haven't quite yet. If you, obviously every person is different, but in a scenario like that, do you like if a coach takes a player out of the lineup and gives them a breather or is it you have to play to break out of it and that just makes it worse? I feel like maybe a little bit of both.

She's young and only her and Sean know everything that's happened, not just on the field. In the game before she was only, she only got 11 touches. Playing as a 10, in that system that is not enough. So you're enough. And so, you know, you're, you're not performing. And if that happened to anybody else, I'm sure that would have probably been the case that they, they weren't playing, but also he knows what's going on in practice. He knows what other players are performing well. And so I think there's other, there's other factors that go into, do you

bring them off the bench or do you start them? But the three things that you can do is work hard, stay positive, and be a good teammate, right? And I think that those three things, if you focus on those instead of all the other things that are going on, they find themselves. And play simple. Work hard, play simple, and be positive Like those three things can help you get out of a rut. And that was my formula that Jerry Smith gave me and I felt like it really worked

and I'm passing it on. I'm passing it on. And let's close out the weekend preview with a story we've kind of buried by half mentioning 500 times that San Diego are maybe the most fun team to watch in this league. They got a huge 2-1 win against Bay at home, even with the penalty kick that Silkewitz saved on Maria Sanchez in the previous game. Now they face off against Portland and I wrote on the rundown like this could be a track meet of sorts.

Maybe not pure transition because San Diego has some guile in them. They like to play outside, come inside, but these are two teams it feels like that are going to open up. They're going to attack and you see so much individual quality in both these groups and they're both really firing on all cylinders right now. Yeah, they are. I think that it'll be interesting how Portland plays because a couple of weeks ago when they didn't have Sam Coffey, I felt like the game against Louisville

was like screaming for two holding midfielders to drag some of the midfielders from the opponents higher up on the field and then find that space in front of Raylin Turner and that front line. And the way San Diego play, that's how they play, right? With the two holding midfielders, I feel like it pulls, pulls a lot of attention towards that three, two build, and then they can find those pockets higher up on the field.

And so if, if Portland do that in opposition to them, I'm really interested to see how that turns out and what questions can be asked of the centerbacks and Wesley and Armstrong, who Armstrong sneaky might be one of my favorite center backs in this league. Very good. Yeah, very quickly. A lot of hype around Jordan bug and what she can do, but I've been very impressed with Trinity Armstrong, um, from her first start in that Kansas city game to

now playing in her natural position as a center back, she just reads the game as really well. So I'm, I'm excited to see how Portland utilized Castellanos and Turner and maybe Hanks is back. I can't remember what Hanks got injured with. Um, but Moultrie especially like that space where Moultrie likes to pop up. Is that a center midfielder space to defend? Is it a center backs space to defend?

How do they deal with that? Because not that we, there hasn't been questions asked of the San Diego's back line, but it's been so much talk about what they can do going forward. That I think the speed and the pace and this track meet that you're talking about could be really interesting to see how San Diego handles it. Yeah, I think you're trying to if you're Portland say we know the reasons Kenzadali has been played deeper and the things she can do from that position as an elite passer and as an elite chance creator.

Can we put you under pressure though? Can we flip the game and say, all right, but you have to prove that you can defensively be a deep lying midfielder. And you talked about it. I think Moultrie's movement in that space, Castellanos coming off the front line or coming in off wings, wherever she ends up starting. And we had someone in the chat mention Ali-Do

who has been like the perfect addition for them. Flexible, dangerous, gives the extra effort to like run down balls, save balls on the far post, close down. She's been a really nice add to the young attacking pieces who, as I have said, are going to be inconsistent. And we can't talk about San Diego without talking about Cascarino and her that what I'm imagining is the matchup with her and Reyna Reyes, which I think if I'm Cascarino and, and her that what I'm imagining is the matchup with her and Raina Reyes, which I think if I'm Cascarino, I'm really excited about it because for Reyes is a solid defender, but she bites and she'll bite hard.

