SoccerWise - Weekend Recap: Washington Challenge Cup Champs, Jordan Morris Makes History + MLS Week 3

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

David has your weekend recap lined up to get you caught up on all the action. The Washington Spirit avenged their dual 2024 second place finishes against Orlando with a Challenge Cup trophy. Then in MLS action Seattle Sounders throttle LAFC behind a historic goal from super sub Jordan Morris, Vancouver & Philly remain perfect, and San Diego continue to impress in their debut.1:50 Challenge Cup Recap7:21 MLS Recap Jordan Morris make history + Strong Weekend for CCC Squads Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

Hello everybody and welcome back to Soccer Wise. David Goss here for your weekend recap. It was a good one in North America. NWSL Challenge Cup, USL Championship kicking off and of course a full slate of MLS games. We've got a big week coming up for you once again here at SoccerWise NWSL regular season kicking off on Friday night. So myself and Jordan Angeley, we're gonna be on live on Wednesday afternoon.

We are going to give our season predictions. Yes, I'm gonna put pen to paper where we think the standings fall, our award winners and all of that. And then we are going to do a match by match weekend preview to get you locked in for everything that's going to happen in week one. Tom is out this week so we've got some special guests that will stop by in his place. On Tuesday we are lucky to have one of our favorites, one of my good friends in the industry,

McKelley Giannone who is now one of the contributors on MLS's Apple TV season pass, helping host the 360 wraparound recap shows and everything else in Spanish, as well as working as a sideline reporter. He was in Houston last week for the match against Inter Miami. So he's gonna stop by to chat with me. We think we'll have a USMNT roster to talk about

going into the CONCACAF Nations League So we'll talk about that and we will talk about everything we've seen in MLS so far Especially some disappointing clubs early on in this season and we've got some interviews lined up as well as we get to them We will of course release them here So soccer wise is your place of course for all of your coverage across the week and across the seasons coming up, we got a little taste in NWSL action in the Challenge Cup on Friday night.

So congratulations to the Washington spirit after two second place finishes last year behind Orlando in the regular season and then losing in the championship game in Kansas City one to zero. Washington overturns it and gets a small bit of revenge. We talked about it with Aubrey Kingsbury, their starting goalkeeper last week, who again was immense in a penalty kick shootout.

And she said that this was meaningful for them. This mattered. It was the way to start the year. It was a chance to get one over Orlando. And Washington did so with some injuries. Was not a best 11 that they were able to put out there very few of their Starting attacking pieces were available for this game, but they showed their depth once again You saw a team that has options across the attacking front three or four that they can bring in to the group

You saw a team that has elite options the group, you saw a team that has elite options. Reminder, Kroy Bethune, rookie of the year, set or tied the assist record last year in NWSL as their number 10. Lacey Santos was brought in in the middle of the year. Columbia's national team starting number 10. She carried that role whilst Kroy Bethune was out injured. Kroy Bethune out still, has not returned yet.

Lacey Santos with the equalizer off a set piece in this game ran the show from midfield for this Washington team. It is one of the many examples of depth for this Washington side. The opener was a goal from Hafaela who Jordan noted returning to this team was considered one of the best center backs in this league. Missed all of last year because of injury. Orlando went on to set the record for shutouts

in a season, shutout streak in one season, and of course wins. Now they bring her back into the side. So we saw Seb Hines a little bit of a tactical tweak in this one, going with three center backs for the most part, having wing backs so that they were able to protect a little bit more and of course not exactly a perfect full group for this team. So we saw a bellow on the left wing back position. We saw Ali Watt who Jill Lloyd mentioned in our preview last week, which you should go back and listen to.

