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Assist record earns point in Houston - Ep. 44
196 Plays3 days ago
Sofia Huerta *finally* leads the league in assists. Despite a defensive lapse that led to the Dash finding the back of the net, the Reign found a response via a Jordyn Huitema goal and took home a point from Houston. We get into the Reign’s recent road trip, a couple of other Reign segments, check in with results from the NWSL, and preview Seattle’s next match.
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The Cooler Guild Est. 2024
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Transcript
Episode Introduction and Themes
00:00:21
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 44 of the Cooler Guild. I am Coop Cooper, and joined with me as always is my co-host, Van Crisp. What up? We are recording, I guess this should have called you Sweaty Betty Crisp.
00:00:32
Speaker
We are recording on Tuesday, August 26th, 2025. On today's episode, we're getting into the Reigns' draw from down in Houston, doing some weekly trivia, recapping results and highlights from around the league, and rounding things out with our usual quick preview of the Reigns' next match.
00:00:46
Speaker
ah But first, some housekeeping.
Podcast Network and Subscription Info
00:00:48
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.
00:00:57
Speaker
If you'd like to become a subscriber, just visit our page sounderatheart.com forward slash the Cooler Guild. New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing. I'm seeing what you look like right now.
00:01:09
Speaker
it's I put water in my hair. i Maybe I shouldn't put this episode up in video format is what I'm looking at.
00:01:18
Speaker
It's not that bad. I just look... don't know. You didn't see what I was seeing for a second. ah how's ah How's the heat been treating Terrible. and Well, also... I usually work from home on Tuesdays, but I had an all-day training today, so I wasn't able to open the windows here.
00:01:36
Speaker
How hot is it out there? And let it air out. It was like 90. Ugh. Disgusting. Yeah. So... I'm little warm. I put some water in my hair, so i look a little damp, but it is not sweat yet. It is water. Ugh.
00:01:52
Speaker
This is why I live on the coast. I'm not wearing pants. I don't know if people need to know that. We can edit it. Anyway... I'll probably leave it in. Yeah, but it's hot. It's definitely hot out here. um and I was in the office all day, so I didn't realize how warm it was. So I like went to walk out to my car and I was wearing a sweatshirt.
00:02:10
Speaker
a Gross. And I was just like immediately like, ugh. I can't stand anything that's over like, honestly, like 75 these days. Not that I live on the coast.
00:02:21
Speaker
If it's above that, i I am so hot and sweaty. I mean, I'm hot and sweaty. It doesn't take much for me to be hot and sweaty, but like now I'm just so uncomfortable. Yeah.
Reigns vs Houston Recap
00:02:30
Speaker
it's a lot yeah i'm gonna go to the lake after we record this and jump in oh okay we should yeah we should make this a quick one then um all right so i no one needs to know about my weekend um it wasn't interesting just the usual um replaying skyrim everyone so much fun uh all right so the rain had a game against houston do you have any overall thoughts that you had before going into the match that you worried about or like how how you how it shook out for you um going into the game uh i just wanted to play better than last weekend
00:03:08
Speaker
The weekend before last. ah So, you know, coming out of this match with a draw was it was a one to one draw um coming out of it.
00:03:19
Speaker
It didn't feel too terrible. Yeah, I agree. Because i felt like the team kind of figures some stuff out. um ah And I feel like. I think Hidema scoring again really made me feel good.
00:03:36
Speaker
um And Horty playing well, finally getting the assist she's been waiting on. um There were things to celebrate from the game that we really didn't have. And we came back from being 1-0 down from a goal that was our own unraveling, right? Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:53
Speaker
So it just the the game had a different feeling to it. And Houston, I mean, we lost to Houston last time we played them. They surprised us and they're not a bad team. Yeah, i I don't know. I kind of feel the same ah given everything that they were dealing with in terms of ah we're talking about travel. We're talking about heat temperatures. Yeah, there was 25 minute delay to the game. Yeah. Yeah.
00:04:18
Speaker
um And I think someone had posted it somewhere on Blue Sky about the last meetings and the the weather that the rain have had to deal with out there. Because it seems like every time we've had to play them, it's been like in August. Yeah. And the heat of Texas.
00:04:32
Speaker
um So I don't know. I mean, mentally, I guess the team in theory is probably a little bit better prepared for that. um But it's still not an easy thing to deal with. ah So I feel like ah this was to me ah Chicago win for the Seattle.
00:04:48
Speaker
in some in some regard at least yeah i mean the disappointing thing is that they could have won the game had they not given up that goal um and it really was mean i would call it a miscommunication but you know again you're not playing you don't quite know yeah it seemed like a little bit of lapse um and yeah i mean mcclernon mcclernon just played a hospital ball back to dickey Yeah, and I would say for how good McLernan's been all season and how solid she usually is for us, I can kind of let it slide a little bit.
