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The Cooler Guild: Summer break, Reign went Fishin' - Ep. 40
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A splashy summer signing is always welcome. National team caps, Fishlock scores at the Euros, and Reign make a major signing. After a month off from league play, we get folks up to date on a variety of Reign related news in this special summertime bonus episode, including Mia Fishel joining the club with a long-term contract. We also dive briefly into the international tournaments from this summer and wrap up the show with a quick preview on the Reign’s upcoming match versus Angel City FC.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:20
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 40 of The Cool Girl. I am Coop Cooper, and joining me as always is my co-host, Veya and Crisp. Hello. We are recording on Wednesday, July 30th, 2025.
NWSL and Reign Updates
00:00:31
Speaker
Today's episode will serve as a special summertime bonus episode to get rain fans ready for the second half of the NWSL season, ah since we had about a month off or so from league play.
00:00:42
Speaker
We'll also try to get folks up to date on the myriad of things that happened with the Reign this month, um ah apart from their international stuff that happened, and then all the other most the stuff that's been going on, and then do a quick preview of the Reign's next match coming up this Friday.
Sounder at Heart Network and Technical Issues
00:00:59
Speaker
But first, some housekeeping. Sound at heart? is Shit. It's early. It's early, and this is the second time we're recording this episode. Yeah.
00:01:11
Speaker
So bear with me. um 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.
00:01:24
Speaker
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. Yeah, as Van said, we yeah we lost a recording yesterday.
00:01:37
Speaker
Something happened. It seemed like the whole website that we used to record something technical. Oh, yeah, you're saying we're recording on Tuesday. We didn't change that. I did say Wednesday. Oh, did you? Yes, I got that right. Yeah, we were recording last night and then... Maybe we had maybe less than 10 minutes left to record. Definitely less than 10.
00:01:54
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And the whole thing is lost. So here we are seven in the morning doing it again. Rolling it out before I have to go to work here. Yeah.
Camping Story and D&D Excitement
00:02:03
Speaker
Should we even banter? Do you want to banter?
00:02:06
Speaker
you have anything you want say ah like about your time off? I guess, you know, I went to Canada. We talked about this a little bit. The one thing I didn't tell you that happened in Canada, we did go to this really cool island that's like a bunch of farm stands like all over.
00:02:21
Speaker
And a people like take their bikes and do like biking trips. And there's a lot of farm animals and stuff. Like bikepacking? Mm-hmm. Cool. um but what's the island called uh salt something i can't remember the name salt spring salt springs okay spring maybe um but the funny thing is i i was i had you know we hadn't showered because there's no showers where because we're camping this whole trip and i was in the tent and we got some of those shower wipes you know um just because like there was no shower so we bought some shower wipes and so i finally was like all right i'm gonna go like do a little wipe down full wipe down in the tent um this is like before we went to bed so i'm like stripped down wiping myself cleaning myself and alex is outside the tent and all a sudden hear this like shrieking
00:03:09
Speaker
and I'm like fully just not dressed inside of the tent and Alex is like screaming and I was like what just happened and she's like oh god oh god and like it was like full panic and I was like what happened and she's like you hurry hurry and I'm like no I had to like rush to put some clothes on and I get out and she like A yellow jacket flew into her drink, even though she covered it with like lightly.
00:03:36
Speaker
And she sipped her drink and the yellow jacket like stung her lip. Oh, no. That she was sipping. And and i and that's i had a pole I had to pull the stinger out. And there was like a whole bulb on it, too. But um you i was really like... And I felt very vulnerable in the tent anyways before this happened.
00:03:53
Speaker
And I was like, I hope nothing happens. And then sure enough, something did happen. And Alex, I guess, thinking the same thing. She's like, oh, I hope I don't need anything. And then, yeah, that happened. So anyway. Was her face all swollen? her note Her lip was a little swollen, yeah.
00:04:07
Speaker
ah But other than that, why are you talking about me? Free filler. That's what I said. i was like, I can't really tell it's swollen. Looks like he's had a little bit of Botox. But yeah.
00:04:18
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I did want to mention my D&D game is today, my first D&D game. So yeah other than's exciting we'll go into that after i play it and see how it went. um What you do did you Did you anything notable on your month off?
00:04:33
Speaker
No, I mean, I watched a lot of the Euros, which we'll get into a bit. um and trail running. Just trying to be outside more. Yeah, I know. i really embraced this having a month off. It doesn't happen for us often, but I really appreciate the NWSL union.
00:04:48
Speaker
ah union but yes this is This is a union he did break per the CBA. Yeah. So thank you to them for letting us get a break and enjoy the summer bit.
Reign's Match Performances
00:04:59
Speaker
So should we get into the, cause we did have some, the rain played a couple of friendlies.
