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A rainy Reign draw but we are back - Ep. 27
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We trekked up to Lumen Field for Reign’s opening match of the 2025 NWSL season. In this episode we chat about the team’s performance, officiating controversies surrounding that match, and respond to some questions from the Guild.
We close out the show with some updates from around the league.
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Coop
Van
Show produced by Coop
Theme song by Alex Juarez
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The Cooler Guild Est. 2024
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Preview
00:00:20
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 27, not 23, why did I almost say 27? 27 of the Cooler Guild. I am Coop, and joined with me as always is my co-host, Van. Hello. We're recording on Tuesday, March 18th, 2025. On today's episode, we'll be discussing the Reigns' season opener from Saturday night at Lumen Field versus Gotham FC, as well as taking a look at the rest of the opening weekend in the NWSL.
00:00:43
Speaker
The first. Some housekeeping. The Killer Guild is part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. You can either listen to us on our public feed or if you're a Sounder 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 soundertheart.com forward slash the Cooler Guild.
00:00:59
Speaker
New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing. Word.
Reigns vs Gotham FC Match Recap
00:01:05
Speaker
So we're it we went to the game, but we'll talk about that. um We're just going to pop right into the match recap and move on from there.
00:01:13
Speaker
So the ring kicked off their 2025 season on a cold and blustery night at Lumen Field versus Gotham FC. After an evenly matched first half, Gotham got on the board in the 47th minute with a shot from Gabby Portillo deflected off Jordan Heidema and into the back of the net.
00:01:28
Speaker
Not giving up, the Reigns shifted the momentum in their favor and were were rewarded in the 71st minute when a loose ball frenzy in the Gotham box ended with Emery Adamez sliding into the ball and scoring the Reigns' first goal of the season.
00:01:40
Speaker
The drama continued when Gotham's Mandy Freeman was shown a straight red card in the 87th minute for a nasty skating tackle on Narelia Mondesir's ankle. The game ended in a one-to-one draw and the rain remained undefeated in the 2025 NWSL season.
Game Day Experience
00:01:57
Speaker
Jesus. Really generous there at the undefeated.
00:02:02
Speaker
It might be the last time we have to say you' were able to see that this season. I don't think so. Nah, I think we'll win the next game. We'll see what happens. They got some threatening stuff for the next game. But we're we're focusing on this game. So, um Van and I went to the game.
00:02:18
Speaker
We did. We popped by, before the game, we popped by the doctor's office. Not, we I mean, not the actual doctor. If you listen to podcast, you understand that the doctor's office is one of our sponsors and it it is a sweet little bar. But we popped in there and hung out with the owner, Matt, for a bit before the game because he's, a you know, he's going to the game as well.
00:02:42
Speaker
And little little tidbit of information for everybody. But we got to see the unveiling. I mean, it was very unofficial unveiling, but we got to see the unveiling of We've got a trophy, everyone. We've got a really cool trophy for the cooler player of the season.
00:02:59
Speaker
And it's like inscribed. It's got a little cooler on top. It's got Phoebe McLernan right on the front of it because she was our cooler player of the season last year. yeah there's room to add more. um But we're planning on having that on display at the bar.
00:03:16
Speaker
So if you're a fan and want to go check it out, um i'll double check with matt make sure he has it up but it was pretty cool to see that um but yeah then we popped over to the game pretty good seats we had we sat in the club section which i think for uh how horrible the weather was yeah it was it was we were like a row into the dryness so the seats were kind of wet when we got there but um Yeah, it was my mom bought me like the three pack of tickets before they even released the schedule.
00:03:49
Speaker
Yeah. um I didn't realize they were club seats until ah she sent me the tickets. But 10 out of 10 recommend a club seat during ah this part of the year. Truly.
00:04:01
Speaker
The game was fun. I think. There's been a lot of complaints about maybe the atmosphere. mean, if you're Seattle soccer fan, the atmosphere with Sounders fans, Sounders games and um kind of just what it feels like on the concourse and stuff like that. But like immediately getting into the set, like the rain game, there's just so much buzz.
Reigns Performance Analysis
00:04:19
Speaker
yeah and people were super excited what are you doing alex is she lurking she's like got a like a cup of like tonic and i assume tree sap flavor she hasn't any cocktail she's looking out into the distance disassociating after a long day of doctoring yeah i guess so anyways it's really distracting and um you want to add on to like the experience well you just you were in the middle of saying something well it's been interrupted by this random person just lurking this is the only place to enjoy the sunset but She's trying to enjoy the sunset. That's fair. Go enjoy the sunset, Alex.
00:05:00
Speaker
I support you. Anyways, not that my wife is interrupted and enjoying the sunset. um and don't know. The atmosphere, I thought, like, when we were driving in it just felt like there was a buzz. Did it turn out there was, like, a little festival thing happening or some sort of wine thing at the convention center, event center next door? But, like, it was pretty busy around the concourse, and it just felt...
00:05:22
Speaker
I don't know. I like I think there's a real excitement when we go to rain games that I don't necessarily get um at other sporting events and like it's like a it's like a positive buzz like it's not like I don't know how to explain it but feel like it didn't seem like the atmosphere and just the the energy around The game when we were you know in line and everything, was people were excited. and i don't think that the malaise from last season really carried over very much. No, there was no linger.
00:05:54
Speaker
So I think that's a really positive thing for the team. And I think people got really got into ah the little YouTube series they put out. Oh, for sure.
00:06:06
Speaker
This last the week before the first game. Yeah, the little Traders series that they got, which I believe today, Tuesday, was the last episode. um Good series, though. i yeah I'm a fan of the Traders, you know, the U.S. s celebrity version, celebrity in quotes.
00:06:24
Speaker
um But it was fun to see the Reign players kind of... work through that themselves because i've always been i don't know i feel like the celebrity is kind of put on a show so was fun to see like athletes take a stab at it but yeah i think it just it just kind of created a different excitement um surrounding the season and yeah you know like you were saying walking through the concourse it was upbeat people were excited and ah It was, and I think that that continued throughout the game. And that's with, like, horrible weather.
00:07:01
Speaker
Atrocious weather. like i mean, it cleared up, I don't know, by the second half, maybe. and Maybe, I don't remember. it was, we were slightly undercover, so I didn't fully notice when it cleared up. But, i mean, it was terrible. So the fact that people were, like, in a good mood, even with, like, gale winds coming through and all of that um was nice to see.
00:07:22
Speaker
Yeah, and you might have noticed like that the Royal Guard section behind the goal was a little sparse in the first half. They were still there. yeah They were just up a little bit under the coverage. Yeah, yeah and and you can't blame them. And you can't get those instruments wet, you know?
00:07:37
Speaker
No, you can't blame them at all. But, you know, you could hear them. Yeah, should we get into the actual game portion? Or do you want add anything else to our experience from the day? no it was just really fun. And it was good to kick off kick off the season.
