Transcript
Speaker: Hello, hello, hello and welcome to episode 76 of the Cooler Guild. I am Coop Cooper and joined with me as always is my co -host Van k Crisp. Hello. We are recording on Tuesday, September 1st. 2026.
Speaker: On today's show. We've got a dub pod. Dub pod! ah The rain beat the dash. We're gonna go over that game. It could have been a little bit more thrilling, but they got a win, so I'm happy. I think a lot of us are happy. We'll go over that. We'll go over some. Other stuff that we usually go over. ah ah But before we get into all that, oh we got some housekeeping.
Speaker: keeping 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.
Speaker: I was going to tell you, remember I told you I was at that show for my neighbor over the weekend and I told you about her opener. ah Her name is Marisa Anderson. uh incredible guitar player and i was like definitely a lesbian and if she's not so something something's crazy but my my neighbor who was helping out with her show told me that marisa used to be in a lesbian country band Oh, called the Dolly Ranchers.
Speaker: that's a good name it's a really good name uh i think that was like over 20 years ago something crazy she's been in the music scene for a long time but um i just wanted to follow up on that she was She was really, really good. I was really impressed. I was like, of course, my neighbor is friends with very talented musicians.
Speaker: <unk> but um Yeah. That was what I had going on and I needed to update you. Anything interesting happening in your life? Uh, my parents are on a cruise, so I'm watching the house and the horses. I didn't realize your parents were cruise people. My but my parents aren't cruise people.
Speaker: So why are they on a cruise? They're on an Alaska cruise. They wanted to do it once. Oh, okay. I do feel like an Alaska cruise is maybe the only one I would... Nah, I wouldn't do it. but i get what i get it it's more it's more interesting yeah uh take care of everything here Um. Yeah, chillin'. Went to the game on Sunday. Cool.
Speaker: Got stuck in, I was stuck in traffic. It took me two hours and 15 minutes to get to Seattle from my house. Get stuck in. You know when I bought in. here we yeah Why was the traffic so bad? I don't know. Wasn't Skrillex playing?
Speaker: No, it was no con. no skrillex was also playing wasn't he That can't be why there was traffic in Olympia. I don't know. I feel like Skrillex is the exact reason they would be trying to win. But yeah, the Noah Kahn concert was next door. Oh my God, I got to tell you a story. So we were... And I hope she doesn't hate me for saying this, but we were before the game.
Speaker: Jada was asking what was going on at T -Mobile Park. And I was like, oh, it's a Noah Kong concert. Who's that? And she pulled up, I guess, his new song. Two seconds in she just stops and goes, not for me.
Speaker: I've never listened to him either. It's also not for me. So I have no idea. uh i just i've seen what he looks like and i know a lot of people that listen to him and i'm it's never intrigued me enough to the point where i've actually wanted to get into it so yeah it all sounds the same it's very taylor swift for Oh, no. Indie white people. That can't be as bad.
Speaker: I mean it's probably not as bad. Okay. Whatever. Anyways, now that we're ragging on people's music tastes, which is, you know, your own thing and you don't have to like everything everyone likes. Well, we've got a dub pod. And that means. We've got... Beers today.
Speaker: ah What do you got? I bought a 30 pack at Costco. of hofbrau oktoberfest beer oh so festive september 1st wow that's that's the real stuff yeah it's imported from germany cool uh i've got a pilsner from fort george so excellent uh cheers to that the rain and that was That was really sad. so
Speaker: There we go. That's much better. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers to the dead pod. So our prediction maybe didn't go as... We had hoped, but I did say I would maybe be happier with the 1 -0 win. Yeah. Shout out at home. It's great. Yes.
Speaker: I have been needing the defense to be as good as they were in this game. and then we'll get too much into the game the next game we have but i think that this is a very It was a good performance knowing what's coming on the horizon. Yeah, it definitely. after the last couple
Speaker: Games where we've gotten scored on. in stupid ways yeah it was nice to see the defense have confidence especially the back four in both iterations, even after the subs. So that was great. We now have a four -match unbeaten streak at home going.
Speaker: Three wins and a tie. And this game, obviously 1 -0 win. Maddie Darlene scored the lone goal in the 52nd minute. Assisted by Matty Mercado.