00:05:04
Speaker
Let's get into it. um The first one ah they played the Urua Red Diamonds ladies at home. And I went to that match. ah The rain won two to one, two goals from our recently returned Sophia Huerta.
00:05:20
Speaker
Hell yeah. ah One in the run of play in the 27th minute. It was a Sally Menti cross that kind of bounced around the box a little bit. A couple of the Red Diamonds players could not quite clear it. And it came to Sofia Huerta outside the box.
00:05:35
Speaker
And she had a low driven shot and it went in. She hit that with a good amount of pace. Oh, yeah. It was cool to see the team kind of play against an opponent with different tactics than we see in then in the NWSL, just because they are really technical and really just composed as a team.
00:05:57
Speaker
Mm hmm. So that was neat to see something kind of new on that front. The starting lineup was a bit different just because we've signed some player. What player? One very notable player. notable player. We haven't gotten to talk about yet.
00:06:14
Speaker
And... Of course, as we mentioned before, Sophie Hort does back from her loan. So Prohaska got her first start. So that was that was nice to see, you know, even though Claudia Dickey was there.
00:06:31
Speaker
that they are trying to get some minutes just in case. Mm-hmm. Right? Because we have Prochaska and then Purcell, and Purcell's brand new.
00:06:42
Speaker
so We still have an injury. Well, we solve it, and then there are other goalkeepers injured, so. Yeah. And we did have, Claudia Dickey was out for a good stretch of time last year, too, so you never know what could happen. Yeah, and it's never good to have an unexperienced goalkeeper as your second.
00:06:57
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So good. Good on them for getting her minutes. My other takeaways from the game, obviously, the big signing we had is Mia Fischl coming from Chelsea.
00:07:08
Speaker
And a lot of other teams I heard talk on online, ah you know, they were wanting their teams to sign her. And we did it. I don't think anyone had us guessed as the team that she was going go to.
00:07:21
Speaker
No, but it it makes sense with her experience with Laura Harvey. Yeah, yeah. I swear Laura Harvey's just like picking people she wants from that U-20 team she coached.
00:07:33
Speaker
Yeah. um But we'll talk a little bit more about Fischl in a minute. But when I really liked in the first half was a little stagnant for about the first 20, 25 minutes.
00:07:43
Speaker
The Reign had a hard time getting the ball out of their defensive third. getting it through the midfield, and really being any sort of offensive threat. nope No Meza starting there, so Right.
00:07:55
Speaker
So it was nice to see that Mia Fischl and Montessir had some really nice play between the two of them. yeah And so that was encouraging as Fischl's pretty new to the team.
00:08:09
Speaker
And we've had some issues before that we've noted that Montessir is just a really creative player. And we haven't had a lot of... Other people in our forward line that have been able to take advantage of that. Like match her creativity kind of thing. Right.
00:08:26
Speaker
So that that was really encouraging to see. The ring did get scored on in the 36th minute. And it was kind of same old, same old, not defending across. Yeah, I saw the notes because I didn't get to go to the game and they didn't stream it. so I saw the notes about the goal that we conceded. And I was like, I didn't want to read this kind of goal that we gave up.
00:08:46
Speaker
Yeah, it was a corner and there's just really nobody marking properly. Yeah. yeah So ah in the 32nd minute, Adamas came on for official. So we were all kind of curious about what kind of match fit she was in because she was coming off an injury.
00:09:02
Speaker
Missed most of last season, which I'll see with an injury. um And so Adamas came on for her in the 32nd minute and then we made some subs at half with Mesa McLaren and and Glass coming on. um and off was menti mason and bug it was a lot more controlled in the second half of the reign and you could just tell it was because mezzo was on the field i did have a note in here that dalene to adama is adama's hit the side netting but i said this combo is so lethal yeah i'm ready for ah more dolly i'm may always ready for more dolly but um
00:09:37
Speaker
I just want to unlock more from her, from her but I think the way that's going to happen is if she gets more minutes at that higher position. Yeah. I think that she had, like, a really quick start, and we were like, oh, shoot.
00:09:51
Speaker
Yeah. We can get a lot out of this, but it takes time. She's young. And not and it's not necessarily, like... like they Like, Laura Harvey used her in a different way that I feel like is kind of just... That's kind of where we didn't get to see it keep going up as far as goal contributions and all of that stuff. So it's not like she hasn't been playing at a really good level.
