Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
A Royal Disappointment - Ep. 62
20 Plays15 minutes ago
In their first game of the NWSL season at Lumen field, the Reign’s lackluster performance resulted in a 3-0 loss to the Utah Royals. After scraping the barrel for positives to pull out of the match we discuss what went wrong and how the team can possibly recover. We also cover the rest of the weekend’s results across the league and look ahead to Friday's matchup in Houston.
SPONSORS
Sounder at Heart - Our network host and biggest supporter, Sounder at Heart covers the Seattle Sounders, Seattle Reign, and MUCH MORE! Subscribe to Sounder at Heart and get 1 FREE month.
The Doctor's Office - Located in Capitol Hill, The Doctor's Office is an intimate global spirits tasting room with classic cocktails and an emphasis on personalized service. TDO Seattle is proud to be The Cooler Guild's first sponsor.
-----
Follow us on social media:
TCG IG
YouTube
Bluesky:
TCG
Coop
Van
Send us an email, we love an email: thecoolerguild@gmail.com
Show produced by Coop
Music by Eddie Buchanan - www.eddiebuchananmusic.com
Show artwork by Coop
The Cooler Guild Est. 2024
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Context
00:00:20
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 62 of the Cooler Guild. I'm Coop Cooper, and joined with me, as always, is my co-host, co-host Van Crisp. Hello. we We're recording on Tuesday, April 28th, 2026. I don't know where the time has gone. um On today's episode, we're going to be going over the raids... a Really unfortunate result um at their home opener at Lumen against Utah.
00:00:46
Speaker
I wish I was Utah this time instead of at least not Utah. That's something I've never heard you say before. I know. you know what? Not worth it, though. Those jersey sponsors, not worth it.
Podcast Network and Subscription Details
00:00:57
Speaker
um But before we get into this show, we have some housekeeping to take care of.
00:01:01
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. New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing. So what's been going on?
Coop's Portland Plans and Van's Marathon Dilemma
00:01:22
Speaker
oh Now, you know, planning my, I'm going down to Portland to see my sister next weekend. So got tickets to the, they're having a women's sports film festival.
00:01:32
Speaker
Oh, interesting. um So I'm going to go see the Brittany Griner documentary with her and Victoria. Cool. Yeah. They're also playing reggae girls and I'm hoping I can catch that about the Jamaican women's national team. That's cool.
00:01:44
Speaker
um But yeah, I went up to this game, which sucked. Sucked bad. About you? Not as bad as it gets. Well, speaking of Portland, um I made, a I would say, a stupid decision, peer pressure, also known as bullying. i was a victim um and I signed up for the half marathon in Portland. Oh, did you? I did. and i When is that? It's in October. Okay, that's not bad. like It's like October 4th or something, but i was like, I'm not doing the half marathon and in a city I hate. That's just stupid. And now I am.
00:02:18
Speaker
My like friend texted me because she like started a group, a team or whatever. So I joined it. And like another friend who was pressuring me before that was just like, I heard you're going to agree to do ah the the half marathon in your least favorite city.
00:02:30
Speaker
Yeah, I am. All right. Maybe there'll be an injury though before that. And I won't have to do it. Should I do it? that's That's your call. ah the i will say the team of the name of our team is ah the meet Meowathoners.
00:02:44
Speaker
Oh. Mm-hmm. Fun. Yeah, there were suggestions of running in cat ears. I won't be partaking of that. No, just a cape. Yeah, God, I can't escape the capes. Okay, let's get into the game.
Rain vs. Utah Match Analysis
00:02:56
Speaker
um The rain lost on Sunday, three to zero. Really, really fucking bad. It sucked too. They're playing on the grass. The weather was beautiful. It was set up to be like a great actual home opener. Do you think that makes it a trap game?
00:03:15
Speaker
I mean, we could make any excuse for it to be a trap game, but.
00:03:20
Speaker
It was Utah. i feel like in theory that should be good. Yeah. Like easier, but they look good with finishing at least. Utah? Yeah. They look dangerous when they had their chances and they looked ready to punish any little mistake, which they did. Yep, they sure did.
00:03:37
Speaker
um Let's get into what do you do do you want what Do you
Laura Harvey's Milestone
00:03:41
Speaker
want to kick this off with? Because I just this is this sucks. um I'll start with the Harvey stat, then we should get into the game and then we can go over the news and notes after. okay um They did announce before the game, it was Laura Harvey is now the first coach in and NWSL history to coach 250 games across all competitions for a single club.
00:04:03
Speaker
She's coached 11 seasons total with Lorraine. And won several Shields with that. Yep. No championships yet, though. no We're waiting. We need it. have a feeling we might be waiting a little longer. Yeah, it's not looking good.
00:04:17
Speaker
um Yeah, so 3-0
Detailed Game Breakdown
00:04:19
Speaker
loss. ah The first goal was in the first minute. About as bad of a start you could get. Yeah. And it was on a terrible defensive mistake. um I was really confused. I forgot that Paige Monaghan got married. Mm-hmm. Fottmob didn't.