We covered every single team in six and a half minutes to get you ready for the season with Jill Lloyd and Lori Lindsay, two of the voices of the league. We heard Lori on this NWSL Challenge Cup call on Amazon Prime and Jill said Ali Watt needs to have a big year. Now, of course, with Adriana being sold to Saudi Arabia, Watt is going to be leaned on as that third attacking piece behind Marta and Banda and we saw her in this game be able to show what she's capable of, to be able to take advantage of her 1v1 opportunities because all the pressure is on the other two attacking pieces to threaten goal, to threaten with her runs and her ability to strike the ball on that right side of the field as a second finisher when it comes down the left wing.

So it was a overall strong performance from Orlando, but we saw, I think, the next step in development for this Washington team. It was still a heavy possession Washington game, but in the final Orlando sat in very deep. In this match, Washington was able to pull Orlando's line of confrontation higher up the field and then start to try and build out of the back

Inviting pressure forward and opening up gaps for them to build out through you saw the confidence from Kingsbury from Mickey own From Esme Morgan in waiting for a Banda or a watt or a Marta to be on top of them to play that first ball To play it into the midfield and Narumi is going to be a huge help there ball to play it into the midfield and Nurumi is going to be a huge help there. Nurumi's ability to take the ball under pressure and turn and create is going to be massive for this Washington team as Andy Sullivan is out for the year and so you saw that progression. The final third quality not fully there for Washington. A lot of that will go down to the injuries and then the lack of chemistry for the players that were in the game because they have not started

in moments like this. So Ratcliffe and Ricketts getting the starts alongside Ashley Hatch, who carried that center forward role throughout the end of the season with Ule Sarr out injured. So I think a positive performance overall from Washington. Of course you get the win. And the one thing you have to know about the Washington spirit

is if the game goes to penalty kicks, just take your ball and go home. You are done. They won in the playoffs last year against Gotham. They do it once again in a penalty kick shootout here. Kingsbury, a dominant force and the composure on the shooters from Washington. Every player, it's a long pause. It's put into a top corner and yet there is no nerves for this group. So they're able to get another penalty kick,

shoot out victory. This time they lift the challenge cup, and now they are able to start the season in a really good way. It's gonna be fun to watch for these two teams. Washington goes to Houston to open up the year. Orlando hosts Chicago on Friday night. A perfect place for Orlando to start.

Of course, they beat Chicago 4-1 in the opening round of the postseason on their run to their championship. All your NWSL coverage, as I said, coming up on Wednesday as we preview the weekend, the first weekend of the NWSL 2025 season. In MLS action. Going to give you the headlines, not gonna hit every single game as the year goes along because we're gonna have full slates of NWSL games.

We've got a Nations League coming up next week on the men's side. We're gonna have USWNT, Women's Friendlies, Canada stuff, everything. So we're gonna go into the headlines. We start with the Seattle Sounders, whose substitutes explode on LAFC for a 5-2 win. Substitutes should be in parentheses or quotes or whatever it is as they were fake subs.

Sounders rotating coming out of CCC action. So Jordan Morris, Albert Rusnak, and Christian and Alex Roldan, four substitutes come on the field and they're able to put together a huge performance. Three goals to close the game and the big one Jordan Morris to make it 3-1 at the time. It turned him into the standalone all-time leading goal scorer in Seattle Sounders history passing Raul Ruy Diaz. So for Jordan Morris, a Mercer Island local, an academy piece, his dad of course, doctor for the team while he was growing up, went to Stanford, came back as a homegrown

Had all the connections to Germany where he could have gone went on loan once over to England But has chosen to stay become a homegrown designated player commit himself to building out the Seattle Sounders He gets the opportunity to be in their record books forever So an awesome moment for him one of the great personalities in MLS, one of the great characters, and a really good start to the season for him. He has made that center forward position his own, and I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility

to think he could be knocking on Mauricio Pochettino's door over the next few months, especially with the injuries we've seen at the center forward position and the lack of consistency for a lot of other players. One thing to note Pedro de la Vega came off injured in this game. That is big because this team, the reason they rotated is they have Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions Cup.

