SoccerWise - USWNT Roster, Gotham/Washington/Houston/San Diego Signings & More

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

The NWSL transfer window is officially closed which means there is plenty of news to sift through. On top of all the games we saw in week 2 some surprising results & clashes of titans we cover all the big signings like Geyse to Gotham FC. Soccerwise also breaks down Emma Hayes latest roster for the upcoming gold medal rematch games.2:30 Boston Legacy Name10:10 Denver Training Ground Update12:30 USWNT Roster Announcement & Futures Team22:15 USWNT Midfield Potential27:48 Mark Krikorian Stepping Down In Washington, New Signing & Loss To KC39:30 Gotham Sign Geyse On Loan + Recap of Loss To ORL46:43 Houston Sign Brazil u-20 International & Get Their First Win50:10 San Diego Sign Colombian International CB Daniela Arias & Beat Utah55:28 Portland Add Mimi Alidou To Attack & Show Well Against ACFC1:00:45 Weekend Preview Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What's up everybody and welcome back to Soccer Wise. David Goss, Jordan Angeley with you for a big, big show here at SW. We've got national teams to talk about, we've got breaking news, front offices, players, everything else in between and of course, We have our weekly celebration for all things about a city maybe in Colorado or something else like that Jordan How you doing? I'm good. How are you doing guys? I'm fantastic. I'm excited to be here I've already got the Sun in my face It's gonna be a real nature experience for me in this show as we go from sun to darkness to clouds to storms and everything else in between.

That's what happens when you are located in a window in Florida. You just never know what you're going to get outside. And we had to postpone a little bit because I had some coaches calls I had to be a part of so this is not your typical sun. Yeah, it's a different, yeah, right. It is. Everything I do is very tailored to the exact location of the sun in the sky. And so as you shift that, you shift the sun

and change everything else. But I can't complain. I am going to go for a run after this in the beautiful weather. So if you've got nice weather, you have to enjoy it. Yeah, you got to take the other side of things. As I said, it was a big week of news. I think coming out of the weekend, I was like, oh, we saw some good soccer was fun. I got ready to do the weekend recap and all of a sudden it was like, boom, breaking news, breaking news, breaking news. Of course, the international transfer window closed on Monday. So an opportunity for NWSL teams last chance to bring players into the league from outside the league. And you saw some big names come into the league Gotham maybe

the biggest one but not the only one making a signing and then Washington having some big news in their front office as Mark Krikorian who's been in charge of that team for a while officially announced that he was stepping away something that had been in the plans for a little while and none of us knew. And so that's a lot to digest. And on top of all of that, Emma Hayes dropped another two rosters on us. So the grind never ends, Jordan. No, it doesn't. It feels like after the weekend, you're like, okay, we just got to prep for next weekend. But no, not this week, Goss. We got to sift through all of this news and get all the hot takes out there for everybody.

So let's start with the biggest news of the week, which is about a team that doesn't exist yet. It was Boston. Finally finding the new name for the team. They had of course come out as Boss Nation, Too Many Balls, the whole thing a couple months ago I think at this point. It all went pretty poorly for them. They then became Watch This Space or something new is coming FC for a couple weeks and now we have the official name that as they enter NWSL they will be

the Boston Legacy FC. It is different than the last name. It is not worse than the last name. You of course are our Boston sports legend in your own right. Do you feel like this legacy connects to all you experienced in Boston? I think I've been pretty adamant. I just think Boston Breakers was such a good name

and it went through so many different, it was a part of NWSL, it was part of WPS. They could have just stuck with it. I really do think they could have stuck with it. It was a great team name with a lot of meaning but as you said, the name is better. I'm not like, wow, that's the best name I've ever heard but it's hard naming a sports team. I will say that. One of the cool things that I was talking to Jen Cooper, who is our stats extraordinaire at NWSL, she has been working in women's soccer forever. And we were talking about the name earlier today.

And she said that just going on this legacy piece, she counted 19 Olympic champions, 14 Women's World Cup champions that have played for Boston of these teams of the past. And then players like you got Alex Scott, Kelly Smith, Carina LeBlanc, McCall Zerboni, Angela Salem, Joanna Lohman. It was coached by Pia Soon Hodge, Tony DiCicco. She also put me on there, but I don't think I'm quite up to the legendary status of all those other people. But when you look at it that way, legacy kind of makes sense.

There has been a women's soccer legacy in that greater Boston area for a long time, and I guess it's a nice ode to it. I think as poorly executed as it was, the nature of the boss nation name was like trying to create a different future in a major sports market that didn't have as much of an impact on the women's side as the men's side. So I do think legacy connects to that as well, right? Of creating a new legacy as you go forward. I think then it also connects back to like, it's a really old city and there's a lot of history there. And so it has some connection to that in some way. I think your point about the breakers makes a ton of sense. In my experience,

rich people, when they buy really expensive things, they don't like it to be associated to things they didn't own before. Oh, for sure. So they very, yeah, they very rarely choose that. I think even like the Seattle Sounders, right, one of the like great names, it was a fan vote. And I think it was written in that became the winner because the ownership group wanted it to be something fancy and new and all of that. And everyone's like, how about that name of the team? We already like why don't we just go with that one there forever. That's been there forever And so the breakers could have gone in that direction or sorry Boston

Maybe we'll just call it the boss and break Sorry, we have no contractual obligation not to so we're allowed to do whatever we want We had someone in the chat that says the Boston Lager sound better. And oh, to Sam Adams and one of the great institutions in Boston as well. It's not a bad one. And so now you get Boston Legacy. It's kind of a blank canvas sort of to work off of, right? It's not super specific or inspirational or anything like that. And then now it's like, what can they do from here? What can you do on top of that with your color scheme, with your crest, with all these other things

to connect fans, to get people excited. And there has been a bit of an unknown around the stadium. It sounds like it's gonna get done now, but there's been a fight inside the community. Some people don't want the work to be done. Some people don't think that it's a fair deal for the locals and the education program in Boston. And some people don't want the foot traffic and traffic into their neighborhood as well.

Boston is not a place with a lot of available real estate. And that was always a question about putting a sports team in Boston and sort of the promise of having a stadium. This one does not land. It's hard to think there's going to be a stadium anytime soon for the team. Question on that because you do a lot in the MLS world as well. Weren't the revs talking a long time about building a stadium? They've been trying to build a stadium for 15 years.