So I feel like she's already sitting on a lot of yellow cards. Can you get her in that place where she has to foul early on? You get her then in this precarious position where Cascarino just says, all right, well defend me one more time down the line. I just, that is going to be a key matchup for, especially Portland, if they're going to be successful because remember when she came into league last year gossip and I was like, Cascarino could be MVP in this league. She's played that way.

Yeah, it's been so fun. And it's obviously the way the game's set up, it's like those wide attacking players are always going to be headline players because of the chances they create. It's hard to be an MVP because you need to impact the game so much. And that's what's amazing about Cascarino is there's so much volume to the game changing plays she makes for a wide player. Part of that is because she's comfortable coming inside and yet she can still beat players 1v1, even when there's more numbers around her.

You see it in the penalty kick that she draws. I just, there's this ability and I talked about it a little on Monday of when people play her into the channel and there's that moment where both the defender and the attacking player get to the ball and you sort of establish like, okay, we're both in position. I'm not going anywhere. We're going to recycle possession. She has that then second step where she explodes past the defender after slowing up that no one can stay with. But then because of that, you're on edge. So then when she comes inside, you're not ready for it because you can't be prepared for it. And then to add on to all of that,

Gia Corley is happy to take you on. Mel Barsanis is coming off the bench after you're exhausted and you've dealt with this for 80 minutes. They're fun. They're exciting. There's a moment late in the game though where Leon comes off the bench and doesn't play Cascarino into space early. And you're like, you gotta play that ball. That has to be the next play. But I think it's a new team still learning things and this is going to be a fun matchup. And I think Portland has the ability to go toe-to-toe in this game. Yeah, one last thing for me is Escanio at this false nine has been really fun because of Sanchez tucked in and Moroni on the left side and Cascarino on the right side. Escanio, there were a number of times where I'm just like she just received the ball and dropped it off. Received the ball and dropped it off. Just was a target player who understood that in, in those moments is actually

just about the next pass being connected and not about her being a creative playmaker, which she is, she's a midfielder by trade. I think she's understanding the role really well. And because of her, her knowledge of how plays develop, she can actually play pretty simply knowing that like her her role right now is not to play that final pass. It's almost just to facilitate it to be able to be played. But needs to know the runs to make to at least be the factor in the box. I thought there was a few moments especially when they get Moroney into the attack down the left side, where

there just wasn't a run across the near post. And there wasn't, there was no work for the center backs to have to do. I think that's, and that's obviously the convo between a false nine and not a false nine. It's one of the things that's been okay for Portland because Hanks or Turner or whoever else is out there is making those runs. That's not really Casca Reno's game. It's not really Casca Reno's game It's not really Corley's game I thought there was a few moments where if you had one more runner You maybe create more danger out of the the run of play where I think if I looked at this since I think San Diego

Probably should have won more than to one against Bay and probably should have come sooner And those were some of the moments where I was missing it but this one's gonna be really fun to watch this weekend because as we said, these are two teams that are finding themselves right now. They're both dangerous. They're both attacking and it's going to be a great one. Jordan, we look forward to listening to you all weekend as usual. We look forward to then coming back here.

I will have the weekend recap on Monday. We will be back on Wednesday and we will sprinkle everything else in. I think we've got another national team camp just around the corner so we will obviously talk about all things that. And I think next week I'm finally allowed to do our rookie rankings. I believe we have fun. Yeah, I was going to say we need to do those. No, I think- I feel like it's time.

You told me that I had to wait eight weeks and I think next week will be- Okay, perfect. Week nine. Yeah, after week eight. Yeah, so we are ready for it. I am looking forward to it. It has been awesome. It has been fun.

Thank you to everyone in the chat for joining us. Thank you to all of you for listening. Rate, review us, please share the show. If you haven't already to anyone who loves this league or this sport, and we'll talk to you all again very, very soon.