00:05:22
Speaker
I'm not going to like, you know what i mean? Like she she she's so solid 90, over 95% the time. Yeah. That's not happening. So this is the one blip it that we get for the rest of the season.
00:05:34
Speaker
For sure. You know, I think we handled handled it okay afterwards and stuff, so. And if that highlights some sort of communication issue between her and Dickie, better even, you know, to to air that out while you can, you know?
00:05:48
Speaker
Yeah, better than that now than the playoffs. That's for sure. If we make the playoffs. Yeah, I think the starting lineup was interesting. um We haven't seen McCammon for a hot minute at least start a match and play a ah good portion of the match. So ah that was interesting. I didn't hate it. When I saw it on paper, I didn't hate it. ah The execution was lacking.
00:06:09
Speaker
Which could have been for a variety of reasons. Right. um But once again, the midfield was not dominant. Yeah. Defensive midfield, McCammon. Solid.
00:06:21
Speaker
Solid, yeah. But the creative side of the offensive midfield was just not cooking. Which is something we struggled with last week as well.
00:06:33
Speaker
um And Harvey had talked about this of like, you know, you don't always get to play the way that you would prefer to play and it's not always going to be pretty. um and i think that usually means scoring goals and kind of just having everything flow as as anyone would hope their team would um offensively. ah so I think the fact that they didn't have, quote unquote, a great game stats wise on the field offensively whatever like that, and they still got a point out of it is is encouraging.
00:07:02
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. i This game to me is kind of a wash. There's so many factors surrounding it. It's in the sense of like the bigger picture. yeah And doing better than we did in the first half of the season. if we're playing these teams for a second time.
00:07:19
Speaker
i think that that's fine. hmm. I think I'm so jaded by like being disappointed for the last two weeks that I'm like, all right, this is fine. This one's actually fine.
00:07:31
Speaker
I mean, Houston was laying it on and and we had kind of early, you know, like we did a little like or season preview. We had kind of marked Houston as a team to watch.
00:07:42
Speaker
Things didn't seem to be working out for them early in the season, but I think that things have been clicking for them recently. You can tell that they're threatening. um They've got a lot of really talented players on the team that are starting to finally kind of turn it up.
00:07:56
Speaker
um So they're, you know, granted, maybe they're not high in the standings, but they're a very... dangerous team that i think have a bright future you know the sale the team kind of thing hit with them don't know if that was affecting their performances early but like i said i think lately they they've they've been hitting their stride um so i definitely looked at them as a pretty formidable opponent um and then you add in the heat and all that stuff and it's just going to make it even more difficult to deal with yeah We got a fun notable stat this
Sophia Huerta's Assist Record
00:08:24
Speaker
time.
00:08:24
Speaker
Not that everyone didn't point it out on the broadcast, um but the day has finally come. hello ah Sophia Huerta got the regular season assist record. um Finally. Finally. i Because even before she left, even before she left to Lyon, we were like, come on, get one more, get one more. Mm-hmm.
00:08:45
Speaker
Because she's been tied for so long because her last assist was June 24th, 2023. Yeah. And she didn't leave until like right before summer ended. Yeah. Somebody in the lovely Discord community ah found that stat.
00:08:59
Speaker
I can't remember who it was, but I wrote it down in my notes. So thank you whoever that was. Subscribe to Sounder at Heart. Get on the Discord. It's fun. Yeah. It's crazy. I mean, that's over two years. And what a of an assist to have, too, for that record.
00:09:15
Speaker
ah Yeah, i mean let's roll into the positives. Yeah, let's do it. What did you call it? ah Cross from the heavens of Huerta. I mean, watching on a replay is so fun. i mean, it truly is just like perfectly lays down on the Heidema's head out of out of the heavens, completely perfectly lobbed to Heidema. I mean, Heidema is making that run, too. So all credit to her as well, because that's not an easy thing to to find out and also make the right movement around defenders.
00:09:42
Speaker
But we didn't have anybody playing those balls. hmm. And so when Huerta came back, I mean, I remember that was like our highlight, like maybe Huerta can help Hidama get back to like, maybe not back, but like find her strength and feed her the ball and get her goals.
00:10:02
Speaker
Yeah, this was a beautiful little setup in sequence. And I thought it was really interesting um because they're still playing that five back, right? And Huerta's on the outside of that five but or the outside of the back three in the five back.
00:10:16
Speaker
So you have the center back and then you got the two outside backs and then the wing backs. And she's playing the outside, outside back of that center back triple. And they were able to get her higher up the pitch this game.