So if Robert Kraft can't get something done in Boston, that means it's not easy to do and both of these ownership groups are very well connected. One of the issues for the revs is I think they've continually connected it with their desire to build a casino, which I don't even know was fully legal for a while. So it was like, there was like three steps to get there for them, which was we need to legalize casinos and gambling to then get our land so that we could build it. And they've looked up in Watertown, they've looked around on the end of the blue line in Wonderland, like all these different areas around Boston, I think World Trade Center

area as well, like to try and find it. It was also connected to an Olympic bid, which never ended up coming to fruition as well So but I always say like if Robert Kraft can't get a thing done in Boston means it's pretty hard to do because they really like him up there because he like won all the Super Bowls and stuff with the football team that they're all a big fan of as well. So it's a Little worrying for Boston, but at least the legacy are ready for the next step A little worrying for Boston, but at least the legacy are ready for the next step. Uh, we also have some news coming out of a city in Colorado known as Denver, which is also going to get an expansion team in NWSL. The news coming out of some filings in the public records, um, for an area of Denver

called Centennial, uh, in which it is understood that the new NWSL club is going to build their training facility as well as a temporary stadium to house the team. Because last week we did our weekly celebration about Denver and the next thing that's happening. And it was that a women's soccer specific stadium will be built, but it won't open until 2028. So there needs to be a facility to sort of bridge the gap in

between. The understanding is this would be a bit of a pop-up stadium with temporary 15,000 person seating that can then be scaled into 4,000 permanent seats, along with two natural grass soccer fields and artificial turf field that would then become the training center and the training grounds for the club. From that moment going forward, it is, I believe, across the street or very close to where the Denver Broncos, I don't know if you've heard of them, Go Broncos, where they train as well.

So there's a bit of a history and connection there on the sports side in Colorado. Nothing has officially been announced though, Jordan, is my understanding. I haven't officially heard anything announced either, but I'm sure if you stay tuned, there will be celebrations for the Denver team very quickly. And you know, Gus, this is what really impresses me. You're not just finding out the surface level facts. You are going into these these filings at the community level. Government documents that are legally available. No, shout out to denverright.com who had all of this.

The problem with it is I like always, because I love reading about this stuff in all different communities across all of soccer, like I'll read anything about a USL expansion team, League One, Super League, all that type of stuff. You get reading and then you're like, Oh, I don't know where these streets are. Like this is South Potomac Street and East Fremont Avenue does not mean anything to me. Once you get far enough into a thing. We talked about it last week though with the launch of like, it is going to be a cool event to have the team launch. Then you sort of get to play with it a little bit and then you get the stadium launch and like what those two moments mean. And everything about this would make a ton of sense in having that temporary facility to then go from there but have it be

tied into something that you will permanently be a part of which would be the training center and the training facility which is like Kansas City has set the bar on the stadium side, but the training facility, War Arms, Arms War, across NWSL is massive. It's a huge part of what the Portland Thorns have done under their new ownership group. It means a lot in player recruitment. And as you take the draft away, you enter into a global market,

you need to bring players into the best facilities in the world and prove that you can take care of them. And it's a place you wanna play. And so to have that plan ready to go and have that be a part of sort of the first initial push is a big part of what Denver is trying to build. Denver also, some huge other news, we can already do a congratulations on this,

which is that they will be hosting the US Women's National Team against Ireland coming up in June as part of a multi window camp for the US women's national team. That will not be their next game though. They will play a two match Olympic gold medal rematch against Brazil coming up starting next week. The first game at SoFi Stadium in LA and then going up to Bay FC Stadium in San Jose for the second game. We got the roster from Emma Hayes on that camp coming up for the US women's national team released yesterday. We also got a futures roster released which will be another U-23 training camp to sort of

train and play alongside the senior team and another chance as Emma Hayes has talked about time and again to deepen the pool to strengthen the national team program and to give other players opportunities like we saw in January. Of the 24 players called into the senior camp, 19 of them were at She Believes Cup. The five new additions are Trinity Rodman, Ashley Hatch, Avery Patterson, Fallon Tullis-Joyce, and Alana Cook. So those are the five new names coming alongside a group that we know very well after watching them in three matches across the She Believes Cup. What stands out to you when you look at, I think especially these five new additions to Emma's group?

I'm looking straight at Avery Patterson because I've talked about this young player a lot. Last year she comes into Houston as a rookie from UNC, plays wingback and outside back, and I thought she was the bright spot on the Dash team. And then this year under Fabrice Catra, two games into the season, especially over the weekend. I thought Patterson looked like she had some showings of she could be one of the best outside backs in this league. Ability to get forward. Yes, I think her defensive positioning and understanding and the nuances of when to step, when to drop, all those things need to be improved but raw talent and technical

ability is all there and one of the things that Emma Hayes is looking for is can you be an outside back who dramatically affects the game as they attack and Avery Patterson can be that player. So I'm I'm really excited that she gets a look because the dash were so overlooked. And now I think a lot more people are going to be interested to see how Yasmin Ryan fits into this, but also Avery Patterson and if she can find herself into that mix of outside backs at the US and Miss Ashleigh team level. I don't disagree with you at all. And I think it feels like coming into the season, I thought

Washington would be a big part of this as well. And maybe they are with some of the names called on to this. I think what you said about Houston, the eyes on them and the style that they're playing, I think that is probably going to be telling, which is I think Emma Hayes has a style she wants to play. She's going to go to the clubs that are where she's seeing these players in these setups, week in and week out and saying like, okay, that's what I want to take. Those are the assets I want to take. This is not a knock to Avery Patterson at all. I just think there are also other fullbacks in NWSL that deserve to be in this conversation. We've talked about Ryan Williams a number of times. She's from a place called Centennial, Colorado. I don't

know if you've heard of it. Heard of times. She's from a place called Centennial Colorado. I don't know if you've heard of it. And I brought up Lauren Millay a bunch on this show as well. Another Colorado native. They should put an NWSL team in Colorado. There could be a lot of local players. I think all of them are in a conversation together to me, which is like, all of them are deserving. All of them, I think, have those attacking attributes, are showing it week in and week out with their club. And so that doesn't mean the other ones are more deserving over Patterson. I just think Williams at least played playoffs last year and like pushed for that and had more at stake throughout the games.

But I'm fine with any of them getting called in. And I think it makes sense in what you're talking about of like what Emma Hayes wants to build into the game model. She also can play. I mean, she's a forward converted to an outside back, which is happened so much in this in. I don't know around the world, but especially in America, we see that happen constantly. So maybe that is why what gives her the edge is Emma Hayes says, Okay, actually, maybe I can play you as a left winger too.

And you can come inside, use your right foot to get shots on goal because she was very, her and Ali Centenor did that better than anybody when they played at UNC together. Those two scored buckets of goals from that exact play, outside in runs. Maybe that's the only reason why she gets the nod over those other two players. Maybe she's a little bit more moldable because she's younger. I'm not quite sure, but those are just my initial thoughts. Yeah. And it's the same switch we saw Jenna Niswonger make.