Speaker: and with help from Jane Campbell. Shoof. But six of Darlene's seven career goals. have been match winners. I mean that's pretty clutch. I'm still hoping she can just have goals in every facet of the game. She deserves it. So, but I mean, being able to match winners is, it feels good.
Speaker: Duh. And I mean, they were bound to get one in this match for multiple reasons, but... It was nice that it came from her. Hopefully she can keep the streak going. This one game streak.
Speaker: Another couple. Two other things I want to highlight. Ooh. Defensively, Ainsley McCammon had 16 recoveries. Phoebe McLernan had 15. So 31 recoveries between two players. That's ridiculous. Dominant. yeah Super disruptive. like Houston couldn't get anything going, really.
Speaker: They had a couple shots. like But it wasn't anything that I was really worried about. There was one in the first or the second half. where it kind of bounced around a little bit, but we had numbers in the box. So it was no big deal.
Speaker: This is a very comfortable match for the team. ah Defensively. Offensively, I feel like there was more to to get, but that's two games in a row where I feel like things are kind of just not falling for them. At some point, I feel like it'll change. I don't know when. But the finishing is definitely...
Speaker: They're so close to just like having a 3 -4 goal game. And I'm getting a little frustrated, but I will also take a win. and We can talk about that in a bit. And I feel like historically, we've talked about having a game where the defense works. And offense works, right? Because ah we've...
Speaker: seems to be the team gets in ah a rut where the defense is playing really well but the offense can't score first half of the season this happened a lot and we get we got into a point Where we're being greedy. Because the defense played great.
Speaker: We got a goal and won the game. And I think... It's the Etsy witch. Spooky season's coming too, so. It's been 12 matches. Since our last scoreless game. Wow. What was the streak on that before?
Speaker: What do you mean? Well, we had a streak. we had It was like five games without a goal or something. Yeah. The minutes were like insane. Yeah. Yeah. And then I got so frustrated during, I think it was the Gotham game that I hired the Etsy witch.
Speaker: And coming back from the break. We have scored in every single game since. Great. Which is all I asked was one goal. And we've gotten at least one every match. Powerful witch. Best $4 .50 I've ever paid.
Speaker: It's barking. Absolute steal, honestly. You can get things done when you're poor. Jesus, maybe you should use $4 for something else in life. it's a gamble that's for sure and i don't i don't gamble a lot so that's so funny so let's get into it what worked uh top top the top first thing you put etsy witch shout out to the etsy witch Magic is real.
Speaker: So other things that worked. ah what do What do you got? The... Our two center backs, Jordan Bogg, Phoebe McLernan. We're just. Brick walls. Phoebe had one. where they played a ball over the top.
Speaker: And I don't know, it must she must be getting. more cognizant of her positioning. Because the way she was able to get in and disrupt that player, because we know that she's not, she doesn't have Maddie Darlene speed. Right. So positioning needs to be really, really good in order to be able to cut those opportunities off. And she was able to do that. And I was like, damn.
Speaker: damn phoebe yeah yeah there was a play where she was uh it was the player that i was worried about from when we talked about last week who was a uh rad raider yeah uh raider was like running up the field and she's just like
Speaker: Cutting off her angle basically to get that shot off. super great play super smart uh they talked even talked about on the broadcast about how she's just getting better and better and better and uh you know we were we were saying these praises a couple years ago now she seems to be we knew yeah so and now she seems to be in the conversation for maybe defender of the year Yeah, she got she was listed on the WGLAZO Team of the Week. Oh, okay. Yeah. Today, so.
Speaker: yeah she was great give her her flowers yeah long long deserved we we knew this yeah Very aware. Yeah, and we never get anything wrong. So... She was great. She had a great game. And I also like she was getting the attack a little bit too. Well, and that's the thing too with Jordan bug. Jordan bug. Yeah. She had.
Speaker: A play. And. kind of up towards the final third. Where. She beat like. It was in the 11th or 12th minute, I noted here. She dribbled out, Jordan Buck dribbled out of like five players. I noted taking a page out of Meza's book. Her touch is ridiculous too. And she's getting into the attack. She's streaking up. She's finding finding the wide players, getting the ball out to Mercado.