00:10:28
Speaker
And I think from what I've heard Harvey say, that's kind of the goal. It worked. um i I would still say I'm a little skeptical ah using her that far back. But if it started, like, I just, again, from her defensive end of things, I just don't know how strong it is to to kind of work with that back line.
00:10:50
Speaker
um But I know we're a little thin back there as well. So, um you know, get some more games under her belt back there and all that stuff. And it could it could be working. I mean, it's game two. Exactly. Game three. Game three. Yeah. um So might take a minute, but you know, you're finding production offensively in game three with her yeah in center back line. Like, I think that's, i think that's a great sign.
00:11:14
Speaker
And it's not like Harvey hasn't switched her position before and found success with it already once before in her career. So
00:11:23
Speaker
If there's anyone who's going to adapt ah to it, that I would have confidence in it would be Werta. And this game and the way that it shook out gives me at least a little bit of a hope that we're not going to be losing that attacking threat that we get with Werta's
Reigns' Tactical Analysis
00:11:40
Speaker
crosses. So...
00:11:41
Speaker
As long as that's still happening. i also noticed in this match that Darlene got higher up than she has been with the five back. ah So that was a bit encouraging.
00:11:52
Speaker
one day One day she'll get a penalty.
00:11:56
Speaker
ah One day. um In that line, want talk about the referee. Yeah. This referee, and granted, i come from a biased standpoint where I want my team to get calls, right? But I don't want anything crazy.
00:12:10
Speaker
Sure. I really thought this referee was overall extremely fair. Yeah. and To a to a like a a degree that we haven't seen. Haidema getting calls for being pushed over or undercut.
00:12:25
Speaker
Coco getting calls when she's trying to dance around people and gets tripped up. Kind of things that we're like, why do our players not get calls? And in this game, we're like, oh my God, they're getting calls. Yeah, it's good show. that And I think June might have pointed out that we had the same referee earlier in the season and she also noted that she did pretty well in that match. So...
00:12:48
Speaker
All right. Yeah. I mean, NW Sol isn't known for good refs, so I guess when you have a ah good reffing scenario, it's worth pointing out. For sure. um This is not... We don't even need to Jordan Haidemah propaganda anymore.
00:13:04
Speaker
do I mean, it's not propaganda. It's just like ah the hype train. I mean, it's we've always called it the hype train. Yeah. um But, you know, everyone can keep keep coming aboard if they want.
00:13:16
Speaker
shes She's turning it up at the point that she really needed to. And I'm here for it. And there were a couple times I noticed people talking about, oh, this is why we don't take her off.
00:13:28
Speaker
Because defensively, she's clearing the ball out on set pieces. Mm-hmm. um she's stopping the ball from getting through even that point. She's so active even in just running around and making sure the play is moving to the side of the field where we know we are going to be set up to defend.
00:13:47
Speaker
I think she led the team in like heading clearances for this match. I mean, it's probably like that for most matches that she gets a decent amount of minutes on. Yeah. um Yeah. We dealt with set pieces and that kind of stuff way better with her on the field this time.
00:14:03
Speaker
Absolutely. i just saw your bottom positive that you wrote. it Oh, yeah. My bottom positive is worth worth noting as well.
00:14:14
Speaker
i put Houston didn't sub in Sophie Schmidt. I think that would have been a difference maker because there were some kind of ah scary things happening at the end. Yeah, I think if she would have been in and they would have subbed her in, it might have they might have got three points out of it.
00:14:30
Speaker
I mean, that's been the trend. It has. i don't know why they didn't do it. I think they did look dangerous for a while and it did kind of feel like the momentum could have shifted their way ah even without subbing her on. But if you've got someone clutch like that, why wouldn't you use her?
00:14:46
Speaker
Fine by me. Fine by me. I don't know. She could have picked up a knock or something. i don't know. Yeah, but even like five, ten minutes. yeah you do You do wonder. Not me. I'm fine with it. You want to talk about the stats?
00:15:03
Speaker
Yeah. So I had put for positive getting a draw while not dominating possession or most of the offensive stats. Yeah. The XG for the rain was 0.36 and Houston had 1.94. I mean, you get a win or ah a dry Chicago win, a tie um with that kind of XG difference. And that's that feels good.
00:15:27
Speaker
And the other one I had pull up was the passes in the final third. Seattle only had 85 and Houston had 168. Crazy. So you take out that one error that we have, and it was totally an error. It wasn't, you know, anything but that.
00:15:43
Speaker
Yeah, this would have been a win, and that would have been really, really nice turnaround from what happened against Chicago. Absolutely. But, you know, I don't want to get too greedy. We've got to start somewhere. definitely got our hands full next week or Friday, I guess. And we just have stay in the conversation. I mean, I think we've come to the point where want the rain to make the playoffs.
