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The Cooler Guild: Undefeated in Spokane - Ep. 60
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7 out of 9 possible points ain't bad. The Reign concluded their three match homestand in Spokane with a draw to expansion side Denver Summit. We discuss the strong performances from both goalkeepers and the lack of clinical finishing that ultimately left the game scoreless. We also cover results from around the league, the upcoming USWNT matches, and what we hope for with the team’s return to Lumen Field at the end of the month.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:20
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 60 of The Cooler Guild. I am Coop Cooper, and joining with me, as always, is my co-host, Van k Crisp. Hello. We're recording on Tuesday, April 7th, 2026. On today's episode, we're going to go over the Reigns' nil-nil draw against Denver, their first ever game against Denver that took place in Spokane. and We'll quickly also recap the other results in the league, preview the Reigns' next match, and I don't know, maybe we'll talk about some other stuff.
00:00:48
Speaker
We never know. We don't. yeah
00:00:52
Speaker
I could give us a guideline, but who knows where this goes. But first, some
Accessing The Cooler Guild
00:00:56
Speaker
housekeeping. 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, just visit our page at sounderatheart.com forward slash the Cooler Guild. New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing.
00:01:16
Speaker
What you, what you been up Working. Oh, cool. Yeah. My 830 to five job. Cool. When do you, uh, when do you, when does, when does your school stuff kind of start rolling? Not soon enough.
00:01:35
Speaker
Cause then I will have even less of a life. um No, I'm just happy. i was happy to have a weekend at home. Yeah. Because for the two weekends before that, it was Portland and then ah Spokane. Spokane. Yeah. Yeah. I was happy to finally not be driving. Could stay home.
Coop's Personal Dilemma: Movie or Game?
00:01:52
Speaker
That's nice. I was going to go to Spokane for last weekend's game before I went to the Spokane for Spokane game. And I was like, I do not want to do that drive again. What did you do? Were you puzzling at home? I assume. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:02:04
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Cool. Doing an annoying puzzle. You said you mowed the lawn today. Yeah, got that out of the way. I think I might be going to the movies tomorrow, maybe. let'll see how my head its We'll see how my head's been feeling. But my my friend, he's always trying to get me to go to movies, and i hate... I'm not really a movie person. I'm just not.
00:02:21
Speaker
But he's always trying to get me to go to movies, and there's an old movie theater are in town that all movies are $5, and like their drinks and stuff are cheap, and they serve like beer and stuff. But they're playing Stand By Me there.
00:02:31
Speaker
Oh. And I was like, oh, I could go see Stand By Me, I think. Yeah. Yeah. And then I forgot that the Sounders were playing at same time. And then I was upset. and then I was like, what if I have a headache?
00:02:43
Speaker
Well, the Sounders game's on. I was like, Alex was there when I kind of agreed to go to this thing. And I like asked later, I was like, did it sound like I for sure committed to going to this movie? Yeah.
00:02:55
Speaker
With my friend Daniel. And she's like, yeah, Coop, you said you're going to the movie, so you have to go. and i was like, ugh. I was like, what do you think the chances of he'll cancel though are?
00:03:06
Speaker
Anyways, I'm a little upset about that, but I'm sure it'll be a nice time. Yeah. As long as my head doesn't hurt, it'll be fine. But I like the theater. It's like a fun little experience. Is it like an older theater, I'm assuming? Yeah. I wonder what year was built, actually. What's it called? The Columbian? Okay, cool. I can't find any information out.
00:03:23
Speaker
if Wow, what a productive one minute. Oh, 1923. Okay, it's over 100 years old. Yeah, it was built after the fire, at the great fire that happened.
00:03:38
Speaker
The great fire of Astoria. Well, I hope you either go to the movies and have a really good time or you don't and have a really good time. I'm sure, I mean, it's one of those things where, like, you kind of don't want to go, but, like, it'll be fine once you get there. Anyways, we have a brain game to go over.
00:03:55
Speaker
ah Super exciting
Reigns vs Denver Match Analysis
00:03:56
Speaker
stuff. ah Except for maybe it's not because it was a 0-0 draw. I know. I was filling out the info and I was like, oh, scoring summary. Well, nothing. And then misconduct summary. And then I was like, oh, no cards this game. Yeah, we got spoiled last time for sure. yeah the last two times we got spoiled. So plenty of other stuff happened around the league, but we'll go we can go over that later. um So nil-nil draw against expansion team Denver.
00:04:20
Speaker
They're good. They're not terrible. I think they're pretty good for an expansion side and they're going I mean, i don't really like Lindsay Heaps, but the fact that they're adding her at some point for like, ah you know, on a leadership level, that'll be good for them too.
00:04:33
Speaker
um But I thought, I don't know. I thought they were pretty good. Yeah. I thought it was a pretty evenly distributed match minus some like late game onslaughts by Denver. Yeah. Yeah. It was a little rough for a bit to watch. So one of these matches where I just felt like if we were fully healthy, we would have won. Mm-hmm. it was a little frustrating, but I also feel like it's good to take an undefeated record in Spokane, two of those being wins ah back home to your actual home.
