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Reign redemption - Ep. 69
13 Plays14 minutes ago
Everyone understood the assignment. The Reign faced Cascadia rivals Portland at home on Sunday with a chance to redeem themselves in front of the 14k+ crowd, and they delivered with an emphatic 2-0 win. We talk about the impenetrable defense, the Reign’s first goals at Lumen this season, and how the Reign were able to pull off the win. We also discuss the weekend’s other results from around the league and look forward to the team's next match versus Gotham.
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Show produced by Coop
Music by Eddie Buchanan - www.eddiebuchananmusic.com
Show artwork by Coop
The Cooler Guild Est. 2024
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Transcript
Introduction & Birthday Celebration
00:00:19
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 69 of The Cooler Guild. I am Coop Cooper, and joined with me, as always, is my co-host, Van Crisp. Hello. We're recording on Tuesday, July 14th, 2026. It is Dennis Crisp's 67th birthday. did he want Did we want to say how old he was? Does he want people to know that?
00:00:40
Speaker
He doesn't look really 67, so... No, he doesn't. He looks great. Happy birthday, dad. Happy birthday, the Dennis. I bought him a card with a giant fan on it that said, I'm your biggest fan. Happy birthday. Does he know the joke?
00:00:52
Speaker
Yes. Oh, shit. opened it already. oh fuck. We're just so excited.
Victory Against Portland
00:00:57
Speaker
i'm so excited. I just opened my can because guess what? We got a dub pod. We got a dub pod and something that ah pretty much none of us saw coming.
00:01:06
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe it was a trap game for Portland in hindsight. Yeah. Sadly, but like, I don't know. Anyways, we're going to the game. ah The big win in Seattle against Portland. ah Van will go over some NWC results and we'll preview the next game. But before we get into all of that, we got some housekeeping.
Podcast Affiliation & Subscriptions
00:01:24
Speaker
The Cooler Guild is part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. You can either listen to us on our public feed or if you're a Sounder at Heart subscriber on the private unified feed with the other podcasts on the network. If you'd like to become a subscriber, which you should do, just visit our page at soundertheart.com forward slash the Cooler Guild. New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing.
00:01:43
Speaker
Well, if the mic didn't pick it up. I did open my celebratory drink already because Van told me I should get a drink. It's 1030 in the morning. We're recording this. Yeah. I took time off work for this because I was so excited and we wanted to get it in. Yeah. And I've got D&D tonight, so there wasn't i couldn't do it tonight. You know, I got to go defeat dragons and stuff.
Game Recap & Attendance Impact
00:02:04
Speaker
Really important. um Yeah. So do you have anything you want to like, have anything interesting to say before we get excited about what happened? No. Okay. This is honestly the most interesting thing of my weekend.
00:02:16
Speaker
ah Yeah. it was ah It was a nice Sunday. It was a really nice Sunday. It was great. oh Yeah, I drove up. I did go to the game finally. I got to drive my new car up. ah Charging station wasn't really great, but whatever. um would have Would have really enjoyed that. ah But I got to enjoy rain. Dominating. i would say dominating.
00:02:40
Speaker
Thorns. You know, are they they shut them out. They shut them out. They had their, I would say, trademark defensive performance. Like this is what we expect of them. So I'm happy.
00:02:51
Speaker
I mean, 2-0 at home. We got everything we wanted for the fans. That was the biggest takeaway for me because, you know, in the lead up to this match, there the team had put out, and in correlation with the Sounders, like as a partnership, like this whole rivalry week kind of series.
00:03:10
Speaker
And I kept thinking to myself, I'm so happy that they're doing this, but maybe this isn't the right time. Will it backfire?
Marketing Strategy Success
00:03:17
Speaker
Will it backfire? Like the team has been on kind of this like downward skid. And, you know, they're doing a BOGO deal for tickets. It's the first game where kids are free. So we knew that there were going to be people attending the match coming off the, you know, the last World Cup game being in Seattle.
00:03:35
Speaker
And i was glad that they were finally promoting the team, but I was really, as a fan of this team, hoping that the product on the field would match the marketing enthusiasm.
00:03:46
Speaker
And that to me was kind of a long shot in the lead up to this match. Yeah. Not that I don't have confidence in this team that I don't love them. It's just it. We've seen the last couple weeks. We've seen last few months, really. It's been hard to be a Reign fan. You know, this is the second game back from the break. And, you know, they did score first in the last match and it crumbled.
Defensive Identity & Shutout
00:04:09
Speaker
So it was an important game for the team, for the organization, for the fan base. And I am just so happy that I was, my concerns were not legitimized.
00:04:22
Speaker
And I'm so happy for them. Yeah. They really needed this. And the fans needed this. They did. They haven't scored at home yet. Well, at least in Lumen. ah They had to get a shutout. I put this in one of my things that worked, but yeah I can shut it out now, I guess. um They hadn't had a shutout since like, was it May 1st or something?