Speaker: It's... It's so like, I don't know the right word. like how I feel when I watch her. When she's feeling it, ah because there was like a point where she had a bunch of pressure on her with like attacking players from. houston and she's just so calm and getting the ball out with all this pressure around her like In her defensive third. Yeah.
Speaker: Like, it's no big deal. And she's so young and just making it look that easy. it's wild she kind of reminds me of The type of player that I. we used to see in the premier league in like the early 2000s those center backs yeah The.
Speaker: We're all over the place in the best way possible. And I think the more that she matures into her playing style and into her game. There's just so much more to come. Yeah, the midfield I thought also looked pretty good.
Speaker: And what was the reason for that? Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's... The best player that we have? Yeah. Sam Mezzo. Yeah. Her work rate is just so high.
Speaker: It was like night and day from like the struggles we were having. ah the last several games. And it just elevated everyone else's game on the field as well. Yeah, you can tell the the difference of her on the field between the last. Couple of games in this game. was extremely noticeable, right? And it kind of gave me.
Speaker: Like Jess Fischlach vibes. Remember the old days when Jess would miss a game? And you're just like missing that little piece. Kind of felt like that. She also returned like nothing had happened either. like She hadn't missed a step at all. Yeah, she came out early, but... It was fine. Yeah. Which, hey. A lot of stuff coming up so...
Speaker: Fair enough. but I don't know. yeah Sometimes players come back after being gone for this many games and it does take them a little bit, especially with what is expected of her in her role. Yeah. But she was still interrupting plays. She was. trying to get players open. She was where she needed to be.
Speaker: we can't lose her we can't So I wanted to add this. There's a, Laura talked about Meza in the presser. and talked about the break that she had to take. And she said,
Speaker: Some of the effect of honestly, I think the break was really good for Sam as a as much as the muscle injury was tough. Maybe it was just her body telling her she needed a break. for her Yeah. Yeah. it's Good to have her back. Yeah, definitely. If we can get someone else. rotation yeah well in the rotation right because the schedule's kind of crazy so like
Speaker: And what's expected of her and what she can do is kind of a lot. And I don't want her to get another injury. I thought James Turner was good when she came on. We're lacking consistency still there. Yeah, for sure. But. but 20 ish minutes of consistency. I think she can pull that off. Yeah.
Speaker: Like your note here, somebody other than Mercado scored. Yeah. You know, sometimes I'm a little worried that nobody else can score. It's like this season. Yeah, yeah which i I welcome all the goals from Ricardo, but.
Speaker: I do feel like... If you were going to make a playoff run and that's your only real threatening goal score, it's pretty easy for defense defenses to snuff out and shut down.
Speaker: i I do think we have other pieces that... can be utilized a little bit more and doesn't seem to always kind of fall through. Darlene is... So close to being. one of the best like strikers in this league.
Speaker: She gets into ridiculous positions. Her speed is unmatched at times. if she can just clean up her finishing She would I mean, she would be like the top like top three, I think. But... her She is missing some very, very... big opportunities.
Speaker: yeah but But she got the one tonight, or that night, and it was a really good finish. It was a great finish. Yeah. But why can we make the really hard ones?
Speaker: I know, I know She had so many other looks. But we're focusing on what worked and she she did get the one which is all we needed Yep. So thank you for someone else to score other than Mercado. I'm just worried if we were rely too much on Mercado something might happen.
Speaker: oh that poor kid she's working her ass off but she and she also did get the assist on this goal so really she's still heavily involved that We got a little lucky there with the way Jane Campbell came out.
Speaker: I don't know what she was doing. Here's the thing, Grant. from into the channel asked me about this in the in the press box. He's like, hey, Van, you're my goalkeeper source. What do you think of that? We watched it back. The thing is.
Speaker: It's a tough one. Because you kind of. You either need to catch the ball there or punch it away. The ball was curling in quite a bit too. Right. But the way that she, if she goes for the punch, you lose. About six inches on your reach.
Speaker: between Between your fingers and going with both fists. Okay. One fist maybe. Because if you put your hands up, right, and you try and reach as high as you can. You're only getting so high. But if you put one hand down.
