SoccerWise - Weekend Recap Goals Galore In MLS & NWSL

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

David has you weekend recap running through the explosive top of the table clashes in MLS. After hitting on some of the more controversial moments in the MLS weekend it is time to congratulate Gotham FC. Gotham have won the first ever CONCACAF W Championship ever & without them the rest of the league putting up the highest scoring weekend of all time.2:00 MLS15:24 NWSL Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

Hey everybody, David Goss with you here for your SoccerWise weekend recap and highlight show as I do every single week. We've got a big week coming up here at SoccerWise. Tom will be back with me to break down what was a wild and wacky weekend in MLS. The goal scoring off the charts in both MLS and NWSL. Jordan will be with me on NWSL as we sort of look at where the league stands right now as we head into an international break and preview the US women's national team's upcoming games coming over the next few weeks.

And then myself and Tom have some big stories to talk about around the MLS sphere over the next few weeks. We've got some interesting stuff coming up for us. I will be at TST next week for a segment of time. I think Tom's going to be traveling outside the country. So we're going to work on a couple of special interviews to fill in some of the gaps and also hopefully bring you some really interesting shows So a lot to look forward to we are working on a lot of different projects So stay tuned to us follow us at soccer wise HQ on all socials and please join our discord

It's one of the best places to hang out and watch and talk and we do a ton of updates in there as well It's also an opportunity for you to give your input on our Soccer Wise Stories, which are incredible. Social Admin, I guess you would call it, Morgan, is working on for another week some of the best stories, not pure soccer, off the field, or things happening for people around the NWSL, MLS spheres, and the sport in general. Happy Memorial Day to everyone in the United States. Of

course a very somber day remembering the people who gave the ultimate sacrifice for in the service of others and so I just wanted to put that note out there before we get started here and as I said the goal scoring off the charts this weekend. In MLS specifically, seven of the 15 matches had a team score three plus goals. Three matches had two teams score three goals. We had three, three, three draws in MLS. We had some unbelievable goal scoring across the league.

For the top teams that came in with a chance at a little bit of history, so coming into the weekend, four teams had the potential to break 30 points, 15 games into the season. It would be the most amount of teams to have done it together in MLS in over six years. And there was struggles on that side of things. We had Philadelphia, FC Cincinnati, Vancouver and Columbus who all had the potential.

Philadelphia and Vancouver the only two who got there. For Philadelphia they barely were able to get over the line. They were one of the 3-3 draws against Inter Miami at home. It was Philadelphia's best performance against this messy team, which I have said for two years now that I thought Philly was set up really well to challenge the messy Inter Miamis of the world. The way they play direct,

their ability to score, their athleticism, their pace had not been the case. And it looked like it was going to be this time. Quinn Sullivan, a goal in the seventh minute, completely unmarked by anyone on Inter Miami on a short corner that he goes and gets. Again you're starting to see this theme. Teams have recognized Miami does not turn on quickly for restarts. They're complaining to referees. They're organizing themselves. Everything else besides playing. We've now seen Vancouver take advantage. We've seen Dallas take advantage.

We've seen Columbus take advantage and now we see Inter Miami do so or sorry Philadelphia do so as well. Quinn Sullivan feeling himself. He's trying Trevellas on the run for cutback passes on the side of the field after this goal as the whole Philadelphia Union team was. Tye Borrebo two more goals in this one. An incredible start to the year for Tye Borrebo. Two more goals in this one. An incredible start to the year for Ty Borrebo. He has been one of the top goal scorers all time in Major League Soccer through this stretch. So the fourth player ever to score 13 goals in the first 15 games of a team's MLS season. A couple changes to the starting lineup for both these teams but overall a really strong

performance until the end. You get Alino Messi free-kick goal in the 87th, Talasko Segovia in the 95th, and Inter Miami comes back. It is their biggest late comeback in their club's short history but we remember this story from the last two years of consistently being able to get off the ropes and get results And that's what led them to the points record last year And so I think bittersweet for both these teams with the way this game turned out for Vancouver the other team now They are in supporter shield lead that broke through it was a Brian White brace in this one to knock off RSL RSL getting a really nice performance from one of their homegrown stars in Saviour Gozo

One of the players that we expect I expect big things from he scored in the first minute Diego Luna in the fourth minute But Brian White would not be denied two goals in a span of five minutes and then a Pedro Vite winner in the 90th minute Vancouver so they played last weekend they play on Wednesday night and then of course the CONCACAF Champions Cup final at Cruises rule on Sunday so Vancouver no MLS game this weekend, but these three games leading up This was a pretty strong group for Vancouver overall not full starters But fairly close and expect a lot more rotation on that midweek game if any of these players are even a part of it.