00:04:40
Speaker
Let's see. Yep. Yeah. May 1st against Houston. They went five games without a shutout. And for a team that is so proud of their defensive identity, that's not good. Yeah. So getting a shutout against a team with as much firepower, mostly with Sophia Wilson, getting a shutout against the the form that Portland's been in lately is so valuable. It is. So
Lineup Challenges & Player Highlights
00:05:07
Speaker
kudos to them. You know, going into the game, there was a couple big lineup issues because Dickie's out still due that Englandry from the U.S. Women's National Team game. um And Curry's out. Yeah. Yeah. also with an ankle injury from the last match.
00:05:23
Speaker
So, you know, you're going to have to put in Cassie Miller, who looked decent. Nothing was her fault. And then you're going to have to replace Curry. And Holmes is usually the go-to replacement, but she was also out.
00:05:34
Speaker
And honestly, I'd rather see Ryan Brown. Yeah. I mean, that's us. We know that. But yeah in general, when that's happened this season, it's been Curry or Holmes as being the replacement. So that's not great.
00:05:48
Speaker
But also, jess Fishlock made her roster return. Her her just her her roster contributions being ah like death stares. Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:02
Speaker
um But and then Phoebe was honored for the match for reach reaching 100 NWSL appearances. So congrats to Phoebe, the OG cooler player of the of the season. um But yeah, like we talked about, i was hoping Ryan Brown would be put in and she did. um It was her first start since July 2024. So big so big comeback And I think she'd only played a total of like 20 minutes so far this season. Yeah. I mean, it's been hard for her to work into it because Curry, you know, she's had to she's had several off games, I would say, recently. But she still had locked up that starting spot because when she was playing well, it was really good. So it's hard for Ryan Brown to work into that because he got Werta on the other side. but they were able to put in curry and switch where to it worked great it worked really great ryan brown looked phenomenal she she looked like how i remember her playing and why we chose her for our first ever cooler player of the match i'm excited about her future and i hope that the reigns saw everything that they needed to to maybe give her a contract extension because she's going to be going into right now she'd be to go into this offseason as a free agent and i think that's a huge mistake to let that
00:07:09
Speaker
go given given how much the rate is willing to offer contracts to young players who are kind of unproven I feel like you have to give contract to someone like Ryan Brown who's put in the work ethic to recover and come back and put this kind of performance in and her first start um and like forever Absolutely. Yeah.
00:07:27
Speaker
Absolutely. i need it. One other thing, the marketing, ah the BOGO tickets, the kids come in free.
Attendance & Broader Strategies
00:07:34
Speaker
It worked. Yeah. We had an attendance of 14,793, which is the fourth highest of all time for the reign. And there was no promos for Rapinoe in this. Yeah. no No retiring players. Yeah. um It was just getting people out to the match. Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:50
Speaker
And we felt that the team should have done this a long time ago. Absolutely. We talk about, the league constantly talks about Portland's attendance and all of that. Well, it's not often reminded that you could go to a 76 gas station and get a booklet of free tickets for you and your friends. Yeah. Which like, which is what they should do. Yeah, it's smart. And so the team should have done this a long time ago, but I'm glad they did. um And people came out and people had fun.
00:08:19
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's the big part, right? Because you can give these tickets away, but if they come and I don't know, it sucks. you get The team sucks, which is what ah ah both of everyone's I think anyone's been following the team was their biggest fear. Yeah, they got a show, though. So they got a show. And I saw I was looking and read it and it was a lot of people's first game. Yeah.
00:08:38
Speaker
And I'm glad they came. I'm glad they came out to this match and hopefully they return. Yeah. Oh, I'm going to crack my.
00:08:47
Speaker
Oh, that smells interesting. Is that the blood orange one? Yeah. I've had that. It's pretty good. It is pretty good. Okay. Get into it. What worked? I mean, this is the longest section we'd have. We've had all season. Yeah.
00:09:05
Speaker
ah they I mean, we talked about this, but like the goals that we gave up last week were goals that they should have not given up. You had one right after they score and then you have like two uncharacteristic defensive mistakes back there as well. Yeah, that didn't happen when that doesn't happen.
00:09:23
Speaker
This defense is very good. Yeah. And everyone plays their part. that they That was the big thing for me is like every single person stepped up and they were playing for each other in a way that I haven't seen for a while.
00:09:36
Speaker
No, this this looked like a complete effort. they were putve Everyone's put their bodies in the way. Everybody. I mean, everybody. i mean, Mia Fishel got that goal line save. I mean, she was where she was supposed to be and did her job. But I mean, everyone was in sync back there, it felt. Mm-hmm.