00:04:36
Speaker
Fottmob did. They also still have her as Monaghan. Yeah.
00:04:41
Speaker
um But yeah, scored in the first minute and then another goal in the seventh minute, just bad defensive mistakes. um And then to just end the first half, they got another goal in the first minute of stoppage time.
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah. And like the most dangerous score in soccer is two zero. So I was like, let's just get to half. I feel like this team could find a way to get two goals, but three, three's putting yourself in a real, real bad hole.
00:05:07
Speaker
Yeah. We made a couple halftime bets if they could come back. um i didn I was going to buzz my head. Um, yeah.
00:05:19
Speaker
And it was, and then Charles was going to wear a wig to the next game. That was the, well, and or the incentive was they, they apparently did not take that bait. No, but it was, yeah, it was just started off bad. Um,
00:05:34
Speaker
What worked? um Not a whole hell of a lot. ah They tied the second half, right? They didn't give up any goals in the second half, which was an improvement from the first half. I'm really, like, reaching here for this one. Yeah, I was like, I didn't put anything in what worked.
00:05:50
Speaker
ah Darlene got a decent chunk of time, and she looked good coming back from injury. Yeah. That's promising, at least. Was there anything else you saw? No, truly no. Like, I mean, yeah i could, I'll have my final thoughts of where I think maybe it's not the end of the world, but like nothing worked.
00:06:14
Speaker
i I will add Sam Meza worked. But I feel like I feel like I'm just like constantly glazing her for doing exactly what she does, which is perform every single game. Yeah, we need other that from everybody else. Yeah.
00:06:27
Speaker
So because how good she is at everything gets overshadowed when you have a result like this. Exactly.
Factors Affecting Performance
00:06:34
Speaker
ah Let's get into what didn't work other than most everything.
00:06:38
Speaker
Do we think the new surface played a factor? No, because the effort wasn't there. Yeah. I think it could have played a part in the first goal with Dickey not coming out for that ball that kept rolling. And there could be some like unseen issues that played a part. But when your first touch is horrible, when you're not able to pass to feet...
00:07:02
Speaker
You can't, they play on grass at other stadiums. It's not like they've never played on grass before. So I think it's a cheap excuse. And the players enjoyed playing on it from what I heard in presser. So I wouldn't take that into into effect.
00:07:17
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. It's just something you have to wonder. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that day that's a valid question. Yeah. I'm just not ready to give them any leeway on this crap game. I mean, this is this is like this is completely on them. They weren't ready at all. No. Whistle blows, you're not ready to go. Nope.
00:07:34
Speaker
And you don't regroup because less, you know, two goals given up in the first 10 minutes. It's not good. It's not good enough. not you can't You can't put yourself in a hole that big.
00:07:45
Speaker
No, you dig yourself really deep and then you know set set the tone for the match, which is not good. With a team that's already kind of trying to get over their issues with scoring,
00:07:58
Speaker
ah Like, now you've set it up so that, like, Utah can defend, which their goalkeeper, to her credit, i think had a really good game. um And so did the crossbar.
00:08:09
Speaker
Crossbar had a great game. Crossbar
Critics and Team Shortcomings
00:08:11
Speaker
had a great game on both sides. i justs just it's it It was extremely, this was extremely annoying. This result to me was, like, all of the...
00:08:21
Speaker
pundits, writers, whoever, who have been doubting the reign, like this is exactly what they kind of, this is what they thought the team is. that They thought that this team was capable of stuff like this.
00:08:35
Speaker
And I hate that. Yeah, that sucks. But at the same time, teams can have one off games. Sure, we've had two one off games, but I don't think this was characteristic of what we've seen so far from most of these players. I just feel like for
Midfield Troubles and Injuries
00:08:50
Speaker
the first game at Lumen, this is like so this is a really especially bad look.
00:08:55
Speaker
Oh, yeah. absolutely Yeah. like It's not good at all. Other things that didn't really work, finishing chances, as I kind of already mentioned. We had chances. So I don't know. Is that a good thing? Maybe. But they have to find a way to finish those. It's still early in the season, so maybe that gets worked out.
00:09:18
Speaker
It'll get it worked out. ah how many How long have we been saying that? Yeah. just I know. It can be full of hope and stuff, but we have to see results and consistency. Because that you don't have this kind of room for error once it comes to the playoffs.
00:09:34
Speaker
No. We're a long ways away from the playoffs, though. I know, but I don't want to see this. And it's it's easy to... Spiral? Just like after the Portland game to spiral. Yeah. um But you take a look at the table. Rainer's still in fourth place. Yeah.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah, they've but they've they've given themselves a buffer. And they're taking full advantage of that, sure. Seize the moment. And Utah's not a bad team.
Team's Focus on Improvement
00:10:00
Speaker
No. Utah has historically been a bad team, but they've consistently gotten better and better. so i wasn't So I was surprised that it was this bad, but I wasn't necessarily shocked that it was Utah that could come up with that result.