00:05:05
Speaker
And I feel like this could have easily gone either way. We could have won the match 1-0, could have lost the match 1-0. Definitely. So I'll take the i'll take the point. and To me, yeah. At the end, I was kind of thinking, oh, this kind of felt like a Chicago win.
00:05:22
Speaker
a little bit. yeah Although a Chicago win these days might just be like a 1-0 loss. kind of changing tunes there we'll talk about that later um but there was a notable stat yeah claudia dickey now has the most saves in club history with 190 saves passing hope solo who previously held the record she actually did seem pretty pretty stoked about this this record to be breaking yeah it was kind of an interesting because we hear claudia dickey talk a lot there was a lot more like happiness inflection in her voice she's very flat usually mm-hmm
00:05:59
Speaker
Not in a bad way. No. ah just It is hard to read her personality, though. little bit.
00:06:07
Speaker
Is she, like, the driest, like, person ever? She's probably fucking hilarious. Yeah. I can't. Yeah, I can't tell. Can't tell. But I don't really care because she plays well. Yeah. Most saves in club history. I mean, a lot of that had to do with last year.
00:06:23
Speaker
but she has to do it seems she had to make every game yeah i'd be curious and like what the saves per game ended up totaling too yeah we can go back and look at that but in comparison but uh yeah congrats to her though it's uh it's a cool stat to to have and anytime you pass hope solo in any record is says something yeah it's gotta feel cool despite what people think about her and what she has made people think about her with their own actions Yeah. We can kind of roll this into the first part of the what worked category. Yeah. Because Claudia Dickey.
00:06:59
Speaker
shouldn't really have to come up like super clutch. No, but but... it was just a very consistent, steady game for her. Yeah, there's a couple ah crucial saves in the second half.
00:07:10
Speaker
But Denver's goalkeeper is also fucking phenomenal. Yeah. Abby Smith is great. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good pickup for them. I remember when she was playing for Houston last year and she played at the, when Seattle played them at home, she played in that game because Jane Campbell had just been screwing it up and they did what not a lot of teams would do and let Abby Smith start. Yeah. And she played great for them. Yeah.
00:07:37
Speaker
I mean, there's some shaky moments, but somebody that hasn't been a consistent starter in the league, I thought she did really, really well. And then Jane Campbell came back and she got benched again.
00:07:47
Speaker
So I think it was a really, really smart move for Denver and a really good move for her yeah to get to a place where she could be a starter in this league because she is. Yeah, she's she's getting she's getting highly at reels like it seems like quite consistently. Yeah, she's a yeah, she's really good. I wouldn't be surprised if she gets some sort of call up at some point. Maybe not with the World Cup on the horizon so much, but because they're still trying to decide the one and two and unless something happens to the three. I don't know. Yeah, the thing is she's older.
00:08:15
Speaker
Well, sometimes that's a good thing, though. Yeah, but she's 32. Says to you. Yeah, I'm ancient. Remember, I'm almost 40. I just think that third slot's really not tied up.
00:08:27
Speaker
No, especially since Jane Campbell is the one that was called into it and had had a really mediocre week. Yeah. but and i was saying I'm saying if she keeps having these good games, it might be worth a look.
00:08:37
Speaker
Oh, for sure. So. Now that we're gassing up the other goalkeeper, Claudie Dickey also just i mean guess like literally fighting for the number one spot. Yeah. I mean, yeah, this this was a good goalkeeper game, though. And I know as someone who used to be a goalkeeper yourself, I'm sure you really enjoyed watching this. I did.
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah. I did. There were two very good moments um for Claudia Dickey, ah that kind of point blank header on the far post, that long crossing ball. Yeah. And Curry just kind of lost her mark header right there. But Claudia Dickey's positioning was perfect. Yeah. And then Abby Smith um on Mercado's breakaway in the first half. Oh, God.
00:09:20
Speaker
Yeah. Again, just closing down the angle. And I think I i was going to talk about this later, but I think had Mercado just had a little bit of composure and kind of stopped momentum and pulled to the right and shot, it would have been fine.
00:09:37
Speaker
But Abby Smith did incredibly coming out, taking taking the angle and making the stop on that. So it was a fun game for me. As a goalkeeper, as a Reign fan, i wish we would have won.
00:09:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
Player Highlights and Performances
00:09:50
Speaker
It's always the hope. We do have one constant, though. Other than Claudia Dickey. I just feel like we could just, like, copy and paste the audio from... each week for how good Semesa is every single time. She was phenomenal in this game. Once again, i pulled up a couple of fun little stats. She had seven tackles and she won 11 duels. And like the next person below her wasn't even like...
00:10:15
Speaker
It wasn't even close. She's so tenacious. It's a good word for it. Yeah. Big fan. Still a big fan. Huge fan. There was a point in the second half where she somehow had the ball at her feet and got out of two players.
00:10:31
Speaker
Just like tippy tapping. ah The ball doesn't leave her feet. I remember somebody last season said it's like she's got Velcro. Totally. and that's what it feels like. Yeah. Watch it come out. She puts glue on her shoes.
00:10:43
Speaker
Yeah. but What's that? Pine tar? Yeah. That's exactly where I was going. yeah The scandal of the century. first The first pine tar scandal. sobezz a sp She's got some blood sticky handball stuff.