00:16:08
Speaker
I would love for us to be top four and get a home game. Sure. But I think it is more realistic to hope for playoffs in general because it is so tight towards the towards the cutoff sort to playoff cutoff.
00:16:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, doing things like this on the road is something that they're going to have make repeatable. Although I think, isn't there way record pretty good this year? Yeah.
00:16:34
Speaker
But like we're you're talking about if they don't make top four, they're going to be away for these. Which is fine. But I mean, you always want to start the playoffs with a home sure game where you're not traveling.
00:16:45
Speaker
Yeah. you Especially with how far Seattle is from literally basically every team. Yeah. So, yeah, totally. You have any other positives you want to show? Trying to think if there's anything else in the game that I noticed.
00:16:57
Speaker
Oh, um I talked about a little bit where where i was talking about just like recap stuff, but I thought that Ainsley McCammon had an excellent game. Yeah, I think. i had never seen her kind of be that dominant defensively.
00:17:11
Speaker
And there were a couple times where she lost the ball, but she quickly won it back. um So Portland has the ah Olivia Moultrie school of diving.
00:17:24
Speaker
We must have the Sam Meza school of recoveries. Yeah. Because she was getting the ball back like crazy. And we were all, when we were talking in the discord surprise, we were like, Oh, look at her go. lie Yeah. She's got an engine for sure.
00:17:41
Speaker
ah we should definitely be utilizing her more in some of these, uh, games with like some uncontrollable adversities. Yeah, i I thought she had a good game and and she really stood out to me this match um as somebody. And I was kind of disappointed. is Not kind of. I was disappointed to see her come out.
00:18:00
Speaker
Yeah. But it is what it is. Yeah. Okay, let's roll into the negatives. i didn't I guess I somehow missed this part. Lin was restricted on minutes due to knee issues.
00:18:12
Speaker
Yeah, so she actually announced that in the um the women's game podcast that came out today. Ah, okay. Once again, somebody in the Discord noted this. don't want all of your rain information on the Soundrart Discord. It really is a great place. People share everything there. It's good. So apparently that's what's been going on.
00:18:32
Speaker
They've kind of been skating around it. Harvey has at least saying, you know we're trying to limit her minutes on turf. But apparently it seems to be actually a knee thing. Yeah. Okay. Well, not a deal. Someone you want to be able to bring on, especially if they're healthy. but Seems like she's not healthy. so But I do think it is a team positive that they are actually dealing with that not just shoving her in. Yeah, the Reign aren't going to send someone in who's too... They're going to make sure that she goes through the recovery process that she needs to go to through.
00:19:06
Speaker
So that's prime ma that might be a reason she also signed with Reign because Reign have, I would say, at least a reasonable reputation of taking care of their players in that sense. Who else has the oldest players? I mean, other than Orlando with Marta, but I mean, like, we have a contingent.
00:19:24
Speaker
Yeah. Of older players. Yeah. That are happily here. Yeah. we even brought Tobin Heath in when she was going through end stages. We've now found out of her career and we're able to even get her on the field briefly for a goal.
00:19:38
Speaker
Yeah. Meaningful minutes when they're healthy. Yeah. And I think we've found, ah and Haidama has really stepped up and been like, yeah, I can score goals if you're not in the field.
00:19:51
Speaker
I can also score goals when you are on the field. but like Do you think having Mia Fish will just stare at her down is motivating? All all right. Yeah. I mean, i don't know what it is.
00:20:04
Speaker
i mean, there's definitely depth there that that didn't used to be for Haidama. So can't be hurting ah with her, with her, what's been happening recently. Yeah. um The shape of the defense looked better this this game. ah But obviously, because of the goal, I added defensive communication into this negative section.
00:20:24
Speaker
Yeah. Not great back there. It looked less discombobulated, but it still looked a bit discombobulated. i mean, Houston was putting on the pressure often like that, and they kind of just, at least Phoebe, just got overwhelmed with it, it felt like, in that moment, and just totally shut off.
00:20:43
Speaker
Right after the start of the second half, too. Yeah, that's what it... Restarts. Restarts. Also, remember last season? I try not to. LAUGHTER
00:20:55
Speaker
Yeah, not not a pattern I would like to revisit. you have any other negatives from the match? well i put I wish Avery Patterson played for the rain. Yeah. She's beast.
00:21:06
Speaker
I really, really enjoy her. her Her against Darlene on that side in the first half was so fun to watch. Yeah, I think Avery Patterson's going to be, like, an incredible player. i think she's an incredible player right now, but I think in a few years people will finally be giving her her flowers for how good she is, and I think she's... but we already talked about it on our U.S. Women's National Team episode. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so she was really good on her call-up for the national team. So I won't be surprised when she is doing stuff in a World Cup.