00:10:16
Speaker
It's just... ah I think the team had different needs for her at the time. Right. Yeah, when they switched to the five back, you know, putting her in that more defensive role. Yeah. Just because they lack speed. Yeah.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah, but certainly not getting her more time up top is just going to be ben super beneficial for her development in this league as far as like the offensive threat threats and stuff and what she did in college. so Yeah, but I think, too, you have to – you can't just rely on somebody – to be to have a one-dimensional game yeah no totally yeah and i doubt that she's really had to well i don't know but you know really kind of harness that defensive aspect yeah i mean that's something that laura harvey loves out of a player and i think as a person like a player at this level like you do need to be have that honed in so it's only going to help her game in other parts too so
00:11:10
Speaker
All right. So Huerta got taken down in the box from a really great buildup, actually. Let's if I can find my notes here. it was a Coco. Coco but had a great through ball to Haidema in the box, and Haidema cut it back. The Red Diamonds player just kind of took her legs out.
00:11:29
Speaker
Fair penalty. um And Huerta, being Huerta, just stepped up, took the PK, and got it in.
Key Player Highlights: Huerta and Fischl
00:11:38
Speaker
Yeah, game ended two to one ah We did have an oops all Maddies moment in the match where every Maddie on our team was on the field. i didn't think that would actually happen. I didn't either. just seemed unlikely.
00:11:50
Speaker
But it was cool. The attendance was fairly good um yeah for a Sunday afternoon game where there was Mariners game happening across the street at the exact same time. Imagine if they played their regular season games on a Sunday afternoon. hu Oh, who who would knew?
00:12:08
Speaker
Yeah, so 6,495 in attendance for that match. That's pretty good. That's like way better than I thought it would be honestly. Same. i thought were going to like three, maybe. Yeah. So my overall take from the game um was we missed Sofia Horta.
00:12:24
Speaker
Hell yeah. She's back. She's back, baby. She's ready. She didn't... I don't feel like she got the regular playing time that she deserves over at... Well, obviously they're stacked though over there, so like... I feel like that was always going to be the case, but she got like the experience and all of that, so she can bring that back here.
00:12:41
Speaker
um But... Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how Laura Harvey works with all these really, really talented players back. And hopefully all them stay healthy. That's kind of the key.
00:12:54
Speaker
Yeah, and I think some people were surprised somewhat that she did come back. we I always knew. She was always coming back. But it happens a lot of times, you know, players go on loan to big clubs and decide they want something else.
00:13:12
Speaker
Yeah, but she likes it here yeah she's from idaho she's got connections here like to me there was never a doubt that she wasn't coming back yeah same um so anyone else who thought otherwise fools not everybody's comfortable in a long distance relationship okay i was like shout out to the lesbians
00:13:38
Speaker
ah Yeah, we had another friendly ah in Portland. It seemed like not very exciting, but we did win. So that's always exciting to beat Portland, um even if it was a bit questionable how we won. It was 0-0, went to penalties, 5-4. We won on penalties. Claudia Dickey saved. ah She got the game winning off her line saved in the shootout because she definitely was not on her line.
00:14:02
Speaker
That's the first thing I noticed when I saw that highlight. Yeah, and posted it. i was like, I wouldn't post that angle. mean, VAR. I was like, if VAR was having a say in that, that's definitely going to get retaken. But um it's a friendly, you know.
00:14:19
Speaker
win a win. Yeah. And it wasn't like she was... far off of her line it was just no there might have been a little paint on the heel maybe but like it was like one blade of glass it was like like the lines there and her foot's like one step next to it like right next to it but yeah we did win it so suck it portland um i can only say that until we go to portland again soon which is why i did not go to this game but yeah good for dickie like to see that happen to her when she comes back from her amazing
00:14:52
Speaker
performance with the us women's national team i did want to kind of make sure we highlighted maybe a player from this little break uh so i came up with special edition cooler player of summer break i love it uh the core player of the summer break 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 was this an excuse to just give this like give an award to somebody who we really like Sure. do they deserve it?
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah. And, like, I didn think if things didn't shake out the way that they did, it would be going to somebody else. Right. But I also think, like, there was a match. I did attend the match.
00:15:36
Speaker
I felt it appropriate to... give a player of the match for the one that I saw. yeah And course, none other Sophia Huerta.
00:15:50
Speaker
so Welcome back. Congratulations to the first ever player to get cooler player of summer break. What a success.
00:16:04
Speaker
ah Well, I hope that she can continue to be impactful and and you really saw it in the match. And just the the sheer confidence of somebody first game back with the team, right?
00:16:16
Speaker
Taking that pen, put a goal in and then just walk up and take the pen. Take a good one. Yeah, i and I think about like how many pens have we gotten this year?
00:16:26
Speaker
That's a great question. Because I'm just thinking about like there was a moment for a while where was like, i don't know if it's taking our pens if Fishlock isn't on the field and Megan Rapinoe's not here. And then we've figured out where to really get at them.
00:16:41
Speaker
And now I have like, I can feel a little bit, I can breathe easy a little bit. Yep. Anyways, congrats. um And 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. Make an appointment today and go try their limited edition LLG shrub cocktail.