00:11:04
Speaker
She's just like, gotta watch her on the sideline. Why is her face so shiny? Oh! Oh, fuck. Oh.
00:11:14
Speaker
No, I don't think so. It's just the instinct of putting her body between the other player and the ball and how incredibly she moves when she's on the ball.
00:11:25
Speaker
Oh, yeah. It's awesome. and She's still so early in her career. What a treat for us. Absolute treat. Yeah. Another thing that worked. i already brought this up, but we're undefeated in Spokane.
00:11:37
Speaker
i didn't see that. i I really had no idea what way this was going to go when we went to Spokane. So the fact that we finished this out. And what Uh, I don't remember. i said it could be the disruption that we need.
00:11:49
Speaker
Yeah, sure, sure, sure, sure. Especially since the other teams coming to visit don't know what's going on either. Yeah. You know, it's that, it's that ah you know, our players thrive under pressure and weird circumstances. And i feel like this is one of them.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, pretty neat. ah The last thing i had put down was what worked for me ism You brought it up already a little bit, but I'm really enjoying Mercado.
00:12:18
Speaker
I'm enjoying her starting. i do think we're going to have to keep doing rotation as we get players healthy with Darlene and Fischl hopefully soon. But Mercado is a player who i think would be so awesome to bring off the bench to. I love her starting. Don't get me wrong. I love her starting. But like I'm just picturing her on the sidelines just like, oh, I'm going to get in here and fuck shit up. Yeah, just Bruin. Yeah. And she can just fucking go all out because she won't have to, you know, like pace herself for the whole game.
00:12:46
Speaker
She was great. She was really great. Yeah. This stretch of matches has been incredible for her. That ball that she lobbed up the field to Adames. Oh, so good. So good. Just a vision. if It's too bad Adamus couldn't have a little more composure in that moment because, man, that would have that would have been that would have been so good.
00:13:09
Speaker
It would have been. This would have been reason why,
00:13:14
Speaker
that was so nice it's good to know she's she's always looking up field too i think that can kind of help whoever's on the field with her kind of make sure they're staying higher up a little bit well and i think that that's kind of the point yeah right is really stretching the back line we tried to do that last year with haidema but haidema didn't really have the speed but like she's she used to play where mercado is playing i never really saw her trying shit like that right she wasn't quick enough Yeah.
00:13:40
Speaker
Hmm. So my, my, how this is working out so far. She's just a more dynamic player. Yeah. Um, and it's converting. And I think that Mercado brings this sense of like goal hungry that we haven't really had from a player in a while. think I mentioned this in the last episode years. It's been years. Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:04
Speaker
But it's it's really fun to watch. And I think her being goal-hungry, kind of rubs off on the players around her. Because, you know, she's looking to score. Well, maybe I need to look score. Maybe i need to look to get her in.
00:14:17
Speaker
They're not really dilly-dallying. They're being more direct, which I enjoy. It's got to turn up the heat on everybody else, too. Yeah, exactly. you have anything else? I mean, it's a 0-0 draw, so... Nah, not really. Not in the what worked category. What didn't work for you?
00:14:32
Speaker
oh the finishing. Like I said, with the ah Mercado chance in the first half, I think they need to be more clinical. It happened with a chance in the second half, too, where she's coming across the box right straight at a cross on the ground. And she kind of flicks it up and it goes over.
00:14:50
Speaker
Just got to be a little bit more clinical in those in those positions. um Same thing with the Dames on that breakaway. Just really not being able to take a second and place the ball.
00:15:02
Speaker
Instead, just kick it right at the goalkeeper. But to be fair, the goalkeeper was in the right spot. Yeah, it's kind of... It's interesting to look at this game and our finishing not being as good. When we played someone who's playing really well at goalkeeper versus the last two games that we had where it wasn't the best performances from those goalkeepers. Last three games. Yeah, so we got to find the right, you know, ways to, i don't know deal with the pressure of playing goal like a good goalkeeper, I guess. They start making saves and then it's like, well, you got to change something up then. But they kind of i just kept... i noticed this with everybody they seem like some of their so balls were just kind of getting whiffed not just the shots like past some passes were getting a little whiffed um i think fish like had one up field and then curry had a really bad one curry they like put that in the highly real and there's no reason to put it in there other than just to like be like look at this whiff
00:15:58
Speaker
What the hell? There's just Shank, really. I know. so yeah, I'm curious on how they'll they'll perform against against other top goalkeepers in the league because they're going to have to be, they mentioned. Well, specifically players that are actually top goalkeepers in the league.
00:16:16
Speaker
True. Right, because the two games before were KC where you've got Lorena who supposedly... one of the best goalkeepers in the league, if not the best. She's not. Yeah. Put three on her. And then you got Jordan Bloomer in the Louisville game.
00:16:30
Speaker
Makes a big mistake. Let's a goal in. Second goal was really good. So then you come out against a more aggressive goalkeeper, a better shot stopper with solid, you know, a pretty solid defense and you have issues.