00:09:52
Speaker
And even in the time that they weren't and when mistakes did happen in the back, they were sure to cover them. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was really, really pleasing to watch. Yeah. When your defense can bend and not break, it shows just a level of resiliency that we haven't seen this season.
00:10:10
Speaker
it's yeah that's that that I mean, that's like Harvey's kind of that's kind of her. That's what her teams do. Yeah. And I get I get upset when people are like they don't like Harvey Ball and stuff. I'm like, well, this component of hary Harvey Ball is like so important and underrated and can can get you really far as long as she has the talent in the offense. But i don't know. It was just nice to see them show up and actually kind of do the thing that we know they can do.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the notes you have on here about the quality of shots from Portland is just astounding from what we've seen of Portland so far this season.
Defensive Strategy & Portland's Struggle
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah. um You know, they've been, and I hate to say it, but they've been an electric team this year.
00:10:52
Speaker
Mostly when Sophia Wilson came back. Yeah. Yeah. Moultrie's also great, but it's annoying. She was nowhere to be found this match. Yeah, she seems to struggle against Seattle when they're actually playing well. Yeah.
00:11:05
Speaker
uh june pointed out on blue sky the thorns had 26 shots fought mob has one of them at 0.16 xg and one at 0.12 xg and 24 of them are at 0.09 or less yeah yeah they weren't doing anything really yeah it's not everywhere the defense was everywhere they needed be and they didn't give them quality opportunities yeah Which, incredible.
00:11:30
Speaker
mean, when you've got a player, they had multiple times where they had the ball in the middle of of their attack like of our box. And there were four players there in front of it. I mean, another reason that Portland could not score is because Cassie Miller... I was going to say, do you want to gas up Cassie Miller? Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:11:50
Speaker
um We've known that she is a solid backup goalkeeper. Yeah. And as Harvey pointed out in the presser, she could be a number one at another team. She had the highest FOTM rating of the game with 8.9 and she had she made nine saves, which is the most saves in a shutout and rate in Reign history.
00:12:06
Speaker
She made a save. i mean, everything she did was solid. She never made a save and put a ball back into danger. Everything was on point. Her positioning was good. And there was a save she made at the very end of the first half that probably was the most important save of the game.
00:12:23
Speaker
Ball came from the goalkeeper's right across, was going far post, and she was able to play it away. And then Jordan Bug did jordan what Jordan Bug does, and instead of giving away a corner, got a goal kick out of it.
00:12:35
Speaker
So Cassie Miller play it was the reeds player of the game for this game. And I couldn't agree more. is there anything else you want shout out on of the defensive performance or should we start going into the other fun?
00:12:46
Speaker
I mean, we'll shout it out as far as the individual performances, but I thought thought it was just so good. it was. And after the last game, I was so scared. Yeah, I was worried. Like they scored that first goal and I was so happy about it. You get a goal against Portland early on in the match, but our tendency lately has been to give one up.
00:13:08
Speaker
Right after. Yeah. Yeah. And so I just like holding my breath. Yeah. And they proved, you know, they proved that they were up for the task. Yeah, because that then that like we haven't been given a reason to have belief that they they could do that.
00:13:23
Speaker
Well, now we do. Yeah. There was so many standout individual performances. Usually we're on here just gassing up ah Sam Meza for obvious reasons. And good God, did she have a fantastic game like on Sunday.
00:13:39
Speaker
ah but i I mean, we can shout out almost the entire team and their individual performances because it was that good. Yeah. Ainsley McCammon, that ball that she laid up for that goal.
00:13:52
Speaker
Unbelievable. And the amount of time she disrupted play defensively was um on the rewatch. I was just like, oh, crap. and She's really good. And I feel like her positioning is getting better because she's not having to catch up as much. Yeah. Which is one of the things that, you know, we've seen these great assists from her. We've seen the balls over the top that she can play. But it seemed at times that she could be a step behind defensively. And I didn't really catch that this match.
00:14:20
Speaker
I mean, she's so young that like, yeah of course
Debate on Ryan Brown's Goal
00:14:23
Speaker
she's improving this quickly. But it's so good to see. And I'm excited for I'm excited that she's on our team. Yeah. um I think she deserves a start the next game. Yeah, absolutely. i know that there's been some turnaround in that area. Yeah. But she's really, really stepping up. I love to see that from her. Yeah.
00:14:42
Speaker
I mean, Ryan Brown again. good. She made a couple tackles that was like, yes, this is what we need in that back. But her ability to go forward is very, and with her and Huerta on the outsides, like that's what you originally wanted in that five back, right? Yeah, absolutely.
00:15:00
Speaker
But we're not playing in a five back anymore. It's a four back, but it's like a rotating four back where a lot of the times Ryan Brown was getting up and you were set in the three back. And then the same thing on the other side, ball goes up, Huerta pulls forward into that three back again.