00:10:14
Speaker
Yeah, I think they' their desperation and maybe, i don't know if desperation is the right word, but they're their desires to prove that they're a real team this year, i think are pretty pretty strong.
00:10:26
Speaker
And they're not trying to get walked over like they did last time. And we've been singing Tanaka's praises for a while. And she really showed up this match. Yeah, they've got a lot of really good pieces in there. They seem to be having chemistry between it all, so...
00:10:42
Speaker
So it's not like you got beat by Lost Nation, right? True. Save that for later, I guess. There were a couple of like technical things. um The rain didn't win first and second balls.
00:10:56
Speaker
There, the, there was a lack of a sense of urgency to come to the ball instead of letting the ball come to them. And they got taken over many, many times waiting for the pass.
00:11:07
Speaker
And
NWSL Recap and League Standings
00:11:08
Speaker
Utah was just better at attacking the ball and taking those slow passes off before they got to the, to the destination. It was one of those things where it just all looked lazy. Do you think that's a, i mean, I think there's no excuse for that when these are professional athletes and then to be so, but do we think that the break that we had is like, is that a factor in that?
00:11:31
Speaker
No, everybody had a break. Yeah. disagree i'm just i it could it could mean that the team needs to figure out how to change that mental mentality in training after breaks yeah because it's coming up again another break is going to be coming up again so maybe they'll learn from this maybe the defense man just out of sync completely out of sync It was weird. Yeah.
00:11:59
Speaker
It's usually what we're so solid at. It was very, very uncharacteristic on multiple fronts. Claudia Dickey, especially. um i don't know if she was sick.
00:12:10
Speaker
It looked to me like something was off. Like she was sick. Something happened in her personal life that was affecting her on the pitch. Like it would seemed to me like something like that. There was a lack of focus.
00:12:21
Speaker
wonder if the pressure of the U.S. team's getting to her. i don't think so. the It's hard. i ah I think she could have done better. and at least, i mean, she could probably get it a better in all those goals. But there was the weird deflection on one of them where Fishlaw kind of got in on it. So that one, I kind of give her a little bit of grace um or at least room for, i don't know, maybe it wasn't her fault or whatever. um The first goal, it it was so quick with the start of the game that I can kind of also say that one was a little fluky.
00:12:54
Speaker
No, she needed to come out for that. She just like wasn't ready. No one was. Yeah, so I'm wondering why lack of It's weird. The player that really struggled was Madison Curry.
00:13:06
Speaker
That was rough. It was super rough. I pulled up because I was curious. I mean, you could see it on the field how much she was just getting cooked. um But I went and looked up some stats. She led the team in touches, but she still had the lowest passing percentage for starters.
00:13:24
Speaker
That's not going to win you a game. Yeah. And she played that really bad back pass that led to the first goal. And she's usually so crucial for our team. So yeah, that's she's not if she's not performing, that's going to reflect very heavily in what the result is.
00:13:40
Speaker
There's a curse. Do you think there's a curse? Either that or like everyone simultaneously got broken up with like the morning of the match. I mean, i I'm upset about Megan Thee Stallion getting cheated on. Maybe that's why everyone was. ah Yeah, that seems somewhat understandable, but. Actually, Jada and I talked about that for the game.
00:14:04
Speaker
its I can't believe people are fumbling. how do you How do you fumble? mate like You have Megan Thee Stallion. What else do you need in life?
00:14:15
Speaker
That is the greatest success you could ever have. You fucking bum. This is such a great takeaway from this match. Yeah, I know. Takeaway is Klay Thompson, it's your fault.
00:14:31
Speaker
Yep. Blame Klay Thompson. Yeah. I mean, this is on the team, right? This is the players have to take responsibility for for this disaster. Yeah, they do.
00:14:42
Speaker
I also want to point out the midfield is still very much lacking. They need a signing. They do. I know that and I still do want Sally Menti to be better in the midfield, but I just haven't seen it.
00:14:58
Speaker
She's lazy defensively. She's ineffective on the attack. It's. Just not getting any better for me, which is crazy because like Adames didn't get minutes for the longest time because of her lack of defensive prowess. And yet you're letting Sally Menti on the field who gets in the way every now and again. But honestly, it's just jogging and it just doesn't make sense for me.
00:15:21
Speaker
um And then throughout the first half and the second half, um ah Harvey was having Meza and Menti switch sides in the midfield. Mm hmm. wherever the attack was seeming to be coming from the most, she'd send Sam Meza over there.
00:15:37
Speaker
And it's just like, it's hard to play effectively when you have a weak link.
00:15:44
Speaker
They just got to do better. Yeah. And they need to sign somebody. Yeah. Especially with Fishlock. I mean, I said this to you the beginning of the season. i said, this is it a problem that they're to relying too much on Fishlock?