00:16:45
Speaker
Yeah. Predictability. i mean, they brought up in the press conference, but the predictability maybe with their shooting and they are working on trying to be more unpredictable, which I think is really great to hear that because it's like, oh, you've connected the dots and what needs to change. Yeah. To find success.
00:17:02
Speaker
I will say another good thing that's come out of this. How much of the ah Laura Harvey out conversation have you heard in the last three weeks? Almost none. Yeah, I would say almost none.
00:17:15
Speaker
It's kind of it's kind of funny. ah Yeah, they really they really. Yeah. Silence themselves.
Coaching Under Laura Harvey
00:17:22
Speaker
i else I mean, we'll bring it up in the press conference, but like there is a bigger vision here and we're there's we're not at the end product still.
00:17:32
Speaker
No, they we knew that. Yeah. So anyone who's saying Harvey, I'm like, are you really following what's happening? I appreciate the reactionary parts of it. Yeah. Because that means there's passion. Yeah. They care about the team.
00:17:46
Speaker
But at the same time, find the right people to blame. Yeah, totally. Honestly. Yeah. Anyway, I wanted to bring that up. It was going to, I kind of had been thinking the same thing. So he brought it up.
00:18:00
Speaker
Uh, what else didn't work? Oh, the left side. man. Sonos was fucking shit up. She was everywhere. She was. She was pushing really high up. Uh, Montessir and Curry were not connected defensively.
00:18:20
Speaker
It was not Montessir's game. No, it wasn't. She, after performing really, really well in the last two matches, really fell off this game. Yeah. And I think it was the increased pressure. I think Denver was a lot quicker to get pressure on the ball when we had possession.
00:18:37
Speaker
And we know that Montessir can struggle with that. um And then just defensively, she wasn't strong enough. She wasn't fast enough. And the disconnect with her and Curry was utterly apparent at times.
00:18:50
Speaker
Um, I didn't think Curry had a terrible game, but it definitely wasn't her best performance. But the fact that they didn't give up a goal, I think you can have not your best performance and not give up a goal with the most threatening player on the team coming right at you. I think that that, that says something.
00:19:06
Speaker
We can be as negative as we want about it, but in the end, did anything really happen? No. Yeah. So take that for what it is. Sure. Sure. And you also added something about Yasmeen Ryan here. Oh, man, she's so good.
00:19:21
Speaker
her she Her and Sonas are going to be a problem the more time they get together. Yeah, and gets worse defenses. Yeah, Casey.
00:19:33
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, Ryan, ryan I think they they got lucky that she it's earlier in the season, I would say, because she had some looks and didn't quite hit them ah at goal. And i mean, i had just feel like there there's a little bit of luck going on there because she is so talented. um Shame on Houston for not figuring out a way to make that work because she's a phenomenal player. Yeah, she's good and fast. Yeah.
00:20:00
Speaker
Yeah. um I'll add one more thing here that I felt should have been different. um And this is a personal, no logic behind this other than my eyes and my feelings. um I thought Brittany Ratcliffe played really, really well when she came on.
00:20:18
Speaker
I think she's strong. i think defensively she's good and she can take it on the break. who And I think that that would have been a lot more productive sooner than the 77th minute when she was subbed on.
00:20:31
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. um And she came on for Adames, who I don't know if Adames was fatigued, what, but we left Montessori in the whole game. And Montessori was not productive at all.
00:20:43
Speaker
Take Montessori put Ratcliffe in. Leave it on Amazon. She's young. The children can deal with the extra 13 minutes. Especially the break coming. minutes Yeah. There's a break coming, so might as well.
00:20:55
Speaker
But I thought that was an interesting decision, but I'd like to see Ratcliffe sooner if we're not having opportunities and are struggling. I think that she's getting to that super subcategory. Yeah. And i would like to see more of her sooner in the games if she's going to be subbing on.
00:21:11
Speaker
Yeah, she's fun. she brings i think that experience that she's had with being in the league for so long would have helped us like maybe not had those nervy moments near the end defensively think just could have helped all around yeah yeah thank you for listening to the sounder at heart podcast network which now includes no sarietes lobbing scorchers and the cooler guild we've been independent since august of 2023 but need your support to make sure it continues.
00:21:40
Speaker
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00:21:53
Speaker
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00:22:09
Speaker
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00:22:20
Speaker
Post-match presser, they brought in Phoebe, McLernan, and Curry. My main takeaway that i got from this was that they're evolving their offense. I think everyone who's been following the team can see that that's what's going on right now. It's it's a little painful at times. They brought up that like last year they were kind of able to hone in and focus on their defense and kind of get that figured out. And now they're able to figure out what their offensive identity is.
00:22:47
Speaker
yeah and we're starting to see that last year when the offense was working the defense wasn't working yeah it was like one or the other when the offense was never great anyways when it was working yeah but i mean i'm taking like thinking the chicago game last year that's that's chicago and mr cop yes that was such a shit show it's lujumiel for you yeah But, you know, when we could score three goals, we also gave up three goals, which is yeah kind of unprecedented for the team last year. So it was like a sacrifice one or the other, where now it feels like a more, for lack of a better corporate term, a more symbiotic relationship. Oh, here we go. put that on a poster. Oh, the Jessica Berman is wearing off on me. Oh, God. oh God. You're on your way to the UAE right now, I'm sure. oh gross. Never. ah Yeah, that's pretty much all I got out of that one, too. Seemed like they were disappointed, but not mad.