Speaker: you gain. You gain inches. so It was just an odd one if she had come out and just tried to knock it away. There's a chance that that. just sits and dies. and goes in, somebody gets to it, and it goes in anyway. So it's a tough choice. but the thing with goalkeeping and especially in your own six is if you're going to come out for the ball you have to get to it And she didn't, so.
Speaker: It was counted as an error that led to a goal. Which I'm fine with. Yep. ah Totally. Don't love to see it, but love to see it when it works for us. Yeah. I would say Houston did a pretty good job at holding on. I do think our... players probably could have done a better job with their chances there was a few whiffs as well specifically one i saw that really annoyed the shit out of me yeah i mean that's part of what i put in the what didn't work here was which we can probably move on to sure is lack of quality chances
Speaker: Yeah. you have so much possession you have so many shots and and what What are you getting from those? We had 17 total shots. And. You're getting five on goal. It's got to be better.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean this is the kind of game where we're... We're happy about it when we're on the other side because... A lot of times we'll kind of be on the other side of this and we'll sneak out a goal. Right. Flip flip these stats. We should be better than this?
Speaker: I think. Yeah. i'm seeing the whiffs i'm seeing the misses and i'm just like this is stuff that they need to work on the training well i think too we look at it like you were saying if we're on the other side of it it's we've had those games yeah many times where it's been really frustrating because sure the other team has more shots But we don't allow them a lot of quality chances. but In the rain's past, they've gotten beat. one zero on just a mistake and
Speaker: When you're not getting more goals on that many opportunities, you... run the risk of losing games. If you're, it's a very fine margin between a loss and a win. when you're not getting quality chances.
Speaker: Makes me nervous. Yeah, I just want to see more. Offensively, they just need to be laura Laura called it ruthless in the presser, and I agree. Yeah they haven't really had one of those games have they? Hmm.
Speaker: The three goal win against KC. Yeah. The three goal. Three goal win, but then they let in two, so. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I just feel like. I don't know. It's hard to. It's hard to picture. Where would they become? like I haven't seen them ruthless, really. No. So.
Speaker: It's just something needs to... Unlock. In that. area where you're like that player. It's just going to go and you have confidence that if they get. a good look, they're going to score.
Speaker: I wonder what the timeline is on Lynn. Lynn's return. Hello. I don't know like what I expect. from her at this point.
Speaker: um but i do think her mentality when she plays would be really valuable to have even just on the bench. uh if we're gonna keep her on the team uh and then like use her in any capacity that you can because she she is one of those players in the nwsl that is ruthless there's a reason she's you know was leading she's still she's still leading the ah league And goals or did Sam Kerr already catch up? Kerr caught up, I'm pretty sure. yeah But like...
Speaker: Someone needs to channel that. Mercado is getting close, but With how? Open. Darlene can get. i I think that's the number one player I'm seeing that this would happen with.
Speaker: and it's possible yeah and i think that's why it's frustrating because you can see her potential Well, and same with me official, right? Like me official has these looks and keeps in his with them multiple times a season.
Speaker: So... Someone needs to get it together. I don't care who. All of them, preferably. Snap out of it. If they can all get get it figured out, I mean, this rain team will be dominant.
Speaker: I just have my doubts I have faith, but I think it'll just take more time than I'm really... Happy to. give it yeah fair and like i don't know at this point i'm like is anyone gonna win the you know the season besides gotham probably not So I guess just keep working on it. You don't know?
Speaker: i don't know i think they're just it's not fair what's happening there It's not fair. One other thing I wanted to mention about the game. um There were two calls.
Speaker: Two questionable knockdown in the box, Darlene, twice. The first one to me. Seemed. Light. I think that would have been. I didn't need that one called. The second one though. looked a little bit more contacty.
Speaker: And when we got into the presser. Laura said, Maddie Dullian came off the field and showed her her raked Achilles. On that tackle? Yeah. And then... When the players came in, she said that. hu Oh.
Speaker: She said, you can look at my Achilles. So. That's annoying. We don't get those calls. Portland does. Actually, they haven't gotten them as much as they did last year. Well, they got one this week, so. Yeah, they did get one this week, but they were getting them like crazy last year.
Speaker: I don't think it's been quite as bad. Well, Moultrie's out, so. That's true. Good point. Hasn't been happening. Sure. Do you want to add anything else on to that didn't work? I mean, we we won, so. Yeah, I don't want to really harp on anybody. The harping we're doing is just because.