00:21:37
Speaker
Yeah. You know, as long as she stays healthy and everything. but and And I will say I was concerned that she was playing for Houston, but i think things are I don't think things are that bad at Houston. So we'll see what happens with their buyer and everything.
00:21:49
Speaker
But i like I do really like this team that they've kind of been building with. so for sure. I just, you know, there's a few players that sometimes we play them. I'm like, damn. I wish we had that.
00:22:00
Speaker
Yeah. I think that's pretty much all i got for negatives. I don't want to be too too down on it. I thought this was a decent result. Yeah. All things considered. For sure. We didn't have a ton of other notes to go over for this
Cooler Player of the Match
00:22:11
Speaker
match.
00:22:11
Speaker
um I think, do you want to go to Cooler Player the Match now? Yeah, let's do it. ah The Cooler Player of the Match is brought to you by the Doctor's Office, a great little 12-seat bar on Capitol Hill. The owner is a big fan of the rain and is proud to be our very first sponsor.
00:22:24
Speaker
ah we We had a little bit of a debate about it. Mm-hmm. Could have been Jordan Heidma. Could have been Ainsley McCammon. But I think with the weight of a league record, it is appropriate to give this week's Cooler Player of the Match to Sofia Huerta.
00:22:42
Speaker
Congrats on doing that thing. I wonder if ah Lynn wants to. i would be kind of funny if they just, I mean, Lynn's not healthy right now, but it would be funny if they just kind of did a back and forth thing.
00:22:56
Speaker
with And Fishlock's not too far behind, too. yeah i want to see like a little passing of the well we gotta score goals in order to get our players more assists so yeah please fight for the assist record yeah i mean yeah let's pad that stat right absolutely it's good time i really intend to start doing that ah So congratulations, Sofia Huerta. I know that we did give you the summer break player of the match, ah but here's a real one.
00:23:27
Speaker
You deserve it. You do. Thanks again to our sponsor, The Doctor's Office. The Doctor's Office is the best place to grab a drink before or after a rain match. Check out their Instagram at TDO Seattle or better yet, go drink there in person.
00:23:40
Speaker
cheers cheers man's got a boundary bay and i'm really jealous yeah r.i.p until the resurrection um so on to the trivia question last week's trivia question kim little and obafemi martin set identical team records for goals in a season in 2014 how many goals did they each score the answer was 17. did you post this to social media i forgot just read
00:24:08
Speaker
Man, we can't shout out anybody if you don't post it. I know. I'm bad at this. Social media sucks, man. I'm telling you. It's the worst. Yeah. okay ah The answer What a year.
00:24:21
Speaker
um seventeen is so many fucking goals so So I got this. um Tim Foss sent me a document with some trivia questions that he cooked up for a pub quiz at ya at virtual YachtCon he did.
00:24:36
Speaker
and this is one of the questions. want YachtCon to come back. I know. he said, what was it? ah <unk> he bolded it. It was a hell of a summer of soccer in Seattle. Yeah.
00:24:50
Speaker
I mean, that was the Obafemi summer too. Like, mean, I'm not go to talk too much about the Sounders on this podcast, but like, and Kim Little, like those were just like. Legends. Legends. And like, you just don't get that many players at your club in like your lifetime.
00:25:06
Speaker
Like when you have those kinds Can you imagine the, like, who's our top scorer? Four goals? Right now? Yeah. I think it's four goals.
00:25:17
Speaker
It's Adamez with four goals. ah yeah i think fish locks got like a decent amount of goals where her minutes are so low so it's just like come on somebody else needs to break through 17 yeah that that blew me away this one on social media i will put it out tomorrow um Here is the question.
00:25:40
Speaker
Which league award has never been won by a rain player? Find out next week. There's technically two, but one of them doesn't count because it just started. They just started giving it out last year.
00:25:50
Speaker
Yeah. So I will skeet this. I will Instagram it. And I look forward to everyone's guesses or answers. Yeah. And if you know the players that have won the other ones, maybe maybe pop those in. Yeah, for sure.
00:26:06
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nos Anietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild.
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00:26:13
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:26:48
Speaker
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00:26:58
Speaker
All
NWSL Match Results Roundup
00:26:59
Speaker
right. NWSL results around the league. This is how things shook out. We had Angel City played Orlando. Big news before this match came out too Yeah. Barbara Banda, a league MVP from last year. she got put on season-ending injury after the match from what was announced, I think, on Saturday.
00:27:22
Speaker
um But it was related to the game that Orlando played against KC the week prior. And if you all remember, that was the game that was postponed for hours and was a whole shit show.