00:23:48
Speaker
I think that they know that there were some things exposed, that Denver exposed on the defensive side and especially in the midfields, and they have something to work on with this week off.
00:23:59
Speaker
I got a while off. Yeah, two weeks. I mean, before the next game, I don't know like what time off they're going to get for, you know, if they're going to get a little time away from training. But yeah, it's ah it's a ways away.
00:24:10
Speaker
ah One, two and a half weeks. Yeah. Quite a bit. ah Harvey, this is the point that I was kind of ah trained to. it's three weeks. Sorry. i can't tell dates. Yeah. Okay. Okay. um The Harvey point that she brought up that I was kind of like wanted to tie back into people who are Harvey out.
00:24:32
Speaker
um She said that the team knows that they're on a journey and that they're not exactly where they want to be, but you can see where they're trying to go. and I think that is good to express.
00:24:45
Speaker
I think it's frustrating for some fans that this is maybe happening, but I also think it's good to remember where we were, like what, two years ago? Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:24:56
Speaker
It was bad. The year we started this podcast. Oh, God. So for me, I'm like, i am I am enjoying this ride. I maybe grow impatient at times and there's lots of skepticism, but that's kind of just what's going to happen when there's all these changes happening and they're trying new stuff.
00:25:16
Speaker
but it's starting to come together. I'm going go and say it. We're seeing glimpses for sure. Yeah. They're, you're kind of seeing some results, I would say, or some flashes of results from what they're trying to do and the growth that they're trying to, trying to achieve in this. And I think that, you know, when you have a bad game, that just goes out the window for people. And unfortunately, we had a bad game two games into the season.
00:25:46
Speaker
And that's always going to, it's going to come back for the rest of the year. Hopefully it ends after that. But um that's helpful. But yeah. but We didn't have a lot to look back on as far as growth when the bad things happened.
00:26:02
Speaker
But now, you know, we've got three games since and you can kind of point to those positives that we've seen and kind of come to a different conclusion other than one that's a reactionary and emotional of like, get her out. She's not doing anything. Yeah.
00:26:18
Speaker
Yeah. Anything else you want to onto that? No, I think she seemed happy to be out of there, you know, out of the stretch. It was a it was a crazy stretch of games.
00:26:29
Speaker
Yeah. And started off with a weather delay. second Second game, you know, abysmal loss in Portland and then having to play three home games in Portland or and in Spokane. Yeah.
00:26:42
Speaker
That's just a wild first five games. And to come out of that with ah three wins, one loss and a tie. And ending that in third place in the standings. I'm happy with that. I'm very happy with that. Cool. That's how I feel about it. Great. Do you want to move on to the cooler player the match? Let's do it. Cool. ah The 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.
00:27:12
Speaker
We there's a lot of things that could have gone before player of the match this sea this this game. We had a bit of a discussion about it, ah but we came to some would say an unexpected choice We love her though. And there was a moment where she absolutely bodied someone and and it was kind of the highlight of the match for me. ah So this cooler player of the match goes to Phoebe McLernan.
00:27:36
Speaker
Yeah. Stallboard of the defense. She had center back underappreciated center back Supreme. Yeah. Um, And like I was telling you, I think with the chaos, with Denver's push, I think that she really helps with the organization back there.
00:27:51
Speaker
Something that I was wondering what was going to happen when Lou Barnes left. And I think she's really stepped up and she leads by example. And I think she was really helpful in this match. So it goes to her. Yeah, she's also been doing it with a new partnership so far this year. So yeah, credit to her. i think this is...
00:28:11
Speaker
Yeah, well, right time, well-earned, especially with everything that's been happening. So congrats, Phoebe. Congrats. 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, make an appointment today, and indulge in their limited edition cocktail, the Solar Eclipse.
00:28:28
Speaker
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00:28:41
Speaker
And just a hint of chocolate served with candied ginger and dried apricot to cleanse the palate. they also put it Hold on. they put They also put it like a little garnish on top with the little apricot and the ginger. Like it's like a little like celestial.
00:28:55
Speaker
Did you see how that was put on there? Yeah. Yeah. It's so cool. looks like a planet. It's amazing. This is the best bar. It is. Check out their Instagram at TDO Seattle or better yet, go drink there in person.
00:29:06
Speaker
Cheers. Cheers. Do you have any final thoughts on the matches match before we move on to other NWCL results?
League Recaps and Notable Matches
00:29:14
Speaker
i think i already gave them. Cool. Anything from you? No, I feel i feel happy. I'm hoping we can keep the momentum going, I guess.
00:29:23
Speaker
Yeah. that's that's right was It's always interesting after a break to see how the team comes out. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's the... I mean, I guess if we want to... I can back can put that in the preview for the next game. I'll just talk about that then. but Okay.
00:29:36
Speaker
I'm good with my final thoughts. Other NW cell results. Boston still sucks. Boss Nation? more like lost nation. It's
00:29:48
Speaker
a good one, huh? Oh oh o oh yeah. Headaches won't get me down.