So the tie in the first leg at home, they are headed now to Mexico City to play against Cruz Azul. That is a high pressure game. Pedro de la Vega has had a good start to the season He is of course their big designated player signing from last year So they're gonna have to try and get there without him right now They're getting elite performances from Paul Roth Rock who had the second goal in this game and Georgie Mnumgu had the assist on the final Goal, so you expect one of them to fill in alongside Paul,reola. Jesus Ferreira got his first start

of the year. So there's options there for Brian Schmetzer. This is going to be a big test for this Seattle team. We have not seen them fully hit until this second half against LAFC so far this year. This would be a good time to do it. And it was actually a good week in general for CONCACAF Champions Cup teams. Vancouver remains perfect, one of two perfect teams in Major League Soccer They went an all-canadian matchup against Montreal 2-0 The only one note off this one Ryan Gall injured in this one Jaden Nelson went off hurt in Champions Cup action in the midweek so worrying moments for Vancouver in the attack

But overall the start under Sorenson has been really strong for this Vancouver team something they have never been able to say under Vanni Sartini over the last four years. Cincinnati coming off their 1-1 draw in Champions Cup action against Tigris they get a 2-0 win over Toronto and it was a big match right from the start because Luca Orojano made his season debut. He got the start at the right wing back position and FC Cincinnati was able to start linking up those attacking pieces. Go watch the final goal from this game. Yuya Kubo with the finishing transition. It's everything you want from a soccer team. It's a back heel layoff from Bucca in his own defensive half to open up the

game. Evander outside of the football, transition, speed, energy, skill. It is what FC Cincinnati can be. It is the reason so many people pick this team as their supporters' shield favorites. Inter Miami continued the strong week for Cockicaf Champions Cup teams in classic Inter Miami fashion. First half red card.

So that means that they will play the rest of the game down a man. They take the lead though in the opening moments out of the halftime whistle. It's Allende off an assist from Luis Suarez who looked unbelievable in that moment with his ball a one two. Allende breaks in towards the left side of the box is able to finish with his favorite right foot as Malonda sort of gets stuck ball watching steps away from Allende as he made the give and go and made the run and then Charlotte not able to create chances, not able to really danger this team Zaha frustrated on the left side he was the one who drew the red card as he made a run across the field

onto a ball from Pepiel late in the first half the red card on the goalkeeper Ustari and I thought Zaha showed his quality 1 v 1 but it was never connected everything ended in a hopeful cross through the box Patrick Ajamang not reading Zaha's timing in space Zaha not reading Ajamang but there really is no connection there's no link-up play right now in this Charlotte team. Leel Abada is off on the right side. He's doing his own thing. The only really strong moments in this game are when Pepiel goes to the right side and Abada comes inside to help create some overloads and a little bit of chaos.

It was the same in Atlanta, but there is no link up between those players. So Charlotte needs to get all of their new attacking pieces on the same page and they need to do that very very soon Columbus a 0-0 draw with Houston at home. It was a low chance creation game Not a strong one for Columbus, but they still get a result coming off a CCC Midweek they of course are trying to overturn the 3-0 loss to LA FC coming up this week So that is going to be a heavy part of their focus But they can't

rotate that heavily because they don't have the depth having lost Cucho Hernandez and some other pieces over the last year that they haven't fully been able to replace. And then the one other team that had a really bad weekend coming off CCC action, one was LAFC in the loss to Seattle. So one of those teams had to, of course, probably have a worse result. The other is the LA Galaxy hosting St. Louis. They get mauled 3-0 against St. Louis. It was the first goals of the season for St. Louis and they exploded. Some was on set piece, some was in transition, someone is in set possession and this LA Galaxy team still searching for their identity this season

without Ricky Puj without Payne still on the field. You didn't see it in possession. You don't see it in counter pressing. They're not able to get out in transition quick enough because teams aren't going to let them and then you still see the holes defensively. Maya Yoshida looking a little slow at times. Gar says making mistakes in possession, some positioning mistakes out of possession, still a lack of control in central midfield and really no