00:07:52
Speaker
Yeah, so the game ended in a 1-1 draw. um Key players missing. I think everyone was a little dis disappointed, myself included, just because I don't get up to many games. Lynn Beandolo was out.
00:08:03
Speaker
Yeah. What a bummer. um And then maybe the other notable big person was Roosevelt. um But as a Reign fan, I mean, I want to watch Roosevelt play, but not maybe necessarily against our team.
00:08:16
Speaker
Yeah. So... um I don't know. i feel like the I feel like the game overall, you could tell it was the first game of the season. Yeah. But I also felt like for how many problems the rain had with their defense last year, thought they looked pretty good.
00:08:32
Speaker
Yeah, it was ah solid effort. You know, they did. There was one marking mistake and that cost them a goal. Yeah. But i think overall it was an improvement.
00:08:46
Speaker
And it was something that last season, you know, we're always like, well, you know, defensively we're we're always, you know, pretty good. And then they would prove us wrong in the next game. Yeah.
00:08:58
Speaker
Yeah, Claudia Dickey was pretty solid. um I think a big surprise for me was maybe Shea Holmes. Yeah, that one for sure. um But we noticed that during the last preseason game. Yeah, for sure. At Coachella.
00:09:14
Speaker
i was like, oh, where'd she come from? Yeah, shes she seemed to turn it up a notch or two this offseason, preseason and offseason. ah Same with ah Madison Curry.
00:09:25
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we hadn't seen her on our team. So I think that was just fun to fun to see what we got with with getting her on the team. Yeah. um
Referee Decisions and Criticisms
00:09:35
Speaker
She had a really good game. I don't i don't have her like noted ah on like the positives that we'll go over later, but I think she's probably going to be a starting player for sure.
00:09:45
Speaker
Yeah. I like her. I like that addition to the back line. Yeah. um I had a notable stat, which I think there was another one that they called on the broadcast. But um one notable stat i I had was Gotham had won 17 the 26 matches last season, which I think they said it was like 15 or 16 of their last 21 games they had won, which is kind of crazy. Yeah, um especially since we suck so bad.
00:10:14
Speaker
So the fact that in the regular season. Yeah, in the regular season. Sorry. So the fact that we came in and able to get a draw, I mean, obviously you want to do better at home, but given how bad we were last season, we can't get too greedy.
00:10:26
Speaker
Yeah. So I'll take i'll take the 1-1 draw against Gotham, who like also, should i mean, I don't want to talk about the championship, but like we're the better team. Granted, they have Mitch Purse missing as well, but um i think the expectations for the Reign are, they're not high.
00:10:46
Speaker
Given what happened last year and given the amount of turnover that we have, i would say the expectations at this point in the season are not high. So walking away with 1-1 draw so felt very good as a Reign fan.
00:11:00
Speaker
Yeah, I wouldn't say they're not high. I would just say that they're realistic. Okay, yeah. ah Nobody's coming into this thinking that we're going to win the championship this year. Well... But if it happens, great.
00:11:10
Speaker
I, you know, I... Nobody?
00:11:15
Speaker
Maybe. I'll throw my name in the hat. yeah Why not? Anything can happen. yeah But yeah, I think it's ah it's a fair result for the game.
00:11:27
Speaker
But I think it's a really good starting point for the team. yeah And there was exciting things that happened in the game. And I think that from a marketing perspective, i think it was an exciting game. yeah for sure And people, even when the weather's shitty, they're gonna want to come back and watch that again.
00:11:46
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there were so many new names, a lot of turnover of some players that people really liked, even, you know, including the season before, right, with losing Roosevelt and Emily Sonnet and Megan Urbino. So...
00:12:00
Speaker
i We signed all these young players not knowing how they were going to perform and if they were ready to play at the NWSO level. But I think with players like Monty Dahlin, it's pretty clear um they're trying to make a name for themselves in this league.
00:12:16
Speaker
So I think they're giving fans a reason to keep coming back. Yeah, and you know on her, the stats maybe aren't on her side for this game.
00:12:26
Speaker
But from a viewing perspective, I thought that she played well. And I liked the pressure that she put on the back line. um And I think the good coming into what Laura Harvey said after the game in the presser,
00:12:42
Speaker
You know, when she crossed the ball and nobody was there after she had a little break. Yeah. Like, well, nobody's go to they're not gonna be there. They're not as fast as you. yeah Which, hey, that could change once Biandolo's ready to go.
00:12:54
Speaker
Yeah. um I mean, two because usually you've got like one fast person or team just making the run up themselves and now we've got somebody who's trying to be a playmaker in Darlene and then pair that with someone like being Dolo.
00:13:08
Speaker
That's pretty good. a pretty good thing to be to be dealing with with your team. So yeah, I'm not mad about it. Yeah. Any other kind of general notes about overall thoughts of the match or anything like that? So before we roll into the positives.
00:13:20
Speaker
No. Okay. um I had the number, my top positive was the Young Guns. And that included Maddie Darlene, Emery Adamas scored the game-tying goal, and then Jordan Bug.
00:13:32
Speaker
I think those are pretty obvious ah positives. Jordan Bug is is just a monster in the back lane. She's... incredible yep she's like so mature for her age what she's doing back there and she's kind of picking up the pieces too when there's some little mistakes um she did kind of get a little cooked on one play um but she she ran with it still like she there was i think a moment where she could have stumbled and kept falling but she stayed on her feet somehow Yeah, the announcer said something about they're like breaking her ankles or something, but she was still on her feet. Yeah, she's still on her feet. She like moved shifted her body weight and stayed up. So um I was impressed with that. And obviously Adamez came come on comes on.
00:14:12
Speaker
And what is a few minutes later, she scores a goal. mean, she just threw her body into that um chaos and put her foot in the right place. Yeah. And she mean, she was ready. She was like, you used see her like waving off like waving to like kind of be ready for it. And then she just makes the perfect, perfect run straight into the chaos and and and gets a goal, which was credited to her this time.
00:14:36
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I was. And I guess at Dolene, I think there are some people maybe a little too harsh on her. feel like what like what, you know, adding on to what you said, the tenacity of her is something that I'm really, really excited about. And you see it a lot with young players, you know, they're they're still learning.
00:14:50
Speaker
And to be in this league, you know, she's been in college for you know the last couple years and now she's playing with adults. Yeah. And so you have to figure out how to play smarter and conserve some of that energy and use it wisely.
00:15:06
Speaker
But I think that yeah once she learns how to do that and once she kind of gets more dialed in with how she can be productive, I think it's going to be really cool to see. do you want to do positive?
00:15:16
Speaker
I thought why so last one you got listed. Yeah. So I added a spicy Haidama. Beginning of last season, if you listen to this podcast, it's beginning. Maybe we didn't even air these episodes, because but we were talking about Jordan Haidama. You know, she just needs to get a little stronger.
