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Unbeaten streak dashed - Ep. 34
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On this week’s late (apologies) episode we discuss the Reign’s uninspired performance in their loss at home on Sunday to the Houston Dash and how we hope the team moves forward. We also cover the other games from week 8 of NWSL play and preview the Reign’s upcoming match as they travel to Louisville in hopes of redeeming themselves.
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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 Podcast Subscription
00:00:20
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 34 of The Cooler Guild. I am Coop Cooper, and joined with me, as always, is my co-host, Van Crisp. Hello. We're recording on Wednesday, May 14th, 2025. On today's episodes ah episode, we'll be div diving into Reign's disappointing loss ah to the Houston Dash, doing our usual look at other results from the NWSL, and wrapping things up with a quick preview of the Reign's next match. But first, some housekeeping.
00:00:47
Speaker
The Cooler Guild is part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. You can either listen to us on our public feed or if you're a Sounder at Heart subscriber on the private unified feed with the other podcasts on the network. If you'd like to become a subscriber, just visit our page at sounderatheart.com forward slash the cooler guild.
00:01:01
Speaker
New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing.
Light-Hearted Banter: Gifts and Gadgets
00:01:06
Speaker
How's it going? It's going. Yeah. My coworker today gave me a puzzle that is my cat.
00:01:13
Speaker
A picture of my cat. How many pieces? Oh, it's not that many. It's just like, I was going to bring it up here and show you and then i forgot, but um it's pretty, so it's kind of small, but it's really cute. She also made me a mouse pad.
00:01:23
Speaker
That's great. I mean, probably didn't make it. She got you one. No, she made them. Wait, what? She's got a printer and her husband has like a cutting press. and she She has the materials. No, I assumed she ordered them. Yeah, that's something someone would do.
00:01:36
Speaker
No, she made these. It was incredible. That's great. She was like, well, i was making i was making Tracy a beat a BTS ah mouse pad and then i just thought about your cat. so Did she have like the photos from like your work chat or something of your cat?
00:01:52
Speaker
No, it's not from like work computer stuff. It's like I think we're friends on social media. Oh, okay. I didn't know. i'd be i thought it'd be funny if it was like random coworker. Shout out Zakiya.
00:02:02
Speaker
That's cool. Yeah. So that was great. What about
Binge-Watching Woes and HBO Max Concerns
00:02:05
Speaker
you? I don't know. Not much. I've been binge watching Six Feet Under. Have you never watched it? No, never watched it. so good.
00:02:13
Speaker
It's pretty good. You got HBO? um It somehow hasn't kicked me out of my friend's login. Because I know that that that changed. Yeah. and And my friend logged into hers while she was at our house and it hasn't kicked me out yet. So I'm trying to like binge it in case because now that they changed the name to HBO Max or whatever, I'm like worried it's going to make me like update the app at some point and then kick me out.
00:02:35
Speaker
So I'm trying to binge it really quick. um But I've been knitting along with it, too. So I don't know. It's good show, though. I'm really enjoying it. Yeah, it's great show. Yeah. um Let's get into the game.
00:02:46
Speaker
Okay. It's a shitty game. I'm really upset
Match Recap: Reign vs. Houston Dash
00:02:49
Speaker
about it. But um first match recap. On Sunday night at Lumen Field, Rain faced the Houston Dash. Aside from an early soft yellow card on Matty Darlene, the first half of the match was pretty forgettable for both teams.
00:03:01
Speaker
The second half started with a bit more pressure from both sides, ah leading to Houston's Maggie Graham finding the back of the net in the 57th minute after the Rain's defense kind of lost focus at the exact wrong time.
00:03:12
Speaker
Rain were unable to find a response offensively. offensively and the game finished with a 1-0 loss, ending the Reigns' three-game undefeated streak. Very unfortunate. Don't know that I could say that they deserved anything else.
00:03:24
Speaker
No, they they didn't play well. um I we didn't get lucky this game. No, which we have been getting lucky. And we're aching out these small victories or ties.
00:03:36
Speaker
And it things just weren't going away. Something was something was up. It looked off. Yeah, was there's some sort of disconnect. And Laura talked about it after the game. But it's just something they've got to figure out. I was kind of fighting with myself. I'm like, do I do I really feel bad about this game?
00:03:51
Speaker
Or do I go into this thinking? you know, reflecting on it, thinking, okay, it's just a hiccup.
Analyzing Reign's Performance Weaknesses
00:03:57
Speaker
Something was up. We have to see more. I think it's just, to me, i keep chalking it up to this is the growing pains of how this team, like where this team is at.
00:04:07
Speaker
i mean, I'm going to sound like a broken record about it, but like... This is a newly built team and they're still trying to figure out their identity. And i the chemistry was just like not there at all um from today or that game that day. um i don't I don't know.
00:04:23
Speaker
I don't... but like Because it reminded me a lot of the Angel City performance and Laura had pointed that out in the post-match presser, but... i don' I don't know. They just didn't look they didn't look aggressive. They didn't look hungry.
00:04:36
Speaker
um They look tired. And I you know, we talked about like before this match, like we're going to have an extra day and a half of rest and Houston has to travel. So like we got to get the job done and we didn't.
00:04:48
Speaker
Yeah, they had every opportunity to get it right, and they didn't. No. So I just kind of wonder. i just hope it doesn't carry on. No, I think to me this kind of speaks to like we we definitely need to get some sort of summer signing.
00:05:05
Speaker
Someone who's an offensive threat. i don't know where at on the field. I don't know. think... i think They need a playmaker in the central midfield. And honestly, G was a defensive liability this match.
00:05:20
Speaker
And I just really, i don't, I don't know. There's a lot of questions to be answered, but we could come out next game and, you know, be singing a totally different tune. So it's, it's kind of unfortunate.
00:05:32
Speaker
Yeah.
Goalkeeping Decisions and National Team Implications
00:05:33
Speaker
Um, general note, I had pointed out, um, and obviously i think everyone was like, huh, Jane Campbell's not starting. they had Abby Smith in You're a goalkeeper. You, I feel like you have a pretty good sense of kind of the goalkeepers that aren't always starting in the league. What do you what did you think when you saw Abby Smith is starting?