And I think for Patterson though, you see the defensive quality is there. And so you can trust her to go out on the field and give you the attacking part, but not to let up defensively and not lose 1v1 battles, which I think is where Jenna Neiswanger is struggling to become a consistent part of the national team right now. And so I think that's a really interesting ad. In the first game, Patterson was granted Rodman didn't play the whole entire game, she didn't have to go against her. But there were multiple times where she just shut her down. Which was was very impressive and Trini Rodman back in the national team slowly coming back from the back injury

Which is really scary for a player of her age and obviously her talent Emma Hayes in the press conference around the release of this roster mentioned that it's the first player of Triple Espresso to be back in the national team after the gold medal and after the celebration. And obviously Sophia Wilson not playing this year because of maternity leave, Mal Swanson not with Chicago as well. So Trini Rodman is the only available one. And I think we have all sort of said, I know I have since the gold cup or since the gold medal of Okay, like you saw what you saw, you know, those three players can deliver.

Can you deepen the pool? Give other players opportunity. Let them be healthy for their league. Don't overwork them. And so I think now to finally get Trinity Rodman back into the group and have this player who if you're going to have any of those players going forward, you need the other pieces in your team to learn how to play with them. Because Trini Rodman is going to break the game open in a way no one else in the pool can do. And at some point, you have to have worked around that to some extent.

And I think exciting to see Trini Rodman back in the national team conversation, because she's awesome to watch. She's fun to watch. You saw it in the game against Kansas City this weekend. She comes on the field. There's fire. There's energy. She's yelling at the referee. She's making plays like it's what you want against Kansas City this weekend. She comes on the field. There's fire. There's energy. She's yelling at the referee. She's making plays like it's what you want when you watch this sport. And so it's exciting to see her back and shout out to Ashley Hatch,

which I think for me, what we see Emma Hayes building, as I said, I think part of it's connected to Washington, the expectation of how you want to tell her all those will play and players being comfortable in that. But I feel very strongly about, NWSL is good enough that if you need to fill positions on the national team depth chart, you should look at the best players playing week in and week out at that position in your league.

You should always, of course, be looking at every player available. But we got stuck in a pool of, we don't have a left back, we don't have this position, we don't have a center mid. Okay, who's the best talented soccer player? And then we'll figure out how to push them in there. And obviously a lot of that fell on Crystal Dawn because she is so versatile.

And she did it with Portland and North Carolina as well. And like had that ability. But I liked the idea here of if Emma Hayes is going into a camp and looking at her depth charts and saying, oh, okay, a player is injured here, a player is suspended, We need to fill this. This is what we look at this matchup specifically. Who am I going to call up?

It is this sort of chart of who are the best players playing week in and week out at that position right now in NWSL. And I think Ashley Hatch goes into that when before we got on, we looked through like who are the other American center forward options. There are not a ton. A lot of them are actually in the futures camp and those are players like Ryland Turner that we haven't seen a ton of yet. And maybe that depth chart changes over the next few months as those players get more experience. But right now Ashley

Hatch is kind of the only one that's doing it week in and week out. And so she gets the opportunity and I think that's the right way to run this program. And one of the things that has made the United States women's national team stand out beyond other teams for years and years is they've had very different nines, right? Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan couldn't have been more different. But that was the thing is you had to prepare her for two different styles of play. How are we going to face one and how are we going to face the other? And I think some of the nines that Emma Hayes has used, the United States have used, are mobile nines, right? They're going to come in the pocket. They are at times, if it is Sophia Wilson, she's going to drift wide and try to get into the half space, right?

We're operate there. I think Ashley Hatch has made her name in this game from staying in the central channel, yes being able to play off her but as a target nine and then saying okay I'm gonna get in the box, play me the ball when I get in the box and I don't feel like that is the same player profile that we see in other nines that the United States has. So that's one of the reasons I think that this is a good look because if you're the midfield behind Ashley Hatch, you have to know how to play with that forward and you have to know how to play with Katarina O'Cario. Very two different players, but they can help you give teams various looks and make it challenging

on opponents defenses. Yeah. And you add in a player who's like, this is a huge chance for her. And I think the energy you want in training and like the sort of ethos you're trying to build bringing someone in like an Ashley Hatch who's worked hard and grinded for such a long time to get this big chance. Like, you know, she's going to deliver in training. You know, she's going to be a veteran presence, but also bring that energy that you want around a lot of young players. Yeah, and remember she was one of the last players left off

that 2023 roster. So she's got this little, like, you know, if I were her just putting myself in her shoes, I would probably be thinking, like, I don't know if I'm ever going to make it back there. Right. Yeah. And now here's an opportunity against a really good team in Brazil that if you show up you've got a good chance of

Of trying to break your way into what Emma Hayes is gonna do with this squad We are gonna do obviously I think more intense Preview for this next week because the games comes up the following weekend But big picture as you look at the 24 as you think about this team coming out of losing a She Believes Cup to Japan on the final game and everything else going on around it. What are you thinking about going into this camp? I'm thinking about how you can get Lily Yohannes and Claire Hutton on the field at the same time together. I think everybody left She Believes just believes, just thinking Johannes is the real deal and she

needs to play more. And when you look at this group of midfielders with those two, Coffee, Heaps, Albert, there's ways that, I mean, there's things that I would like to see. How do you incorporate those? Do you give them time together? Because I think Claire Hutton is the future of what this women's national team is going to be. Sam Coffey, you know what she's going to give you.

But is there a world where Hutton, Johannes, and maybe Heaps playing as the 10, because that seems to be where Emma Hayes likes to play her, right? Higher up on the field in that 10 position. Can those three play together? I think it'd be interesting to see. Yep, Brazil, I think a team not gonna dominate possession like a Japan does, but transitionally super dangerous. So that again is another test here of, you know, the rest defense is gonna be massive. Where you lose possession is massive. Your connection to your other midfielders, your spacing there. I think Claire Hutton is one of the best already

in NWSL at a lot of those things, but it's a lot of responsibility to do that alongside a heaps in Johannes who are trying to create goals and are pushing, you know, into dangerous attacking areas. But Emma Hayes, what we saw in the last window was like, she's going to give players chances to fail or succeed and she's not gonna be scared of it with especially having a gold medal already in the pocket. The Brazil team, very much like you'd expect, huge amount of NWSL players in this group.

Like most of the attack in midfield is NWSL players. And of course, Tarcian, a part of the back line as well. So a lot of players we're familiar with a lot of talent. It's going to be an exciting game, an exciting window on the futures group. I have it up here somewhere. It is, I think for me, a really exciting group of players, a lot that have shown very quickly that they can play in NWSL and play at the pro ranks. It's a lot of players coming out of college

who were not drafted, so have the ability to go find the teams they wanna play for. Sarah Shavushi made her debut for the Orlando Pride. This week along the back line, you look at a, you look at Huff, Taylor Huff out at B right now. What she's done already in two games,

I mentioned Ryland Turner, who I thought was phenomenal for Portland this weekend and could be the go-to center forward. Maybe for the rest of the season gets an opportunity. Sarah Schipanski, who's gotten the two starts to start the year in place of Rose Lavelle. It is continuing to widen this pool and it's a chance for all these players who,

for a lot of these pieces, they're going to be behind an Alyssa Thompson and an Allie Centenor, maybe their whole careers. But if you have to call on them, they're going to have experience being around this group. And I think what we've seen with an Emma Sears is it's also a chance for Emma Hayes to see how they interact with her group and elevate their games in a national team profile. And there's a lot of exciting names on this on this list. Yeah. And you also wonder how much incorporate like how much these two groups will be incorporated

together because the the 23 camp is in California as well. So maybe at the beginning before and I don't know maybe maybe the team stays there the whole time until they go to San Jose just for the game. Will there be times where they're playing in 11 v 11 scenarios just to, not for a 90 minute game, but to see what it looks like when those players, I think that's the most interesting thing, to see a Schiavanski amongst her peers and how she works in those spaces. Raelynn Turner, how does she go against these two center backs that are full team players? Can she break them down and figure out a way to be successful?