00:15:57
Speaker
And now we're in a situation where we can't rely on her right now. um hopefully her injury is want to talk about the injury yeah we can talk about the injury something she like kind of fell on it weird it was a freak thing yeah um mercado shot she was trying to jump to avoid mercado shot and the ball hit her foot as she was coming down and so she landed really awkward on her ankle just rolled the shit out of it yeah just kind of buckled weird i don't it was it looked it looked bad and then her reaction afterwards was horrible Yeah, she sat on the pitch on her side, waving her arm up in the air, like, come on. And then they carted her off and she got taken to get x-rayed. They put an air cast on her like pretty much right away. yeah
00:16:44
Speaker
which is good. Us oldies need that. Luckily, it's not broken. Yeah, they came out... Ryan came out yesterday with an update that the she had x-rays and nothing was broken.
00:16:57
Speaker
And today Laura said she's had all the tests and it seems to be a soft tissue thing. And we so don't don't have a timeline, but it's not broken. And it's probably not going to be a career-ending thing.
00:17:10
Speaker
For the last year of her career. Yeah. I mean, the my... Like, truly when that happened, I was just like... If she fucking broke her ankle, like there's no way there's not a curse. Yeah.
00:17:22
Speaker
Because of the way that everything happened with Rapinoe 2 in the last game she played, I just like, just like felt sick to my stomach that this was like, it seemed like it was happening again. do you remember watching that in the car?
00:17:33
Speaker
What? That happened. We were driving up to Tacoma. Were we in the car when that happened? I thought I couldn't remember if we got to the pizza place yet. No, we were in the car. i mean, I was driving. So I did not watch it because I was driving the car.
00:17:46
Speaker
watched. Yeah. Oh, what a fuck. It's not great. And it sounds like Bug also maybe picked up a new knock. It was a little vague. um So her timeline's getting pushed out a little bit more too.
00:18:01
Speaker
Adamez looked like she got her a bit at the end. They didn't say anything about her um having any issues it sounds like i don't know if nobody asked or something like that there's so many other people that we had to ask about um i did see bug jumping around making tiktoks before the game though so i been doubt she'll be out that much longer okay well fingers crossed because we desperately need her back we desperately need a lot of things it feels after this kind of result yep
00:18:35
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nos Anietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023, but need your support to make sure it continues.
00:18:48
Speaker
Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce.
00:19:01
Speaker
If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks, most notably entry into our members only discord where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas.
00:19:16
Speaker
To find out more, just visit center at heart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening.
00:19:27
Speaker
I was going to move on to the presser. Great. Okay, go for it. Or as I coined it while I was sitting there, the depressor. Oh, no. Stupid.
00:19:39
Speaker
I know, it was dumb. um So they had Huerta and Ratcliffe come on and... you know they owned up to it they weren't ready when the whistle blew um it's like a lot of toxic posit positivity i feel like it's like when you lose you have an opportunity to grow how long have we been saying that though yeah it gets a little old and it gets a little like my skepticism kind of grows when i hear those things i don't want them to sound defeated because that doesn't seem like the solution either
00:20:11
Speaker
but I'm annoyed. Yeah. I think they're all annoyed and I think that you could expect that, but not stewing on it and getting in the correct head space to play in five days. I feel like it's a strategic, it's important move. And, you know, Hort just said, you know, with the team culture, the way it is, there's not a lot of negativity after the match. Like Laura said, she was proud of the effort and they just wanted to move on and play in five days. Yeah.
00:20:36
Speaker
Okay. So we'll see how they play in five days. um Talking about needing to finish the opportunities they create. Definitely. Obviously. And one one comment I thought that was really interesting was like, keep playing. They kept playing those little passes, trying to move out ah But it's, and then can't remember who said this, but at some, they said at some point, you just have to hit it long.
00:20:58
Speaker
And they can do that when Darlene's on the pitch. Mercado even. You can get her in the right spot. But it was funny. In Laura's press conference, ah she said it was crazy because they talked the last two weeks about how Utah is is aggressive in their attack.
00:21:14
Speaker
And they didn't deal with it. and They didn't execute it, right? Like they supposedly prepared for it, but it the execution wasn't there. Yeah. um They needed to get a goal because that could have shifted the momentum because goals change games. um And she also said that the third goal was just a sucker punch.
00:21:31
Speaker
Yeah. It was brutal the watch. I would hate to be the players in Laura's after that kind of result. Yeah, I mean, Laura seems frustrated too because she has to manage a lot of players um with minutes right now.
00:21:48
Speaker
It's not good. So... It's a bad situation. Yeah, it's not great. The players that, like, we, you know, would hope to be able to rely on... Like what Lynn Biendolo.
00:22:00
Speaker
I know she's got, she's got her own stuff going on and like the team should just support her through that. But that was like somebody we made a move for. And I don't feel like there's been an adjustment made. Right. To fill that spot. Yeah. To fill that spot. um Yeah. Mia Fischl came in and unfortunately she got another knock.
00:22:18
Speaker
Now what? Darlene gets hurt. Now what? ah it's It's like one thing after another. so deep, though. It's supposed to be. But yeah, I don't I don't I just don't know what they're supposed to do.
00:22:29
Speaker
Sign an attacking midfielder. A flashy one. Yep. It's got to be a big name. one I'm back to that. four goals I'm back to that. i i that's what That's what's needed. I don't care.