00:05:50
Speaker
Well, first I was trying to figure out how tall she was because she looked small. And FopMob had her at five two And I was like, there's no way she's There's no way she's 5'2". There's no way she's 5'2". And so then I went and looked on her college page, ah which is old because she's like 31. Yeah.
00:06:06
Speaker
um But that said five eight or 5'9". I can't remember. And then I put it in the Discord and they were like, yeah, no, she's like 5'8". Okay. Yeah. this This makes a little bit more sense.
00:06:16
Speaker
But it seems like they just wanted to switch things up. And, you know, it could have been Jane Campbell got a knock at training and she just. Yeah, I don't know. She looked pretty. She looked pretty fit when I saw the clips of her that they were showing on the TV.
00:06:30
Speaker
Yeah, she looked fine after the game having a snack in the outside the locker room. I don't know. It's just i thought it was especially weird because as every U.S. women's national team fan knows is that goalkeeper spot is up for grabs right now.
00:06:44
Speaker
I don't know that Jane Campbell necessarily was. I don't know. I wouldn't say she's like a top pick for me, um but i think that this kind of this isn't going to help her case.
00:06:55
Speaker
No, but I don't think it really hurts it unless she loses the starting position. Sure. But yeah, it was an interesting little tidbit when the lineups came out. We're like, oh, OK. She had good game. I really liked Ivy Smith. I thought she had a really good game.
00:07:07
Speaker
Yeah, I thought she was great. Shout out short goalkeepers.
Learning to Bounce Back: Reign's Challenges
00:07:12
Speaker
a Notable stat that we had. They pointed this out during the broadcast before this game. um The Reign are 0-2-2 when they concede first. um It's not my favorite to that at all. um And this is such a mindset thing, right?
00:07:27
Speaker
Coming from behind is difficult. ah And it really shows like drive and determination when when teams are coming back. And we haven't come back to win a game.
00:07:38
Speaker
Not this season. No. no I've seen this team has done it in recent memory. i like I remember it happening like last year or the year before. i like remember that being a thing that they could do. And it was always annoying that they didn't start off on the front foot better.
00:07:52
Speaker
So I knew that Harvey can get them to that mindset. But there's so many things that the team is having to learn and figure out that it's just like this is going to be another thing that they need to learn and figure out.
00:08:04
Speaker
I think it comes with with other stuff, though. comes with just cleaning up a lot of things. And once you clean up those things, your level of frustration comes down. Because it just seemed like there was a lot of frustration in this match. It does speak to the mentality of the team, which we've been praising recently.
00:08:21
Speaker
And so this this is does have me a bit worried because these are you know these are four games. So i I don't know. I think they have it in them. It's just figuring out how to unleash the attack.
Turner's Defensive Highlights
00:08:32
Speaker
Yeah. A million dollar question. Yeah. ah James Turner. You a fan now? Yeah. she has quite She's had quite the turnaround. um Notable stat about her, she's third in the league for best tackle success rate through eight matches with a minimum of 15 tackles. So she's sitting at a 78% tackle success rate. That's pretty damn good.
00:08:55
Speaker
Yeah. for how good our defense is and how good it's been, i think a large part of that has been because of James Turner. And she's honestly kind of like a silent piece in that.
00:09:06
Speaker
Yeah. I wouldn't necessarily call it like just unless you're really focusing on it, just because she's not creating those big chances and things. She's in the right place at the right time. And that means you don't really quite notice it as much.
00:09:19
Speaker
Yeah. Well...
Critique of Reign's Play Against Houston
00:09:22
Speaker
This match is such a drag. I know, it really It's a bummer. It was just like, God, what we do about this? Yeah, it kind of felt like one of those matches because you and i had kind of been thinking that this Houston team could be good or at least like a formidable opponent, right? and Going into the season with the the acquisitions that they got. And I think with the Osby and Ryan in this game, you can see exactly why we were worried about this team.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah. People have been talking about it before the game. Like they're there. Houston's going to pop off at some point. Yeah. They're going to start winning games. Yeah. And we've been the trendsetters for one thing this year. Let's make it two. Yeah.
00:10:03
Speaker
I hate when that happens, though. i hate when we're the ones to kind of start giving teams hope. Yeah. I know it sucks, but you know, going to rolling into the positives, Dickie still had a good game. The goal was not her fault and she made a big save one V one save in the second half. Yeah. She kept us in it. She got us She kept us from also looking like dookie.
00:10:23
Speaker
Yeah. Because that could have gotten out of hand real quick. It could have. But yeah, she had a strong game. And you know, the yeah you can't stop an unmarked player in your six-yard box when the ball's coming across like that. No.
00:10:36
Speaker
So. And everyone was out of position. Not everybody, but most people were out position. so Yeah. I wonder how many of our goals against have come from crosses this season. I feel like it's a lot. Yeah, it can't be good, which is we're going to do the match preview for the next game. And I'm a little worried. Yeah, I know.
00:10:53
Speaker
um The other positive I had down was the substitutes. um I feel like the moment they kind of came in, they gave a lot of energy to the game in a way that I didn't see for basically the entire game. i think there was a few chances before that Houston goal.
00:11:09
Speaker
That were kind of exciting, but I feel like it just looked like, i don't know, man, it just looked like a fucking like, no one looked inspired. And so I feel like once those new so those subs came on, I was like, these people want to start.
00:11:21
Speaker
ah You could tell. Yeah, there was yeah definitely like a change in Just positive possession, chances on goal. Yeah. um Taking shots when the shots were available. um And the notable one that I wrote down was the immediate chance on goal after Mercado came in for Bug.
00:11:41
Speaker
And i think that was the Adamez dinger. God, that was that would have been nice. That would have been sick. Yeah. I mean, so yeah, it's one of those goals where like that would have been sweet to get that as your tying goal. But like the fact that that was like maybe our best chance isn't a good thing. Yeah, they need to figure out how to create more chances. Yeah.