00:27:33
Speaker
Is it is her injury related to that whole situation? It could be. mean, we don't you you don't know. It's speculative, obviously. And like we don't it's and it's an injury. So you can't like be like, oh, yeah, it was exactly this.
00:27:46
Speaker
but we all know that that what happened in that match was not with player safety in mind especially with what we found out about the fucking nw cell commissioner and her comments about that match uh got reported that in the athletic uh and it's not great uh she was worried about losing millions of dollars over player safety instead you're gonna lose your fucking mvp so that sucks Anyways, Orlando did lose. It seems like you watched the highlights.
00:28:19
Speaker
I watched the game. Oh, did you? Nice. Yeah. I don't know why I watched this one. either just there but Honestly, i mean, as, you know, secondary Orlando stand, ah yeah sure I kind of watched them, but... um Yeah, Allie Watt had a bunch of chances, but she just could not convert. She kept getting in dangerous areas and her shots would go awry or you know be too weak.
00:28:42
Speaker
um So she's got to figure that out because she is having opportunities. She just hasn't taken advantage of them. um But Angel City's goalkeeper, Siebert, came up huge in this game.
00:28:54
Speaker
I didn't look at save of the week not nominees, but I hope she's on it because one of the saves she made was incredible. Siebert like newer for them? Yeah, I think this was like her second match or something.
00:29:06
Speaker
Got it. I would have to double check that, but and she has two clean sheets. She's 30 years old. so ah Where'd she come from, Siebert? Career. Let's look. ah She was in Portugal.
00:29:18
Speaker
and Okay. And then before that, some Norwegian club. Okay. Yeah, so kind of just... and Yeah, this is her second game with Angel City, and she had a fantastic match She has two matches played, two clean sheets, an 8.17 rating over two matches on FopMob.
00:29:36
Speaker
Not bad. Yeah. The real ah game of the weekend ah was Chicago versus North Carolina. north ended 3-3. Chicago win. a ah North Carolina was up to zero And then they got Ujmelad, a tale as old as time.
00:29:59
Speaker
This one was crazy because I was I also watched this game, ah but I was sitting there and I was once again, i got to stop mentioning the discord. But like, that's how I interact with soccer people. Yeah.
00:30:11
Speaker
But I was like, who wants and after we, you know, got Lujamila the weekend before i ah North Carolina was up to zero. And I put in the chat in the discord, who wants to put money on Chicago coming
00:30:29
Speaker
Well, did. But then they got scored on again. So they were down. Chicago was down to zero. They came back. Lujamila scored two goals. hmm. And then North Carolina scored again.
00:30:41
Speaker
hmm. it was jaden shaw jaden shaw got a goal in that yeah jaden shaw got to that that goal luja milo was like no no way fucking got a hat trick it's the fastest hat trick in history too crazy hu she's unbelievable imagine if they had a healthy ah mal swanson oh yeah they would be imagine if they had good owners imagine if chicago just had it pretty much just a little bit more like yeah they could be they could be huge um i don't know anything about their coach but it's a man so i'm not gonna have high hopes there's anything i know about turnover and men in this league as coaches it's not good yeah absolutely and then the league touted big game of the weekend bay fc versus washington spirit uh which took place and in downtown san francisco at oracle park at the baseball stadium
00:31:33
Speaker
beautiful cool park yeah it's really cool park have you been there uh i've driven past it several times i've never been in it i went to a giants game there once it's really fucking cool yeah i mean it's just got views of the bay bridge it's right there yeah it's a perfect place too otherwise you're going out to fucking san jose which i've been there good night stadium but but there is something about being in san francisco that's you know hard hard to get people to a game as easy as that yeah super cool um uh they they're they were trying to break the attendance record which they did for a regular season and a standalone regular season at game 40,091 people
00:32:16
Speaker
its big I loved it. There were like Giants players there and it just seemed like it was a whole event. It seemed like they did. They did really well with it. So... Yeah, I've had, I will say I've had, like, personal beef about the city of San Francisco ah being in the conversation of best sports cities in the United States because they don't have a women's team playing in the area.
00:32:43
Speaker
i mean, now they've got the Valkyries and now they've got BFC, but... um You know, being in the heart of the city is is is special. I know it's hard to do with this league, but it's good to see when when teams are getting the big stage in cities like this.
00:32:59
Speaker
Yeah. And it was a fun game to watch.
Bay FC's Attendance Record Attempt
00:33:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So they went down first. think they were down 2-0, I believe.
00:33:10
Speaker
Came back, got a goal. But Washington was a better team. they They dominated most of the match, but I think it was really good that Bay was able to stay in the match and make it exciting, especially at a big event like that, to keep your audience engaged is a good thing.