So it's not just being surrounded by really elite quality players, but also how you break another team down who has just as good of talent. So I really like a lot of those players. Maddie Dallin, another player who's been integral to start for the Seattle team. So I think it's interesting to just see the philosophy of Hayes too and to see how quickly she can integrate as many players as possible to see if they are up to standard. I would assume this list, obviously you have to at some point announce it. I would assume this list changes a lot.

Like if they do a futures camp in June, I think already what we've seen from the rookies and from some U18 players and all of that in NWSL, I think will shift things. It's hard for the college players because they're not gonna be playing competitive games. And so that also might affect things, but it feels like there's a lot of rookies that are ready to make a difference and are going to get a lot of time. A bunch of

them are in here. Lili Real is in this. Like a lot of those players are in here but not all of them and it'll be interesting to see how players get themselves into this group and push into it. That takes us into the weekend we saw in NWSL and we're gonna combine this with all the big news that came out. We're gonna sort of mention the news on each team and then talk about the games for those teams this weekend and I think it feels like even with the transfer window closing on Monday and all the moves that were made it feels like Mark Krikorian stepping away from the Washington Spirit, a project he took over after a long time head coach at Florida State,

one of the best programs in the country. A lot of the players we talk about in the national team pool have come through that program, took over the Washington Spirit, coming out of not making the playoffs. Michelle Kang finally taking over full time and elevating that program into one that was able to convince Yonatan Giraldez

to take over as head coach, the most successful coach in the world at the time, made it to a final and finished in second place last year as well. A lot of success and while I think it makes sense that, you know, he feels like his time has come to an end and he's done as much as he can and I was saying on Monday on the recap show, which I do every single week, already having a sporting director and assistant GM in place shows the stability and strength of the front office It is still a huge moment for this club that someone who's had so much success is now stepping away

And he should get a lot of credit. Yes, Michelle Kang set the standard like this is the club We're going to be but Mark Krakorian has done this For decades now even when he was at Florida State He was recruiting players from all around the world and One of the things that separated Florida State from most of the other elite teams in NCAA was that they had internationals. They had players who were really good in their various country because he knew how to recruit. I think he implemented that so well with this Washington Spirit team. It didn't matter if they got Jonathan Giraldez or not. That was just like that just added to it right because now

players wanted to come and play for Giraldez but even before that I think he knows how to sell a team and he knows how to say hey come play for my team is what I mean by sell a team. He's done a really good job. And I just hope after what we saw with him with his spirit squad that this isn't the end for him in NWSL. This is a guy who understands the game, has been an elite coach in the United States, and now has shown, all right, well, this is like kind

of fun building a team with really good players on it. So yeah, I'm hopeful that this is maybe the end of one thing for Corian, but we'll get to see him again in NWSL sometime. Yeah, I mean, there are two new teams coming into NWSL. So those are two teams that need to be built. The timing a little bit interesting with Angel City finally making the decision on Mark Parsons. And I'm not saying they wouldn't do that anyway. And Portland making decision on Jeff Agoos, but those are the roles you think he could

step into. The other thing I was saying, just thinking out loud on Monday, I don't know Mark Corrin, so I'm not saying anything, but he's also a really interesting person. Can he step into a league position and just try and affect the game or a national team federation position to try and affect the game maybe. Clearly he's gone from coach into sporting director position. Does he wanna be less day to day involved as he moves later on in life,

but still wanna affect the game. As you said, his touch points across the world, his understanding of the sport across the world, he would be a really interesting person, I think just to have those ideas and having those convos about how to continue to progress the league and the sport in this region. The other big thing that's just very obvious about what he's done is that five player draft

class last year, which was the core in the end of the championship finalists. And a team made it all the way to the end with all the injuries they had because they kept having the next player up. And so much of that came out of that draft class. And so his as well as the other pieces in that front office ability to evaluate talent and evaluate talent that fits into their program is second to none. Yeah, it really is. That's such a good point, Goss. And as you were talking about that, I was thinking, you know, how different would have been if Hal Hirschfeld gets picked second instead of, I think she was third and went to the Spirit in that third spot.

Just like these little things where they change everything to get those. If you don't know the landscape of women's soccer in the United States, you can't tell one of these talents from the other or let alone tell that you can get a player undrafted and say hey come come to our season and You're gonna be starting in the final which is what they did. So this is just I just think he's done a really good job He was I was like enough to get coached by him when he was with the national team back in the day and he just is a coached by him when he was with the national team back in the day and he just is a bright man with really good soccer mind and so whatever is next for him I just hope it's something within the game.

Uh, Croy Bethune was the third pick, Hal Hirschfeld was the fifth pick. There we go, yes. Yes. Savvy King was number two because you have the two expansion teams, Centenor and Savvy King going one and two and then... I knew they had someone at third and then the most unbelievable part of this is like you just keep going down the list and it's like oh everyone Washington took was a factor McKenna Morris is in this futures camp that was the end of the first round and as you said they brought in multiple players then as training roster players yep yep and they've all made a difference in the team. And Hal Hirschfeld is a full national team player and Corey Bethune might be the best

attacking player in the league and like all of that to be able to do it out of one draft, which really helped build out the backside of this club to then continue to invest internationally, which is I don't know this. I'm just saying it. Mark Recorian's final move with the club on Tuesday, they signed a player named Giftorian's final move with the club on Tuesday They signed a player named gift Monday. So the signing was made on Tuesday as the only day joke I'm gonna make in this whole thing gift Monday a 23 year old Nigerian international coming from Spain most recently most recently in 65 appearances for Tenerife Monday had 26 goal contributions. So goals and assists combined.

Obviously a league with Yonatan Haraldes and Adrian Gonzalez have a ton of experience with and an attack that just needs more pieces. It was a 2-1 loss this weekend to Kansas City or sorry 2-0 loss this week. No, 2-1 loss. Why do I not trust the thing I wrote down? Was it 2-0? It was 2-0. Because the goal got called back and then the penalty got overturned and everything was lost. Because that was that. It was a VAR game. That's why you wrote that.