00:16:57
Speaker
A seasonal shrub of lemon, lychee, and ginger. Add a healthy dose of... and gastura for added complexity i i hope i said that right um those bitters those yummy bitters check out their instagram at tdo seattle or better yet go drink there in person cheers cheers seven seven in the morning cheers i have water i did make a coffee um rain news big The big news, we signed me official to a very long-term contract through 2029. Yeah, that is huge.
00:17:31
Speaker
I mean, she's 24 years old, coming off of an injury, and i think some people are rightly a little bit s skeptical.
00:17:42
Speaker
And obviously, we don't know the details. exact details of this trade or this i i i gotta say i really really really want the leak to have more transparency with this stuff because it would make everything more interesting for stuff on our side i did see that it was a huge relatively huge amount of money but like she only had a year left on her contract right so it couldn't have been that much money Yeah.
00:18:06
Speaker
And we don't know like if the details that come out are accurate. Yeah. I think the deal, like her her contract is worth a lot. I don't think the transfer was that crazy.
00:18:17
Speaker
Yeah. It's valued, believed to be nearly $2.5 million. It's a lot of money in ah women's soccer. For sure. Apparently, that's the contract is believed to be worth nearly $2.5 million.
00:18:31
Speaker
It's four years. Do you think, like like you said, she's coming off injury. We don't fully know what her form is. We know what she has been capable of. And if she gets anywhere close to that, that'll be a great signing. But do you think the risk reward here is worth it?
00:18:45
Speaker
Absolutely. A young player, ah a really physical player, presence in the forward line for the reign is necessary and I always thought that she would be a good fit for the NWSL just because of her physicality yeah she's a strong person player body to have up there And I think you also have to know somebody coming off injury after, you know, having a really kind of storied beginning of their career.
00:19:17
Speaker
um You know, because she got drafted in the NWSL, but was like, screw that. I'm going to go to Tigris. Yeah. And so she got drafted by, was it Orlando or something?
00:19:32
Speaker
I can't remember, but... think they didn't tell her what she was going to do there. She was just like, I don't want to wait to see what they're going to do. Like, they don't even know what they want with me. Yeah, and it was before, you know, the free agency CBA.
00:19:45
Speaker
Yeah. So she went she went down to Liga Mekis and Femenil and absolutely killed it down there. I think that she has something she wants to prove, and it is a great place to do it in a team that is mid-table right now.
00:20:01
Speaker
And has, you know, she's not coming into a Utah or Chicago where you don't have the supporting cast around you necessarily. Sure. So, up yeah, I think this is a really good fit for her. And I know that Laura Harvey will take care of her and her injury and her needs.
00:20:20
Speaker
So I have the utmost excitement for her progress. I think it's worth it. Yeah. ah The other thing is, what does this mean for Jordan Heidema?
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah, that's the other question that comes with this. Because, you know, a lot of we're already splitting minutes, really, with our front line, kind of Harvey's playing them, depending on the opponent being pragmatic about that decision with the starters.
00:20:46
Speaker
And she's been very transparent and saying, you know, if that person's not up for it, somebody else is going in. And that has to do with training and, you know, just where they're at.
00:20:57
Speaker
And I feel like for at least last year and maybe the beginning of this year, hyidm has kind of just been a shoe in. Yeah. um Because, you know, you've got young players and their rookie seasons. You've got players that didn't get a ton of minutes last year, like Adamez.
00:21:14
Speaker
And so you just kind of wanted to see Hyatema get in there and like find her stride again. And she hasn't been able to do that. So I think what this means for her is either she's going to have to have a discussion with the coaching staff and find where she's needed and be okay with that and fill that role or go somewhere else that needs her to get a lot of minutes.
00:21:40
Speaker
Or use this as some sort of light and a fire in her because that possibility of her not getting a lot of minutes because her production rate's been so low that she's like, okay, now it's do or never.
00:21:54
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't think it's easy to find a team like the rain that I would hope that maybe that's going to be the case is that it lights a fire under her. um Just because I know that she likes to hear I like her as a person, um but the production isn't there.
00:22:10
Speaker
uh in terms of getting on the score sheet even assisting and ah do you think that maybe we don't utilize her aerial abilities is as much as maybe we could well and i think that's where huerta coming in yep is a huge benefit to haidama just because that crossing ability is incredible and if i and if haidama is able to get herself into those areas to be able to finish those crosses totally boom yeah production skyrockets Yeah, and i'm i you know like I think it's it's easy to be like, I don't know if Haidem is going to want to stay here. um And you know like it won't shock me if she decides she wants to be somewhere where she's going to be the clear starter um and not have to really fight as hard um for minutes. But at the same time, i love having a team that's just stacked like crazy up ah up top.