Speaker: we like this team yeah and we want them to be the very best and i think like no one ever was Are we missing like maybe one or two players? Sure. But the current squad has the ability to be better than they are.
Speaker: I mean, they they should be better than The Dash. Yeah. I mean and they are. Yeah. But they were didn't be. Louisville. Yep. there's There's games in this season that have stood out, and granted, like, we've definitely had better form since the break ended, but...
Speaker: They have also squandered some points. Yeah. in a way that I think that they're better than that. Yeah, it could be different. Yeah. ah yeah What did you get from the post -match pressers?
Speaker: uh, the not depressors. Um, Yeah, Laura, just talking about the how they control the game but need to be more ruthless. And the game gets easier if you do put more opportunities in. flora said that when they were doing warm -up she knew dalene was on it for the game She was all over the place, man. Yeah.
Speaker: And I think. Laura. calls out players that sometimes you'd miss. And I think me official is one of those. Because. She, sure. I see you rolling your eyes over there, but... I think there's a lot of things that her presence. brings as far as the way the defense reacts. the spaces that she gets into to pull defenders away from other players.
Speaker: is really quite fascinating to watch. And we've had goals scored because she's pulled two defenders away. Yeah, I think I'll be more okay with it if it means we're s scoring more goals and actually finishing our chances. ah you know like when because i feel like there's similar critiques of haidama Right.
Speaker: ah She wasn't maybe always scoring, but she was doing a ton defensively. She was doing a ton to draw defenders away. And... i don't know we've always had this it feels like we've had this scoring problem for so long that it's just like you can't really figure it out i understand your frustration yeah and i i agree but i think it's fair to point out but she has chance she has chances and doesn't Finish them enough.
Speaker: yeah And I expect more for somebody we've paid so much money for. I agree. that's That's where I'm at. I think we say this every episode. but We do. Until I start seeing more goals, I'm going to keep doing it. Yeah, ah she talked about Phoebe.
Speaker: Good. And just said it's Phoebe's best year at the club. End. She had this really funny moment where she talked about the OGs. Laura was mentioning the, you know, the original three players that stuck around and stuck around and stuck around. and phoebe And then talked about Phoebe in the context of she's getting close to that mountaintop. um And there's more to come from her.
Speaker: So that's exciting. Seems that she... thinks highly of Phoebe like we do. N. I mean, if she's got more in her, I... That's only going to help. I mean, there was big shoes to fill, right? Really big shoes to fill. So Lou Barnes, you know.
Speaker: He got older, went ended up retiring. but cloning kind of came around that transition period of all that stuff kind of you know beginning before ah Lou retired but That's a big player to lose. Someone who's very valuable and important to the club, both on the field and off the field. And then the other player that you have, Matt, paired up with McLernan is a very young center back.
Speaker: That is not, I feel like an easy thing to kind of. go through. ye And they've done wonderfully. And moving on to the... player presser was Maddie Darlene and Ainsley McCammon. And they both said how great Phoebe was in this game. um And talked about. How knowing they have Phoebe behind them is like so reassuring.
Speaker: And I can't remember which one of them said it, but her and JB together are unstoppable. if Phoebe is a leader on the field and she's always communicating. which you can see in the close -up she's always yelling at somebody she also suzy pointed this out in her uh in her article she put out with her three stats but she also is she's always yelling and communicating but she's also the like one celebrating the biggest when the team scores a goal so
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. We love a Phoebe jump. Yeah. She's great. She's. Very passionate for the team and we're lucky to have her. Yeah. Laura said. Players are... like Darlene are going to be the hardest on themselves. And one of the first things. that came away from this player presser was Maddie Dahlin saying, I need to put those away. Yeah.
Speaker: That's the thing is she said she needs to be more clinical in those moments and not hope for a PK. all a Poor kid. She, I mean, she did get the game winner though. So like, I feel like she needs to feel really good about it and just be like, all right, I got the game winner, but like I can do more next time.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. So, and it' like I said, it's going to come. And they do have a sports psychologist on staff. Yeah, eventually it's going to change. And then when that does change, good luck.