00:15:32
Speaker
Meaner. And meaner. And by God, we're seeing it. Yeah. She, you know, goes 50-50 with Berger. Right? Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:43
Speaker
50-50 with Berger. Berger ends up taking herself out. ah But yeah, that's what you want to see. And you know she's going into tackles. She's you know getting riled up when things aren't going her way, which is fair because I feel like she does not get the foul call she deserves.
00:16:01
Speaker
Yeah, that's kind of been a trend for a while. And I'm hoping now that she's kind of fighting back. Yeah, that that that'll help her with the refs and seeing her because it day yeah it seems like she's always getting fouled and no one ever really gives a shit.
Team Challenges and Areas for Improvement
00:16:15
Speaker
And it's not. and And, you know, you can see that she's gotten stronger. You can see. Oh, yeah, for sure. that She's staying on her feet. So it's not like she's just falling over hoping for a foul.
00:16:26
Speaker
No, she's getting taken out. Yeah, she's 23 years old, which is still pretty damn young. um i mean, granted, I think we had higher expectations, but I think there was maybe they were a little maybe raised too high just because of her age.
00:16:41
Speaker
um But i'm I'm excited about the player we're seeing this year so far. Maybe it has something to do with Canada and taking that anger out on Canada. on us which i am fine with and that's cool hey i get it i'm i'm here for it uh another positive i had we kind of talked about it briefly but shay holmes um a little static saw like looked up but she led the team in touches and attempted crosses and that's stuff that i was kind of skeptical about i would say last year and ah in terms of trying to get her into the attack um so seeing that she's trying to get involved um
00:17:17
Speaker
more and she is by having a bunch of touches and also laying in those crosses because i feel like a lot of those crosses maybe she attempted and i don't know maybe she was not able to get them off the fact that we're seeing them now is giving me a lot of optimism for where she's playing on the field because i was kind of not sure if she should be playing that like uh i thought maybe she should be playing center back yeah for a while no that wing back seemed to be a stretch yes but I don't ah don't know that it is it's seen this year I'm seeing the improvements that we needed to see um and maybe that was maybe just last season wasn't set up for anybody to kind of thrive yeah I mean she crossed the ball that Berger couldn't get to um so she had to kind of paw it away and that's the one that landed in front of Coco that ended up with Adama scoring so huge contribution there
00:18:10
Speaker
Another positive. Gotham fans. This is kind of a petty one, but, you know, I love being petty. Gotham fans failing to understand the rules in regards to red cards. And the reason it's a positive is because it makes them look silly.
00:18:23
Speaker
And i I always support that. any time Gotham fans can look silly, I'm, you know, full supportive. Yeah, because the red card that was given, we'll talk about the other play um later, but the red card that was given was fully deserved.
00:18:38
Speaker
yes there was no intention of playing the ball it was reckless from behind she could have broken her ankle yeah literally steps on her foot anytime i see that stepping on the ankle and then there's like a skating thing happening yeah across the field i'm like holy shit it just looks gnarly yeah and we couldn't really see it from the stands on our side yeah and they don't replay that stuff in the stadium either unfortunately yeah but it yeah it was bad I was watching the replay. was just like, holy crap.
00:19:09
Speaker
Yeah. And the ah Mike got a photo of it. Yeah. That was photographer for Rolex. Yeah. Mike Russell. I don't know how anyone's sitting there and saying that shouldn't be a red card. There was the argument of if that one's a red card, then the other one should be, which is the one on Jalen Howell. We'll go to that in the negatives. But you're not comparing the two.
00:19:30
Speaker
This itself is a red card. She wasn't in control of her legs. No. And you can't step, like, come at someone from behind like that and, like, skate on her foot. It's just, like, it's it its it's reckless. It's it's it's reckless.
00:19:43
Speaker
Yeah. Just because the officiating was crappy yeah for the entire match doesn't mean that this this this one decision is wrong. No. Nick's positive.
00:19:53
Speaker
We scored a goal. We scored a goal. One goal. But hey, we had troubles with that last year. Yeah. And last year, we didn't really get lucky ever. No. Harvey talked about the presser about it does take some luck, which we had done last year. I mean, I don't know if luck would have changed a lot of things, if we're being honest. But she a point. We didn't really put ourselves in a position to get lucky. Exactly. That was a lot of the point last year. And so, you know even having that amount of players in the box,
00:20:21
Speaker
um We had more touches in the opponent box this game than we've had in a while. um it
Community Engagement and Sponsorships
00:20:29
Speaker
just felt more productive from the offensive end of the team.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah, and that's without being Dolo. So another positive, I want to shut out the defense. They shut down Astaire. i like every time I had to play, off we have to play Gotham. I'm was just like, God, not Astaire.
00:20:44
Speaker
I know what's going to happen. She didn't have it. They shut her down. lethal Yeah. Well, she had a couple chances. um they managed her like yeah a lot of her shots would say most of her shots were from outside the box or were just kind of fleeting yeah chances that okay we'll give her that all day which every now and then i mean she's definitely gonna like score some of those this season but if you can limit those chances for a player like her and her quality with her quality then that's that's a win in my book
00:21:15
Speaker
Yeah, big testament to the back line there. um And leading into our my last positive, um the 40th minute, and there was a weird instance where Bug had gotten the ball in the back and was clearing it. This is about the halfway line.
00:21:31
Speaker
And it bounces to a player and it like comes back over the back line. um And I think it's Portillo has a breakaway. And you can just see, you can see bug and, and Curry just booking it back.
00:21:49
Speaker
So they were able to actually work together and bug kind of closed her down. and Curry stayed central And it forced Portilla to cross the ball into the middle.
00:22:01
Speaker
But because Curry had come back with her and was doing a really good pressure cover defense, she was able to clear that cross that came in. I feel it felt like the communication looked much, much, much better this game than it had most games last season. So that includes Claudia Dickey.
00:22:21
Speaker
I still don't see the communication, but McLarna didn't yell at her this game. So I feel like that's
00:22:28
Speaker
not that I saw at least. Yeah. Yeah. It's one one draw. So, I mean, we always have negatives just because you can always improve everything. But um I think the biggest negative, ah the missed red card on Jalen Howell, I think was number one for me.
00:22:44
Speaker
I mean, it's not atrocious. How is that not? it should It should have been a red car all fucking day. i like how has her leg up in like the splits higher than her own head would be if she was standing right and into Maddie Mercado's face.
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah, her head studs up into her face. Yellow card. Don't even review it. yeah I was like flex. We couldn't, you know, real time. we're in the stadium whatever didn't i saw a bunch of like hubbub internet hubbub on blue sky about it and you know people like saying well if the other one was a red card this was a red card too and then i we walk we got back to your your house and we were watching it and we were like holy fucking shit like watched like a dozen times and like cannot believe that they didn't red card her
00:23:34
Speaker
No, it was insane. We were rewinding it Yeah, which, you know, people rightfully were like, well, why is the white girl not getting a red card? But then you've got... so you got Mandy Freeman...