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, and as long as the player is all right with their role. Yeah. And is happy and confident. Yeah. They're not going to want to leave. No, because we got Lynn. Lynn isn't, she's not as young as she used to be. Right. We don't know where many officials at fitness wise. That's going to take some time. Adam is still super young.
00:23:18
Speaker
So it's not like I feel like we don't have anybody that's like a clear favorite necessarily at this point. I would say Darlene, you could definitely like always have her as a starter. It's just a matter of what position she's going to be in.
00:23:29
Speaker
hmm. um But I think there's definitely room for everybody. There's room for everybody. um So hopefully, you know, Harvey kind of makes sure everyone feels comfortable and confident in what they're going to bring to the team.
00:23:44
Speaker
Well, and I think that that's been, she Harvey's talked about that in the press conferences, just post-match, talking about how the team has just such an open communication. Yeah.
00:23:55
Speaker
And... that The culture is really transparent within the team. And so hopefully they'll just be able to figure it out and get the best because that's all you want. You want the best out of every player on your roster.
00:24:10
Speaker
For sure. And if for Haidama, that's to be a killer super sub, Chloe Kelly style, you know, like that's that's where she needs to be. Yeah. But we'll see.
00:24:20
Speaker
Yeah. um We'll wrap that up on there for the me official stuff. Other rain news that happened. We'll kind of just fly through these things. ah Olivia Vanderjah and Julia Lester both went out on loan. It's kind of nice that we finally have a place for players to go if they're not getting minutes here. We also don't have the space at the moment.
00:24:38
Speaker
um Ola went to Spokane Zephyr and Julia Lester went to Sporting Jacks, which I believe is... She's from that area, so um she'll be able to go back home for a bit. i don't know what will happen later, but we' we're kind of all still seeing the what happens to players that go on loans and if they have places for them Because I think the Mizzet thing is kind of unusual yeah um but as far as earning your spot and becoming an obvious starter after you have your little loan spell out there. But don't know.
00:25:07
Speaker
is a starter a while. I mean, the Super League is also new Yeah, yeah. yeah So... This is, it's an experiment and it's nice to have a place for players to land and stay fit.
00:25:17
Speaker
Totally. Get minutes. Yeah. Which does allow us to like kind of have more players in and out.
Contract Extensions and National Team Debuts
00:25:23
Speaker
Um, anyways, Meza got a contract extension.
00:25:27
Speaker
Amazing. Signed through 2028. Love this. Amazing. Amazing. Great. Amazing. um yeah obviously this needed to happen huge yeah our midfield mysteries about when fishlock is is finally hangs up her boots we've we've figured it out and i couldn't be more happy about it yeah uh sally keep extending this Yeah, I was like, we could ah we could even do through 2038, maybe.
00:25:58
Speaker
um Sally Mente got her contract extension. She signed through 2027. There's a mutual option for 2028. Good for her for taking her moment that she needed to have and get that contract.
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah, good for her. you Yeah, didn't have to go on loan. ah The other one that probably doesn't serve as anybody is Lily Woodham. There was a mutual contract termination and she's already signed with Liverpool women's team.
00:26:23
Speaker
ah Good for her. Just didn't work out here. That's how it is sometimes. So that's kind of the main highlights of what happened. on this month uh with terms of roster stuff um other thing we got to go over is the usm's national team friendlies i thought we would cover this sooner so i kind of had to refresh myself a little bit of what happened these happened it was like the week after or like yeah it was like the week after the league kind of wrapped up before the before the month-long break anyways claudie dickey got her moment yeah first start first cap
00:26:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think she looked great. Yeah, I thought she looked really great. She didn't have much to do, to be fair. um But she came up big when she needed to. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. She did. She looked good. She looked comfortable. She looked stoic. She looked meant like she was meant to be there.
00:27:12
Speaker
um Her resting face is so good And I was so happy to see people in Blue Sky like notice How like just in the zone she gets when she's on the field Yeah I think she's think she's locked in the second second second spot for the goalkeeper Yeah I agree with that I think the scary thing with Claudia Dickey is she has room to grow Yeah She's already good.
00:27:41
Speaker
Great. Maybe even, but goalkeepers peak late twenties. we We got a couple years. Yeah. Now she's got the confidence of, of this behind her. So that's great.
00:27:52
Speaker
Uh, Sam, Sam is and Jordan bug got some caps. Finally. yeah senior national team amazing um well deserved ameza i you know would have preferred she gotten a little bit more of a like she seemed to be like using that sixth position that's kind of where she was at and i was hoping it could just because of the opponent we didn't get to see as much of what she can do as i would like um but she looked good i don't think yeah I have any complaints. She was trying to get in and challenging players and all that stuff. So great for her. Jordan Bug, unfortunately, we did not get the Germa Bug collab.