Speaker: the defenses we're facing because her speed is ridiculous. I don't know how she does it. I don't know either. Ainsley talked about leaving for the U -20 World Cup. oh This was her last game. Oh, no. Oh no!
Speaker: This is not good news. Yeah. She said they hope she hopes to go win it, but she's going to miss her teammates on the rain. um And there were happy tears at the end of the game. Uh... I'd say my confidence kind of just dropped for the rest of the... till she She's so valuable. Darlene did say that her and ah her and Mercado have cultivated a really good relationship and they've worked on crossing and finishing a lot. Cool. Cool. That's great. Seem to be working. Yeah. That's about it from the presser.
Speaker: Any final thoughts before we... Do cool or pray the match. No, go do it again next week. Go do it again next week. All right. 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.
Speaker: ah Who are we giving it to? I don't know how you want to say it. I didn't know how I wanted to say it either. so I was trying to pawn it off on you. I feel like the MCs sounds cooler than the mix. I like the mix. You like the mix? We can do the mix.
Speaker: We're giving it to the mix this week. Which is...
Speaker: Phoebe McLernan. and Ainsley McCammon. I couldn't choose between the two. Well, I also said that I thought maybe Jordan Bug should be in the conversation. And you said, what did you say? I said, if if her name was McBug, then she could be in this. But it's still funny. Yes. I'm sorry, but I just I needed if we're going to give it to multiple players, we kind of it needs to be a little bit of a themed. Yeah. Yeah. Which it could have, I guess, just been like the triangle back there. But whatever. I'm giving it to the three. are the two, the the mix.
Speaker: They were phenomenal And I am. Worried about when McCammon leaves, but hopefully someone else steps up Fingers crossed. So congratulations to Phoebe McLernan and Ainsley McCammon.
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Speaker: I love this. The other one had nuts in it, so I couldn't do it. I like, well... You're not a nutty girl. I'm not. I got an allergy. Check out their Instagram at TDO Seattle or better yet, go drink there in person. Cheers. Cheers. Other NWCL results. What do we got? Wednesday game, North Carolina beat Angel City 2 -0. Ashley Sanchez on her generational tear right now ah scored in the 41st and 78th minute.
Speaker: um The 78th minute was an assist by Kalen Sheridan. Whoa. And it wasn't a punt. It was a ball straight on the ground. Really? Long ball. Damn. Yep. uh sanchez was about at the half line. So she was on side. She started her.
Speaker: Started to run. Ashley Sanchez now holds the single season record for goals for North Carolina with 15. Lynn, the one who used to have it. Probably. Probably. Then the weekend's games, we've got Gotham tying Portland 1 -1. Game was at Gotham. I didn't see this penalty call. I heard about it. that jaden shaw uh goal was ridiculous yeah She's so far out. Yeah.
Speaker: And Arnold just was not in the right spot shocking sure The penalty was a penalty. Was it? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, she got her foot stepped on so hard. But. Her shoe came off. Oh, okay. so I thought I heard about a penalty that was kind of iffy, but apparently not that one. No. So next game, we've got San Diego beating Louisville 3 -2.
Speaker: Louisville kind of falling off a hot hot bit here. Yeah saw that coming San Diego had 72 % possession all game. And Louisville were up 2 -0 at halftime. Didn't we have like a, oh, fuck. That's not good.
Speaker: Yeah, Byers scored two goals, 47th and 76th minute, and then comes Dolly in the 80th minute. ah And then the next game, same scoreline. KC beat North Carolina 3 -2. It was an own goal. Crowley Bethune hit one. Michelle Cooper scored the game winner. EJ scored again, and then there was a penalty for... North Carolina.
Speaker: Also legitimate penalty. And c Chewinga made her return and played about 20 minutes. Cool. That's good news for KC. Orlando. Dumpster fire. ah Lost to Utah. 2 -1.
Speaker: Barbara Banda did score first. But then Utah came back. I was like, Utah is also good. so Yeah. And then that game was on Saturday and comes out Monday that Orlando has fired their head coach, Seb Hines.
Speaker: What are you doing, Seb? It was like touted so much two years ago. Two years ago? yeah Two years ago. It's been downhill this year, real bad. Odd time to fire your coach, but I guess whatever you need to do.