00:22:41
Speaker
I'm in the same boat. I mean, I see what the teams that are performing well and getting, you know, big results are doing and like what the rosters look like. And it's just like, we don't have that at all. And it's my frustration grows when stuff like this happens. Yeah, they got to got to pump the roster up.
00:23:00
Speaker
Got a lot of players on the roster that aren't playing um that are injured or I don't know. seems like we just got a lot of spots there that aren't being utilized properly. And we got money. Yeah. From the Haidama stuff.
00:23:14
Speaker
what did you What did you think of someone's comment about suggesting Allison or maybe should get traded? Would you take her?
00:23:23
Speaker
I knew you would say no. That's not what we need. i wouldn't i wouldn't be upset if they did that. i wouldn't be mad about it. i just think there's more Percy matters. I just think that it's very like for like with Meza.
00:23:38
Speaker
But she does create on the outside. i mean, like for like with Meza in an attacking sense, not position wise, but... Yeah, I don't know. They gotta start figuring it out what their their backup plan is. i mean, like they should have had a backup plan. Here's the thing. Just Fishlock wasn't getting any younger.
00:23:57
Speaker
i feel like there is a world in which they should have been like, if somehow something happens to her, we need to like make sure we have some some contingency plan. They probably did, and they they probably had Sally Menti as part of the contingency plan.
00:24:10
Speaker
just don't know if that's the strongest contingency plan. It's not. It's a bad one. Great. Well, do you have any final takeaways or thoughts? um ah My final takeaway is I hope this was a one-off. I hope they can get their shit together and come out and play on Friday because this this should not be what the team looks like. I'm so annoyed.
00:24:33
Speaker
oh We had so much like good momentum and I knew going to this break it could be broken. and like granted the last game of that series wasn't super thrilling, but like part of me was like kind of worried about that momentum being lost. And not only was it lost, they shot themselves in the foot.
00:24:49
Speaker
Three times. Sucks. pe Pew, um I just, I'm wondering when i need to hire a witch. Etsy witch. How much are Etsy witches? I've never looked at that. I don't know. i don't think they're, you know, depending on the witch you get, but I just, i need I need maybe to do an investigation into if there is indeed a curse on the team and then what can be done about it. So I don't, I don't know if that's going to entail some adventures to some covens. Witchcraft.
00:25:21
Speaker
But I'm starting to think maybe I need to look into this. Spells by Mia, $10. Is it like... Or do we need extreme relationship or super pair spell?
00:25:32
Speaker
Is there like a... Oh, curse and hex removal. $3.50. Yeah, I think... $3.50. Okay. You know, all we'll see how things can progress. But, you know, if things get dire, might have to to dip in the pond funds to pay a witch. All $3 of it?
00:25:51
Speaker
all three dollars of it Yeah. All right, let's move on from this fucking game, just like the players say they're going to do. And um well, guess before we move on to that, we have to award a cooler player of the match.
00:26:08
Speaker
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. well is a tough one but um the sam as a glazing continues yeah congratulations sam i'm sorry it's in this circumstance i really am she's so good i just wish everyone else would step up to that as well and sometimes we had these blunders but then dickie would save her asses last time and then this time we didn't have that so correct
00:26:42
Speaker
Yikes. Thanks again to the doctor's office. The doctor's office is the best place to grab a drink before or after a rain match. Make an appointment today. Or. Or check out their Instagram at TDO Seattle. Or better yet, go drink there in person.
00:26:55
Speaker
Two ores for you. ah Cheers. Cheers. Uh, there are some other end of B-Sell games. Did you catch any of these? i watched a couple of these, ah but I watched all of the recaps.
00:27:07
Speaker
Okay, cool. Wow. Really getting your work done. I, uh, I didn't.
00:27:14
Speaker
The weather was really nice this weekend. I've still been dealing with some head problems. So it's just not great for me for screen watching. Yeah, understandable. Yeah.
00:27:26
Speaker
Whoa, Louisville got a win over Orlando. Yeah, they won three to two. that's ah That's a high scoring game. Yeah. ah Lauren Millay score for Louisville scored an absolute banger right outside the top of the box.
00:27:39
Speaker
I might have seen that one. I saw a couple of the goals pop up on ah Blue Sky. i feel like that was maybe the one I saw. Yeah, it was a banger. Barbara Banda, of course, scored both goals for Orlando.
00:27:52
Speaker
One in extra time in the first half and then another in the extra time in the second half. There's couple games that had some pretty lackluster attendance this weekend, and that was one of them. Then there was another blowout.
00:28:03
Speaker
Washington Spirit beat 4-0. Oh, boy. This is what happens when you get too greedy. Yep. And also hire a coach who doesn't know anything about women's soccer. Exactly.
00:28:16
Speaker
And also has a goalkeeper who is not good. Cripe-a-thune. so me Come over here. Come over here, please. That's who we need. um need Trindy Rodman finally scored.