00:12:02
Speaker
And i this might be a wild take, but I don't know why they're not trying to play Lin in more. Yeah. I was just thinking throughout the game, okay, nothing's working. Just hit it over the top.
00:12:13
Speaker
Yeah, she can do that. Let Lin take it. Yeah. I know that that's not pretty soccer. It's not something a coach ever really wants to do. But if that's where your attacking threat is, you have to use Yeah.
00:12:25
Speaker
ah I do want to add in another positive just to kind of keep this going. Sam Meza was again a beast in the midfield. Yeah. And she's doing her thing.
00:12:36
Speaker
So she didn't have a bad game. That's not changing. It just it all it all just felt like individual efforts. But yeah, it wasn't cohesive. Mm hmm. And so just and then some of those individual efforts were very off target. Yeah, I would say like, cause last year what we would see was yeah like many players having bad games.
00:12:56
Speaker
And then this just looked like the entire thing just wasn't meshing. And it wasn't like, I mean, the goal, you could you could obviously pick out why that went wrong. And it was just a lapse, which we had gotten better at dealing with. But everything else just was kind of like, eh. There were so many, they were trying to create opportunities and then the pass would be three yards in front of the player it'd get picked off.
00:13:20
Speaker
Yeah. It's just, they didn't, they needed to clean it up. They didn't look aggressive at all. And I know they talked about this in the presser, but like that was something that we had been praising is just like their tenacity to go after every single ball. And sometimes like, you the ball doesn't bounce your way.
00:13:37
Speaker
yeah Winning those first and second balls. Yeah. And I think Houston's good at it too. Yeah. We're talking about two teams that kind of are very good at that type of thing on the field. and um yeah, it just didn't didn't bounce our way.
00:13:50
Speaker
And I think that we were just kind of playing to them and not that they didn't fall into the game that they've been playing. I don't. Yeah, i think they're that bad, though. I think that's kind of like, yeah, I don't I just don't think they're that bad. I think a lot of people maybe underestimate them. But I do think that the rain respected them.
00:14:08
Speaker
But I also feel like they didn't try to prove that they were clearly a but the better team. Yeah,
Commentary Criticism: Pronunciation and Gimmicks
00:14:13
Speaker
exactly. i think that's about it. but I've got for positive. Yeah. I mean we're already going in negatives, basically.
00:14:18
Speaker
Top negative. We already kind of talked about it. Didn't look like they had the same determination from last week. Why are they only finding this like gutsy type of play against the top teams? I need the them to show it against the teams that we're actually competing for the playoff spots with.
00:14:34
Speaker
I don't get Yeah. it's not ah It's not the look you want to have, and it's not how you get into the postseason. No. So I agree. I mean, the biggest negative was the sloppy mistake in the back.
00:14:46
Speaker
I don't understand why Jordan Bug did that. yeah I feel like she's been kind of having these little things come up, and I don't know if it's because the defense has been so solid that she's kind of, I don't know what it is.
00:15:01
Speaker
We've seen them every game, but they haven't led to consequences, really. Yeah, so maybe that's all it takes. Except for one, but yeah, there are definitely consequences to this. Yeah. So you gotta tighten that up.
00:15:12
Speaker
Yeah, mean, she's young. You play smart. She's young, so I don't, like, she'll figure it out. I'm sure she will. It just, like, centerbacks have these mistakes every so often, and they definitely come to bite you in the ass at some point.
00:15:25
Speaker
um And the the best she can do is just learn from it. Yeah. I think she'll she'll be fine. yeah. Yeah. It just sucked to watch. And I was like, not how you want to lose. It was not a great.
00:15:36
Speaker
The best thing about this game is that it was a 5 p.m. on a Sunday and I got home by 915. yeah Didn't ruin your weekend. No, did not. um Going into the presser, i we were really happy that they... Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I got one big negative.
00:15:53
Speaker
Oh, shit. I forgot about this. How? I was watching on Paramount Plus, and it was... Let me see. was Mike Watts and Joe Lloyden, right?
00:16:03
Speaker
ah she... I thought it was Jen Hildreth. Oh, was it? The goalkeeper. Joel Lydon. Is it? Joel Lydon was a goalkeeper. I've been meaning to write the names of all these commentators as they come out, but I got to my thing a little bit too late.
00:16:14
Speaker
Mike Watts is the only one I really have down besides a couple others, just because he haunts me everywhere i go. Oh, God, that guy. Anyways, both the both of the commentary people on this game for the Paramount Plus um coverage, they were not pronouncing. and i and and I will say, like, I haven't always got names right. I try to do be my best. And I also try to do my research. And I'm also willing to listen when people, you know, tell us we're doing it wrong.
00:16:43
Speaker
um but the entire game they're both pronouncing se meza's name incorrectly and they're also pro pronouncing maddie doline's name incorrectly and there's pronunciation guides um you can go read them i will say that was a houston dash player that i went to look up later and houston dash needs to update their shit because someone's name was not their name in the pronunciation guide. So I'm not saying they're like for sure always great, but like the rain have ah like audio of every single player in their name.
00:17:14
Speaker
Yeah. You know, think, and it also like, it looks like Dahlien. It's not Dahlien. It says Dahlien. And then Meza is not this again. um mezzas is mezza not meza so they're both just back and forth saying the wrong name the entire fucking broadcast and i'm just like losing my mind because once you like once you once you're pointed out how their names are pronounced every time you hear it mispronounced you're just like losing your shit and the thing that pissed me off the most is that like mike watts this is like he does this all the fuck like he has so many fucking games and i feel like if that's your job
00:17:48
Speaker
Because he covers all the Open Cup games, right? Like, whatever ones he gets. But he covers the Open Cup, like, constantly, U.S. Open Cup. And i I go to his Wikipedia to find out this fucking man has, like, done some fucking fun and games on his broadcast. So he has time to find, was it, lyrics and song titles and whatever from, like, Taylor Swift albums? What was the... Let me find it.