Speaker: ah Poor Chicago. Denver absolutely annihilated Chicago six to one. I saw this like that Denver scored six and I didn't see who was against, but I didn't even need to know who they were playing because I knew it was Chicago. Yeah. I was like, there's no way Denver scores six unless it's against Chicago.
Speaker: So that was a nightmare for Chicago. I mean, what what isn't for them lately? um The Spirit beat Bay 1 -0. No surprise there. And then Boston, Los Angeles City, five to two. Ooh, Lost Nation. That's not good. I know. ah Both two games this week had seven goals. That's crazy. Yeah. Chalufia is on fire right now. Frangel City scored two goals in this game.
Speaker: Centenor figuring it out a little bit too. Yeah. Boston actually scored first. Well. That's not their issue. That is not their issue.
Speaker: That's it. That's it for the weekend's games. um And other weird. sort of league stuff the commissioner the nwcl commission commissioner was at The rain game this weekend.
Speaker: They did like a fireside chat with her pregame for the there was no fire apparently, but. They did ah some sort of chat with her and the. business. head business person for the rain. And then. They let us. interview her, just women at halftime. They took us down to the tunnel, to the field. and It was loud and we could barely hear anything. ah But I decided to ask her about financial transparency.
Speaker: And if there were any plans for expanded financial transparency in the league, and she did not like that question. I mean, she just said it's the NWSL PAs. thing, right? which kind of, but not really, it is.
Speaker: And... What it came to be was. The people who know who the people who need to know, know. So her. i guess that's so weird since i asked like about player salaries i said are player salaries available like You should talk about that and the people need to know. No. And I said, so it's like.
Speaker: it Within the organizations, it's known. It's just the people that need to know now. well i mean we all know about the article that came out about how Owners and coaches like knew that other teams are not complying with the rules Hello, Iron. Definitely suspicious. It's weird.
Speaker: ah Jeff also asked about like player safety in regards to kind of what's happening with the WNBA right now. Okay. And. She went on this weird thing talking about how, yeah, the leagues talk and. really liking um our work with the... Super League up in Canada and like blah, blah, blah, and didn't really say anything. So not a lot of confidence there. I feel like there's a good chance she wasn't prepared for. ah Like...
Speaker: she's a lawyer yeah i know she's a lawyer but like i do feel like seattle has a better contingency of like reporters and writers and kind of people who are I'm not saying that other teams don't have that but I do feel like some of the questions that maybe came out of people. in Seattle.
Speaker: are maybe a little more interesting than some of the ones she might get in other places yeah i mean um i wasn't gonna throw her a softball no i mean that's most of us weren't i mean no everyone's very very in the know of what's happening in the league and wants some questions answered because there's not a lot of times that you get that opportunity So that's on her for not.
Speaker: recognizing that people in seattle know their shit i was really proud of being able to rattle her a little that as yeah I took that as a a source of pride. Yeah, now you're on a watch list. Yeah. That's what I said. ah Yep, that was it. That was it. Till next time, Jessica.
Speaker: Mm hmm. She'll know I'm there. They've got someone tracking me now. Yeah. Thor like autom automatically logs. The Reigns next match. Move on. Sure. All right. The Reign are playing San Diego next. uh it's gonna be sunday september 6th 6 p .m at lumen field ESPN2? Yep. ah And it's Van is so excited about this. It's Hello Kitty night.
Speaker: Hello Kitty Night! As a child who grew up on Sanrio... Hello Kitty was not my favorite, but Which was your favorite? I don't remember their names. It's weird that everyone's doing all the same things at the same time. it must be a push for something maybe there's a hello kitty movie coming out or something i don't know it Could be. I feel like I haven't heard anything about that, but I'm also not the person for that. And then there's also the fourth wing stuff that's happening everywhere. Uh. I hope we just don't have a princess night. That was ridiculous.
Speaker: yeah
Speaker: You don't want to be a pretty, pretty princess? No. Okay. All right. So not note that I put down for this game, San Diego is currently in fourth place in standings. They've got eight more points than the rain. We're in eighth place. and We do have a game in hand. So standings wise, I don't feel like San Diego is leagues above leagues above the rain. However.
Speaker: I would say they're the better team. They're they're more dangerous. Yeah. What do you want to see in this game? I think Claudia Dickey is going to need to have a solid game. Definitely stand out, a standout game. It's about time for her to have a standout game. Yeah. This is, this is the team to do it against.