For the other teams trying to break that 30 point mark, FC Cincinnati, a ridiculous match against Atlanta, which finished the weekend with six goals in this one. Four for Atlanta United, a team that has struggled to score at all. They had two goals in a matter of 18 minutes in this one, four for Atlanta United, a team that has struggled to score at all. They had two goals in a matter of 18 minutes in this one. Nick Hagelin's injury, a huge part of this. Hagelin forced to go off with what we now know

is a broken rib and a punctured lung. About 10 minutes into this game, teenage Adébie comes on for him in his return from injury. Within minutes, Atlanta draws a free kick and is able to score on the ensuing free kick in an area you would have thought Haglund may have been a part of defensively. Now we've got a ton of questions on social about our thoughts about this. Laté Loth is the one who creates the contact or the one who makes contact with Nick Haglund on this play. If you haven't seen it,

you can look it up and go look. But what happens is the ball pops out high towards the middle of the field. Cincinnati are on the attack and as the Cincinnati player, I think it's Miles Robinson, goes to take it down. Nick Hagelin sort of cuts across to slow Latte Lath from closing him down. There's contact there. That's where Hagelin goes down and that's where the injury is. And the questions we were getting was this a foul on Latte Loth?

Was this a red card on Emmanuel Latte Loth? Of course, afterwards you hear the contact, the level of contact, and the question is if it was a dangerous play, if he uses his elbow as a weapon, if that's what causes this play. And excuse me, it was Matt Miasga, the one who was controlling the ball coming down, not Miles Robinson.

I'm of the opinion that Haglund purposely goes and puts himself in the path of latte loft. It is sort of an illegal move to try and screen or block. It's something that doesn't get called very often. It is hard to see from the different angles that we have that Latte Lath really extends his elbow and uses that as a weapon. It's definitely clear to me that Hagelin

is purposely putting himself in the line. So of course, with the injury coming, you're wondering, okay, what's the level of contact? And if it is? Overwhelming that it deserves to be raised to a red card, but from the run of play in my opinion It is not a red card. It is Hagelin who initiates the contact who causes it and latte loft has a right to make a straight line Run at the ball as he's trying to do and I think a little part of the contact is loft Trying to maybe swim back against Haglund

to get around him. Unfortunate moment and unfortunate for a Cincinnati team that, as I've talked about over and over, has built one of the best center back rooms in all of Major League Soccer, but continues to pick up injuries across that group. The final game, Columbus, a 3-2 loss on the road against Charlotte FC. Patrick Ajamang, the Ajagad with two goals in the first half. A gorgeous pass from Zaha to set up. One of them, Stephen Marrera forced off with an injury and Ajamang took advantage of the channel. He left open almost immediately with

Sean leaving Sean Zawadzki in his dust and getting in and finishing a really tough finish for this team. But overall, this was such a better performance from Charlotte. Take away the goals that got finished. They played with force. They played on the front foot. They enforced themselves in the game. Columbus didn't look like themselves through the opening 35 or so minutes. And I don't know that I would be saying that about a Charlotte Columbus game months ago, right? You look at the game in Columbus, it was pure ball dominance.

Charlotte's sitting in and yeah, it's a tough place to go play, but Charlotte had no ideas offensively and they weren't brave. In this game, it really felt like they opened up a little bit and played a little bit brave. Some of the other big results from the weekend, a 95th minute winner for Chucky Lozano

in the LA Galaxy San Diego game. San Diego moves to second place in the Western Conference. The LA Galaxy continue without a win and continue to set this record. Chucky's goal in the 95th, just pure effort. And you watch this game, the Galaxy scored a really nice goal from Diego Fugundes. Within 90 seconds, San Diego had equalized in the 95th, just pure effort. And you watch this game, the Galaxy scored a really nice goal from Diego Fugundes. Within 90 seconds, San Diego had equalized in the first half, and then you get this late

goal. But one of the things with this San Diego group is as clean as they are technically and as driven as they are and focused as they are in possession, they are grinders as well. And I think Chuquillo-Ozono is the example of that. Your high level DP, big Mexican international, career in Europe, Champions League and all of that. And I think when you watch the game, his number one attribute is his work rate and his energy

and it's the perfect lead for this. And while watching this game, I asked myself, but is there enough finishing quality in him as this high level DP and the team overall? So to have him get the 95th minute winner, I think is pretty nice. I'm actually surprised how well the Galaxy defense held up through most of this game.