It was the VAR game. I should have adjusted that. I was staring at it too. But no matter what, you have seen the health concerns in the attack for Washington this year. This feels a lot like last year when they brought Rose Kuasi in and it was like, oh, this might be a move for depth. And Kuasi ends up being their outlet in the final and ends up being a huge factor. So now they have the chance to bring in more depth and options at center forward where Ule Saar has not been able to get on the field for the last five, six months

or have another option out on the wing to move their pieces around. It's scary when you look at that frontline for Washington and what they are versus what they could be. This team and the depth that they had last year, we have now tapped into the depth, right? So we're seeing the depth at this year and what they can do. Is this still a good spirit team? Yes. But it is nothing compared to what they can be at their healthiest. And I feel like gift Monday, number one, best name in NWSL. I'm, I'm so excited to call games for the spirit to be able to, like, I can't wait to see what Maura does for goal calls for her. It's a good addition because you have Ashley Hatch

as the year nine, but who's after Hatch? There is no depth now in that front line. If Rodman is constantly coming off the bench, well, can you have a forward in front of her to really challenge in a stretching way? And maybe Gift Monday gives you that, to give that same threatening look in behind but I

I Guess I'm just concerned for the spirit because you don't know How long a lot of these injuries are gonna take right? We we know Croix Bethune is probably getting close, but we haven't heard any updates on Ule Sarr we haven't heard any updates on Ule Saar. We haven't heard any updates on updates on Kwasi. And those are three really integral players into how successful the Spirit can be this year. Hal Hirschfeldt out of the lineup this weekend as well. It was a huge factor for them against Kansas City. They ended up playing three in the back, all three centerbacks. It's the

one position where they are fully healthy. And so Bern playing three in the back, all three center backs. It's the one position where they are fully healthy. And so Bernal played in the middle between Esme Morgan and Tara Miquillon, Lacey Santos alongside Narumi in central midfield, but not the final third quality that you want for this team, not the threats. Ashley Hatch has to go the full 90 because there aren't really options in those positions. And I think the worry or the question right now is like, how long into the season can Washington not be at a hundred percent to then still be where they want to be when these players come back and how long, how much pressure do you have to put on these players? Right?

Corey with Thune coming back from injury, like you don't want to have to rely on her. You want her to be able to come into the game comfortably and be able to play the amount of minutes you have assigned and not have to sort of like push extra minutes on her or extra energy or pressure because you need to get results. And so that's that dangerous area. And that's where it makes sense to bring in international quality, La Liga starter, a player who can carry the load. And if it's more injuries on the wing, then you push Ashley Hatch out wide,

or you play Monday out wide. Like one thing we've seen from this Washington group is how flexible they are. McKenna Morris goes in that as well. And so bringing any piece of talent into this side helps you cover multiple positions. Or if you play three in the back, there's your two center forwards right there

and you use McKenna Morris as a wingback. Yep. For Kansas City, I talked about what this game meant for them of just like from the last game in Audi field which was sold out by the way, awesome showing from the fans, another rowdy set up for Washington Spirit. And I think that was so cool to start the weekend

for all of us from afar on that early Saturday game. But for Kansas City, I think they showed where they've grown, how this team can be stable now, how they can be hard to play through, how they can sit in a little bit more but not get broken down and then still be the threat in transition. Lola Bonta, the huge penalty kick, puts it away.

Shewinga gets the last minute goal. And this was one of those games where you saw like, oh, if Kansas City's ahead, it's impossible to deal, Shewinga gets the last minute goal. And this was one of those games where you saw like, oh, if Kansas City's ahead, it's impossible to deal with Shewinga because now you have to throw numbers forward. She can press by herself across the front and create chances out of nothing. So then that pulls more defenders back in.

It was a lot of what Kansas City wants to be, but where they've grown from the start of last year of like, we can beat team six, five, to now having the ability to do both, I think that's the really exciting next step under Vlachko. And it has to be because they, you know, I thought the spirit in general, until later in the game did a good job of stopping showing go right not giving her too many chances. So now, is this a benefit for for Kansas City to see what

they look like against three back? Yeah. Okay. They don't see that very often. Now they just have another tool in their tool belt to say, okay, versus three back. Now we've seen it. Here's how we solve it. Try us. Yeah, I think that's what really what they're feeling right now. Try us. The of course, Kansas City and Washington both chasing Orlando who matched up this weekend against Gotham, the other two semi finalists and another big addition for Gotham coming into this season. They signed Brazilian international on loan from Manchester United. Jesse, did I say it right? Jesse. Yeah, I don't I think it's just I think it we need to hear her say it. But I think it's just, I think it, we need to hear her say it but I think it is like Jessie. Like it's spelled G-E-Y-S-E which is why we're so confused because everyone who's just listening

is like yeah we all know how to say the name Jessie and you can figure it out. I know. I just think of when I was working at GoLazo, Erin West and I were talking about her a lot from the 23 World Cup and we would be like, GSC. So that's how I've gone with. Yeah. It's a great name. She's Brazilian.

This move, I said, I sort of talked about it on the recap on Monday, right as it broke. It makes a lot of sense to me. This is a Gotham team that in all their changeover and with a few injuries are still looking for some attacking help. One goal across two games. They get shut out this weekend against Orlando 2-0 in their home opener. A really good crowd at that one as well. And like most of what they lost from last year is center back depth and attacking options. And it doesn't feel very varied in the attack right now with what they've brought back in. Their talent level is really high.

It feels like the floor is still pretty high for this Gotham team. This is the type of player though that can elevate your ceiling and put you back into a championship conversation. Yeah, I really liked her at the World Cup in 23. She can hold up play, she can threaten in behind. And you also have to remember this is a Gotham team who is on the verge of getting Midge Purse back. I wouldn't be surprised if we see her this weekend, at least in a small capacity.

The way that Gotham tends to play, yes, they utilize their channels, but with Purse, you know she's getting to the end line and creating in that area so this is gonna set up Jessie well who's not like she's not gonna beat you in one v one situations but I see her more of that Brazilian style where she's linking up and then knows what her target is is I'm gonna be in the box I want to be a goal scorer and I think that there's moments where Gotham miss that like, there's a couple teams who miss that like grit and edge and feistiness like inside the box. And I think they can give they can get that from her. Yeah. It's hard to know exactly what you're going to get because the last year or two

for her at ManU have been brutal. Like she has talked about how unhappy she is. She went back to Brazil because her brother passed away so she was like on leave for that. So that's tough to deal with. Man U, they felt were trying to push her out of the team while she was gone. So like none of it's been good. She hasn't started as much as expected coming over from Barcelona. So it's hard to know exactly where she's at right now and you know how long it takes her to get up to speed and what it will be for Gotham. But some of the underlying numbers that we have seen look pretty good. One is that she has at least attempted a

ton of take ons. And I think you have a Gotham team right now that's a lot of East West and a lot of connectors and a lot of really talented ones. Ella Stevens is really the one who's gonna take players on and break open the game. I think what we saw against Orlando, and it's tough to say that, because you're talking about a Orlando team that's starting Emily Sams at right back.