Speaker: Hi. Yeah. San Diego in their possession is. scary super scary What do you think the defense is going to have to do?
Speaker: I mean, they're going to, I was trying to look at like what where. san diego has scored from in the last several games and it's just from all sorts of points of attack it's crosses it's in the box it's breakaways uh it's everything it's truly everything so we're gonna need to have one of those classic ben don't break games for the defense I think if they let in a goal, they're There will be blood in the water for San Diego.
Speaker: And they can't afford that. at all and i'm i'm hoping that they they can do the bend don't break thing and then i'm also hoping that maybe they can get like a Quick counter. And maybe it's scoop up a goal. with some skill and precision learned from this last game. finishing those chances of of beating beating a team on speed. But yeah, I just, i'm'm I'm nervous. There's a lot of players on San Diego that can score.
Speaker: It's not just like a one. Trick. Kind of thing. I mean, they've got. One trick pony. Yeah. It's a lot. It's a lot. i They lead the league in touches in the opposition box um and shots on target per match.
Speaker: There's some other stats, but they like to hold possession. And i think the I think the rain will be kind of okay with that. I really do. It's just... I don't know. I don't think so. I think the team is going to need to be disruptive. But that's what I'm saying. I think that it can hold. Like they can let them have possession, but I don't think they're going to do much with it. Because I think Sam Meza will be up there fucking shit up.
Speaker: Do you know what I mean? Yeah. They're not going to be able to really break through the lines. No, I think it's kind of one of those situations where like maybe they have a lot of shots, but they're going to be good. That would be, I think, the ideal situation. I would like the Reign to take control of the match. I think the way to really...
Speaker: irk a team like San Diego. is to beat them at their own game how do you think that looks I think that looks like a lot of holding possession with the back four. Through Sam Meza. playing out to the wide players.
Speaker: getting the ball into space. you Because you can't let a team as dangerous as San Diego have too much possession because it'll come bite you in the ass. And I think that if the rain were able to are able to disrupt.
Speaker: and hold the ball. and be calm on the ball. they're going to find some success in this game. It's hard to, yeah, I feel like it's a little hard to say just because San Diego can do so much. yeah it's not like they just have like they're good at crosses so don't don't let them do that It's like, no, they're good at crosses. They're good at counterattacks. They're good at a lot of things. I think they had like a couple of shots from outside the box that were goals. So you can't give them a space there either.
Speaker: Got to close them down. It's going to be a lot of work for the defense, and I hate that we're not going to have McCammon for this. That's why you need to figure out how to hold possession. That's why the team needs to figure out how to sign players. True.
Speaker: ah It's not going to happen before this match, so we got to use what we got. Use the tools we got. You got a score prediction? 2 -1 Seattle. Okay. I did. ah Just see that Steve, ah lovely Steve from Ride of the Valkyries, has noted that in addition to the bobbleheads they're selling as part of the ticket promo for the Hello Kitty night, the first 4 ,000 fans into the stadium will get a free Hello Kitty Surge kit bag charm.
Speaker: You know, sometimes I drive by landfills. Stop. ah they will but The team will be um wearing the surge kits for the game. Great I like those ones. ah You got anything else you want to add on to this soccer podcast? No, I am all set. All right. Any shout outs for the week? Nope. Great. i guess thanks to our sponsor we'll do that now Thanks to the doctor's office. we Love the doctor's office.
Speaker: ah You can also go follow us on Blue Sky and Instagram at coolgirlpod. You can also send us an email. We love emails. Send that to thecoolergill .gmail .com. You can also visit us on our main page, sounder at heart .com forward slash the cooler guild. Sounders may be figuring it out a little bit. Shout out to them, I guess. Oh, because they've spent money. Yeah, go figure that's how it works.
Speaker: uh we're also on youtube youtube .com for such at the cooler guild wherever you're listening please go rate five stars till next time I'm Coop I'm Van stay cool y 'all stay cool
Speaker: It is October. Or is it? No, it's September. Fuck. Oktoberfest. I can't remember what month it is. It's barely September, but... It's literally the first. It literally started at the top of the show. Ugh.