00:15:14
Speaker
And it, Ryan Brad, to go into a first start of the season, first start in a year and a half almost, and to score a goal eight minutes... if You couldn't ask for a better performance. Yeah. Now the debate is, was she trained to shoot or is she trying to cross?
00:15:34
Speaker
I watched this back a couple times. And the first lookup she makes, yeah she looks for the cross. Yeah, absolutely. Second lookup she makes, she looks at the goalkeeper. Uh-huh.
00:15:45
Speaker
So is it a debate? in In the presser, she said, I'm always trying to score. and but she had a She had a smirk on her face a bit. I mean, hey, you're putting it into a dangerous area and like the idea is it'll find the goal. So it went side netting.
00:16:02
Speaker
Yeah. Whether she meant to do it or not, it was an incredible finish. It was beautiful. We were all like stunned in the press box. Yeah. What? Oh, what? Yeah, which like we were hyped we were hyped about ah Brown starting. we were all like finally like she needs her moment because she hasn't been given the opportunity for for reasons we've already went into. But wow that was fun. It was so fun.
00:16:26
Speaker
And then you got Maddie Mercado, now the top scorer on the team. that's It's sad. It's three goals. If you look at the numbers, it's not great. But hey, you know, let's just keep it going, I guess. Yeah.
00:16:39
Speaker
I mean, she was where she needed to be. Yeah. And on top of Sam Meza's defensive contributions, which were innumerable this match, right? Yeah.
00:16:49
Speaker
There was that double tackle she made. the I've watched that so many times over and over. It's so good. There's like that angle that someone got on the side and Moultrie's just embarrassed. Yeah. Just fall. I mean, that was so funny. It was that those double that double tackle led to the goal. Yeah. And her dime of a cross.
00:17:10
Speaker
So good. And we've talked about this on on this show several times of how do they get her involved more on the attack? Put her in 10. Because every time she goes up in there. Yeah. Like she creates chaos and she creates opportunities.
00:17:27
Speaker
So yeah, love to see her um get a good goal contribution here. um But that cross when she made it, I said, wo wow. And then boom, Maddie Mercado with a great header.
00:17:39
Speaker
Yeah. Stun McKenzie Arnold. She. Because the Arnold didn't even move. i won't comment on that, but I will say it's... Oh my God. I was showing the replay to Alex with the goals when I got home. i
Key Player Performances
00:17:52
Speaker
was like, do you want to see the highlights? And she's like, yeah, yeah, of course. And so i like showed her the the second goal and she was like, what is the goalkeeper doing? And I was just like, I don't know, but she's always our MVP whenever we watch Portland.
00:18:07
Speaker
i knowt i don't I don't know. I don't know. Man. man And to be fair to her, she's had a better season this season. She has. She has. um but But wow. i think I think at that point, you almost think the ball is going out.
00:18:19
Speaker
Sure. But like... And it's... She could have tumbled. It was a perfectly placed ball. Yeah. And a perfectly placed header. It was. i We need Mercado to be in that space more. We need those crosses to be better. Because we a lot of the times we watch these games and our crosses are, you know, ah we have a lot of crossing opportunities. But it's going to the goalkeeper. They're going out. They're going far.
00:18:43
Speaker
And this is the kind of quality that we know this team is capable of. But we're finally seeing it. Yeah. Consistency is going to be the next component of that. Right. and But I can't not gas the team up for this win. Yeah, absolutely. With with um Brown coming in, Querza switched over.
00:19:01
Speaker
I thought that was interesting, but it did allow for Brown to get up high with a right foot. And I think it's everything worked. Yeah, everything worked.
00:19:13
Speaker
Yep. The only thing that didn't work for me was ah not giving some of these ah players some contract extensions. I mean, mostly i want to see Brown get a contract extension and I also still need to see like a 10 year contract given to Sam Meza. Yeah. Lifetime contract. Because like you cannot afford to lose like if like you cannot afford to lose Semeza. She's so damn good. She needs to be a lifetime reign player. You know, like we need to turn her into like what this club is known for, which is having players that stick with the club for a long time. And we're kind of in that moment right now where we're changing, ah changing players in those positions. And with just Fishlock leaving, I'm seeing i Sam Mezes, I think just yeah should be that player to kind of take over those reins.
00:19:59
Speaker
Yeah. And I say I'm curious and also fascinated to think about like what her ceiling is as a player. She's gotten a U.S. call up, but she's young, you know, little inexperienced. Yeah, ish. But like Emma, there's to me, Emma should be calling her in and giving her playing time.
00:20:18
Speaker
Yeah. Emma should also be calling you in Ashley Sanchez, but. Yeah, you're right. It's a conversation for another day. um But she, the club needs to start marketing her. Absolutely.