They are the hardest team to break down in the league, but it didn't feel like Gotham had any variance to the attack. Midge-Purce will add that, Rose Lavelle will add that as well, but here's another option of a player. And what I was saying as I heard this news is the other thing I like for Jesse is you have dealt with all this for the last two years. You don't have to be a starter. Like this is a Gotham team that's still a top four team, whether you're in it or not. It takes the pressure off her while also playing

with a few teammates that she knows very well in Portillo and Bruninha. It feels like a no-brainer as the rumors came out that she was potentially going to leave Man U. I think Portland was an obvious one everyone connected with because they have so many openings in the attack and they made an addition as well on this final day. But as Gotham came out, it's like, yes, that's the type of place where it's like, go get yourself right. There's opportunity there, but there's not necessity., that's the type of place where it's like, go get yourself right. There's opportunity there, but there's not necessity. And that's the type of move you want to make.

And for Gotham, I think it was a frustrating afternoon against Orlando. You have a rookie scoring on goal, 90 seconds in, which just happens. You give up a penalty and you're not really able to create a ton right now. I think Sarah Schiapanski is doing a lot of work in central midfield. Final third, dangerous balls, being a goal scorer that probably is a step too far to ask a rookie to do as a 10 in a high level team in these high level games. And so this feels like a nice time for Gotham to get a sort of injection of excitement and be like, here's another piece coming in to help things.

Yeah it does and I think it really is dependent Gotham's style and the space that they want to attack feels like can they lure teams out a little bit more? I feel like they get so everybody's so far into the attacking third that then it's harder and harder and harder to break teams down. So because they are so good on the ball, I would like them to invite pressure a little bit more and then try to play more direct, which I don't know if they will ever do that. Yeah. But I just feel like with some of these players like we just mentioned with

Porcio and how she can get in behind the back line, Ella Stevens at time, Esther wants to come in. So can you use that counter movement from her coming in for that run and beyond to try to get in behind a team's back line? Maybe a good test here against Houston if they can bait them into a little bit higher of a press on the field. We'll see. But it does feel like Gotham needs that next, they need to have that next evolution of like, yes, we are a great team, but it doesn't feel like teams fear them.

Yeah. The Houston game, the other flip side would be Houston has all the ball, Gotham comes out, they play against the ball, they create chances with their press. It's just a game where you don't have to say, how can we break a team down? How can we break a team down? That's the flip side that could happen that game on Friday night. I believe you'll be on the call for that. Is that correct? Yes. So something to look forward to as well on the Orlando side of things, by the way, eight goals in the first two games combined. That's the NWSL record. So if the conversation was like, oh,

they set a lot of records last year, how do they follow that up? It turns out the way you follow that up is more records. This game not as explosive as a home opener against Chicago where they put up six, but you still see so much quality in this team and the structure right now with Angelina playing out on the left, quote unquote, coming inside as a third center mid. Sam's playing as a right back. Like you have to work to break this team down. They are not going to beat themselves at any point. So good. They're so fun to watch. The Houston Dash, the other team in that Friday game, they made a signing this week. They signed 19 year old Brazilian U-20 international and Cruciero player Rebecca Costa da Silva. The deal is an international deal. It's believed that the fee paid was over $170,000 to bring into a Houston team that got their

first win of the year under for Reese Guttrah on Sunday, a 2-1 win over Chicago. So now they are into at least the win column in this new era. And it felt I think Jordan in an easier matchup than week One, but the progression of what they want to be. Oh Absolutely, it was felt like a must-win game for both teams but one of the things that Fabrice Catra I think we're seeing as we get a little bit more data of how he wants to play is he wants this team to have various ways that they can attack,

but they wanna have the ball and they want to feel comfortable playing out of the back under pressure and not get to, it doesn't matter where the pressure comes from, right? If it's a high press from the opponent or if it's playing into a midfield in a mid block where there's a lot of players in there to accept the pressure and say, okay, we can play in this.

I think we're seeing a different Houston team than we have, just their calmness on the ball. When you talk about bringing Rebecca Cosa da Silva, I think we could call her Rebecca. We'll see what she wants to be called. Yeah, I think so too. Yeah. But when Rebecca comes in, she can play multiple different positions for the under-20s team center back as a six. She can really play on the back line anywhere.

And if you look at a lot of these pieces that Fabrice Gattrard has now, a lot of center backs, a lot of versatile pieces on the back line. Natalie Jacobs playing as really an outside back, a left back, but comes in into a three back in the build. So is that a place where they feel like, okay, since we have such good talent at the center back position, this 19 year old can come in, learn what it's like to play in this league and at this level and grow from these players into a starting role for this team eventually. To me that's what it feels like because they're already deep at the 6, they're deep at the center back.

So we'll see how she fits in but I think Houston is going to be fun to watch this year. The game changed when they brought their subs in and brought in Maggie Graham, Delaney Sheehan, and Evelyn Duleon who's been really great for them. So we'll see. Can they do that from the start of the game? It'll be much bigger question against Gotham, but I like what's going on in Houston a lot. I don't think it's also lost on them that this is what they did with Tarseon and then they made a million dollars

in a sale. So if you see talent that you think is available and you think it can fit your system, great, but especially if you think you can nurture that player, a player that will probably go back and play in the Brazilian national team. So even if she doesn't break through and is a starter every week for you, because you do have some veterans at the center back position specifically that you've given extensions to recently and it's a long season, it's a war of attrition. Like you're going to need to use all those pieces. But I think they've seen already like Tarcyon not full-time starter for them,

not always in the team. And then the Celon is still available. And that is probably a model that you're going to want to try and continue to do. So another opportunity for them to do that. Not the only team signing a center back out of Brazil. San Diego did so as well. They signed Colombian international Daniela Arias, 30 year old Colombian international center back over 50 caps and was voted the defender of the year in Brazil last year, I believe with Corinthians. If I remember correctly, my friend is a Corinthians fan. I'm supposed to be a Corinthians fan. Corinthians, if I say it correctly. So I should have known that. And it makes sense for San Diego. They got a 3-2 win this weekend over Utah. If you haven't

watched this game, like at a minimum, go watch the highlights. But if you're going to go back and watch a game from this weekend, this is the one. It was off the rails, I would say in the second half. Utah's been that way for a little while, right? When they want to, if the game opens up because there's so much individual quality. But San Diego is like must watch at this point across two games of like, they don't mind the game being a little bit hectic. They're going to trust their attackers in those moments. And they are attackers like a Gia Courtley

that likes the big moment and will put on a show. Well, I think that's why you bring in a center back too, right? You feel very confident with how your team is going forward. But if you look at depth, the center back position for this San Diego team, if you take their two starters away, you're looking at Trinity Armstrong

as the third depth piece in that. This is a young player with, yes, so much hype around her, but if something happens to those two, which we've seen in this league countless times, I think that's why Utah looks how they are because they haven't had Kaylee Real, right? It can change you instantly from a team that is so solid defensively and can let their attackers go wild to a team that's like, all right, when our attackers go wild, are we really stable in the defensive line?