00:23:47
Speaker
I mean, that's that's a fair thing to be concerned about. I get for sure. You don't want any like racial inequity. No, refereeing no. And like, could that have played a factor in this? Potentially. i don't know.
00:23:59
Speaker
But the end of the day, I'm looking at this from what was the play on the field and was there a missed call? And I'm 100 percent. There was a missed call with Jalen Howell. And even if it's unintentional, that is serious foul play that cannot happen.
00:24:16
Speaker
OK, here's the thing, though, a if and like the defenders going up with their foot at that height. If someone else is coming at it, they're coming in with their head. Yeah. So like it's not like she lifted her boot up to get to the ball and the player had like the head was down like at the waist.
00:24:33
Speaker
It wasn't that she was standing straight up and got a boot in the face. You cannot do that. He also cannot let that slide. No, there has to be punishment for that.
00:24:44
Speaker
Which is funny because, you know, Jalen Howell was on our team last year and we were definitely two people who were very sad about her leaving because we did like her physicality and stuff like that. But she she is known for having some very, very questionable...
00:24:58
Speaker
plays in the field like this i would say questionable physicality yes and i would say this is probably her worst offense and the fact that it's maybe her worst offense and it didn't get called as a red from the you know officials is horrible i can see how maybe it gets missed in real time okay sure absolutely because like we have var yeah there are people sitting upstairs with tv screens that are seeing all the angles that we were able to see we came back to my house and watched the replay of that face it was so obvious how do you not pull that in for a review sometimes you don't get the angle but like if they went to review for freeman's why why was mercada was down for a hot minute they could have pulled the play they could have pulled the play and been like okay wait we're gonna wait on play to resume because we're like talking to the upstairs no they didn't do any of that yeah
00:25:51
Speaker
It was horrible. It was an extremely bad missed call. Also hilarious to see how terrible Gotham fans know the rules and even the freaking announcers.
00:26:03
Speaker
Yeah, that was pretty terrible because that feed that feeds into fans, you know, getting the wrong... I would say opinions, but like the wrong, they like it's just a misunderstanding. It continues the misunderstanding of what is a reckless challenge, right?
00:26:18
Speaker
So if you've got commentators, announcers being like, i dont no, that's that's fine. That is not fine. And their argument was there was no intention. Okay, sure. that's not what That's why reckless exists is because you didn't intend for it.
00:26:33
Speaker
Right. Sorry, officer. my I didn't mean for the gun to go off. You had a gun. Your foot's in the air. Yeah. yeah i just this one just as my mom would say chafes my hide
00:26:49
Speaker
the tonyism for you yeah the referee was not great i don't know that like we were in a situation where i felt the referee ne necessarily like ruined the score line so at least there's that well if we were up a player earlier it's true Well, and then like the Gotham fans were arguing online that Hyde should have been given a a second yellow or had the yellow that she got should have been the second because of they've somehow Internet keyboard warriors decided that her running and not that phrase running into Ann Katrin Berger on a 50 50 ball is somehow a yellow card.
00:27:32
Speaker
The way Ann Katrin Berger plays, she invites that kind of pressure and into into things. Yeah, and that's one reason I like her. Yeah, so it's not like... I'm not saying that like sometimes things happen in the because the way she plays, it's never a foul, but like...
00:27:48
Speaker
ah You couldn't tell. i mean, that's not like... And they were both going for the ball. Exactly. And it's not like Haidama purposefully bodied her. She was literally going... Haidama was going for the ball and Berger put her arms out to punch the ball away. Yeah. And Haidama ran into her arms because that's where the ball would have been. oh Yeah. it just a So there's no way.
00:28:08
Speaker
But anyway, back on that horse. Okay. Okay.
00:28:13
Speaker
uh the next negative i need to shout out is how we gave up a goal shortly after the second half kicked off i think yeah it was from a corner could but kick but very very reminiscent of last season and i do not want to see that because i'm just having ptsd thinking about it yeah no please let's clean it up like Like, we could have walked out with a 1-0 win how did we not have had we a little bit learned our mistakes from last season. But first game of the season, I guess I'm not going to be too harsh on it. but Yeah, we can't claim to have any sort of... um
00:28:50
Speaker
ah I don't know pattern at this point this season but I'm not gonna I'm not gonna loop it into last year's pattern I can appreciate the similarity but I'm not calling it yet no but it is kind of making me like like I said I got PTSD PTSD starting second half PTSD yeah exactly what negatives you got James Turner the first half so like there was definitely the team looked better in the second half that's obvious but we kept looking at each other like where is our midfield it was just like something's missing and then you're like okay who should be on this person and James Turner is like trying to catch up
00:29:30
Speaker
Yeah. It was like a constant game of catch-up. That's where the goal was. Yeah. the You were pointing this out to me. Admittedly, I'm not a huge... um I'm you know trying to learn more, obviously, but you were pointing out when we watched three plays we got back to your house um of the goal that Gotham scored and you're like, you know James Turner's like out of position.
00:29:55
Speaker
She's not covering where she needs to be covering and if you go watch it back... yeah i don't know if i could put it fully on her but she's the one that ran at that player once the ball came out yeah so it's like you need to be closer and able if you know you're not going to be able to cover that ground which i will say like starting it the the time the goal happened again maybe it's that right after the the kickoff maybe that was part of the issue but you need to be on more yeah the complacency isn't going to cut it No.
00:30:28
Speaker
And she did she did come out in the 69th minute. And then we scored not after. And credit to Laura Harvey, we made a substitution before the 60th minute. I know. We both looked at each other and were like, what?
00:30:39
Speaker
Before the 60th minute? It's a whole new world. She snuck it in there before the 60th minute, but she got it in. She did. Yeah. Okay, so by the end of the game, Gotham's putting on sub, right, for Esser, right?
00:30:56
Speaker
And who comes on? We can't tell. We're not looking at these like stats of who these players are, right? They don't tell us what's what's going on with these players that are subbing in. Yeah, it's in extra time, too. It's like the third minute of extra time. of a 1-1 game, right? This game's not in the bag.
00:31:09
Speaker
you're You're also down a player, and they sub on a player who we later find out is 14 years old. The youngest player ever to play in the NWSL. um I don't think we need to go on a huge...
00:31:23
Speaker
uh thing about this but this is should not be happening no this should not be happening at all no it's well you know for all the other reckless things that gotham did this game here's another one yeah add it to the list if you know anything about this league you know that children should not be in it no absolutely not get a youth academy going or something but like you should not be having a 14 year old come on in a game don't support it you can have your own opinions about it i don't care but like my opinion is fully there should not be players that young in this league no so um you want to shut out the last last one
00:32:02
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that this will happen ah the further into the season we get. But Sam Meza came on, you know, in the 90th minute, I think. And the negative is we want more. Yeah, the negative is that we want more.