When you look at San Diego's intricate and quick passing and yet they were not able to hold on completely to the end. The story coming out of this game though, not on the field. There was a huge fight in Snapdragon Stadium in the upper deck between LA Galaxy and San Diego supporters. We saw some issues between LA FC and San Diego supporters as well. I say this many times, no one should ever be scared to go to a stadium to watch this

sport. It is a connector. It's not something that's supposed to divide us. I don't know the details around this, but really unfortunate to see that and have that come out of this and this weekend. Some of the other huge results San Jose, one of the teams in those three goals games, a 3-3 tie with Houston, just an absurd match. Preston Judd comes off the bench, scores two goals in a 10-minute span and then Houston equalizes through Griffin Dorsey in like the 97th minute to make this one three, three

after Houston had the early two goal lead. I thought Joseph Martinez looked really dangerous coming off the back of Houston's back line. I thought he found a lot of space for a player who we have seen his speed drop as he's had injuries and gotten a little bit older. And so he normally can't take advantage of that space, should have had a couple of goals in this one.

Something to worry about, I think, for this Houston team. Then you saw some of the quality from Houston and the goals they were able to create, the possession they had centrally, but of course, Boleru helping set up goals. DeJuan Jones, I thought was really good. The connection down the right wing with Christian Espinosa is super dangerous for this San Jose team,

and they were able to at least get a 3-3 game. But I think when you watch this San Jose team, I look at a team that isn't really set up to hold this one goal lead. So I think for them, they have to recognize they have to push and stretch to afford to lead in a game like this rather than try and sit in and you look at the defenders and the subs that Bruce made, he was trying to hang on and they're just not set up for that properly. On Sunday NYCFC knocked off Chicago at home. Two red cards for the Chicago Fire team, Brian Gutierrez in just the 35th minute,

picks up a red card. NYCFC controls most of this game. Chicago was still in touching distance late though. They give up a goal in the 75th or so minute. They push for an equalizer and they get called for what I thought was a mistaken call, penalty kick, which leads to a second red card for this Chicago team. We'll see what Pro says coming out in this midweek, but I think an unfortunate result for this Chicago team overall,

but NYCFC starting to find a little bit of form. You are finally starting to see the attacking pieces that aren't Maximiliano's start to make a difference. I really like Hannes Wolf's game, both as a finisher and a creator. He gets a goal in this one. Mounsef Bakrara gets a goal and an assist. Alonso Martinez gets a goal.

Julian Fernandez is able to help this team in the attack. Augustin Ojeda draws the penalty kick. These are the pieces that this team needs to step up. They have spent a lot on these attacking options and there's a lot of quality in there. We have harped on it and harped on it and it needs to come to. The final big result to talk about,

we sort of jinxed this on Thursday when we did our preview. We said Portland, Orlando, that's got 6-6 written all over it. On a weekend littered with 6-6, The final big result to talk about, we sort of jinxed this on Thursday when we did our preview. We said Portland, Orlando, that's got 6-6 written all over it. On a weekend littered with 6-6, it was a 1-0 win for Orlando City. But it tied the club's record unbeaten streak

of 12 matches, and they became the fourth MLS team with an unbeaten run of 12 or more games over the last five seasons. And they have done that on the back of their defense. It has been elite so far defensively. Bricolo at left back has brought a really nice element to this team in their stability. They have settled in central midfield,

which I think has helped them a lot more to control the game. I think their ability to attack and transition means that they can leave a lot of numbers back and they don't have to Attack with heavy numbers and leave themselves exposed which has been a really big part of this group And so overall this is an Orlando City team right now that are sitting in the top four in the Eastern Conference And I think it's real with this group I think they're one of the most fun teams to watch the balance between

I think they're one of the most fun teams to watch the balance between Bercallo Staying a little bit safer on the left side and Freeman flying forward Paslich can give with so Freeman can come inside if not Freeman can stay wide and Paslich can come Inside and then all of the options that center forward there is a lot to like about this Orlando team Maybe they'll be a little bit frustrated to not still be in the US Open Cup on The NWSL side of things it it was equally as high scoring and as historic. It was the highest scoring day in NWSL history with 27 total goals. That is the most on a single NWSL weekend. That is having two teams not playing an NWSL game.