00:30:02
Speaker
Oh, man. Okay. um have a couple notes from this match. There's ah another play-by-play who's not the worst person I've ever heard on a microphone who sounds a lot like that guy but he doesn't yell at you. Oh.
00:30:18
Speaker
And it's just much more pleasant to listen to. And his name is Tyler Terrens, and he was on the call for this match. i just wanted to point that out when I watched it. The other note I had... ah Did you see the result?
00:30:29
Speaker
Of the game? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I must've missed it when you were laughing and I'm just thinking about my joke. Oh, did I say it? Yeah. Oh, no, I did not. Okay. i thought you said, did you see it? was like, yeah, I watched say it. no, no. San Diego won. I mean, Boston's lost nation. I know. I just didn't know how bad they lost. well zero You know, maybe that's an improvement for them.
00:30:49
Speaker
No, because Lujamila is frickin' clutch, and I think she might save San Diego in the pre-Mercario era. It's a wise thing to bet on. I don't even know when Mercario is going to start.
00:31:00
Speaker
Mercario? Mercario, yeah. Mercario. Yeah, that's why said Mercario. You're saying Mercario. I said Mercario. You spelt it Mercario, though, so now maybe I'm just reading it weird. Yeah.
00:31:11
Speaker
Well, you spelt... Whatever. Ha ha ha. Okay. when Yeah, I don't know when she's starting because doesn doesn't she have like some sort of knock or something? i don't know. So I don't know when she's going to be in, but for now they have Lujamila.
00:31:23
Speaker
And that's enough. Your comments in the next game. Orlando beat Angel City 2-1. I mean, it's kind of nice that Angel City gets knocked down. i don't mind that.
00:31:34
Speaker
um out Van has a comment here. Watts, and there's a goal. So there's... Let me put that it. Orlando won two to one. ah All three goals were scored. First one was scored in the 84th minute. Holy shit. I just saw that. Holy shit. That's wild. Orlando scores 84th minute.
00:31:53
Speaker
And then Angel City ties it up in 90 plus two. There were 10 minutes of added time originally. And then 90 plus eight. McCutcheon scored. McClutchin. She's always good. McClutchin. Yeah. um She scored both goals for Orlando. um But fucking Mike Watts.
00:32:11
Speaker
Says Barbara Banda scores. Walk in, my man. Walk in in the game. The end of the game. That's the one time you're watching.
00:32:21
Speaker
He's too fucking stuck on what weird Taylor Swift lyric he's going to put in next. Banda's in the comments, in all caps, Watts announces it for Banda like the fucking, fucking, not fucking, fucking dim wet he is.
00:32:42
Speaker
Very funny. My hate will not go unnoticed. um Yeah, so Orlando pulls that one out, knocks Angel City down. Orlando was playing at home. i want to see more people at their games. So I hope ah they can get that together. And then the goal blowout of the weekend was Houston-Louisville.
00:32:59
Speaker
And four of those goals were penalties. What a mess. Yeah, it was. and And all four penalties that were called were converted, including the game winner in 90 plus 9.
00:33:11
Speaker
So that that makes sense. I guess was just that many penalties. There's usually that much added on time. Yeah. because A lot. Yeah. And then Utah, Chicago, Chicago is bad.
00:33:22
Speaker
Really bad. And the only will scored in this game ah was a penalty from Tanaka. Who's really Utah's like biggest threat. Yeah. It's like they're maybe only threat now that Sentinel's gone. Yeah. Casey and Gotham. Casey beat Gotham two to one.
00:33:36
Speaker
Finally got something going for Casey. Yeah. Finally. Is because Chwinga? She made her first appearance since October and got an assist. Jaden Shaw also came back from injury and scored for Gotham. late in the game got them a corner kick yeah this is good the corner kick and catcher burger is in the box and ball doesn't come to her so she kind of like floats out to the just beyond the top of the box and the ball kind of bounces around and it comes out to her and she takes a touch and then like kind of backs up it takes a fucking banger shot it was close it was close yeah I would have lost my goddamn mind. I would have lost it. Force Lorena to make a save in the last minute of extra time. Oh, God. Can you imagine how annoying would be if a Catherine Berger scores on Lorena? And like a goal like that, like a goalkeeper's never scored a goal like that in this league.
00:34:33
Speaker
There was just like clusterfuck goals in the box, like messy goals. I think the one that was it was a straight header from a corner. Yeah, there's been a few, but that they're that's typically what they are. but That would have been the biggest banger for sure. But yeah, Casey finally got one and beat Gotham.
00:34:50
Speaker
Don't hate that. Who's now sitting in 13th place.
00:34:55
Speaker
Casey's in there. I mean, I'm personally enjoying it. It's not going last. North Carolina played Portland. Tied 2-2. Raylan Turner, though, scored the first goal.
00:35:07
Speaker
And it was kind of this weird diving header with another player, with the defender. And she didn't even celebrate. She was down after the goal. That's She stayed in. She got up. But then eventually had to be subbed out in the 25th minute. Was it a head injury? No, it was like a leg thing. But apparently in the post-match presser, the coach said he didn't think it was that bad. Okay.