00:32:14
Speaker
um But I think that they the idea from Laura Harvey was, you know, she deserved to get on the field in the first game. And I'm excited to see more of her.
00:32:26
Speaker
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00:32:43
Speaker
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00:33:12
Speaker
Again, go to hacksandferments.com, use code SOUNDERATHEART, all one word, at checkout for free hot sauce with your order. Hacks and Ferments is a proud sponsor of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network.
00:33:27
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes No Sanietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023. but need your support to make sure it continues.
00:33:40
Speaker
Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce.
00:33:53
Speaker
If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks, most notably entry into our members only discord where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas to find out more, just visit center at heart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner.
Press Conference Insights
00:34:15
Speaker
Thanks for listening.
00:34:20
Speaker
um we got some presser notes one thing i thought was really funny so bug and adamez were in the player presser yeah i can't remember what word it was but i've got to look this up because it was so funny i was gonna write it down and then i was like oh no i'll remember it i didn't shocker
00:34:43
Speaker
Yeah, so Jordan Bug goes, when they scored, we weren't shooken. And goes, shaken. Shaken. We weren't shaken. And then later in the press conference, Adama says something and says shooken.
00:34:57
Speaker
Jordan Buck's face just goes... I like that. That's funny. ah They had some... No, go ahead.
00:35:10
Speaker
oh They were really complimentary of the older players, you know, as we've spoken about before. There is a considerable age gap on the team. um But it seems that they feel comfortable and and everybody's gelling really well, so...
00:35:25
Speaker
I'm pretty hyped about that. like When your locker room's good, you're more successful. I feel like a lot of the theme of this preseason has been, we finally had a preseason together. Yeah.
00:35:37
Speaker
We finally got to hang out and like get chemistry going and get to know each other. And we didn't get that last year. so yeah, I'm optimistic about that. And the Harvey Presser, this is kind of something that I think when we talk about like Maddie Darlene in Haidama and being Dolo and Coco, and there's always kind of like, who should we be starting?
00:35:59
Speaker
It doesn't seem like Laura Harvey is necessarily set on who is going to be at the top. By any means. it's it's She's seen it as a rotation thing, right? Based on who the opponent is and maybe what the week is.
00:36:14
Speaker
Maybe that some player kind of needs a little bit of rest, whatever it is. um They want to be pressing for the full 90 and we have enough depth in that forward pool to just kind of just keep keep at it.
00:36:30
Speaker
yeah Week in, week out. So... I thought that was... like When we talked to Susie, I was just like, do you think she's going to have a you know so like a best 11, starting 11 every week? i i It doesn't sound like that's necessarily going to be the case, at least for the forward pool.
00:36:45
Speaker
um But I don't think that's a bad thing. No, I don't either. um She also... Kind of comparing it to to the last season. ah She told the team after the game, um I'm not sure we'd have come out of that game last year with a point.
00:37:00
Speaker
And I have to 100% Yeah. there's more fight in this team. um There's more... And already even more chemistry. There were some passing combinations, like the one that led up to the goal.
00:37:12
Speaker
ah G to Haidemann to Mercado to Holmes. You know, just a lot of combinations that we didn't see last season. She also talked about Curry and how that her coming into the team ah said she'd been a seamless transition since the moment she started training with the team.
00:37:29
Speaker
And I think that's that was visible at Saturday's match. I'm feeling very good about the fact that we were able to swear to come over here. Yeah. yep I think that is credit to Laura Harvey as well, because it seems like Curry was looking for someone, ah team with a coaching identity.
00:37:46
Speaker
Yeah. and i think everyone's pretty players around the league are well aware that that you can find that in the rain yep so a cooler player of the match 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 um cooler player of the match we gave him this week want to make sure she gets her flowers given maybe some of our criticisms last year Or at least, I don't know about criticisms, but like our lack of excitement, maybe. Yeah. um Shea Holmes.
00:38:17
Speaker
she's getting the She's getting the first cooler player of the match of the season. She did not have this episode this podcast out last year, so technically she's the first ever... First game. Yeah, first game cooler player of the match, so congrats to her.
00:38:30
Speaker
Well-deserved. I think that she's she keeps playing the way she's playing, and it's going to be very helpful for the team. For sure.
Listener Questions Answered
00:38:38
Speaker
Yeah. ah So once again, thank you to our sponsor.
00:38:41
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
I don't want to give any spoilers about what the experience is like with it, but I'm not kidding. I tell you, you have to go try it yourself. Yes. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience of this drink. I got i got everyone a clap by the end end of the performance of this drink.
00:39:21
Speaker
Everyone in the in the bar joined joined with me in the clapping of what I had experienced. So ah go check out their Instagram at TDO Seattle or better yet, go drink there in person. Cheers. Cheers.
00:39:32
Speaker
All right. So let's move on to the community questions and notes. um We posted this in the Discord. So if... you are hoping to maybe have some input questions, whatever, um, best way to do this, go join the sounder at heart.
00:39:49
Speaker
Uh, was it membership level? When you go sign up, it'll tell you which level you need to get access to the discord, but that's where he posted it. So first one we had was from Steve. pronounce the same Vought or Voight? Voight?
00:40:01
Speaker
Steve. Steve knows who he is. so Um, shout out Steve. We're in sixth after week one, ignoring the caveats of vastly insufficient sample size.
00:40:16
Speaker
Does that feel too high, too low, or just about right? Relatedly, big surprises um for the rain or league wide after week one.
00:40:26
Speaker
Biggest surprises. Biggest surprises. Sorry. Do you think sixth place makes sense for us right now? That would be. think so. i Yeah, I think from what we saw with the fight that the team has um and being without, you know, our our biggest signing of the offseason and still being able to pull pull a point out of that game. Yeah.
00:40:48
Speaker
um I would say it's fair. And the only reason we're in sixth and not seventh is because we have less cards than Gotham. Which, and and I wouldn't, I mean, don't know, maybe some of the yellows were deserved, but the ref was definitely card happy. So... The yellow on Bug definitely was not deserved because I just rewatched that today. And she like literally just clips her little heel.
00:41:10
Speaker
Boom, yellow. Ugh. Anyway... I think it's fair. um But again, these these standings change so much throughout the season. that's why they end up being so fun.
00:41:20
Speaker
What do you think? um I agree with that. If you want to go into the second part of the question, biggest surprises for the Reign or maybe other teams.
00:41:32
Speaker
I don't... I'm surprised the listeners going to stick it out with Chicago. I 100% agree on that being a huge surprise after their whopping, their whopping with Orlando.