00:28:31
Speaker
Love to see that. ah After Lorena came out to grab a corner and just dropped it. you're i was gonna say you're joking right but like no it's i know you're not at this point with the lorena four i mean letting up four fucking goals i know spirit this is what i saying spirit's gonna get their shit together but it's also like are they getting their shit together or is casey just really that bad it seems like casey is really that bad i think both could be true yeah it trini ramen also had an assist that was really good so need her start i need We need her to get this this going for next year. so Exactly. um Gotham beat Bay three zero ah so but Jordan Silkewitz made 12 saves. She was the top-rated player. The Bay FC goalkeeper, Jordan Silkewitz, made 12 saves. She was the top-rated player on the FOPMob lineups. Even with the goals? Even with the goals. That's kind of insane. She was extraordinary. um Gotham also had a player debut. A player that some of you that watch women's soccer might know. Grew a right-in. She came from Chelsea. She's a 31-year-old Norwegian national team player.
00:29:39
Speaker
That was a big signing for them. They already had big signs. Where's our big signing? i don't know, dude. I don't know. but i would i wish that was me. yeah um in all characteristic fashion uh chicago beat lost nation
00:29:57
Speaker
the two worst teams they're still the worst i like need to make like a graphic of like the swan but like its neck is bent into an l
00:30:09
Speaker
It's pretty good. um Jordan Hyden started off the scoring. Great. So happy. She's already got two goals. Good for her. um Atkinson ah made a double save in the 45th minute, and it was insane.
00:30:24
Speaker
if you go Go watch the highlights if you're a fan of goalkeeping. This was an incredible sequence. ah Boss Nation did not look bad. They couldn't finish.
00:30:35
Speaker
They had a lot of opportunities. They just they looked a lot like the rain. That's i mean, that's the theme of this league, right? Yeah. So Houston, who we play on Friday, Houston played North Carolina and lost one zero to North Carolina. Not a lot to say about this match other than Ashley Sanchez and Minaca are single handedly keeping North Carolina afloat.
00:30:58
Speaker
Maybe we need to sign Ashley Sanchez. It's not who Pino always wanted us to sign. Yeah. Where are they? They're not... They're not... They're like... They've only won two games. Two draws. They're in 10th place.
00:31:10
Speaker
Yeah, but... Yeah, I mean, it could be worse. It could be lot worse. Yeah. um In my favorite game to watch this weekend... was the Denver-San Diego game.
00:31:22
Speaker
San Diego ended up winning 3-2, but Denver was up 2-0 at halftime, and they absolutely blew it, playing at home. Kendi Wesley scored. Good for her. Keeping that momentum going. Headed her off a cross, or off a corner. um But San Diego only won because of a Denver-owned goal.
00:31:40
Speaker
Carson Pickett. You need that luck, though. Yeah, Carson Pickett. hate that for Carson Pickett. Yeah, it was really sad. San Diego's fucking tearing it up, man. They didn't good in the first half, honestly. But they're getting Macario. Yeah, they got picked apart in the first half, but they figured it out.
00:32:00
Speaker
um In the last match of the weekend, other than the rain match, Angel City lost to Portland two to one Statistically, Angel City should have won the game, but Portland put away their chances. That's all I had to say about that one.
00:32:14
Speaker
I just wish we were better. Yeah. We're still in fourth place. I know. That's what's annoying. It's like we've had these opportunities to jump a little bit ahead, and i guess I'm just getting ahead of myself cause it really hasn't been that many games.
00:32:29
Speaker
Yeah. It's fine. I mean, we could be in. It's fine. We could be in fifth place by the end of the. Yeah. Tomorrow. um Well, the table's looking. ah I mean, it's still tight. So first place, is San Diego sitting on top of 15 points. Right behind them is the Thorns at 13.
00:32:48
Speaker
We're tied with the Utah on 10 points. We're below that, though, because of our goal different. Or it's is it wins or a differential first? I can't remember. i always forget. um and then like you've got like nine points, nine points, nine points, eight points, eight points, eight points. So like everything is very, very tight. Yeah. And a couple teams play tomorrow on Wednesday. So could we drop even further there?
00:33:07
Speaker
Ooh. But as of this recording, that's where it stands. Yeah. Like we were talking about our next match, the Rain Play Houston at Houston, Friday, May 1st at 5 p.m. at Shell Stadium.
00:33:19
Speaker
This game will be on Fox 13+, Victory+, plus and if you want to go old school, you can listen to it on the radio at 950 KJRAM.
00:33:29
Speaker
There will, mean, it's Houston, so there's always a chance of lightning delay. And there is lightning in the forecast, unfortunately. Thunderstorms in the forecast, yep. Oh my God, as if, you know, i mean, maybe it'll be fine. Maybe it'll be fine. And if we get a win, we get a little bit more rest, right? Right? When's the next spring game after that?
00:33:50
Speaker
Oops. so it's o I just, we need we need some reprieve. Yeah, okay. So please win the game because we we play Friday, quick turnaround. So maybe the quick response to this horrible result and like be like, that wasn't us. Look at us. We can still win. And then we get a little bit more time off only to play the Washington Spirit after that. But one game at a time, one game at a time. One game at a time. What do you what do you want to see in this game against the the Dash?