00:33:29
Speaker
Yeah. But Washington ultimately won three to two. Corey Bethune. Corey Bethune's going off, too. That's another player wish we had, but I think if literally everybody wishes they had her. Yeah. Literally every team in the world, probably.
00:33:42
Speaker
uh fraud watch gotham played utah fraud and then we just said they're just frauds now yeah here's the thing yeah so gotham and utah zero zero draw here's the thing though if gotham get above like if they get into the playoffs i think they have it in them to just uh upset teams yeah so to me it's not an upset though when you would have a stare when you have a stare is an upset yeah and you just need like one good game from roosevel uh and then yeah as long as emily's sauna doesn't do something stupid
00:34:18
Speaker
Which could happen, but like, yeah, like if they get into the playoffs, i would I would be worried about playing them. Playing them in the regular season, I'm not maybe as scared as I maybe once was.
00:34:29
Speaker
But that was like their whole run to the championship, right? Like they were... yeah I don't know. They lost a lot of key players, part of that team. So it's not surprising that they're kind of having some struggles, but yeah. ah you know I don't know how you have that...
00:34:44
Speaker
that lineup and those available players yeah and aren't getting a result against utah yeah it's very confusing it's very confusing but anyway on to some positive news
00:35:02
Speaker
yeah definitely positive news i would say with uh portland played kc and lost uh kc won that uh i found out kc's only allowed 10 goals this season that's yeah that's pretty crazy but mostly because when you combine it with how many goals they've scored which is 34.
00:35:23
Speaker
Like, if you look at the standings in the goal differential, it's like no one's even close to what Casey's doing. And I can't believe they also went got Ali Centenor. Like, why Greedy, greedy. That is so mean. Why? Yeah, but it's gonna... This league's so stupid, they're not even gonna win the championship.
00:35:41
Speaker
I think they will. I think this is just like... I don't. I think something's going to happen. I think something's going happen in the playoffs. And if if they get to the final, I think they'll win it Yeah. i don't I don't know if they're making the final.
00:35:54
Speaker
I think they're going to do it this year. I think just given how things ended last year for them and what's happened with Orlando and how and nobody else just seems to be even close to the level that they're at.
00:36:07
Speaker
But with these one-game playoffs. but I know. just they're going keep writing it. Huh? that's fair you never know you never know i just think that they they they should i think they'll have a very earned confidence that yeah makes sense so i think i would just put my money on the chaos at the end of the nwsl sure over my confidence in casey sure it's especially after we did what we did when they played yeah i mean it would be more fun if they lose for sure i'll agree with that absolutely um it's not gonna be like i don't know oh wow KC finally did it it's just like yeah of course they did yeah there was a late red card for KC um and I I initially thought it might be a little soft and I think it was but here's the thing it was unintentional it wasn't it wasn't intentional um but they are going hard on players getting stepped on cleated on on their Achilles which I think is very fair
00:37:07
Speaker
Was it a mistake? player Was it a mistake? Yes. Was it dangerous play? Also, yes. So I understand the decision. Yeah. I was fine with it. I saw and I was like, oh, gross. So people get hurt.
00:37:18
Speaker
Serious injuries. So I guess that's the one time they care about player safety.
00:37:24
Speaker
Heat stroke. Nah.
00:37:26
Speaker
Heat me. Achilles. Red car. All right. Last game of the weekend. ah We had San Diego and Louisville 0 to 1 Louisville win. Did you see that game?
00:37:39
Speaker
You didn't see it? No. ah Louisville kind of snuck out a win on this one. um I don't really want to get into it too much just because we're previewing. We're to be previewing the San Diego because that's who the arena playing next, which is kind of fun.
00:37:52
Speaker
because this is going to be the first match on us thing that the rain the promo that the rain are doing uh but that's going to be on friday august 29th uh 7 30 p.m at lumen field uh it's gonna be on nw cell plus and paramount plus um so if you haven't if you're not have tickets yet and you have never gone to a rain game or you know some people i have never gone to a rain game go tell them to get in and on those free tickets um it's also hello kitty night i'm sure you're really excited about that Absolutely not.
00:38:19
Speaker
But apparently it's like a league thing. They do it around the league. What was that? They do it around the league. Oh, okay. I mean, I'm just surprised Hello Kitty is still a thing. Sanrio will never die. Okay.
00:38:29
Speaker
Apparently, you know more than I do. I had an older sister who was really into it. Got They were sharing today the sales so far. There's not much on the lower bowl left for that match.
00:38:40
Speaker
Okay, that's pretty good. So in terms of the actual game play, ah San Diego's recent record, ah recent last five games, they lost, ah they have a win and they have three
Upcoming Match Preview
00:38:53
Speaker
draws.