00:20:28
Speaker
She needs to be the face of the club. Yep. um They need to highlight her like Hispanic heritage that she's talked about um and how proud she is of that. Yeah. Bring those fans in. Yep.
00:20:41
Speaker
There's an incredible opportunity for the club here because you see her play on the field and that's what you want fans to come out and watch. And I don't know. Hopefully that's in the book in the works, but she needs to be the face of the club going forward. Yeah.
00:20:57
Speaker
Is there anything that you want to say didn't work or you just do you just want to like let this ride? Wait, I did have a note here, but I'm going to let it slide. Okay. i think that's I think that's good. We maybe talk about it next game. Yeah, we'll see how it goes. You know, let's just stay on this high and see how it goes and see how they respond.
00:21:16
Speaker
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00:21:29
Speaker
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00:21:42
Speaker
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Post-Match Insights & Fan Impact
00:22:03
Speaker
Thanks for listening.
00:22:08
Speaker
What did you get from the post-match presser? um It was really, really cool to have. So it was Cassie Miller and Ryan Brown in the presser. um And I really enjoyed how they talked about rehabbing together. Yeah.
00:22:21
Speaker
Because they're both out and recovering from injuries at the same time. And it was mostly just them two for a long time. And they were overly ah complimentary of each other. And thought with them...
00:22:35
Speaker
it's And these two players, Cassie hasn't been on the team very long, right? Ryan really never got to experience the Portland rivalry before. But these players know what it means. yeah And it they said it's just it it's huge for their momentum. And no matter where Portland are on the table, like it's ah always good to beat them.
00:22:55
Speaker
yeah um And they shout out the fans. The environment seemed to be a big motivation for them. I did enjoy watching the Portland fans like peter out early. Well, that's the thing. Like usually when Portland comes up, their travel contingent's good. Yeah. And they did have a whole section. Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker
But you didn't hear them. No, I mean, not till the very, very end, but like an easy way to get them to never, never hear them is to score goals. Yeah. And not let them score goals. So thank you to the team for not, you know, making us deal with the fucking shit bad chance of Portland. Yeah.
00:23:34
Speaker
ah One thing I wanted to shout out on that presser with the players is someone asked about um how they were able to kind of contain Sophia Wilson. And then the main thing is just always knowing where she is. And the reason I wanted to bring that up is because we're facing Gotham next and we're going to have to be dealing with Esther. And...
00:23:57
Speaker
So I'm definitely still nervous because there's not just a stare on Gotham to be marking. But um I think knowing that the team is able to set out to, you know, they have a tactic and they were able to ah like succeed in doing it. And I don't know. I just haven't had a lot of optimism that they could do that.
00:24:19
Speaker
um But they accomplished it. And i i'm i'm really I'm really proud of the team. like I just feel like they all really understood the task and lived up to that like expectation and hope. The hope the hope was like kind of dwindling, right? Yeah, very much so. I mean, I didn't want Sophia Wilson to go on a tear. no Imagine what that would do for Portland if if they came in here and Sophia Wilson just like had these highlight clips kind of plastered everywhere. That would be bad. I haven't mentioned this yet because I feel like I mentally tried to forget it.
00:24:53
Speaker
But the feeling after the last Portland game and we were down there. You were. I was down there. Yeah. Yeah. And to go in there and lose to a team that is two players down for a large time, good amount of chunk of time in the game. It was just so discouraging. Yeah.
00:25:14
Speaker
And I remember thinking, well, there's always the home game. And we all kind of looked at each other and we're like, ugh. You know, and I think it's helpful for me from a morale, like a moral sense. Yeah, absolutely. That they were able to not forget about that, but almost reclaim part of what was lost in that first Portland match. Totally.
00:25:37
Speaker
This is the happiest I've seen Laura Harvey in a press conference in a very long time. Yeah. It felt so nice to see her full of joy. Yeah. ah What did you want to shout from that?
Sam Meza's Development
00:25:49
Speaker
um She did talk about Sam Meza. And what one thing that Meza's been working on they've been working on, is her getting the ball off her feet quicker. And that's exactly what happened with her cross into the box for the Mercado goal.
00:26:03
Speaker
So... When you have a player that's that promising and that good to be getting better throughout the season, it's scary. It is. Making two tackles, getting up, and being able to just feed the attack. Yeah. That is nightmare stuff for opponents. Yeah.
00:26:19
Speaker
Because there's not much you can do about that. You've you've already tried to get... She's gotten past the two of your players by slide tackling into them and then she's just going to keep going. Like, that's frightening. it is.
00:26:31
Speaker
it is. um i think she also mentioned part of the problem in the last match was overplaying out of the back sometimes. Sure. Just doing a little too much. um And they tried to fix that this match and it seems that they did.