00:34:20
Speaker
um I'm wondering how healthy Shea Holmes is. That's ah it's kind of a... You've never even never been quite the Shea Holmes fan. but Not the biggest Emily Mason fan either. i know.
00:34:33
Speaker
And obviously what happened last game didn't work. Yeah. I doubt Laura will make a big switch just because I know that she thinks this is, like I said, uncharacteristic and she likes to give players a second chance. It's been more than two.
00:34:48
Speaker
But there is the possibility of taking Mason out, putting Holmes in and then swapping where it's in to center back. And I could possibly see that happening if we're losing confidence there. Yeah.
00:35:02
Speaker
But one thing I noticed about watching the Houston game, um they're also they looked a lot like the rain ah just with their similar giveaways and they had defensive organization problems.
00:35:14
Speaker
So whoever fixes that is going to have a huge advantage in the match. And we'll probably win. I pulled up some... I was like looking at NWCL stats because I don't watch all these games. It's impossible to keep up with all the teams.
00:35:29
Speaker
I mean, maybe not impossible. It's impossible for me in my life to keep up with all the teams. But it seems like Houston likes to attack too. So I guess we're going early test to see if there's any changes.
00:35:42
Speaker
Very likely. What already happened. Hopefully they can respond. Yeah. ah thing I wanted to see is i don't know where Maddie Darlene's fitness is at. If she can start, I would maybe like to see her start with ah Mercado.
00:35:57
Speaker
I really liked the link up that we were seeing with them at the tail end of this last game. It looked good. It did look really good. It looked fun too. It's like the kids come out and are're like, yeah, let's go score some goals. Yeah. And they're both good. Maddie Mercado didn't have a bad game, but you can't, I don't think you can say that a forward has a good game when they don't contribute to a scoring Yeah. And she's like seems so close to being a regular contributor that if she can ever get that rolling, teams are going to be really, really nervous about playing us.
00:36:32
Speaker
It just hasn't hit yet. Not consistently. I'm just waiting. Yeah. And I'm sure Darlene's just hungry to get back out there and get a Yeah. It would be the perfect storm.
00:36:44
Speaker
Well, maybe with the storm in Houston. Jeez. ah You know, maybe maybe it'll be the right the right set of events.
00:36:56
Speaker
We won the last time we had a weather delay of disaster. Let's do it again. Yeah, that's that's fair. Could be. The team loves adversity. ah need them to love to win with like no adversity.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yeah, just like regular win. Just a win-win. Just a casual, casual, oh, we're at home, playing Utah. No big deal. Yeah, and then make that like a regular thing. Wouldn't that be cool? not Not like let up a goal in the first minute. That was really brutal to watch.
00:37:28
Speaker
Much like the team, though, I feel like I'm just going to move on, at least. If this happens again, though, what, like, do you think that's... Like, what do you what would be the mentality that you would have about this team if it if this happens again?
00:37:43
Speaker
i mean, it depends on what you see when the team plays. If the team's going to keep playing this lackluster, just distracted ball, there's something wrong that needs to be fixed.
00:37:56
Speaker
But if the team are trying and it's a close match and they just can't hit the back of the net, that's another thing. So to me, sure, a loss is a loss on paper.
00:38:09
Speaker
But as a fan watching this, I want to see the team put in an effort and act like they want to win, which wasn't really happening too much in the first half of this last game. Happened more towards the end of the second half.
00:38:23
Speaker
um They just need that energy all the time. Yeah. Maybe they need to start meditating like pre-match. Something. Something needs to change. Honestly, those exy wi Etsy witches were a lot cheaper than I thought. So maybe I'll try a couple.
00:38:42
Speaker
Go in some poll tabs and then you can use the poll to tab money on some witches. i got my tax return. I can...
00:38:50
Speaker
Give back to the to the witches. Yeah. I got to figure out who got hired for the Mariners last year. Yeah, ah but that didn't end well. But I mean for the Mariners, that's about as good as it gets.
00:39:02
Speaker
Yeah. So, but we need to, something needs to turn this, this thing into something good. the team i want the team to be more consistent. They've been consistently inconsistent.
00:39:15
Speaker
The same as last year. Where's the, where's the, I need to see the improvement. Yeah, we need that, like, stable mojo every week. and right Yeah, I'm not expecting them to, like, go in and win every single game. That's a bit, like, that just doesn't happen in the NWC.
00:39:33
Speaker
But to fall off like this in a game from the start... it just it i It's a soul crusher. Yeah, and it doesn't feel good as ah as as a fan, and I can't imagine what it feels like as a player. I mean, they're obviously a bit more control of that and can kind of hopefully take this and flip it, because if they don't, going be really worried.
00:39:56
Speaker
Well, we'll find out on Friday. Yeah, the good news is we don't want have to wait long, so... Well, we might, depending on the weather. It never ends. ah I have been enjoying that the games are on Victory Plus. I do think Victory Plus has been very solid. So if we want to have one positive going to this, I feel good about that.