00:18:11
Speaker
It's in our chat. Jesus, we've talked a lot. Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! All right. During a U.S. Open Cup game in April 2024, Watts and curve Kerr
Post-Match Insights and Chemistry Issues
00:18:23
Speaker
wove 235 song titles by Taylor Swift into their broadcast.
00:18:29
Speaker
And later that month, he worked in 15 song titles from one of Taylor Swift's albums into an NWB cell broadcast. If this man has time to do the homework to do this kind of bullshit, he should have the time to do the actual homework, which is get like for his job to get the names right of these players that he's covering.
00:18:46
Speaker
It's inexcusable. After I read that, I was like this fucking man. He's not good at his job. He's a bad commentator. So he's got to do he's got to do some sort of shtick.
00:18:58
Speaker
ah Did i tell you I tell you about the ah Reddit thread about commentators? No. People were as like, oh, who's your favorite commentator? And everybody was like, oh my God, Mike Watts and Lori Lindsay. And I was like scrolling and people kept fucking saying it.
00:19:11
Speaker
And I'm just like, what is wrong with these people? And the first post I saw that was like, Mike Watts is literally the worst. I was like, yes. And then I realized it was from a Thorns fan. And I was like, and I was like, I agree.
00:19:24
Speaker
And if the two of us can agree on something, we sure as fuck know it's right. Yeah, know that we are right. Oh, man. I just yeah, I someone needs to call him out on this stuff. Because again, I think when I read this bullshit with the song titles, 235.
00:19:42
Speaker
Maybe you should spend that time learning the players names. Wasn't there something else? Taylor Swift. the Didn't he have a jacket or something? don't know. I don't care. Yeah. I don't care about Taylor Swift in that way. Whatever. People can like her. I don't give a shit. Go fucking be the PA announcer at a Taylor Swift concert. Yeah.
00:19:58
Speaker
but Leave that somewhere that's more dream, do that. I just don't. Anyway. Moving on. Now to the post-match presser players, what I was saying is that we were happy that they sent in some vets, some older players. So they weren't getting peppered with questions about how shit the team played, you know, the kids. yeah So they sent in ah James Turner and Lou Barnes. um And they were just kind of Lou Barnes the entire time, just fucking arms crossed, sit back in the chair.
00:20:27
Speaker
Yeah, she should be pissed. She was mad. I'd be pissed too. It was a shitty game. She was mad. ah Yeah, they basically said the things that everyone could see on TV. They lack chemistry. They could have been more aggressive in relation to first and second balls.
00:20:45
Speaker
They did ask ah James Turner about her partnership in the midfield with Meza. And she just she said it's clicking, but, you know, it's it's it's a growing relationship. So still work in progress. But she enjoys playing in the
Turner's Offensive Potential
00:21:00
Speaker
midfield with Sam Meza and Meza's ability to win the ball back and just how staunchly Well, she plays defensively, allows James Turner to get a little higher up on the field, which is great. What are you laughing about? yeah Phineas is in the background.
00:21:15
Speaker
Oh, is he? oh and Yeah, yeah. i I was noticing her getting in the attack in this match. um And that has me...
00:21:26
Speaker
Maybe feeling a little optimistic about our offensive woes because it I saw a quality there with her passing um and getting eaten up top that I think could really help with what we've kind of been lacking.
00:21:39
Speaker
um We'll see. I don't know. We'll see what happens. I'm not a. There's been a couple of passes where i'm like, oh, OK, if we can get more players to kind of read what she's doing, I think it could it could work out.
00:21:50
Speaker
But it didn't amount to shit, did it? Well, not this game, but nothing really worked. That's true. i was like, if the offense can't get it going, how is she supposed to?
Adapting to NWSL Challenges
00:21:58
Speaker
Like, you know, yeah from the role she's in And i I was thinking about asking this question. Somebody else asked it, but they asked Haz about like, what what is it with her performances this year? Because she's been markedly better than last year. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:14
Speaker
um And you she said, know, this is the hardest, NWC is the hardest league in the world. um And she didn't realize how long it would take her to adapt. But on the offseason, she kind of reflected um and tried to up and change her game to better suit how how the game's played here.
00:22:32
Speaker
That worked. Something worked there. Yeah, it looks like it's paid off for sure. And I'm, you know, maybe also the Euros breathing down her neck also making her want to have a... That was a part of the question that was asked, but she did not she did not say that. but i yeah it's a it Whether it's an like a ah top of mind motivation or just some sort of like subconscious underlying yeah motivation, it's still there.
00:22:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
Coach Harvey's Honest Reflections
00:22:58
Speaker
and they left then they left and then Laura Harvey came in she did like every time she a bit of quality something about quality once I know but it was like ah I know PTSD we were talking on the walk down from the press box to the post game room ah we were like okay how many times is she gonna say a little bit of quality And so I was like, I had a counter going and there was only one time. i Yeah, I think if I hear it more than once, that's when things are bad.
00:23:31
Speaker
Yeah. So the fact that I only heard it once, so I was like, okay, we're going to be fine, I think. This was a lapse. This is not a good game. This a really bad game. I don't think we deserved to get anything from it.
00:23:43
Speaker
I mean, I would have obviously taken anything we could have gotten from it. But um yeah, she was just going on about how lackluster everything looked. They never got going. She also talked about maybe the lack of belief that was creeping in, um especially from players that were there from last year.
00:24:01
Speaker
um in terms of like getting being down a goal and being able to get back into it like did they think they had the mentality and the ability to get back into it i yeah I don't know I think the subs when they came on I think they looked energized and I do think they they thought they could Yeah, they hadn't been playing like 70 minutes of frustrating soccer, though. Yeah, exactly. And I was like, what did what happened differently before this game? She's like, I don't know. Same prep, but the team is back in tomorrow, which was Monday.
00:24:28
Speaker
um And she said that they have a vulnerable and honest locker room. Yeah. So they'll, you know, she said, it's not I won't bring it up tonight. It's not the time to ti bring it up, but we will have a conversation about this. And we got to figure out why it happened so it doesn't happen again.