00:26:45
Speaker
There was also, i forgot about this until we're talking about it now. There was one sequence on the near side of them playing out. And who was it? Jordan Bug and Huerta. I didn't put it in I have like my notes, but they're not super organized.
00:26:57
Speaker
There was a huge passing sequence that was really nice. Yeah. Is that the one you're talking about? Where it was Jordan Bug and somebody else and like might've been Dolly. I can't remember, but they played the ball up the line one touch passing. Yeah. And then got it out. I was like, we have not seen this team.
00:27:14
Speaker
Yeah. What minute was that? I have a note for it somewhere. Oh, it was like the 38th minute. Okay, yeah. So if you haven't fully watched the game, go back and check that out because that was ah inspiring.
00:27:28
Speaker
It really was. And if that would have led to a goal, oh my God. Yeah. That have been, and I think it did lead to an offensive push. And we were like, oh, what if that had been goal? they were just picking Portland apart. Yeah.
00:27:44
Speaker
Portland is a number of good defense, if we're being honest, though. That's true. So back to Harvey Presser. She also said that they never shot themselves in the foot, which is what they've been doing. Yeah. you You don't say? Yeah. i just think they executed in the best way. and And Laura Harvey really put that as on the players as just like all heart. Yeah.
00:28:07
Speaker
They put in the effort and every person on the field, including the front four and the subs, the effort that they put in was just all heart. You could see it. They didn't want to lose the game.
00:28:17
Speaker
No. And they wanted to win Yeah. Yeah, which is also not something we've seen so a lot this season. Yeah. You have anything else from the presser? Let me see.
00:28:29
Speaker
I think the one thing I just wanted to point out was ah Harvey made it pretty clear that she wants the game that we had on Sunday to be the standard
Maintaining Performance Standards
00:28:39
Speaker
for the team. Yeah. um They've shown that they can do that and they can put in a shift defensively and they they are not going to accept anything less than that now. um They're not in a position to lower that standard.
00:28:51
Speaker
If you look at the standings and how tight everything is, that's pretty clear. Mm-hmm. If they want to start making moves to the top, they're going to have to do this again and again and again.
00:29:02
Speaker
Can they do that? Actually do that? It's TBD. And it's going to be tough with the next opponent, right? It is. ah There is somebody maybe working our favor in that, but we'll we'll get into that when we do the preview. But... Yeah, I don't know. I was just, I'm happy that the team got this win. I'm happy that they can have something good to feel about ah for the next week going into Gotham, which will be a tough game.
00:29:25
Speaker
I hope that doesn't kind of ruin the momentum. um But, you know, they they recognize how valuable this was. And i also just like want them to harness how good this feels. And, you know, maybe that'll fuel them in the future.
00:29:37
Speaker
Yeah, it could be a momentum changer for the team. Absolutely. um Like if he said, it's one game. I don't want to stew on it, but like you have to have matches like this. Yeah. A struggling team has to have match a match like this to be able to change the narrative and change how this team is going to be talked about moving forward.
00:29:57
Speaker
Yeah, I do think that this is a kind of win that like, I don't know what they're doing in in terms of negotiations and trying to sign a player because I really, really want to emphasize that I still think that's so important for them to bring in a quality player.
00:30:12
Speaker
But I think a performance like this and seeing how the team can work together and pull out, you know, really, really beautiful soccer. Yeah, that that should be appealing for a big signing.
00:30:24
Speaker
Yeah, because we're not in shambles. No, we're not in shambles. It sometimes looks like we might be in shambles, but we do have good pieces and it can work. We just need that extra help sometimes. Yeah. So I'm i a serious. Please, please join the team. um All right. So let's move on to Cooler Player of the Match.
00:30:41
Speaker
Cooler Player of the Match is brought to you by the doctor's office, a great little 12 seat bar on Capitol Hill. The owner is a big fan of the rain and is proud to be our first sponsor. So this is a cooler player of the match, but not a cooler player of the match for ah my, because like what happened the last time we did this?
00:30:59
Speaker
wow ah Well, I mean, im we're just nervous of what what could come from this. Because last time we did this for this player, it something bad happened. But we have hired a witch since then. So maybe things are turning for us.
00:31:11
Speaker
Yes. Also, we have not gone a game without scoring a goal since I hired the Etsy Witch. Not a coincidence at this point. Nope, not. but Yeah. Yeah.
00:31:23
Speaker
Oh, God, I'm burping. It's the hot water. The hot water. Yeah. ah Yeah, this week we're going to give cooler player of the match to... da-da-dadadada Ryan Brown. Ryan Brown. Congrats. She's back, back, back again.
00:31:37
Speaker
new contract now. Yeah, new contract now. ah Whoever's in charge of that, we all know knew it is No excuses. You got to give it to her. Get it on your desk now, Leslie. Let's go. Yeah, i see all the other contracts you're handing out.