00:35:28
Speaker
Hopefully it's not. She's been good for them. mean, like watching her. I hate Portland, but she's good. Yeah, you don't want see if somebody gets injured like that either. no And then the Bay against DC, against Washington Spirit. Washington Spirit 1-2-0.
00:35:42
Speaker
There was the weirdest own goal I've ever seen. One of the weirdest, especially in this league. They're on like the near post and Silkewitz goes to clear the ball and it kind of hits off the defender's leg and rolls up and back and it loops back into the goal. Oh, no. Very weird. And then there was a moment where Silkwitz comes out of the box and the ball's about to go out and they're outside the 18, like on the end line.
00:36:10
Speaker
And their ball's kind of bouncing around and it kicks out and she just puts her hand out so doesn't go over the goal line or go over the end line. So not saving a goal scoring opportunity, whatnot, but she handballs it outside the box.
00:36:22
Speaker
That's a yellow card. I heard about this. Yeah. By the rules. Yeah. No card was given. They don't even know what they're doing. Yeah, that's not good. The other thing that happened in this match, which I shared the video with you earlier, it was right before halftime and two Washington Spirit players we looked up how to say this player's name, but I can't.
00:36:40
Speaker
It's D. Guglielmo. Okay. Guglielmo, something like that. And Tara Rudd, the ball comes up and they're both going for it to clear it out and they just smack heads and they're both bleeding they're both down it's gnarly Rudd the other player subbed off after that and then Rudd stayed in the game with a head wrap on ah feel like you hit your head that hard against another player's head you should have to leave the field Yeah, the cut was bad. Mm-hmm. She had changed her jersey because there blood on it. Yeah.
00:37:12
Speaker
So we'll see how that pans out if they're both on concussion protocol because if they're both on concussion protocol, especially Rudd, and she played the rest of the match. Oof. Yeah, someone screwed up. That's not good. Yeah.
00:37:23
Speaker
But yeah, wrapping up the wrapping up the weekend, going into the little international break here. um San Diego's on top, 12 points. We're tied with Portland in second and third on 10 points.
00:37:38
Speaker
And Angel City's dropped to fourth. I'll take it. I'm not mad about it. Does anything surprise you so far? No, because I called this. I said, traditionally not great teams.
00:37:52
Speaker
Houston Dash, Utah, us, San Diego, all high up. Whereas you have KC, Gotham, all below the playoff line right now, which were early in the season. But we're seeing kind of the...
00:38:06
Speaker
I wouldn't call it parody in the league, but a little bit more than normal, I would say. Sure. got a long break though. So who knows what's going to happen we get back? Who knows? Uh, cause there are three U.S. Women's National Team friendlies coming up.
00:38:20
Speaker
Very funny. It's ah against Japan as well. That'd be good games. Uh, Sunday, April 11th, uh, 2 30 PM at PayPal park on TNT Tuesday, April 14th, 7 PM Lumen field. we haven't hosted a, uh, game in a while. I think the last one was the one against Brazil, right?
00:38:38
Speaker
Yeah, we lost. Yeah, we did lose. Yeah. Was that 2016? I think you're right. it was it's been 10 years. 16 or 15. still in Seattle?
00:38:53
Speaker
I can't remember. I just remember that guy with the wearing Hope Solo's actual gloves drinking beer. ah That game's on TruTV. And then there's another game on Friday 6 p.m. And that one's at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. Also on TruTV.
00:39:09
Speaker
Cool. Should be fun to see what they do. World Cup's coming up. Pressure's on. People got to start, you know, turning things up. So can't be an experiment with players forever. No.
00:39:20
Speaker
See what Emma does. See if she's cooking. And then after that, we have the next rain game. Yeah, we're playing ah Utah Royals, everyone's favorite bad team. um That's going to be our first game at Lumen Field, finally.
00:39:34
Speaker
Sunday, April 26th at 5 p.m. It's going to be on Victory Plus, not on Fox 13, so just on Victory Plus. So if you haven't signed up for that got that going, do that. It's going the first... ah I don't maybe do the sounders get a game on this grass before we do.
00:39:52
Speaker
it's our It's our first it's our first game on grass. So at home at home, which is kind of rad. We'll see how good the grass is You never know. but You never fucking know. As excited as I am about it, i you won't know until you see someone trying to actually play on the surface. you know there It'll be before the World Cup, though. Yeah.
00:40:10
Speaker
Yeah. So it'll be it'll be interesting. What do you want to see? I want to start this, you know, homestand back at Lumen Field. I want to start it with a win. I mean, I always want to win, so this is kind of just what I'm always going to say. But I think it's important to kind of establish...
00:40:31
Speaker
your home field advantage and just, just rack up the wins. You don't want to lose here. You can't lose here. You need to establish that. And it needs to be the thing, make it a trend and then just keep doing it for the rest of the year.
00:40:43
Speaker
Yeah. And I think piggybacking on that, like, It's the first time we're going to be playing in Seattle this season. And you're going to have a group of people come out. They tie in for the rest of the year and make it a fun game to watch. Give them a show. Show.