00:24:43
Speaker
She did say there's maybe a few things she wanted to tweak
Withholding Player of the Match Award
00:24:46
Speaker
after this game. So, yeah, I think we'll dive into kind of what we would like to see tweaked in the preview for next match.
00:24:54
Speaker
We didn't we choose a cooler player than we didn't. um We can discuss this on the pod. You can hear our our discussion about this or maybe Koop will cut it. I don't know. Yeah. You want to introduce the segment?
00:25:06
Speaker
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. i almost feel like Madison Curry, maybe for choosing a player.
00:25:18
Speaker
um This is a tough one. And not in the way that like there's been so many options before. It's the opposite. I'll tell you who the crew cooler player of the match isn't is the fucking crossbar.
00:25:30
Speaker
Do you go to Claudia Dickey? Who stood out when you were watching the game? For me, it was Sam Meza. I don't know if I'm giving to Sam Meza. I don't know who I am. I don't know. i'm I'm like, I'm genuinely at a loss for this game. Should we just give it to the moms?
00:25:43
Speaker
No. Because I was about to go on a rant about how the fucking rain needs to give us an opt out of like Mother's Day emails and Mother's Day events. kept getting text messages about like, celebrate with your mom. I'm like, not all of us have good relationships with other moms. And some people's moms are even dead.
00:25:59
Speaker
Fair. So no Some people have two dads. Exactly. You know what? I want to give it to, um, they've been doing those events up in the little Oh, uh, yeah. The Queen City Social. Yeah. i think we should give it to that.
00:26:16
Speaker
Yeah. Cause I've been, was like looking at tickets. And was a lot people there. Yeah. They look fun. Cause like, you know, when we used, when we were in our twenties and we used to go to like the Mariners games and that little area where kind of people were just fucking hanging out and shit. Yeah.
00:26:31
Speaker
Yeah. um like inside the the field or whatever but like i kind of was like man we need to get something like that going at rain games and i don't know where it's suited to do that to be able to like kind of watch the game too and stuff like that so um i mean we only got a taste of it when we went to that the that first event they hosted there but um you know i was looking at if i go to another game i was like i might want to get tickets up there and kind of just hang out because it's seems like a good place to kind of socialize with folks and i don't know I think it's a good idea. I like the idea of it lot.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah. We'll have to figure out how to get up there for the pride match. Yeah. Well, we already have tickets for that. think there are club seats too. So we're going them the club. o Yeah.
Sponsor Spot: The Doctor's Office
00:27:10
Speaker
Well, they might let you in without. I don't know. We'll we'll look into But yeah, I'm to shout out the the rain for coming up with the the rain, with the marketing team.
00:27:19
Speaker
Whoever came up with this, this rain was was it called? I think it's called Queen City Social. Yeah. mom keeps sending it to me and I'm like, mom. you know the games I'm going to like and sitting in the seats. Otherwise, I'm going to go up there and sit in the press box and not have to take 12 hours to go to a whole game day. Yeah.
00:27:40
Speaker
But ah like the innovation. I think that, you know, the marketing is improving. I will say, okay, they did have a really fun, like i can't remember if it was a halftime or before the game, but they have these big player ah questions that they put out. And they did like a tally and they had players choose a Gasworks Park or Alki Beach.
00:28:00
Speaker
And so they like did a vote at Gasworks Park or Alki Beach. And then they did, they went to fans, they put the camera on fans and had the emblems for each one and so fans could point to which one they were choosing.
00:28:13
Speaker
That was neat. Got like fan engagement. I thought that was really fun. Yeah. I mean, i wouldn't choose either of those two places. Well, definitely choose Alki over Gasworks. I'm choosing, what is Golden Gardens? Yeah, there I'm choosing Golden Gardens, personally.
00:28:29
Speaker
That wasn't an option, so you're not. I know. I'm just, come on. feel like can put it in Golden Garden and, like, Alki. I don't know. I do like Golden Gasworks. Whatever. This is unnecessary banter. um Anyways, congratulations to the Rain Market team.
00:28:46
Speaker
And thanks once again to our sponsor, The Doctor's Office. The Doctor's Office is the best place to grab a drink before or after rematch. Swing by today and try the... I couldn't decide if it was Bao or Bo.
Supporting the Podcast Network
00:28:57
Speaker
I've been in... I live on the watery areas, so everything looks like Bao to me, but I'm pretty sure it's Bo. Bo Hill Farms cocktail. Currently featured on their limited edition menu with a combination of vodka, brioche, TDO's signature salted Benedict whipped cream, and Bow Hill Farm blueberries. It's like having a blueberry pie a la mode. Mmm, I love pie.
00:29:19
Speaker
Check out their Instagram at TDO Seattle or Brody Echo. Drink third person. Cheers. Cheers. ah It is called the ah Queen City Social. Okay, great.
00:29:29
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sound at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes No Sarietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023. but need your support to make sure it continues.
00:29:42
Speaker
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00:29:55
Speaker
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00:30:10
Speaker
To find out more, just visit sounderatheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening.
NWSL Match Recaps and Safety Concerns
00:30:21
Speaker
All the other games.
00:30:25
Speaker
Team we're playing next, they won over... Is Gotham on Fraud Watch? yeah yeah yeah 100 it seems like people are figuring out how to stop a stare which if you can stop that it seems like you can stop everything um i will say though that uh gase is for the brazilian she jace jace i learned it from the broadcast so it might be wrong No, I think it's Jace. I should have put it down. thought I had it down, but apparently I don't. Jace looks like she's going be very, very formidable in like few games. Yeah, she had one shot from outside the box. It was kind of a screamer.
00:31:04
Speaker
the Also, the Taylor Flint goal was ridiculous. Yeah, crazy. But I don't know why they keep doing this. so Fucking flashing lights has been a problem for years in this league. I think it started. Did it start with Louisville? I almost feel like Louisville was the ones to kind of start it and then other teams starting to. i don't know.
00:31:21
Speaker
I remember Louisville kind of being the first one of the first teams to kind of like start doing the light shows. But fuck the light shows. Aaron's the moment for photographers. It's It's an issue for some fans who have some light sensitivity um that could be cause seizures even. They're not making the game inclusive.