You bring in Arias, who is a steady center back, good presence, good build, can chase attackers down, can cover space really well. You you don't need her to start right away, but now she's challenging these two center backs who, I think that there's space for her to win a starting role in this back line. Absolutely. Like that is the biggest weakness. It's the biggest question mark.

I had this down as my must watch game for the upcoming weekend, but I'm gonna talk about it here, which is Orlando against San Diego. because the two games San Diego have played against Utah and against Angel City they have not faced the top class of center forwards in NWSL one where the two center backs they're spacing their positioning when they're turned on their ability to win 1v1 battles has been tested from the first to the 90th minute. That's the definition of playing Barbara Vander.

Right. You turn off for a half second. It's a ball over the top. You're sliding in to try and make a play 50 yards from goal because you know what's happening. We saw as well, even experienced players like sharp balls in a playoff game. You don't know what's happening. You don't want to take the risk of band to get in the ball. You try and make an aggressive play. She turns you and all of a sudden it's a goal. So this is, I think to me, the first good test of like, is San Diego fun and they're building or are they for real? And if they can manage a matchup like this, I think they very quickly get into a

conversation where Cascarino is a game breaker. Maria Sanchez is very involved and connected. Corley is clearly a bright spot. Leon got her first start. She gets a goal. McCaskill in central midfield has experience, has confidence there. There's a lot to like. It's that back three or four position that's the big question mark of if it can be for 2025.

I like this, having this kind of test early for the San Diego team because yes, if you play well, you're showing, hey, we can be a real team. But if Orlando beats you, you're like, okay, well, we got to improve. And it's not like you don't feel the weight of Orlando beating you. Like Gotham might feel the weight of Orlando beating them. It's not saying that they're not going to be a good team this year, it's just saying hey we're not there yet. Whereas opposed to what we've seen from San Diego these first two weeks, we can really

see them going in there and being difficult for Orlando. When you talk about their attack, just can they stick to a good defensive plan? But I like if I was Jonas Eidevall, I would be happy that we had a couple of weeks to play and then this big test. One thing to add in here, if you haven't seen the news, there was reports coming out of I believe it's now Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey about a bunch of verbal abuse thrown at Barbra Banda during this match. The club and the league has come out very quickly and said it's unacceptable and

they'll try and you know find ways to manage this. I think the thing you should take away from that is if you are at a game and you hear these things the club has your back the league has your back and they didn't have that Barbara Banda's back as well as they probably should have last year when all of this started but I think that was my big takeaway from this is like go and report it to security, go and report it to the people around you who work on this. It is not your responsibility to fix all these issues as much as we all want to yell at people who are idiots in public spaces. But that I think was the big example that came away from that. I want to throw it out there for anyone who's going to be going to games

across the season or going to be in the stadiums during this season. Let's finish out with our final big addition from this window and it was a surprise one. Mimi Aladieu, 29 year old Canadian attacker, most recently at Benfica, has gotten into the Canada national team very late on in her career. Did so in 2022 but has really found a spot this year. Early on under Casey Stoney was a part of the Pinnator Cup, which I learned the name of so I wanted to say it because it's like a fun thing to say and was part of the camp before that with two or three friendlies against some high level opponents. Spain, Iceland has played across the attack center forward, mainly central midfield or out on the wing

and bring in a 29 year old with a little bit of experience. I thought Portland looked much better this weekend, but Jordan, this was the team you were looking at, I think coming into this week and saying like, if there are available international pieces, you gotta get them in the door now because you've lost so much talent so quickly before this season started.

Yeah, which was unexpected. So it felt like Portland was, we kind of already had questions like what are they going to look like this year and then you lose all these talented players up front. I think that Hanks showed a real bright spot in someone that I would like to see start from the jump for Portland going into this next game. But for them, you need depth. This is, I don't know, is it the next level of NWSL now? Are we saying we've taken this next jump because now we're seeing teams who separate themselves

with the depth that they have. If you have a player like Aladieu who has international experience, has played in other countries but also knows these Canadian coaches very well in Rob Gale and Mike Norris who is in the front office there, can they get the best out of her? Because one of the things that I'm seeing from Portland is you bring in a Dana Costellanos, I don't know where you play Dana Costellanos. From what I've seen, I don't see her playing at the 10. I think, can you find her playing up front? Well, now, Raelynn Turner is playing great up top, but you need this type of competition

if you're going to be successful in this league. So I think Aladieu can play a lot of attacking positions, right? Anywhere across the front line, maybe even as a 10. It's just bringing in more competition because you never know what combination of players can work well together. And that is something that unfortunately Portland just lacked because of those injuries most recently. I think it's a good signing.

It doesn't get me off my seat, but I'll be happily surprised if she is a really big impactful player for Portland. Yeah, I think Portland. So one, I think when you talk about the league and where it stands, I think like you can't really expect your best 11 to be available all the time. And if totally Yeah, Conca calf W now if it's the next version of the Summer Cup series, if it's the fact that you're playing around big international teams or your players are going out international and the potential for injury exists in those moments and then the travel back like, yeah,

you need to be 15 to 17 deep to like really compete. And then I think for Portland, I don't want to call it a luxury, but I think the space you found yourself in where all of a sudden, as you said, unexpectedly, you're putting three players on the season-ending injury list, you're losing Sophia Wilson's availability for the year, you've got the three players that are legends that walked away from your team at the end of last year,

try some stuff. Yeah. I think Kaia Hanks signing is like, okay, there's minutes for me here. I'm gonna come in as a rookie, I'm gonna get chance. This is an incredible atmosphere as well. So if you can establish yourself year one, now you're a part of the Portland Thorns going forward.

You've got this new ownership group, you've got all that happening. I think this is another one. Benfica is a team that has some really high level performances, competes in Europe. They don't play in a really fully professional league. So it's hard to know like what's real and what's not coming out of the Portuguese league. Here's a chance to sign someone who could be a starter for Canada in five months.

And then this signing becomes much more difficult to do. So I think for Portland, they've done the right things here, which is take some risks. I think Daniel Castellanos fits in that as well of like, yeah, I don't know how she fits into the team. If she hits though, are you talking about a player who's competed for, you know, been in the conversation for world players of the year in the past? And if not, there wasn't really anything else you could do, I think, at this point of the year. So it makes a lot of sense. It's more depth, as you said. Olivia Moultray feels ready to step up and be a huge part of this

attack. And as I've said 10 times in this show, I love what I saw from Ryland Turner, the move from her to create the corner kick, which led to the opening goal where she gets played into space, puts the defender on their heels. First goal for Portland. Yes, correct. And then the croiff at full speed and then replay at your feet and curl the left footed shot to the far balls. Like those are the things you see a triple espresso player do. Like that's that's at the highest level. And when you look at the resumes of these players, that's a player who is an unknown but like had the resume that you thought could be a player like this, right? Top five draft pick and brought over in the ball search rate. And so when you're looking at it and

saying like, okay, who deserves more opportunity, that feels like a player that could be a big difference for them. And I'm pretty excited for her to get opportunities. And this is why I'm just going to do it here because you've talked about your game to watch over the weekend. This is why I'm interested in this Portland, North Carolina game. Because neither team has won yet. And Portland, huge expectations as a club, a lot of question marks on what they're going to do on the field. I think they looked better as the game went on, but they're at home. This Portland team doesn't lose games at home. And now they're playing a North Carolina squad who has not been very good on the road and plays the best, most beautiful soccer we see in NWSL.