00:28:30
Speaker
I know. I was like, oh, it could happen. No, it didn't happen. Yeah, but she looked good. She looked comfortable. um Yeah. And then Lynn, classic Lynn, got a goal against Ireland. Early goal, too. That was nice.
00:28:46
Speaker
I just love seeing her last name on everything. I know we do. I lost him so good. And then the other two players I wanted to shout out because they I thought they played really well. I didn't realize ay Avery Patterson was going to play so well.
00:28:58
Speaker
Yeah, she showed up. Yeah, she was really good. I'm excited to see more for her on the national team. I put Avery Patterson. Hell yeah. And then i also put Alyssa Thompson. Hell yeah. Alyssa Thompson. Unbelievable in these games.
00:29:11
Speaker
Yeah, she is just something else. sure She just ran through everybody. Yeah. Her ability to like create her own chances is and unmatchable.
00:29:23
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, and I see a lot of that in Adames. When Adames comes into a match, there's just a spark. yeah Like a hunger and like need to just make the game hers.
00:29:36
Speaker
Yeah. And make something happen. Totally. ah But yeah, Alyssa Thompson, man, I wish she would be on a better team. Yeah.
00:29:45
Speaker
I mean, yeah, it just seems like Angel City has the resources to be really good and maybe something will change with this new ownership that they got. um But they definitely seem way more focused on brand image than they are on creating an elite team.
00:30:00
Speaker
Yeah. Which is fine by me, but Alyssa Thompson deserves better. shi sure does. Any other thoughts on the US Financial team? None.
00:30:11
Speaker
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00:30:24
Speaker
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00:31:04
Speaker
Uh, the other major tournaments we got going on, Euros, AFCON, Copa America, uh, England, they did it. So a lot of my month was spent watching the Euros.
00:31:15
Speaker
It is outside of anything the U.S. Women's National Team plays in, including the World Cup. It is my favorite tournament. Um. I really love the England team for whatever reason, um but they kind of struggled in this tournament.
00:31:30
Speaker
um They lost their first match to France, which France was kind of everyone's dark horse. Just a lot of ah young. They brought a young team. They brought they didn't bring a couple of players that we thought they were going to bring in England and and ah ended up losing to them in the first match. So it wasn't a clean cut tournament for England.
00:31:48
Speaker
But in the end, they pulled it out. through some ugly, ugly penalty shootouts. And been Spain surprised me in the last game. I thought they didn't play as well as they could have.
00:32:00
Speaker
England shut them down pretty well. Yeah, I mean, they they followed a game plan and it worked. So i I was pleasantly surprised, but not too surprised with England.
00:32:13
Speaker
yeah There were questions after that first match that they lost. People were really hoping they were going to lose. I was not one of those people. um Yeah. Impressive performance. I mean, Chloe Kelly stole the show.
00:32:28
Speaker
What a player that is. Yeah. When I saw her go to take that penalty, I was like, she's going to win it. And then their their other, their breakout star, Ajemang. Unbelievable. She was incredible.
00:32:40
Speaker
So it was, it was a really fun tournament to watch. And of course we got to see Wales in their first major tournament ever. Congrats Jess Fishlock, too, getting that goal. So she, you know, it had to be her.
00:32:53
Speaker
Yeah. Who else is going to score? It was scrappy, but it had to be her. um Gets their first Euros goal for the for the ah Welsh women's team. um People, it was pointed out, you know, she's the oldest player to score in the Euros.
00:33:07
Speaker
And at one point she was the youngest Welsh player to score heroes as well um yeah cool cool stuff to see from her i was really unfortunate that whales just really really could not keep up i mean they had the group of death it was not an easy group to be fair no at all it's probably the toughest straw they could have gotten absolutely but they for the most part held their own yeah it was a slog for them but it Yeah, they they did what they needed to do to, you know, try and at least match what was happening.
00:33:44
Speaker
Yeah, they held in for like at least one game or like kind of in the beginning and then just kind of went downhill after that. Yeah, I mean, they' it's a growing program. yeah And but, you know, we got to see Fishlock. We got to see James Turner out there.
00:34:00
Speaker
So that was neat. um And of course, the host nation, Switzerland. And from everything i heard I saw and heard about the tournament and about um how it felt.
00:34:12
Speaker
To be there, Switzerland did an incredible job of hosting. And you to the team, including Srinogorchevic, AMC, was able to ride that all the way um into the quarterfinal, to the knockout round, where, of course, they had to play Spain.
00:34:28
Speaker
Yeah, and Spain. i love the way Spain plays. I was rooting for them um when they're when they're clicking. There's a lot of fun. um But they did they did go into the half 0-0 in that game against Spain, Switzerland.