00:41:00
Speaker
Play really well. Start building that base back up. Totally. um It's not in Spokane. It's not Spokane. This is the first game before first of six games before they go on the World Cup break. So see what happens. Yeah. What do you want to see?
00:41:16
Speaker
Maybe everyone healthy? Fingers crossed. It's always a mystery. We never know like where some people are fitness-wise and health-wise when it's Laura Harvey coaching. She likes to keep a little mystery. She likes to be as unpredictable as she wants to play. Yeah.
00:41:31
Speaker
Yeah. Score a bunch of goals. yeah you put it is utah dot dot it it is utah it's not chicago but it is utah it is utah don't make me eat my words don't make me eat my words please to be fair utah are in seventh yeah but we should beat them we should beat them handily yeah and that's all we want that's it thanks i was just looking at the table again think that's i think that's it Yeah, I think that's pretty much going to do it for me a little bit of a break coming. We are going to USM's national team game.
00:42:09
Speaker
and Since there's three games against Japan, we might do an episode at some point between those, maybe after the Lumen Field game. I don't know. No promises. But we definitely want to dive into the experience and the crowd and stuff at Lumen. It doesn't happen often. And we're only getting this because they're going to have grass there for the World Cup.
00:42:26
Speaker
So if you haven't gotten tickets, go do that. They're pretty cheap. Luckily, are they? Some of them are. Yeah. And in my experience, if they seem little too expensive, just wait till day of, honestly, because there's so many seats and they get pretty cheap.
00:42:41
Speaker
I like remember paying full price for the one against Brazil. And then like the same day I looked up tickets to see like there's better seats and they were like way cheaper than what I bought mine for. And that was really annoying. Oh, yeah.
00:42:53
Speaker
But I think they're doing a better job of with availability and stuff like that. I don't know. We'll see. i hope they get a good crowd out for the match. It is a weird time Tuesday.
00:43:05
Speaker
Yeah. They have three three pretty back-to-back games, though. And they're staying on like this side of the country for the most part. So that's kind of and fun. That's also good for rain, for travel, at least for Claudia.
00:43:19
Speaker
for claudia our one player i was like we have some other players that got called up for their for other stuff so yeah they'll be traveling as well like bug is called into camp coco got called up for haiti don't know there's there's other stuff going on but bug adama's and i can't remember james turner maybe it's the usual suspects yeah yeah because there's some youth national team games too for the u.s so got some players in for that yeah any shout outs I don't think so.
00:43:49
Speaker
Cool. Not a lot going on these days for me. Honestly, same. Yeah. Cool. ah Thanks again to our sponsor, The Doctor's Office. You can go follow us on Blue Sky on Instagram. We're at CoolerGuildPod.
00:44:03
Speaker
You can send us an email. We love an email, especially a reactionary post-match email. ah You can send that email to thecoolerguild at gmail.com. You can also visit our main page, soundatheart.com forward slash thecoolerguild.com. We're on YouTube, youtube.com forward slash at the cooler guild. Wherever you're listening, please go rate five stars. Go do that. Tell your friends. Yeah.
00:44:24
Speaker
Tell your friends. Get amped up for the Lumenfield opener. Yeah. I did find out somebody at the radio station because I go volunteer there sometimes. There's like this older woman there. i shouldn't call her old. She is older. What is she my age? She's in her seventies. But like we sit around and we like fold these like bimonthly magazines. I don't really know what you call them, but we fold them and like get mailer sent out to like the people who send monthly donations.
00:44:51
Speaker
And we got to chat about my podcast, our podcast, you know, and she was like, oh, what is it? I hadn't seen her for like two months or something like that and she was like, oh, I listened to your podcast. It's pretty good.
00:45:06
Speaker
The new Astoria contingent coming through. And then like the other, will like, because it's always like, I'm always like the youngest one there because it's mostly retirees in the middle of the day helping out. And then me.
00:45:17
Speaker
So the other lady was just like, oh, well, can you show me how to find it So pretty soon we're going to a lot of older women at the rain games popping in from a bus from Astoria. Yes. Yeah. Anyways. I know. I always tell people, I'm like, oh, you have a podcast? and And like, yeah, you don't want to listen to it. That's what it's exactly how I sell it, too. I'm just like, it's very niche.
00:45:39
Speaker
You don't. we should be better about that well it was funny because someone at the station was just like you have a sports podcast and i was like yeah but like it's about one team and it's not a team that anyone here usually cares about and she was just like well do you want to talk about sports on this station was like ah If you want me to talk about the rain, sure. just don't know that anyone in Oregon, at this part of Oregon, gives a shit. Well, maybe they should start. Yeah, I could start, ah you know, or a story, a chapter of rain fans because it is so far I'm up to one.
00:46:14
Speaker
You know when they do those like ah Jersey sales by region thing? Maybe there'll be a little cutout for rain. Yeah. And Astoria. I don't know. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll keep s spreading the word.
00:46:29
Speaker
All right. Till next time. I'm Coop. I'm Van. Stay cool, y'all. Stay cool.
00:47:00
Speaker
okay i caught that
00:47:04
Speaker
<unk>s so classy yeah