00:41:48
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I i like i think there was a moment maybe where I said to you, i don't know if it was on the podcast, maybe not, but like... I wouldn't mind having Nair, like a veteran presence on our team.
00:42:00
Speaker
um And now I just feel bad that she's stuck in Chicago. i mean, I won't be as surprised if early retirement after hoping to get through. Because I don't know what's going on with Mallory Swanson.
00:42:13
Speaker
But yeah without that, I mean, they're already a pretty... um I don't know what you what the word is, but the team's not very strong. So you take that out and it's a real situation there.
00:42:25
Speaker
So yeah just I feel bad for her And yeah, none of it was really her fault. It's a surprise that she's still there. um Other surprises. um I have this in a later part of the episode, but... ah It may not be like an actual surprise, ah but it's not a surprise to us because we've been talking about this for years.
00:42:49
Speaker
But Ali Watt is a star. Ali Watt showed up in the the Orlando game this week and is a star. I know we got a lot of money for her when she went over to Orlando, but I'm still bitter that she's gone. And, you know, bitter with our whoever let her go for the transfer season.
00:43:09
Speaker
but like sense for the team at the time because she didn't fit into the system she wasn't getting a lot of playing time um so i think that this was an incredible move for her and it's allowing her to now be be the star we always knew she was i know i think i think the real surprise with that maybe is that like we knew ali watt was going to orlando but we didn't know orlando was gonna just be the greatest fucking team we've ever seen and now it's like ah shit but good so for Good for her for being part of that, I guess.
00:43:41
Speaker
Results-wise, Steve, I don't think that there were a lot of other surprises from week one. But, again, every every week is a new surprise so in this league.
00:43:55
Speaker
um You want to go the next one? Yeah, Alejandro asks, walk me back, or says, walk me back from overhyping the young players. Adames, Bug, Curry, Darlene. um please any add any you think i missed any omission is a failure of poster not what well i was just saying that the alejandro came up with a great nickname for these players obesity okay a b c d no why do people name their children this okay well we don't need to get into that but why did you just pronounce a b c d a b c yeah people name their children that and that's how they pronounce it okay but this isn't i always just pronounce like i do the alphabet okay
00:44:36
Speaker
I like the ABCD. I see a lot of weird names in my day job and that is how you pronounce that name. Okay. But as a moniker, I would 100% agree we should not pronounce it that way.
00:44:51
Speaker
uh anyways last part of that was please add any that you think i've missed any omission is a failure on of the poster not the player okay don't be so hard on yourself al Alejandro no don't be hard on yourself i think you got them all we're faking it till you make it all right so no shame yeah i'm not gonna walk you back from overhyping these players um because let's hype them up let's see what they can do yeah absolutely absolutely And I think with all four of these, there's been full reason to overhype them.
League Observations and Match Previews
00:45:19
Speaker
Yeah. At least so far. So until they give us a reason not to, i would say keep it up. Yeah. And we're right there with you. Yeah. Next one's from Lickit. Shout out Lickit, fellow producer of Standard Heart Podcast Network podcast.
00:45:34
Speaker
um After Chex Notes, match day one, there was a vocal minority that was convinced because Coco came on as a sub and had the highest G plus on the team that it was concrete evidence.
00:45:45
Speaker
that Harvey in air quotes has no clue as far as lineups on the surface. We could say we wouldn't mind Coco starting the next match, but in your opinion, is it a bit too early to have any lineup set in stone?
00:46:01
Speaker
and say Yes. Yes. Also, ah anyone who had that opinion, you know, i I did see this. of people have been like Coco should be starting whatever. And I think we kind of felt that by the end of the season. But we already mentioned the presser with Harvey and her intention is to be rotating all of these players who are threats.
00:46:21
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that, like Harvey said, um when talking about Coco in the in the postgame presser, Coco's more fit now. ah She's kind of more adjusted to the league now.
00:46:36
Speaker
So there's going to be more opportunity for her to get playing time. So I think it... ah Did it prove that she should start?
00:46:47
Speaker
I would say no, because if she came on and changed the game. Great. But we needed that in that moment. Exactly. So you could call it you could also call that a good coaching decision.
00:46:58
Speaker
Yeah. So depending on how you're looking at it, could go either way. Yeah, that's great. I also think like her skill set is something we don't have from everybody and this rotation of forwards, right? So I think you need to be wise about when you bring her on and when you start her.
00:47:15
Speaker
Like Harvey said, based on the opponent and based on you know maybe the weak. Yeah. And she seems to like one of the problems we had last season um in regards to like her not maybe catching on right away was that like she's a very creative player.
00:47:32
Speaker
And it seemed that we were a very linear team at the time. And so adding, you know, having her on when with the younger players, I think they help with that creativity element and better ah kind of met meld with her on the field.
00:47:49
Speaker
Yeah, those are good questions. I like the ah like those from from them from everybody Steve Alejandro like it. Thank you. Always makes it more interesting We're we're like, i don't know. We have similar minds with with I would say stuff. So it's good to kind of get other people's Think what they're seeing kind of stuff um Anything else you want to add on to the game? Final thoughts?
00:48:16
Speaker
um I am still excited. It was going to be rough going into the first game um and then, you know, all of the offseason hype and everything and then just to come on and maybe not.
00:48:28
Speaker
And I didn't even care if we lost. I mean, I would care, but I wanted to see something different. Yeah, absolutely. I wanted the team to have a different energy about them.
00:48:39
Speaker
Yeah. And I feel like I got that. Yeah, I think so. I'm i'm a very optimistic. I mean, you can't really do much worse than last year.
00:48:51
Speaker
um But given the turnover and the acquisitions that we've gotten to take take over some of those spots, I'm feeling pretty good about it. And I'm feeling good in a sense of I want to watch this team and I'm curious on what they're going to do, whether or not it hits this year um to the level that of success that I want to see and that maybe we expect of this team if it hits this year or if it's next year.
00:49:13
Speaker
That's yet to be determined. yeah um But I have reason to at least think therere they're on the right path. so that's great um other things going around the league since it was opening weekend we kind of wanted to highlight a few things that we saw do you want to kick it off i watched i watched the orlando game okay uh orlando versus chicago um you know that we are on the barbara bandwagon and we're like orlando pride fans yeah
00:49:45
Speaker
lowki not It's not even low-key. Yeah, it's very high-key. And holy Barbara Banda. i I just, there's not another player like her.
00:49:58
Speaker
She had two, well, one on the build-up to one of her goals. She literally turns the ball and just makes a player like what? Another one. She's got back to goal. She's got a player on her back. She ball comes to her. She flicks it over that player and just turns and burns.
00:50:14
Speaker
I just she's incredible. She's humiliating people. Yeah. Which you like to see. But I mean, Chicago. Oh, God. But yeah, Barbara Banda had a nine point four FOP mob rating.