00:31:38
Speaker
It also is just unnecessary. What is it adding to the game? Yeah, it's stupid. It's like, okay, they do it in basketball. They do it in indoor soccer and professional indoor soccer. But that's because they make it like a show. Yeah.
00:31:51
Speaker
This doesn't need to be a show. No. I'm not a fan of it. i fucking hate it. Angel City, Utah. Whew. What a situation that was. I'm sure everyone who's listening knows about the Savvy King.
00:32:05
Speaker
ah she collapsed in the field and was taken to the hospital. Game was... Still went on afterwards for some reason. They did have 12 minutes of stoppage time. But Have we learned nothing after Christian Erikson? Yeah.
00:32:20
Speaker
Apparently not. King collapsed on the field and then medical team came. they did CPR. Apparently they had an AED out. We don't have a lot of details, but... She apparently was revived.
00:32:31
Speaker
Shout out CPR people. Everybody go get your CPR cert. It's just like, if you see, say imagine you saw your teammate fucking collapse on the field. Looks like she might have died.
00:32:42
Speaker
Like, you're gonna be pretty shaken up about that, even if she's like brought back or like whatever. But if they're like taking on the hospital, like that's like, that's some fucked up shit to look at and watch. ah To expect these players to go back and on the field and play get the rest of the game.
00:32:55
Speaker
Yeah. uh but other than that uh christian press came on and they just scored a banger yeah classic christian press yeah it was a classic christian press goal it was nice uh yeah they end up winning 2-0 utah sucks yeah yeah Uh, Chicago, Washington, my gift Monday comments are coming to fruition. Well, she's been scoring, but, uh, she scored the 83rd minute game winning goal.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yep. For Washington. So poor listener continues. Yeah, I know. and just got Chicago got two on them. So yeah, but they let in three. don't want to see a listener. I have to suffer through seeing three goals go past her.
00:33:40
Speaker
i think i not I watched this North Carolina Orlando game. Yeah. Ended in a 1-1 tie. But North Carolina held them off for a really long time. I'm telling we laid the blueprints out for everybody.
00:33:53
Speaker
I'm telling you. They did a really good job of, well, they did a really good job of not giving them quality opportunities. Which is what we did. Yeah. And then everyone copied But I was just sitting there like they've got to score. Orlando has to score.
00:34:08
Speaker
They ended up scoring 90 plus three, but it was, yeah, 15 shots, 63% possession. For Orlando, yeah. they had to get They had to get one. I'm surprised that North Carolina didn't suck more given how things had been going for them. But like I said, we lay out the blueprints and everyone everyone's been following and it seems to be working out for them. Orlando hasn't figured out how to ah rise above that yet.
00:34:29
Speaker
No, but in the most fucked up tie of the weekend, San Diego, Portland, 1-1.
Controversial Match Decisions: Portland vs. San Diego
00:34:34
Speaker
I have some mixed feelings about this. don't. I kind of do. I watched the replay and I was like ready to just fucking hate Portland because I had heard so many.
00:34:45
Speaker
And I will say the calls that were controversial were definitely controversial. I stand by it. Like I definitely stand by every all those comments people were making. um And the header from Ascanio, 17 year old, that header was so fucking nice.
00:34:59
Speaker
i know. I was pretty much unmarked. Marked on the back post. Yeah, but she... I mean, the way that she used her head in that moment was, like, brilliant. I loved it. I loved it. Yeah, hopefully good things come from that kid. Yeah, anyways, red card, 41st minute on San Diego.
00:35:15
Speaker
who was Who was the person that caused San Diego to get a red card? Olivia Moultrie. I mean... I didn't see like the contact. She like pushed her, right? Like the defense. Like, I feel like the
Player Conduct Concerns
00:35:29
Speaker
reason she fell is because of the momentum of her pushing her.
00:35:32
Speaker
because She fell because she put the she pushed the defender off balance. Yeah. And the defender was falling. Yeah. And the falling is what caught her foot and made her fall. Well, was like a ricochet, right? Like she put so much fucking effort into pushing her off shoulder to shoulder that it just caused her to like fall off.
00:35:51
Speaker
And I'm like, in my very slanted opinion, i think that you could have easily called the foul on Olivia Moultrie. Yeah, I could see that. So therefore, the contact after the foul would not be a foul.
00:36:04
Speaker
Therefore, no red card. I guess with the part that I call, if you call it a foul on the defender, yeah then it has to be a red card. So it's either or. Yeah. I, I guess the part that I was like, I don't agree with what people are saying is I, I saw, and I, I guess I should have realized because I've seen a lot of bad takes from San Diego fans in the past.
00:36:24
Speaker
Yeah. but But I do feel like they maybe have this like entitlement sometimes about games and stuff like that because they were acting like that they were like completely robbed. And I was watching that like they acted like they played so well and like they were so good and like they weren't.
00:36:39
Speaker
Yeah. I mean like Orlando like the Portland was like not like they were just playing like assholes like they typically do. But like San Diego I don't think did anything like remarkable.
00:36:50
Speaker
No, but so they scored the first goal and then in the 41st minute, that's when the red card was. Yeah. And they they didn't score until 90 plus eight when they were gifted penalty kick. Yeah.
00:37:02
Speaker
I don't, I don't know if it was gifted though. That's the thing. i think that was a penalty. Yeah. She dove. No, she's okay. She, she exaggerated it 100%. She exaggerated it. There was definitely a foot that touched her.
00:37:14
Speaker
Like someone stepped on her foot in the box, but she fucking, this is why put the notes, ah coffee, Sam coffee went to the Moultrie school of the diving arts to really sell that, that what happened there?