So that is not even the full league on display. It shows you how explosive it was, but I'm gonna start with our recap here for the teams that weren't playing in NWSL, and that was Gotham and the Portland Thorns. They went down to Mexico, played on Wednesday night in the semi-finals of the CONCACAFW Championship, the inaugural ever tournament on the women's side

for CONCACAF to finally have a club regional championship. It was hosted by Tigres, Tigres one of the four entrants. They beat Portland on Wednesday and faced off against Gotham. So for Gotham on the road, you had to stay in Mexico for the five days or six days, whatever it was, a long road trip. And then you go up against the host

for a shot at a championship. And it wasn't easy, but I thought Gotham were really impressive. They grinded it out. They were able to get the late winner from Esther on a penalty kick to win one-zero against Monterey and clinch their spot in both the 2026 FIFA Champions Cup

and the 2028 Women's FIFA Club World Cup. So the Champions is a new tournament, because of course we've got to add like a thousand of these if we can. It is expected to happen every non-World Cup year. So three of every four years in the cycle. The first one will be in 2026. It doesn't say where,

and it is a competition between the six continental winners from around the world. As it's set up from what I can see, the CONCACAF and CONMABOL winners automatically get a buy into the semi-finals to face off against each other. So you will face off Gotham will against the winner from South America and then go on to face the winner of you have Oceania and Asia, I think playing in a single knockout to face the winner of Africa, who will then face the winner of UEFA,

who is, of course, Arsenal. As Arsenal won the UEFA Champions League over Barcelona, Emily Fox and Jenna Niswanger a part of that one, so congratulations to them, Fox getting the start in that one for Arsenal. A huge upset in their win over Barcelona 1-0. Was a really fun game to watch. A team that was there for the fight and the battle,

but had that finishing quality as well. But back to the main conversation. Gotham will be the first entrance in this tournament. And then the Club World Cup. The Club World Cup is expected to happen in 2028. It has 19 entrants is what it says. So to come from CONCACAF with a Play in option. I don't know if that's three different winners and one doesn't get in because you'd have 2025 26 and 27

She assume you'd have three winners and I don't know how you end up in a situation with a play-in. None of this really makes a ton of sense to me. But if you do end up in a situation where teams get in what we saw like on the men's side most recently because of coefficient or because other teams were unavailable, there is value to the fact that Portland won the third place game 3-0 against Club America, I would be surprised if this doesn't somehow factor in to them getting a shot at playing in that Club World Cup.

Let's go into the historic weekend of goals that we had and it was led by who else? San Diego. They have won 13 of a possible 15 points in their last five games. It's the best five game run over these last five games in NWSL. They have now equaled the longest undefeated streak in San Diego history on six. And their five goals on Sunday night in a 5-2 win against North Carolina set a club record. They are, we have talked about it over and over,

the must watch team right now in NWSL. So to have them solidify that in this game, to have them move to second place right now, stand alone in the standings four points behind Kansas City, one point ahead of Orlando and Washington just shows where this team is at and their ability to right now have the most dangerous starting lineup in the league and change the game off the bench with Maria Sanchez and Mel Barcenes and Kyra Caruso who are all equally dangerous shows how good this team is and how much they're on the same page.

I worry over a long season a lot is reliant on the few characters like a Kenzadali and a Cascarino and a Corley and so this is maybe a team that year one they're not as ready and built out for to sustain injuries or the wear and tear of a long season and still be able to continue at this level but no matter what this season is going to be a success for this San Diego team they're already playing at a super high level with very little expectations coming into the year and this game was so fun to watch. They went up four, two, and they continued to dominate the game, dominate possession,

create chances. Barcaena sets up the final one to Sanchez and is just a live wire on the field. Step overs inside, outside, has defenders scrambling and that again, as I'm saying, you are talking about a rotation player right now and a super sub for this team it shows how good they can be but in saying that that question around injuries and sustainability in depth I think about what we saw from Kansas City last year

Kansas City exploding out the gates this fun team they did their one style really well and then you see as the season goes along, teams adjust to you. What is your plan B? What are your other options? And I think we're gonna learn if San Diego has them. Kansas City didn't last year, but they do this year. All the injuries they've picked up over the last week coming out of that Orlando game.