00:34:40
Speaker
um And eventually that they broke. And the stats are like very, very much not in Switzerland's favor. I was like, when they showed the stats in the final with like England and Spain and their passing, I was just like, it's almost double of what like. Yeah, they kept showing the number passes. was crazy. Spain's. Yeah, it's hard, hard to keep up with them. But yeah, England's England's just got a little bit more grit in them. Yeah.
00:35:07
Speaker
Been there, done that, you know? hmm. Yeah, the Euros was fun and was
International Tournament Highlights: Euros and AFCON
00:35:14
Speaker
good to see. There were some questions surrounding England going into the tournament.
00:35:17
Speaker
I don't think that they were as serious as people made them out to be with, you know, Hannah Hampton coming in for Mary Earps. and Yeah. I feel like the good thing, though, is they had players that were finally willing to like, we like we had this problem with the US, right? Like, I think there was some older players that didn't actually, they they should have maybe not gone for these call ups and stuff. And they just kind of hang out, hang, out hanged out, hung out for a while. and And might have been beneficial for them to actually take some time away. Yeah, absolutely. ah Other things that happened, we got AFCON.
00:35:48
Speaker
I wasn't sure if we pronounced it Wafcon, Wavecon, but we're only talking about women's soccer on here. so Yeah, we decided that we are not gendering these tournaments because our default is women's. Exactly. So the AFCON.
00:36:00
Speaker
It sounds like it wasn't easy to find these games in the U.S. No, they were on like some random channel that was part of like the extended sports package that would have cost me $100 more a month on YouTube TV.
00:36:11
Speaker
It's too much money. There already so much, so much soccer going on. Yeah. But yeah, Nigeria won their 10th AFCON title. Congrats. That's a lot.
00:36:22
Speaker
yeah You can't, eat next time you're going to need three hands to do that. Crazy. Yeah. um And then we've got the Copa America final, which was set last yesterday with Columbia against Brazil.
Copa America Final Preview
00:36:37
Speaker
And that'll be on Friday, August 2nd at 2 p.m.
00:36:40
Speaker
on FS1, FuboTV, and VIX. That's going to be fun. It's going to lot of fun. Very excited for that. um Kind of wraps it up, I think, for WOSO. Yeah. International.
00:36:51
Speaker
ah Reigns next match. We're playing Angel City FC Friday, August 1st, 7.30, Lumen Field. It's the Pride match. They got some lot of fun stuff. It seems like playing for it, too. did you watch the little ah open training video with the drag queen that they did? Did they have an extended one?
00:37:08
Speaker
It was just like three minutes long. No, I didn't watch that. I saw like the quick the quick one. I don't think I saw the full one. Yeah, it was pretty funny. don't I'm excited about this. the Like them embracing like bringing drag. I mean, obviously we love drag queens here and supporting local drag is amazing.
00:37:23
Speaker
Very excited about that. ah But to highlight it and openly that be like the huge um draw to this match, to this pride match, I think it's incredible.
00:37:35
Speaker
yeah Well done. The Sounders could never. They could. But would they? I think they would. Yeah. I think they would. i wouldn't say that about most MLS teams.
00:37:47
Speaker
Yeah. is as Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they would definitely get some people who'd be very unhappy about it more than like women's soccer, which is why I like prefer women's soccer these days is because there's just like the toxicity of what comes with following men's sports is just not fun.
00:38:03
Speaker
And women's women's sports just seems to have so much more social awareness. Yeah. And openness around it. Um, Yeah, so the Pride match should be fun. ah We will be there.
00:38:13
Speaker
Come say hi. Yeah, that is Friday. If you're not in town, you can go catch it. NWSL Plus and Paramount Plus will be airing it ah Things we want to see.
Reign vs Angel City FC Preview
00:38:24
Speaker
and The first thing I put is Sophia where to starting.
00:38:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's ah i think that's a shooting. um and i want to see official get some meaningful minutes um you know with a starting crew even maybe um and how just to kind of feel out how the new forward line dynamic works with her inserted in there i think i'd rather see her come on ah person personally i just want to see her like watch the game first a bit and then see where she can kind of fit in a little bit more Well, good thing is it's not up to us.
00:38:59
Speaker
yeah We'll see who Laura Harvey listened to. I'm sure she's listening to the our podcast to get our tactics and then we can brag about who is right. um Yeah, i'm I'm excited. Finally, it's all back.
00:39:12
Speaker
um New players, players, old new old players coming back. Second half of the season, too. i mean, this is the this is the time but to push it up, push it up another level. Yeah, this is lock-in time.
00:39:26
Speaker
Yeah. You know, where where we're sitting in the table is a really volatile place. There are between ah lot of the between playoffs and not playoffs is a one game threshold right now.