00:37:27
Speaker
Because I mean, I just don't like it. I feel like there's no need to exaggerate it. There's VAR. Like the foot was on you. You do not need to fucking dive out like a dolphin. mean because that's what she did she like jumped so like she jumped like she was stepping on hot coals and she like like jumped up in the fucking air and i'm just like dude really think yeah i think that if you do that you shouldn't get the call if it's over dramatized yeah yeah that would they should do men's game that would fix a lot of shit the men's game if there's more than one role on the ground
00:37:57
Speaker
yeah anyway they make that pen and game ends one one yeah the frustrating game to to to watch for sure 100 but kind of on brand for portland yeah i'm also kind of fine it though because they split the points yeah it's fine for us i don't need people getting three points right now Yeah, wait this this is fine. Everything is fine. ah Kansas City beat Bay Yeah.
00:38:25
Speaker
Classic Kansas City. until and Until the playoffs. Yep, until the playoffs. i I think that's pretty much it for that. he I will say, after watching all these games, there was something that was really bothering me that people
Team Management Updates
00:38:40
Speaker
are doing.
00:38:40
Speaker
And it happens on our own team. Okay. When you get fouled and it doesn't get called and you sit there and throw your arms up and don't keep playing the game. Stop. You didn't get the fucking call. Move on. Yeah, move on.
00:38:53
Speaker
You don't need to sit there and whine about it. We're not men. Like, get up. Move on. Yeah. Moultrie is getting a ah real complex complex. She's she's I don't know. She's there's like something about her game that's just like.
00:39:10
Speaker
switched now the titled yeah i think that's probably the word i would use um or just like i don't know there's like this attitude in the way that she plays that i'm not i'm not i don't get it because i feel like she as annoying as it is for me to admit she is very talented at at many many things that i don't think she needs to do this in her game no it's unnecessary yeah um But I mean, our players do it. Darlene did it after falling down in the box, which justifiably, I think she thought she got fouled, but the play had moved on.
00:39:43
Speaker
Yeah. And I know she's going to look back on that and be like, yeah, I got to fix that. But and it is a reactionary thing. So I don't blame players for doing it, but it happens every game several times. And it's just like, yeah, frustrating.
00:39:57
Speaker
I think, yeah, if there's a pattern like I don't like I haven't seen a pattern with Darlene ever. oh no and i was just talking about things that i noticed from this yeah yeah from everybody and that's yeah it's not maybe they but maybe this is equal rights van okay i okay yeah i was gonna say if this is what it looks like i don't want it but i no i do okay you have any other woe so news you want to go over Oh, ah in a continuation of my Wolves story yeah from last week, ah Wolves has now changed their stance. And if the team qualifies next year, which they don't know if they will, and they have to put the application in before they even know if the team's going to finish in the top two, they said they will apply.
00:40:50
Speaker
fucking stupid apply for promotion wow great thanks our concern made a change but and But now nobody wants to play for you because you treated them like crap. So you're not going to make it.
00:41:04
Speaker
So it's ah it's just... it's but I hate it. ah Oh, I did
Everton Women's Historic Game
00:41:10
Speaker
see... Did you hear the news about the Everton women's team? Oh, they're going to play at Goodison? Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:15
Speaker
Which is the oldest functioning stadium. Yeah. ah And it's going to be England's first women's only stadium. It is a hand-me-down. It's not the greatest thing in the world.
00:41:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'm a Liverpool fan, so I'm not... i But it is kind of it kind of makes me I'm looking for another team. You can't be Everton fan. I can be an Everton women's fan. I don't know if you can.
00:41:37
Speaker
don't know. You pick Liverpool one day. Why can't I pick Everton women one day? It was a it was a process. All right. I'm just saying. Yeah, but like Everton. I know we have like a lot of women's team. The thing is, though, I know we have like several Everton really hate Everton men. I know, but we have like several Everton fans in like the Roblox and Sounder at Heart.
00:41:58
Speaker
Like there's a there's all i know there's a few of them in there. Shout out. Shout out Ron. Ron's an Everton fan. Yeah, we don't need to shout him out.
00:42:08
Speaker
Anyway, ah yeah, so that I think that's the WOSO news. All right, next match for the rain. we got at Racing Louisville, Friday, May 16th, 4.30 p.m. NWSL+. Quick turnaround for rain, quick turnaround for us, because we already are a little
Reign vs. Racing Louisville Preview
00:42:26
Speaker
delayed on this episode. but I hate these quick turnarounds and these all these fucking games are getting loaded up on Friday night for them to be still for some reason or another. ah Don't get it. And this game starts 30 minutes before I get off work. Yeah, that sucks.
00:42:40
Speaker
Not cool, man. Not cool. Not cool. ah What are your things to watch for with Louisville? um Goalkeeper, Bloomer. um I thought you might be excited about this.
00:42:51
Speaker
She's been newly starting, but she looks really good. And i think she's out there to kind of keep this spot. And that should make the offense for the rain.
00:43:04
Speaker
They're going to to be creative. don't know how that's going to go, but they're gonna have to i think kind of find find some i don't know interesting plays maybe to find a find a way to get a goal yeah i mean maybe not be creative necessarily but be opportunistic yeah that's fair we've got to be taking those shots from outside the box of the goalkeeper you see the goalkeeper out of position yeah don't force that through ball if you've got somebody else on the outside
00:43:36
Speaker
Just do the things you need to do right. The other thing i one think we need to watch for, I went and watched the replay of Louisville's game, and they got their goal from, like, restart out of the back, I believe.
00:43:51
Speaker
um But they kind of like a lot of their really good chances that they had in that game were from restarts and their positioning. They seem to really get like lined up really, really well. Anytime they had a restart and can kind of get themselves best situated to try to get a ah ah shot.
00:44:06
Speaker
um And I think that's something we haven't been necessarily great at defending and we need to be really mindful of it with playing Louisville. Agreed. And I'm I want to see if there's a lineup change.
00:44:18
Speaker
Yeah, like i I think it'd be there are two minds to this. You could either be OK, we need to put the same lineup out and see if the week I'm not doing anything. No. ah So but but that would be the reasoning if you saw that. Right.
00:44:30
Speaker
The other one is let's mess with it. Let's get, you know, Madison Curry in. I thought she added a spark. um Ainsley McCammon had a really great game.