pure chance creation. It comes a little bit from Gabriel Peck calling his own number coming inside on his dangerous left foot, but there is not the level of chances that we saw last year when Ricky Puj was on the field. It is always going to be a step down. The idea was, can they be harder to play against? That hasn't been the case so far this year. And can some of these pieces step up into Diego Fugundes? Christian Ramirez has not settled in yet, and so

this team's still searching in the attack. So CCC returning this week, midweek. We will have all your coverage coming up on Tuesday and Thursday. It is of course the second legs for most of the MLS teams. They are traveling abroad for these games. So it is going to be the big ones to watch. I am still all MLS for CCL as I decided last week

that I was going back to. So I'm excited to see some of these MLS teams in Mexico. I'm excited to watch this Inter these MLS teams in Mexico. I'm excited to watch this Inter Miami game in Kingston, Jamaica. It has become a huge deal in Jamaica. The game is sold out at the office, the National Team Stadium. I believe Inter Miami is gonna be doing

a little bit of outreach in Jamaica to sort of build this up as a bigger event for them to try and connect to an island that is so close and has obviously a massive population in South Florida. And then you have LA Galaxy hosting Eridiano once again, trailing 1-0 off that first leg. So a lot to watch there. Note, next week we will have US Open Cup midweek action debuting. So a lot of midweek soccer, which subscribe to our patreon get access to our discord

It is the place to hang out and chat with people who are watching the same games as you We were there during the NWSL challenge cup there throughout the MLS weekend It is a fun place polls being thrown in there inside jokes chats memes all that type of stuff So I highly recommend it and you can go of course to our patreon subscribe there at Gixxu access to our discord as well As of course to our depth charts our NWSL depth charts will be fully updated Coming through this week as the last few moves happen going into the season, but they are close right now And our MLS depth charts we have some really great stuff in there including the updated GAM Numbers that we just learned at the end of last week, including all the player salaries that we know so far,

as well as roster designations and everything else and how they have played and how they look on the field so far this season. In non-CCC MLS team action, a few huge results this weekend. Let's start with Philadelphia, who are the other perfect team right now in Major League Soccer alongside Vancouver. I don't think anyone would have picked those two. Tiberibo stays hot. He has the far post header on the goal assist from Kai Wagner. Help set up by Frankie Westfield as well as Tom so perfectly anointed him. Not Francis. It is Frankie from the Philly area. So they get a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution who have not scored a goal yet Leo Campagna comes off the field hurt. We're still waiting for confirmation It does not look good for a team that hasn't scored that is their huge offseason acquisition in Leo Campagna in the attack

So to see him come off the field is dangerous And these are some dangerous moments right now for the revs as they were looking to restart everything the 14 moves they were the other expansion team everything was gonna be new and fresh and exciting and you just have not seen it click in any way so far they looked even worse as they got behind and tried to chase in this game San Diego conceded their first goal in their club's history in MLS play to go down 1-0 at Salt Lake. And what they do with it, they turned around and won 3-1 against RSL. Their build outs are so clean when they hit.

From goalkeeper through the center backs, but especially the quick combination through central midfield and then the understanding, the timing of the runs, mainly coming off the wing. No Chuky Lozano, no problem. Andres Dreier scores another goal, continues to be a star from this team, understanding where to pop up in the box. We talked about it when he signed.

He is not your creative force out on the wing. He is a second finisher out on the wing, and that's what we have seen so far, coming inside, getting on the end of service Challenging other teams with his pressure and popping up in the right moments for some big goals and in varsity and gets his first goal In this game as well RSL were able to find some danger slipping a few balls between the two centerbacks in Patty McNair and McVeigh it's something to look out for going forward.