00:40:17
Speaker
Yeah, talk about something that's been consistently stable. Victory Plus. All right. Do you have anything else you want to add on to any of this ah this messiness that we tried to get through of complex ah feelings about the way this team is right now?
00:40:34
Speaker
No, i just i want them to show out on Friday. Give it your all. Do your best. Score some goals. Yeah, houston's needs some goals Houston's not going to be easy. So they also need to hold it down the back. So yeah, everyone back there needs to get their shit together. They need to get in sync again. Yeah, get it together from the start. I don't think they'll do that again. That's that like theyre just that's not line is.
00:40:58
Speaker
who this backs this backline is well that's the thing too. Like every time we've seen something that's at least this season, that's like not great.
00:41:09
Speaker
It seems that they've come out after that with that in their forethought. Right. Yeah. And they've fixed issues. Yeah. So maybe they're right. This is an opportunity to grow. Okay.
00:41:21
Speaker
Okay. um Maybe. We'll see. I'll reserve my ultimate pessimism for hopefully something that doesn't actually happen. you any shout outs for the week?
00:41:32
Speaker
um We shout out Emma Hayes. She was there at halftime. Doing her little tour of the NWC. Still wearing her Hello Kitty hat. I had a good laugh when she walked in. I saw she was wearing it. I was like, oh, I gotta to tell Coop.
00:41:44
Speaker
i thought that was a one and done thing, but maybe she's really into Hello Kitty. She's rocking it She is. I didn't know Hello Kitty was a little girl. I spent summers in Indonesia, so I feel like I have a little bit better understanding of a Hello Kitty.
00:41:56
Speaker
I mean, I was into Sanrio, but I wasn't into, like, Sanrio lore. I mean, I was, i just, I just like, it would be playing on the TV, like, at like my friend's house, who I don't even think we spoke the same language, but.
00:42:12
Speaker
Your language was Hello Kitty. spoke Sanrio. Yeah, and I guess maybe the Hello Kitty wasn't even in English, but just the sense of it was little girl. I don't know.
00:42:23
Speaker
I was a Pokemon bitch, right? Same. You want any shout outs? Yeah, I wanted to shout out my ah my buddy Daniel. um He's been doing this funny bit where like I've had to, like I know if I've bailed on him, but I've always said, like oh, I can't do this because i got to watch my soccer game and blah, blah, blah, blah. Or like going to Seattle. I had a postpone our D&D thing because I was coming up for the US game. And this is the guy that you were going to go to the movies with that you weren't sure about, right? Yeah, which I ended up not going. It was awesome. Okay. He didn't go either.
00:42:57
Speaker
He had some shit going on. um But he he keeps doing this thing where he, like, sends me stuff about, like, he's been, like, looking up rain stuff. Like, just, like, as, like, to make jokes. Okay. So, like, he was like, do you want to come to this party? Oh, I heard. I was like, no, I'm not going to go to this party. going stay home with my dogs whatever. Yeah. He's like, oh, well, there's it's going to be all soccer players.
00:43:19
Speaker
And I was like, sure it is, Daniel. Sure it is. And then he just starts like list listing off. ah Yeah, Maddie Mercado and Claudia Dickey just visited the spa. They're great. We're having a good time. I think we're going to cartpool to the party. And this man does not care about soccer or sports.
00:43:36
Speaker
And then ah later he was like, Jordan Bug was just in the sauna. We might hang later. And I was like, the 19 year old? Oh, didn't didn't tell me her age. Yeah.
00:43:51
Speaker
he's trying to be i know he's trying to find interest in your interest it's really funny because he's and then like he sent me yesterday at 5 12 p.m thoughts and prayers for fishlocks rapid recovery i was like he's looking shit up yeah i was like good for him i was like look at you up on the news and he's like well she just texted me i just wanted you to know you' in solidlitarity ah ah ah yeah and then he was trying to get back to the topic at hand with some plywood furniture he might make for us and he's like speaking of soccer did you see my previous message about plywood furniture anyways I think it's very funny that Daniel is getting into the team without really getting into the team but he's getting into the team right yeah I think so he knows names and when I meet go and meet with him too he'll be like yeah the Claudia Dickey and me we're hanging out
00:44:43
Speaker
okay daniel
00:44:48
Speaker
it's very funny uh all right i think uh that's all i got yeah i'm can't i want to do a dub pod next week let's pray for that please i mean i'll go buy like a special beer for the next dub pod and that'll kind of help our the the energy the good energy we put out into the world the vibes yeah um thanks again to our sponsor the doctor's office you can go follow us on blue sky and instagram at cooler guild pod you can send us an email at the cooler guild at gmail.com you can also visit us at our main page where you can also subscribe and that is sound at heart.com forward slash the cooler guild
00:45:26
Speaker
We're on YouTube, youtube.com forward slash outthecoolerguild. Wherever you're listening, please go rate five stars. It really helps us feel nice about ourselves.
00:45:38
Speaker
Until next time, I'm Coop. Van. Stay cool, y'all. Stay cool.