00:39:40
Speaker
So they really need to lock in and get some results. Yeah, and they also need to be worried about Alyssa Thompson. Yeah, for this match. ah Yeah.
00:39:52
Speaker
So, go to the game. Get your tickets. Put Dolly honor. was that? Put Dolly in honor. Yeah, please. And get your tickets if you haven't. They've got like a deal for 19 bucks right now to celebrate the official. um Who chose number 19. Yeah, no excuses to not go...
00:40:06
Speaker
I think that's pretty much it for everything. Shoutouts. You any shoutouts? You do yours first. I just want to shout out Tobin Heath retiring because I think that's kind of a big deal, especially since we didn't realize at the time that her last ever professional goal, we watched her do it in a rain jersey against Angel
Tobin Heath's Retirement and Listener Support
00:40:23
Speaker
City. It's all kind of fitting.
00:40:25
Speaker
um The thing that I was excited about, because i do follow the Tour of France and the Women's Tour de France is kind of newer and it's kind of fun to see how it's been developing and stuff. and I just go watch the highlights if you're interested in getting into it. Just watch the highlights. Otherwise, you're going to be spending a lot of your time just watching nothing happen.
00:40:40
Speaker
um But there is like a highlight thing that NBC puts out. But the cool thing is that Tobin Heath was invited back, but they told her she could only come back because she was like interviewing cyclists last year at the Women's Tour de France.
00:40:51
Speaker
The only they told her you can come back and do this. We'll cover it. But you have to participate in the L'État-Pé, think is how it's pronounced. And they get they like have people who are allowed to participate in like this part of this one of the stages hmm and apparently it's like super difficult and i told her like if you want if you're going to participate though like just know you actually have to train for it is that why she's been biking all the time yeah i keep seeing that on yeah so it's like a crazy difficult like there's like a it's like a semi mountain it's like a mountain course and those mountain courses are brutal
00:41:22
Speaker
um I think it's got, what is it? 20. I'm guessing she's going to do the most more difficult one, hopefully. ah so the more difficult one's got 3,490 meters of elevation gain.
00:41:34
Speaker
meters of elevation gain I went mountain biking recently and I have realized I am not built for that. It's so hard going uphill. It's terrible. I hate it. So i'm like I'm hoping she films it and we can kind of see how how it all went for her. So when does she start?
00:41:48
Speaker
i think today's that stage, like that little stage, because they they set them off before the rest of the like the actual tour goes. And then they have like cutoff times. And if they don't finish, then they have to like get off the course. But they get to be up front for watching the rest of the race, which is kind of fun.
00:42:03
Speaker
But I'm still new to figuring what that deal is. So um anyways, any shout outs for you? I was trying to think of one while you were talking. I can't think of any. Okay, great.
00:42:14
Speaker
Shout out to you guys. Thanks for listening. We're happy to be back. Yeah, for sure. Tell your friends. Yeah. I told some people in Tacoma that I met on my Canada trip about this. And it sounds like they're they're new to Tacoma and they were like, maybe this will be like the reason we we got to get into sports for the first time.
00:42:30
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's like, do it. Do it, lady. Do it, lady. ah Thanks again to our sponsor, to The Doctor's Office. As always, you can go follow us on social media. We're on Blue Sky and Instagram, Cooler Guild Pod. ah You can send us an email. We love an email.
00:42:43
Speaker
Thecoolerguild at gmail.com. You can also visit us on our website, our main site, sounderatheart.com forward slash thecoolerguild. We're also on YouTube, youtube.com forward slash at the cooler guild. Most episodes, there'll be episodes of video up there sometimes.
00:42:57
Speaker
Um, and if wherever you're listening, can go rate five stars. We would appreciate that. There is also a tip option on Sounder at Heart page. Yeah. If you don't want to do the full subscription to Sounder at Heart, although I encourage you to do that.
00:43:09
Speaker
If you would like to give me ah money for a new computer. yeah if It's not going well over there. My my MacBook Air was not designed for podcast podcasting capabilities.
00:43:24
Speaker
it's It's kind of a miracle you're even able to do this. It's a struggle over here. ah Yeah, three, five stars. Tell your friends. ah We're stoked to see everybody um at the game on Friday. Bring people. Bring other people and men.
00:43:38
Speaker
Bring people. Hit us up on Blue Sky. um Maybe we can do a spot where we can all meet up. Probably Hooverville. Love me some Hooverville. I mean, at the met at the game.
00:43:52
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Well, I'll probably be at Hooverville beforehand. yeah We'll see. We'll see what we have time for. Uh, yep. Till next time. I'm Coop. I'm Van.
00:44:02
Speaker
Stay cool, y'all. Stay cool.
00:44:22
Speaker
do did you I gotta leave my work in minutes, twenty minutes