00:38:53
Speaker
They had that loss to Louisville um despite dominating possession and shot count, which to me sounded very familiar given what happened with us in Houston. And then they they are third place in the standings, and they only have three more points than Reign.
00:39:09
Speaker
And I know the NWSL is super competitive, um and I say this, I feel like, all the time, but this would be a really good time for the Reign to pick up three points. Anytime is a good time for them to pick three points. But this would put you at least level on points with a team that's in third place, you know, barring whatever else happens over the weekend.
00:39:26
Speaker
um But yeah, I think this is this is not going to be an easy game at all. No, not at all. um We would need to score five goals to be tied with them on goal differential.
00:39:38
Speaker
what ah i'm i'm I'm good with that. They can that happen. Sure, why not? Five-go match, sure. Yeah, sounds good to me. So I he started putting, like, things we want to see and look out for. um I said, shut out, question mark, because don't know if that's possible. um And then I said, with bug on the field, question mark, because she never even got any minutes last match.
00:39:55
Speaker
I don't know. Maybe there's something more going on there than we realize. Did she get hurt in the Portland match or something? The heat, something happened? I don't know. I just feel like it was a little odd that she didn't play last match.
00:40:10
Speaker
Yeah, I think that if nobody, i usually like dwell in and like lurk in the pregame pressers. Uh-huh. um I might ask that question. Uh-huh. If nobody else does. Yeah, you should figure out what's going on. um I mean, i know they're trying something new back there, but I feel like given how much Bug was a part of our, so you know, backline when we were playing really well, I know recent game wasn't great.
00:40:34
Speaker
um She was a big part of that. So what's with that? What's up with that? Other things you want to see? Don't shoot ourselves in the foot defensively. Like literally don't be our worst and our own worst enemy.
00:40:47
Speaker
Yeah. That's kind of what it's felt like recently. these are so like yeah yeah Especially after last game and really just like giving up a goal like here you go. yeah Here you go Yasmeen Ryan.
00:40:58
Speaker
Yeah. but this Make it hard for them, please. Yeah. We're still waiting to see something meaningful from our forward depth pool. Now that we know that Lynn has some some something bugging her, I guess I can't be super annoyed about her not getting something going, but oh she's getting minutes, so like...
00:41:16
Speaker
I just feel like something should happen with her. What's going on the officials still? I don't know. um i mean, it's a long-term contract, so I feel like that the idea was we were going to be rehabbing her through something a little bit, or at least getting her up to speed through this you know major injury she's still coming back from.
00:41:35
Speaker
um And then the last thing I had pointed out is things to look out for. I put parentheses. It's scary. Um, the San Diego attacking threats. I mean, they're just fucking stacked.
00:41:47
Speaker
They're, they are. They really are. Cascarino, Ascanio, is it doubt Dolly? Dolly? Dolly. Leon, uh, Barsenes. I really, she scares me a lot when she subs on. Uh,
00:42:01
Speaker
Yeah, like a lot, a lot. And then Corley. mean, can keep going and going. They when they get going, it's really it could be really sad if you're the opposing team.
00:42:11
Speaker
But defensively, they're not super excellent. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you've got Sheridan right back there. So ah maybe this could be, i don't know. i We need to, I think, first of all, get our defense back in order. um i Like, I want to say this could be a high scoring game, but hopefully just on our end.
00:42:31
Speaker
Yeah. um that's the dream that's always the dream um but yeah i don't know we'll we'll see how it all shakes out go go take advantage of that free game on us promotion to tell you tell people to go yeah it's a friday night 7 32 you got you got some time to get down there and not have to rush after work hopefully i mean getting to sales sucks but yeah that's what the that's what the light rail's for All right. I think that's pretty much it for the episode. We're having some audio stuff going on. So we're just trying to knock this out while it hopefully somewhat works till the end. um Thanks again to our sponsor, The Doctor's Office.
00:43:10
Speaker
ah You can also follow us on Instagram and bluesky at CoolerGuildPod. ah You can send us an email at thecoolerguild at gmail.com. You can also visit us on our main page, soundatheart.com forward slash thecoolerguild.
00:43:23
Speaker
We're on YouTube. Probably not this episode because it's been a shit show to get recorded and finished. And Van was also really wet in the beginning on her hair. Damp. Damp. And she looked like a mermaid. Yeah.
00:43:39
Speaker
That's generous. Thank you. YouTube.com forward slash at the Cooler Guild. Please go rate five stars for every listening. Until next time, I'm Coop. I'm Van.
00:43:49
Speaker
Stay cool, y'all. Stay cool.
00:44:08
Speaker
Where did she come from? Where did she come Where did she come from? She's from T-Burt, Joe.