00:50:26
Speaker
I don't know that I've ever seen one that high. I think have either. She ended with two goals and assists. But ah again, Allie Watt, ah she had a goal that was, again, incredible.
00:50:39
Speaker
Just from a Marta corner. Marta corner in and near post. She gets her body up and just contorts herself to put it in the back of that. Incredible.
00:50:49
Speaker
We haven't seen a lot of teams have success the next season, right? When they win the whole thing. at least I would say in like this newer era of it being more competitive.
00:51:00
Speaker
And I think Orlando is going to tear the league up again. but yeah it looks like it but i mean chicago could also just be the worst team in the league and we just don't know that yet i i i don't disagree with that part but i also think that a team like orlando given how they won last year this is what they should be doing to teams that are as bad as chicago they should be humiliating humiliating them and that's what they did so and credit to seb hines for keeping that group intact and motivated uh think that's great so It's funny because you watched the Orlando game. They had the Orlando game and the Spirit versus Houston game on at the same time. So stupid.
00:51:38
Speaker
It was super stupid to kick off the season on a Friday night. But I was like, well, i feel like I know what's going to happen in the Orlando game. So I want to watch... ah the Spirit versus Houston game because there's a lot of acquisitions with Houston that were very exciting um that I was like I want to see if if these are working out for them and Spirit are very good obviously And it was a two one loss for Houston, but I don't think Houston looked that bad. And I think they've got some pieces that have me feeling like they're going to be able to compete pretty well.
00:52:15
Speaker
um the Houston had majority the possession. um i i don't The two goals that they gave up were definitely defensive mistakes. It didn't feel like it was...
00:52:27
Speaker
spirit taking over everything like they maybe can do um but i i don't know i think i'm a little skeptical if this whole thing is going to work out with houston given what i know about how it went for the rain when they were up for sale yeah that's the other thing that kind of worries me about yeah team yeah so i i'm seeing what i like on the field i'm just skeptical on the back end stuff that um I hope the sale doesn't affect the players too much but I don't I don't know if they're gonna is there a Houston buyer interested in them I don't know
00:53:03
Speaker
Yeah, i I just hope that they don't end up like us like last season. Yeah. I really do. hope that like that kind of struggle never happens to another team for the better of the sport.
00:53:20
Speaker
and There was so much optimism with their acquisitions and stuff. Yeah. And then like, what, two weeks or three weeks after they got all these players in, it was like the team's for sale. Yeah.
00:53:31
Speaker
Yeah. I that sucks. h I watched the KC PDX game. watched part of it. ah First half, KC was up 3-0.
00:53:42
Speaker
The end of the first half. They got on early two. Yeah. So it kind of looked like it was going to be a blowout. I was hoping for credit to Portland.
00:53:54
Speaker
Credit where credit's due, even when it's the shittiest team in league. um They stopped the bleeding. And they ended up coming back, scoring goal. so it could have been a lot worse for them. But, like you always say, Casey?
00:54:10
Speaker
Fraud Watch? Fraud Watch? We don't know. We don't know if they're really that good. I keep them on Fraud Watch. I know they got Chuinga, but... I don't know, man. Sometimes they they're not playing as well as I think they need be playing against certain opponents.
00:54:24
Speaker
Choonga was doing Choonga stuff, but yeah, when she's not getting the ball and when things aren't working for them, they're really kind of duds. They peter out. Yeah. Like they they they get on these like ah spurts of just like kicking people's asses, but ah they're not they they don't sustain it as much as like they need to.
00:54:43
Speaker
and And they don't kind of do it throughout the whole game. Right. ah So, yeah. I mean, I put them on fraud watch last year because we were talking about how Portland's really bad this year.
00:54:58
Speaker
And so if KC isn't taking advantage of that, I'm i am skeptical. That's why it's hard, like, first games of the season because you don't have anything to compare it to.
Angel City FC Brand Discussion
00:55:10
Speaker
Yeah, but KC was at home.
00:55:12
Speaker
I know, but when I'm talking about, like, how bad Portland is, we don't really know how good KC is. So we it's hard to hard to make comparisons at this point. Yeah. Any other notable games you want to shout out?
00:55:26
Speaker
i We'll just go over them. Utah won. Utah tied Bay one to one ah Louisville tied and North Carolina Courage one to one And ah Angel City.
00:55:39
Speaker
ah Right before that, Angel City um played San Diego. on And that was a Monday game. And the day before... It wasn't it was on Monday game?
00:55:50
Speaker
Yeah. sunday or Sunday. Sorry, Sunday game. My days are wrong. I don't know what's wrong with me. um the The day before, ah Sydney LaRue went online and announced she was taking a mental health break from soccer.
00:56:05
Speaker
Yeah. That was interesting. i was I was interested to see how that game went because, as we know, Angel City um is has an interim head coach in Sam Lady. Mm-hmm. So in San Diego, ooh, what's going on there, you know?
00:56:19
Speaker
so that was going to be an interesting one to see. ah You wanted to talk about the goal, though. Yeah, I mean... San Diego came out and scored a goal and I i don't know. i didn't know what to think what San Diego was going to do.
00:56:33
Speaker
right Because they've got some good players, but like given everything they got going on, I just really wasn't confident that they were going to turn it up because you asked me a prediction beforehand. And I had said, um maybe I'm falling for the ah marketing of Angel City.
00:56:48
Speaker
But I... I was like, and I think Angel City is going to win it or it's going draw. um Sure enough, it was a draw. But like Angel City didn't look good. So I was just like, I feel like I've fallen for whatever Angel City is selling me.
00:57:01
Speaker
I feel like an idiot. I feel like so stupid. was just like, this team is not good. Like they got Alyssa Thompson and she did show up for them in the second half, got the equalizer, nestled it into the far post.
00:57:14
Speaker
Really good like run from her to get get that ball. and tucked it away perfectly absolutely perfectly and i think there was a little bit of chris like not criticism but like the hype that was with a elissa thompson at the beginning of last season kind of yeah kind of was dying down a little bit i mean she didn't get the call for the national team at you know the olympics and all that um but i think she's she's ready to come back and that has me worried um for us yeah but i think that it it
00:57:45
Speaker
The marketing and fear maybe or like the hope that I thought that maybe Angel City was going to take this game and win was dependent on how Alyssa Thompson was going playing. And so the fact that she was able to kind of get that goal, i think is really going to be key for her confidence going forward with the season.
00:58:02
Speaker
um i don't know how the rest of it's going to work with the team i'm still no because that was such an individual goal exactly exactly and their coaching stuff is still not figured out um yeah they don't seem to want to hold on to sam lady as head coach uh i i can't tell if that's a good or bad decision i don't know um obviously i like sam lady but i just don't ever know what the identity of angel city is yeah uh celebrities yeah i mean they're they're they're creating like a brand more than they are a club and that's how it's been since the beginning yes and it bothers me yeah it does bother me because it's kind of like the antithesis of like
00:58:49
Speaker
what like the purity of the game kind of idea yeah yeah like your your brand should be about um you know the experience you create it should be about the way that you treat your players it should be about how you run your business right yeah all the values that you have and all these things and how your players you know step up for the community and things like that and i just don't it just It feels very LA to me.