And yet Kansas City was able to go out and get a 3-1 win in their match this weekend against Chicago. BIA was phenomenal, goal and an assist. Setting up Temwa Shewinga, who we are fortunate to see, healthy enough to get back out there, but they rotated. Vanessa DiBonnardo, Nichelle Prince, you saw Ball come into this game as we now know Alana Cook will miss the full season with pretty much every knee injury.

ACL, MCL, Meniscus, it's just horrible to see for a player like that. And it's really unfortunate with the season she was having, but this Kansas City team seems like built a little bit cleaner, a little bit more cohesive, knows their identity a little bit better, and maybe they're able to manage that a bit better on this one.

And of course, now they have all of these pieces that are going to national team play. So that's something to watch out for as well. I mentioned that San Diego are the best team over the last five games in NWSL. Directly behind them in third is Louisville who went on the road and got a three to win at Angel City. And they did so being able to play through I guess is the term

you would say having to play down a player with what was a somewhat brutal red card from Kayla Fisher tearing down an opponent. It led to a penalty which made the game 3-2 at the moment and Louisville able to hang on for the rest of the game. We questioned their ability to stay in the competition and stay in these playoff standings talk a few weeks ago with the injuries they've had, with some of the players they've lost, how thin they were, how few moves they made,

and they have turned things around over this five game stretch, as has North Carolina. They are equal with North Carolina on those points. Obviously tough to say for North Carolina coming out of the week that they had and the loss that they had on the road against the San Diego group, but a great result for Louisville in this one.

On Friday night, the weekend got started with a big performance for Croy Bethune. Her second start of the year coming back from injury her third her first goal Excuse me since coming back from injury that was huge to see for Croix Bethune and it was a 2-1 road win for Washington at Seattle Casey Krueger back in the starting lineup for the first time as well And so for Washington it does feel like maybe they've turned the corner. And Orlando, they rode an unbelievable performance

from Barbara Banda, a hat trick in just the first half of this game for this Orlando Pride Squad on the road against Utah. And they were able to get the 3-1 win in this one. No Marta in the starting lineup. It was Allie Watts starting alongside Banda in the 3-5-2 we have come to see but we talked about it on Wednesday's show last week with Jordan. This was a really bad matchup it felt like for Utah. They struggle with their spacing at center back both between the two center backs and how high up the field they want to be and so

Banja was able to get out into the transition moment where she is so dominant. Often in that first half probably could have had four, maybe even five, but I think you'll take the three and it was a good get right victory for this Orlando squad. To close out the weekend Houston and Bay a 2-2 draw between those two teams as they sit close to each other in the standings as we head into what is a short international break for these teams. As I said, US women's national team games coming up on the weekend, I believe they play China on Saturday, and then they will play against Ireland next Tuesday.

First one in Minnesota, the second one in St. Louis, and we will talk all about that coming up on the show this week. As I said, last little congrats to Emma Fox, Emily Fox and Jenna Niswanger with their UEFA Champions League victory, the first one for Arsenal in 18 years. It also means the European season is fully over.

Some really interesting names of players who are available. We have seen the trend. Look at what Delphine Cascorino is for San Diego. That was a player who was playing in Europe last year. Season came to an end, made a mid season move to San Diego. Was good immediately but took maybe a little time to fully settle in and now has blown the field away. This year could we see a couple big additions like that to some teams? Could we see some teams maybe that didn't do enough work aren't satisfied fully with the work they did go out and reinforce whether it's in specific positions to cover injuries or like a Chicago or Louisville overall just to

deepen their rosters with which we expected them to do maybe a little bit more in the off season. We're gonna have all of your coverage here at SoccerWise. We've also got a special event coming up on Saturday. I am going to be doing a live sort of call-in show. So I will explain it all on the show tomorrow as I get the full details set up. But starting around 7.15 p.m. Eastern time

for the next few hours on Saturday night, we're going to be doing just hanging out and having all of you hopefully call in or send in via chat your questions your comments what you want us to talk about your takes what you are seeing from your teams or the league or the sport in general will be coming off the back of that US women's national team game we will be talking about all things MLS. Unfortunately no NWSL that day. We could talk to USL if that's what you want to talk about or anything else in between. I'm really excited for the show. I will give more details as I have them fully together on Tuesday but I am excited for the week to come here at

Sakai. So thank you all for listening and we'll talk to you again very very soon.