But they have no teeth. They don't have the grit and the bite that we expect from North Carolina. So are we going to see something different? Will Hannah Betford, the former Thorn, get a start and provide North Carolina with a little bit more structure as they play in a lot of rotations. But if you have a North Star and Betford, maybe that would help them a little bit more. I think both teams need to win this game. Yeah, it is.

And there are a couple, I'll say two clear like must win games in week three of the season Which is very scary Um north carolina, I put these stats down if you don't follow nwsl analytics on blue sky you should Uh every single game you get like an awesome three page report that comes out xg all this stuff One of the ones I find most interesting is passes into and around the final third. North Carolina had 38 passes into the final third to Seattle's 14 in their matchup, but 12 passes into the box to Seattle's six. So almost three times more on into the final third, but only double on into the box. And that to me right now is where North Carolina is stuck. The hope was Jayden Shaw would be this like attacking piece. What we saw in Seattle was

her and Manaka swapping in and out of the center forward 10 position. No one was really playing center forward and no one was occupying center backs, stretching the field or being a target to play into in the box. And it feels like a lot of North Carolina's attack is predictable right now. And it is the C around the 18, which is the dangerous part you wanna be in and not the dangerous part you don't wanna be in. And so yeah, they are,

for a team that doesn't really win on the road, now all of a sudden the pressure is on in this game. And I think Portland looked very clean in their transition moments against Angel City and you could see the potential for them to play through a young central midfield for North Carolina if they're able to win the ball back and then you get into space and you see some of the confidence right now for the young attacking pieces that got on the field against Angel City this weekend. So I think this is

a very interesting game. I'm very excited for it. The schedule this weekend, two games at the same time on Friday night. Then Saturday spaced out Orlando San Diego is the noon game to start things. That's one of the ones, as I said, that I'm very interested in. Kansas City, Utah, Saturday evening,

Portland, North Carolina. And then Sunday, the other, I think what you'd call must-win game, Chicago against Louisville, two winless teams and then Angel City against Seattle at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday evening to close things out. For Louisville, we still don't have confirmation of what happened with Savannah DiMillo. She was taken to the hospital after being stretchered off the field. Really scary moments for her and for the team. It feels like at least

Worst case scenario was avoided with her sort of being conscious and okay and able to be taken off and the way the team's talked About him actually the only thing I found when I searched for news about her was that it was her birthday and they posted happy Birthday to her I think yesterday from racing Louisville's account so that I'm gonna take day from racing Louisville's account so that I'm gonna take. Well we got the update in the the only update I had heard was in game we got told she got taken to the hospital because she was lightheaded. Yes. And that that's all we've heard. Yes and that's still all we've heard at this point.

It's a huge loss for a Louisville team on the field that doesn't have a ton of depth right now. Balls are not available for them as well as she stepped away from soccer and this was not a potent attack coming into the season. But they did push in the end of that game. They did sort of get forward against Bay and create some chances. And I think the hope is can you carry that over against a Chicago team that has struggled to find their feet so far this year? Yeah, I feel it feels like it must win

but I said that last weekend about the Chicago game against Houston too because the same sentiment Chicago I Don't know if what they have done in the past is going to be relevant in NWSL now because people know that they just are gonna sit and counter and Now they can't hold the lead and that's what they were able to do is hold the lead if they got it early and they're not Able to do that anymore. So we'll see big game there in Chicago Ludmila available again for them got the start in the last game for Chicago Sam stop Her first start once again an unbelievable turnaround for her to be available Matian came off the bench as well which is a nice sign for them that

was sort of their biggest addition in the offseason not to look past it because we were talking about Louisville Carly Lima's goal like whoa I I texted you because you on the call you said mama mia it was wild I was like what do I say to this because it was so good. You want something to You want your call to be as good as what you see, but I didn't even know what to say like How do you talk about that? There's no way to punctuate it because it on its own was an unbelievable goal Every goal they have scored so far this year the three goals They've scored have all been up for like goal of the year. Even Anderson's volley. That was like a clean volley out of the air. Anderson, really impressive performance once again.

I agree. Has changed the depth chart at that center back position for them. They swapped from a five, five in the back to four in the back for this game didn't seem to miss a beat and the rookies Lima and Huff like This team didn't change a lot from last year, which I thought was a positive because they ended so strong But if you added with Lima and Huff like talent to really change what you can do on top of a stable group That's really really good and cohesive from last year This Bay team feels I think as dangerous and we're as hopeful now as we were when we did our preseason standings.

We were hopeful, but we were questioning who's gonna play goalkeeper and will that be the weak link? But one of the things I've noticed from Bay is they might not let the goalkeeper be the weak link. Because they have, they've changed so much from the beginning of last year to the middle ofling because they have. They've changed so much from the beginning of last year to the middle of the season to now. We're really hard to break down and there is a commitment from the forward line defending that we have not seen. That was Karli Lima winning the

ball back in her defensive third to dribble to the, and Oshawa has been doing that. Rachel Kununanji is pretty good at defensive work rate as well, but there is a different commitment to it this year. So maybe the goalkeeper isn't going to have to do all that much because the players in front of her aren't going to make it hard for Silquits. It's a pretty good way to make sure that it's not an issue. And they I think the one time we saw last year, for sure, was the matchup at Washington in the playoffs, where they were

defensively stout and resolute. And that feels like it's rolled over to this year. They go to Washington on Friday night. So, again, you reference back to last year of like, this is a cool test point of like, where do we stand now in year two and what can we build as we try and go along and continue to build this project up. So it is going to be a fun weekend. If you do not already, subscribe to our Patreon, it gets you access to our Discord. We can hang out there and talk

about all the games as we're watching them. The nice part about this week, outside of Friday night there are no sort of crossover games so you kind of get to space out and watch all of them as you want and I love having that noon game on ESPN on Saturday to sort of get the day started and something to dig into. It also gets you access to our depth charts which are pretty updated although now there's a bunch of new signings for us to add in there but we went through it all. And now Joel Anderson is playing center back so we just got to change some things, right? We just have to keep changing things. It is amazing how quickly things change in this league.

It's why we love covering it here at SocRise. We'll continue to do that. Next week, of course, we'll have the national team to preview as well. But thank you to all of you who are here live with us. Thank you to all of you for listening. We'll talk to you again very, very soon.