00:59:20
Speaker
which Yeah, I mean, it is an LA sports game. like, every so often they, like... make a run at it but they've usually got the money to go out and buy stars in those areas and now with their new ownership i would imagine they're gonna have some new acquisitions at some point um depending on how things go between now and then then the next window that opens i think there's you know some time that they're gonna wait and see how things are going yeah um but i do keep my I'm now keeping my eye on Angel City because of their new ownership and the amount of money that they now have access to.
Reigns vs North Carolina Courage Match Preview
01:00:00
Speaker
it's just it's it's It's an advantage that I think they need to make sure that they ah like exercise it, right? like Don't just focus on your brand.
01:00:13
Speaker
Build your team. try to actually make sports team. But I don't know. Maybe they don't care about that still. Maybe they're just like the capitalists of the NWSL.
01:00:24
Speaker
I mean, sports are like that. so Yeah. range ring Next match. Yeah, go for it. ah We're playing North Carolina Courage away Saturday, March 22nd at 4 p.m. on on n wsl Yep, I made a note of players to look out for. It's Ashley Sanchez and Jaden Shaw. Are things clicking for them? I don't know.
01:00:46
Speaker
They got a 1-1 draw against Louisville, and I wouldn't say Louisville is a team that I'm always afraid of by any means. so And Bethany Balser is still MIA. Yeah, who knows what's going on there. hope she's okay. But we're not good at playing North Carolina.
01:01:03
Speaker
No, we never have been. at North Carolina, especially. Yeah. Just keep those expectations under, you know, control. I wouldn't say freak out if something goes wrong, but i do think we have a team that could pull up an upset.
01:01:20
Speaker
Yeah. Especially, I don't know ah i don't know what Lynn's status is Well, she, Harvey talked about her being day to day. Yeah. Don't push it. Yeah. but but she also she also said what every coach should say, and um that is that we don't want to play her and have re-aggravate the injury and then lose her for longer.
01:01:43
Speaker
Yeah. That's a far way to travel, too. We'll see if we could see her. um But it seemed like there was some speculation based on some of the videos they were showing ah after the game with Lynn talking to think it was Emily Sana and I don't know who else it was, but they were like, I think it was Tierna Davidson. think it was Tierna Davidson. Yeah. they were kind of like you know like miming with their foot or like reenacting with their foot like an ankle roll so speculative but it seems like maybe they're talking about how Lynn like tweaked her ankle in practice but Harvey seems to be optimistic about where she's at and the recovery of that so if she doesn't make it out for this trip um it'll be sooner than later
01:02:24
Speaker
um They also talked about how um Olo picked up a knock. So she wasn't able to play. But it sounds like, you know, that's in the plans to have her pop into the game day roster when she's healthy. So that's exciting. And Brown's still on the recovery. But they had mentioned that they're trying to have her ready um by, you know, some point this midseason. Yeah. I think we wanted to do a shout out to ah someone we met at the game. Shout out Patrick.
01:02:49
Speaker
He was sitting in our row yeah That's a funny story about this. Well, Coop and I were talking and we're like, he was he seemed to be by himself. And don't He just like looked like a nice guy. But I was like, should we recruit him to listen to our podcast? He looks like he listens to podcasts. Yeah. So I like turned to him like during an injury break in the second time. I was like, do you listen to the rain podcast?
01:03:15
Speaker
He's like, are you guys the cooler girls? I was like, oh, my God. No, we were just trying to recruit you. We forget that people actually listen to this. know. Yeah. ah Thank you for that harsh reminder. But I also wanted to, I asked Patrick what he thought of the game after the game.
01:03:33
Speaker
um And he said they had a great second half fighting back. ah The changes made a big difference. And his favorite player of the game was Jordan Bug. Shout Jordan Bug. Shout out Jordan Bug.
01:03:44
Speaker
The Bug Brigade. Bug Brigade. I'm trying to brand it. you mean, I'm not going to own it, but I'm trying to make it a thing. but I'm on the Bug Brigade. i got i got I bought one of the new jerseys, still waiting for it, but I got a Jordan Bug jersey.
01:04:01
Speaker
So I'm all about it. I'm all in this year on her. All aboard the Bug Brigade. Exactly.
Listener Shoutouts and Social Media Promotion
01:04:09
Speaker
Anyway, shout out Patrick. Thanks for chatting with us and being a fun roommate for the opening game. ah And then I also wanted to shout out Emily. Ran into Emily, my good friend. One of my good friends. She's done some pretty sick TIFOs for Sounders before, but she was at the ring game and I hadn't seen her for a while. So it was nice to see her. She's a lovely person.
01:04:30
Speaker
Got anything else? no cool anyways you can go follow us on social media we're on blue sky and instagram kind of um uh cooler guild pod you'll find us there uh you can send us an email because we love an email that is at the cooler guild at gmail.com you can also maybe van will maybe respond to you someday i'm so bad with emails she's like i need response i read them and i get really excited happy that somebody sends us an email and then i'm like we were right back but uh please send me an email uh and us an email we do read them i love reading them uh even if i don't respond ah know that it made my heart happy if it was nice
01:05:16
Speaker
We haven't got any bad ones yet, so feel free to say it's a bad one. We need one bad one.
01:05:22
Speaker
ah You can also visit ah us at our main site at sounderatheart.com forward slash thecoolerguild. ah ah we've We've upgraded our cameras. 4K, baby! Yeah, 4K, HD, whatever you got. so um Go subscribe to our YouTube channel, youtube.com at thecoolerguild. We'll start having video there.
01:05:43
Speaker
ah Either starting this episode or the next episode. Don't if it'll be every episode, but we'll definitely be kind of getting some stuff up on there. So stay tuned for that. um Anything else? I think that's pretty much it.
01:05:57
Speaker
If you want to, you can, on our Sounder Heart site, you can leave us a tip, which would be great because I can't afford new lighting and my lighting sucks in my recording area. Or maybe you don't want to see me, so...
01:06:11
Speaker
Actually, I'm going to fund you turning off the light.
01:06:18
Speaker
Remember to go go rate wherever you listen. Five stars. Until next time. I'm Coop. I'm Van. ah I wanted to come put the slogan. What do we think of Stay cool.
01:06:30
Speaker
Stay cool, y'all. Y'all? Yeah, I'm going to add the y'all. Bye. Bye.
01:06:53
Speaker
Anghar James Turner. Anghar... Angharad. Angharad James Turner. Woof. You're going to cut all that out, right? and Probably not.
01:07:07
Speaker
I'm bad with names, okay?