00:31:50
Speaker
This one makes the most sense right now for players in the team besides Santa. Sure it does. So congrats to Ryan Brown. Stand up performance deserves this. Keep it going. Yeah, we're we're ready for more.
00:32:02
Speaker
ah Thanks again to our sponsor, The Doctor's Office. The Doctor's Office is the best place to grab a drink before or after a rain match or really anytime. Make an appointment today and order their tambourine. Fruit and citrus run into floral and bitter. Pineapple is joined by a non-alcoholic aperitif with a hint of habanero for a refreshing sipper. This sounds delicious. This sounds amazing. Yeah, it's an NA cocktail and it sounds so refreshing.
00:32:24
Speaker
Check out their Instagram at TDO Seattle or better yet, go drink there in person. Cheers. Cheers.
NWSL Weekend Roundup
00:32:30
Speaker
All right. Let's fly through these NWSL results. ah Boston and beat Chicago 2-0. Good job, Boston. ah Penalty from Gutierrez in the 72nd minute and then Nichelle Prince in the 58th minute on her 100th start got a goal.
00:32:44
Speaker
ah Chicago's defense is bad. Boss Nation could have had two or three more. oof Boss Nation. Yeah. This is what my notes are. Murphy made a couple of big saves. One on Heidema, 1v1 in the last couple of minutes. So ah too bad for Heidema. Good job, Murphy. um Louisville, oof they're struggling. They lost a bay to Bay 2-0. Goals from Fuller and Lima.
00:33:06
Speaker
Emma Sears, what are you still doing at Louisville? Get out. you Get out get out and now. ah Hutton and Fuller are a really scary combo up the miller up the middle. There was a couple goals that were goalkeeper mistakes this weekend, and one of them was a bloomer mistake.
00:33:22
Speaker
Got in the ball, taken off for foot by Carly Lima, who dribbled in for the last goal. Orlando destroyed KC 3-0. There was, surprise, a weather delay for this match. Oh!
00:33:33
Speaker
Marta scored. Marta opened the scoring with her 50th goal for Orlando. um ah Goals also by Anderson and Banda. ah Casey actually scored first, but it was called back for offside. Couldn't see it well on the TV.
00:33:46
Speaker
um This game ah reminded me a lot of the rain versus spirit game ah the weekend before. Casey had a lot of chances, but the defense just really fumbled. And then the last goal for this game, ah Casey's goalkeeper with the clearance and Banda just took it and scored. Utah lost to Gotham 3-1. Goals from Delzer and Astaire, which is penalty. And Astaire scored two in this game. um And then Davidson scored. That was a good goal.
00:34:13
Speaker
Tieran Davidson with a volley? Yeah, it was a really good goal. The best goal of the weekend, other than Ryan Brown's, other than our goals, was in the next game where Washington beat North Carolina 2-0. Goals from Santos and Rodman. And Santos' goal...
00:34:26
Speaker
pop She pops a ball over the defender and then just a massive volley from herself. This is like the kind of goal you don't want your team to have a good goal in the same week because you'll never get goal in the Yeah. Yeah. ah Next two games, San Diego lost to Angel City 2-0. Goals from Noose and Borges. um And then the last game of the weekend, Denver and Houston tied 2-2. Denver goals came from Yasmeen Ryan and Sonis on a penalty. And Houston got goals from Raider and Olmark.
00:34:58
Speaker
And that's the NWSL for this week. Well, there's Wednesday games this week. Yeah, like there's two midwi midweek games for whatever reason. i Yeah, I wonder if those were games were removed because of the Champions Cup stuff, maybe.
Preview of Upcoming Gotham Match
00:35:12
Speaker
It's just speculation for me. um Anyways, the next next match for the Reign is going to be against Gotham Saturday, July 18th at 9 a.m. Nice bright and early for us. um It'll be on big ABC too. Super exciting.
00:35:25
Speaker
ah ESPN Deportes if you want the Spanish since we're all ah so used to Spanish broadcasting now at the World Cup, Men's World Cup. ah What do you want to see in this game? Well, like you said, contain a stare. Yeah. You got a lot of other things to worry about in this match, so that might be difficult. um They're not, Gotham aren't playing on their normal home field. ah They're playing in a small stadium, which I think they played a Champions Cup match on. Yeah. um But will that be a problem for Gotham?
00:35:52
Speaker
it's It's a little bit of adversity that maybe they're not used to for a home match, so can Seattle take advantage of that? Yeah. But I also, i want to come off this Portland match for the rain and show something in the next game. Show that same resilience, show that same effort and that same defensive brick wall that you had going on because Gotham are going to have chances.
00:36:16
Speaker
So is the team going to break or are they not? I think it's a big challenge for them coming up. And luckily for them, they're going to have more rest than Gotham will. Yeah, because Gotham's playing Wednesday night, and they're not just playing Wednesday night. They're playing Wednesday night against the Spirit. Yeah.