00:44:41
Speaker
for the little bit of time she was on the field. And I added Adamez into this. mean, you could throw in Maddie Mercado too. Yeah. I guess my question is, I didn't want to, I don't know, it's it's hard to say like what we should have put out against Houston Dash now that we've played them, but you want to see us move on or at least put it on the back burner of the five back?
00:45:01
Speaker
Because don't know if I want, because I almost feel like we need to be like doing like a high press in a but a different way. I think that it can be productive. i also think it can be ah hindrance hey because it leaves some openings if you get too high up. So it encourages players to maybe play a little bit lower.
00:45:25
Speaker
Like we didn't really even get Darlene in. That's what I'm saying. I want to see Darlene like get that spark on that side again. Yeah, I mean, I think from a logical coaching standpoint, something was working.
00:45:38
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And it's not working anymore or it didn't work for one game. Yeah. Yeah. Do you call it a one-off? And my same questions from before, do you call this a one-off and then move on and hope that things get better in the next match? Or do you completely change things around when you haven't necessarily had a lot of time to practice it, when you aren't necessarily prepared? You've got a long yeah a lot of young players that are learning new things.
00:46:06
Speaker
Do you put that pressure on them to play differently than they have for the last five matches? Or you just switch out some personnel. There's a lot of questions were involving that. So I wouldn't be surprised if she puts it out again.
00:46:19
Speaker
And then maybe if they come into a bad situation, they go to a different formation. But Laura Harvey is just historically very set the way that she wants to play, which is why we've been surprised this year, her changing it up.
00:46:35
Speaker
But maybe, you know, we'll be just as surprised again when she puts out like a four five one. Something to that nature. I guess I'm just like personally frustrated about. just feel like we I would like to see Dali. I don't I don't mind like relying on her every so so often five back.
00:46:53
Speaker
But I do think that we're missing her ability kind of way higher up. It feels strained up top. It feels like everything's kind of forced. h And it could be a formation issue. It could just be that was a bad game. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know either. That's why I don't get paid the big bucks to coach team. You know? But i think I think we're seeing a new Laura Harvey where she is adapting to what...
00:47:22
Speaker
a way to win hopefully. Yeah.
Community Shoutouts and Social Engagement
00:47:25
Speaker
um but i think it'll be definitely, definitely interesting to see what, what the lineup looks like. Number one and number two, the way that they for the the formation that team has.
00:47:33
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well, good luck to the rain. Please win. Please. Begging you. need the three points really badly right now. Yeah, they do. Got any shoutouts? I do. And, you know, i have been hyping up Darlene anyways, but and i would have done that regardless just because I've been frustrated with the lack of using her skill set ah to the the potential it can be used.
00:47:55
Speaker
um But her dad had reached out to me on, he sent me a little DM on Blue Sky and was like, thanks for looking out for us Dahlins because I... I posted about how the commentators were just like mispronouncing Darlene and Meza. And I will say I've definitely pronounced Meza's name incorrectly for sure. had to tell me how to pronounce it properly. That was three weeks ago too. We've been saying it wrong for a while. Yeah, we have. And then somebody told me differently and I was like, shit, I need to inform the troops. And so now we fixed it. Yeah.
00:48:26
Speaker
Somebody just got to tell us if we're saying your name wrong. It happened with G last season. Yep. Yep. Anyway, so shout out to Matt Darlene. um Did you see my note on the next one?
00:48:38
Speaker
Oh, no, I didn't see that. My other shout out that I had typed in was shout out to all the unexceptional and average people like you and me.
00:48:49
Speaker
um if you haven't seen a the glorious, the exceptional interview with Ashlyn Harris. i don't even know who the fuck it was with. That was crazy. It was some like one off thing. It had like a thousand likes. It wasn't even that popular. crazy. Ashlyn Harris did some interview and she's just basically shooting on people who are not exceptional. I wake up and choose to be an exceptional every day. And I like to surround myself with exceptional people.
00:49:15
Speaker
I don't know what it's like to be average. all Well, girl, you didn't even. Girl, you were an average professional goalkeeper. How many NWCL titles did you win? How many times did she start? She's not even the saves leader anymore. No. And how many times did she start in the World Cup or even get any minutes?
00:49:31
Speaker
How many minutes she get in the World Cup? Same amount as me. Same amount as me. Yeah. I mean, like, granted, I could never get to that level. But, like, come on, man. Have some humility. Like, what the fuck?
00:49:44
Speaker
I just like that. That lady is ah really, really. I mean, I'm surprised she hasn't been picked up for a reality show, to be honest. Anyway, so shout out to everybody else who's average and an exceptional. Hell yeah. You're the real ones. Shout out for me goes to my USLW team that has their first home game.
00:50:02
Speaker
First game of the season this weekend on Sunday. Nice. Yeah. We play Lane United at five o'clock at the Rack in Lacey. If and anyone wants to come and have a beer and say hi, I will be there.
00:50:13
Speaker
And going to have a pretty, pretty fun, great theme. So sweet. Cool beans. We're doing it. I think that's pretty much it for the episode. oh We want to thank our sponsor, the doctor's office.
Conclusion and Social Media Plugs
00:50:23
Speaker
um You can also find us if you want to go on social media, you can follow us there or on blue sky in Instagram at cooler guild pod.
00:50:30
Speaker
You can also send us an email. ah We do love an email at thecoolerguild at gmail.com. You can also visit us at our main site, sounderatheart.com forward slash thecoolerguild. And if you want to go watch us on YouTube, we've got video up there for most episodes, youtube.com forward slash at thecoolerguild. We're getting more subscribers. So if you go on there, hit the subscribe button.
00:50:51
Speaker
get on it um and wherever you're listening please rate advance doing a nice little dance wherever you're listening you can go rate five stars we would appreciate that um fuck until next time which will be very soon it's fucking nwsl schedules killing me on these right i know it's terrible uh stay cool y'all stay cool y'all bye bye
00:51:30
Speaker
I'm going to move my computer. The whirring my old laptop. The fans go crazy when I'm. It's my biggest fan.