RSL though still struggling a little bit at that center forward position. Piolis did score a goal to start the scoring for RSL, but not enough threat to finish off enough chances for this team. For Chicago, unbelievable eight minutes. They were down one zero on the second half at FC Dallas. They turn things around, they get three goals in an eight minute span. It was Hugo Kuypers, not as a finisher,

but as a creator, all of a sudden, in the second half of this game, he decides, I'm gonna go do it myself. He goes out into the wing channels. He creates a chance immediately from the left side. Then he goes to the right side, serves it in for the goal. Then a rebound off his shot leads to the second goal and Andrew Gutman making the run in off that left back left wing back position scores the third goal for this Chicago team to go on the road and get a huge

result. I forgot FC Dallas once again doing construction so their broadcast is going to face a tarped half of the field. I don't know if it's the whole season or some of the season, but it is going to be brutal to watch. For an atmosphere that's gotten really good when this team's been competitive over the last few years, and it feels like they're gonna be competitive

once again this year, and that's gonna be a really unfortunate viewing experience for all of us from afar. DC United remains undefeated. Jeon-hoon Kim, the young goalkeeper from South Korea, a big performance from him, did take a knock late on in the game, did not get official confirmation that he is okay from Troy Lassane postgame. So something to watch out for for this DC team. We talked about offseason or moves that we'd still like

to see for some clubs in the last show. I talked about off-seas or moves that we'd still like to see for some clubs. In the last show, I talked about Nashville needing an extra attacking piece. I did mention though, in it, that Kwasum, the young Swedish attacker that they brought in who we hadn't seen yet, could be that piece. And so far, he looks like it. Two-zero win over Portland.

Kwasum involved in everything, including scoring the second goal, helps start the play, then makes the run in field from the right midfield position, gets the header on goal. Epic celebration from him as well. So Nashville, they get their goal scoring set, they get into the win column finally and Portland alongside the New England Revolution are in the worry category right now so far this season Something we're gonna dig into more tomorrow with McKelley NYCFC have gotten into the wing column They get a Hannes Wolf goal off the bench for the winner

Against Orlando in the 10-year anniversary of their first ever match that was of course against Orlando down in Orlando Luis Muriel a true strikers goal for him in transition and something we haven't really seen from him so something hopeful I think for this Orlando team but NYCFC again the genius of Maxi Morales in midfield Justin Hack dropping in as a center back Johnny Shore who I've talked about a ton on this show one of the big prospects for NYCFC gets the start in Central Midfield is able to help run the show for this NYCFC group and a big victory

for them to turn things around. It was threatened because of an unnecessary red card from Kevin O'Toole late on, but NYCFC were able to hang on down a man and shout out to Karaballo, the Orlando 16 year old homegrown who drew that foul he's been getting playing time so far in the start of this season he is one of their big prospects he's been the number 10 in their U-17 team

for the last few years playing up some age groups he gets on the field of course we saw the goal last week from Alex Freeman one of their homegrowns as well so a lot of excitement around the Academy starting to hit the first team for this Orlando squad. And we know Oscar Pérez's history as a youth developer and he's able to do it once again. And the final game from the weekend to mention a heartbreaker for this Austin team.

They lost one-zero at home, two penalty kick calls overturned by VAR in the second half. This high priced attack under Nico Estevez in year one has not gotten going yet, still looking for the creative force inside that group. So that's your weekend recap. Kelvin Yoboa gets a goal as well, so take a sip of your espresso and we'll be back all week here at Soccerwise with all of your coverage Tuesday with Michele. We're going to have an MLS Next Pro interview

as well this week. Wednesday with Jordan previewing the entire store, every single game in this first slate of NWSL matches and then we'll continue on with CONCACAF Champions Cup coverage. NWSL MLS USL Championship kicked off last, so looking to do some interviews around some of the cool stories in that league. So a lot going on in the soccer world, and we are here for you on SoccerWise. So thank you to all of you for listening, and I'll talk to you again very, very soon.