00:36:33
Speaker
Oof. And then having an early Saturday game. Yeah, super early, because it'll be noon their time. And then they play... I mean, they also play over the weekend, so like... Sometimes this kind of happens to us. And now we've kind of maybe got a little bit a leg up. Yeah, they have to travel all the way over to the East Coast. But yeah, take advantage of of this of this if you can. You have to.
00:36:55
Speaker
To find a way you don't know what the lineup is going to look like because might have players that need to rest after Wednesday. Yeah. Because standings wise, i mean, every game important in the NWSL. But standing wise, the Wednesday game is more important for them. Yeah.
00:37:08
Speaker
So do they go all out all out Wednesday and underestimate the rain for the Saturday game? Maybe. We'll see. Yeah. I hope the team can ride this high and come out and put on put in an effort that is it admirable for Saturday's match. That's all I want.
00:37:25
Speaker
The injury with, let me see, is the goal, what's the goalkeeper situation in Gotham? Because there was an injury. What have they been playing? Well, AKB played the last game. Okay, so she's fine. Yeah. Okay, I just know she had that one injury that looked really bad, and I didn't know what the update was on that because she was in the hospital for a while in Mexico.
00:37:44
Speaker
Oh, from the Champions Cup? yeah I mean, it's been a long time, so I just didn't know. um But, i mean, as much as I and a fan of AKB, she is known to ah make some little silly stuff every so often in the back.
00:38:00
Speaker
And the rain were doing a really good job on the high press against against the ah Thorns. So maybe they could make something happen there. Yeah. if If we can get Mercado in that and stay high up and kind of pressure AKB up there and their back line, maybe even Darlene could be on that that duty. i think there's... Menti took the ball off. Yeah. Arnold at one point in the last game. Yeah, we've got we've got some some players that would be up for trying to do something like that because I'll take a goal any way we can get it. and that we didn't yeah We didn't really talk about Dahlien from this game. Yeah.
00:38:34
Speaker
But she she played well. She worked her ass off. She worked her ass off and hopefully maybe she can get something out of it in this next game. Yeah, I mean, she laid the pass off to Meza. But she was running her butt off. She really was.
00:38:47
Speaker
She was also really physical. Like, this was always going to be a super... The Portland game was always going super physical. And she kept holding up the ball really well. People were passing her some kind of... i mean, she really had a challenge for a lot of balls. And she was really eager to to make it difficult for Portland. Yeah, and this could be a good match for Darlene. Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:07
Speaker
I mean, Gotham's good. So um you want some extra confidence, go beat Portland one week, two zero and go to the East coast and get up at least
Sustaining Momentum & New Signings
00:39:17
Speaker
a point out of this. And I think, I think they're going to feel pretty good about themselves. Yeah.
00:39:21
Speaker
And know that maybe we can turn the season around. Yep. But it's, it's going to be a big task. So I also don't think that, I mean, depending on how it goes, i don't think it's going to be a huge indicator of, of things. It would be good to go over there and continue the momentum. Yeah, for sure.
00:39:37
Speaker
Any final thoughts? No. Shout outs? Shout out to my dad. Happy birthday. As we already said, he took me to my first U.S. Women's National Team game in 1997 in Portland. It was at the University of Portland Stadium. was tiny. But yeah, shout out, dad. You got any? oh Um, had something, but i don't remember. It's...
00:39:57
Speaker
It's 1130, but I still feel tired. um and Yeah, I
Closing & Listener Engagement
00:40:00
Speaker
don't think I have anything. Thanks again to our sponsor, The Doctor's Office. You can go follow us on Blue Sky, Instagram, at Cooler Guild Pod. You can send us an email. We love an email. You can send that to thecoolergild at gmail.com. You can also visit the main page, shoutatheart.com forward slash the Cooler Guild. And also while you're there, Ride the Valkyries, some great articles lately. um Good recaps of the game.
00:40:21
Speaker
yeah Also, June puts out a a nice article after the match doing some rankings. So. Yeah. Ratings. Ratings, not rankings. Yeah. If you're not subscribed on there for the emails and stuff too, I highly recommend it because you can just, you know, have it. It's like it's like one of the few emails I tend to actually read. if i Yeah, because they put the article in the email. Yeah. um I don't always read my emails, but if I do, it tends to be those ones. Yeah.
00:40:47
Speaker
um Go on YouTube, youtube.com forward slash out the cooler guild. Wherever you're listening, please go rate five stars. Until next time, I'm Coop. I'm Van. Stay cool, y'all. Stay cool, go rain.
00:41:27
Speaker
hang on
00:41:32
Speaker
she's just crawling i was like you have a lizard just like we can we can pause it mom you're not going on the internet we don't post the video might post this one