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Coffee & Valkyries, S1E3: OL Reign NWSL Challenge Cup semifinal preview
78 Plays2 years ago
The Ride of the Valkyries team -- including Jacob Cristobal, June Eden, Steve Voght, Sylvia Bullock, and Susie Rantz -- discuss OL Reign's undefeated group-stage run to the NWSL Challenge Cup semifinals and preview the semifinal matchup between OL Reign and Racing Louisville.
Coffee & Valkyries - a podcast by the Ride of the Valkyries team. Part of the Nos Audietis family of podcasts and is brought to you by Sounder at Heart which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21, 2023. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more: https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/
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Transcript
Episode Introduction
00:00:10
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome to an episode, a new episode of Coffee and Valkyries. It's been a while, but we're here to talk about all things NWSL Challenge Cup ahead of the rain semifinal match on Wednesday. I'm here with a lot of guests, which is so cool. So I'm just going to say hello to all of them really quickly before we start diving into questions. We have Sills, Steve, Jacob and June. Hi, everyone. And welcome to podcast.
00:00:40
Speaker
Hi. Hello.
Reign's Undefeated Streak in Group Stage
00:00:43
Speaker
I just wanted to remind folks before we jump into questions how the ring got here. They went undefeated in their six Challenge Cup matches in the West Group against Portland, Angel City and San Diego, which earned them the top seed heading into the semifinals where they'll face Racing Louisville. The other matchup will be against North Carolina Courage and Kansas City Current with the winner of both games heading to the final.
00:01:09
Speaker
So starting there with that very, very quick recap, what what kind of stood out to you all about the rains run during the group stage and maybe Silves, I'll pass it to you first.
Strategic Game Plan & Player Rotation
00:01:21
Speaker
Oh, OK. I mean, obviously the big, big part is they went undefeated, right, draw and wrestle wins. I'm not going to say it again. There's a lot of football, sorry.
00:01:35
Speaker
But yeah, I think that they just had a really good game plan. I thought they were excellent in terms of rotating what spots they had set for the Challenge Club versus the regular season. I think it was the right balance of sort of everyday starters versus, you know, people who are going to get more playing time during the Challenge Cup. And it gave a chance for, I think, a couple of players to really stand out, solidify, you know, their spots on the team, whatever role that might be. But yeah, I thought it was a very
00:02:04
Speaker
professional tournament performance through the first stages just to get to the semifinal. So for me, that's what I saw. Yeah, you talk about that depth. And Jacob, I don't know if you want to go into a little bit of just remind folks about what the rotation looked like if that stood out to you.
Standout Performances & Defensive Strength
00:02:24
Speaker
Yeah, with the headliner being that they did not concede a goal throughout the group stage, for me, one of the standout players from that was Shay Holmes, the play that they drafted this year from the college draft. But she was pretty much ingrained into the system, being that she was training with the team last year while she was still playing for UW.
00:02:50
Speaker
And so she pretty much like knew the culture and what Harvey wanted from her. And so in terms of like any sort of rookie adjustment into playing at the pro level, I don't think we saw that really any moments of struggling from her from that aspect. I don't remember the number off the top of my head, but just the fact that she played made an appearance in just about in every group stage game and was
00:03:19
Speaker
I think pretty much hot in like top five, maybe for sure top 10 in terms of minutes total, total played. It was just a nice thing in terms of the overall, like they didn't get any goals. And I think one of the reasons was that was because of the performances that Shay Holmes put out. And then obviously the rotation of the goalkeepers in Claudia Dickey and Laurel library.
00:03:45
Speaker
each of them getting starts and putting up clean sheets. Dickey finished the group stage campaign, tied on clean sheets with Katie Lund and Louisville for clean sheets throughout the Challenge Cup. And, you know, it just goes back to what Harvey had been saying all along that this goalkeeper trio that she has is the best that she says she's ever coached. And we know, like, just the lineage of goalkeepers that Laura Harvey's coached as
00:04:14
Speaker
Head coach of the rain. So, yeah, I think we got to see. That, you know, that statement kind of backed up on the field.
Elise Bennett's Impactful Role
00:04:26
Speaker
Yeah, to validate your stat, Shay Holmes had 526 of 540 minutes and only three players played all minutes of the Challenge Cup group stage, so she was up there. Yeah, I forget if she made a Challenge Cup team of the tournament, but I know I've
00:04:47
Speaker
voted for her and Lisa and wanted to defend her positions. I don't know if that's a crazy vote to make, but just from what I just remember about the challenge, I'm like, that stood out to me. She got my vote too. We haven't seen the results yet, so we'll see if she makes it. June, how about you? Did anything stand out just from the team performance aspect in the group stage?
00:05:10
Speaker
Uh, obviously we didn't give up a goal in six games and that's always good. No matter what you're going through, no matter your opposition. Uh, it's a lot of rotation, uh, in the back at goalkeeper and still very organized. Uh, even when it was occasionally hard to find the goal, we were not conceding much. We were not giving up chances. We weren't giving up anything. Um, but on the other end, I really loved Elise Bennett's performances throughout the.
00:05:37
Speaker
throughout the Challenge Cup. She only scored one goal, but it was a big goal that got us the win over Portland. And even in the games where she wasn't scoring, she's just such a menace pressing from the front. She creates havoc and chaos whenever she's on the pitch, and I really loved seeing her starting to click with that front line, since I don't feel like we'd gotten all that much chance to see her gel prior to the Challenge Cup kicking off. I'm really excited about what she can bring going forward.
00:06:08
Speaker
And to be fair, I think he could have given her a certain goal in that game against Portland if it wasn't called offside. Yes, absolutely.
00:06:17
Speaker
Yeah, I, Laura said, Laura Harvey said something kind of around the period when Elise Bennett was starting to emerge a little bit more with the rain, where she said she had a conversation with her saying, we brought you to the rain because of how special you are and what you bring. And she kind of felt like Elise was trying to be a different player to match like what some of the other four words were like with the rain. Laura said, no, we want you to be you. And it seems like that kind of helped spring her and really,
00:06:46
Speaker
allow her to do what she does so well, which are all the things you just pointed out. Steve, we've hit shutouts. We've hit depth. Anything else that stood out to you in the group stage from a
Emerging Talents & Development Benefits
00:07:00
Speaker
rain?
00:07:00
Speaker
Um, you know, kind of to piggyback off a little bit of that, I want to give a shout out to Ryan Brown, who also really kind of stepped up and showed that the rain future is looking very solid after a few years where we were asking who's going to take over when, you know, players like Lou Barnes retire. And I think we're getting some good answers in this tournament. And one other thing I do want to shout out is the format of the tournament this year. I really enjoyed a lot more than when it was all crammed at the beginning of the season. I liked having some of the games interspersed so that we're,
00:07:29
Speaker
able to use these games more thoughtfully as a developmental tournament for some of these players to really kind of show what they're going to be capable of doing and to maybe earn additional time and regular season play. And, you know, it sounds like this is probably going to be the last year that Challenge Cup in this format, but I'm hoping that maybe they're going to be able to use this idea to kind of develop maybe a US Open Cup or something similar in the future that we're going to be able to enjoy kind of interspersed in the season.
00:07:59
Speaker
Yeah, I like it a lot more, like you said, than the preseason tournament, even though they didn't want you to call it that last year. And it felt like in particular in a World Cup year, it was a really, really good solution to play a lot of games in that August period for the Challenge Cup to give a lot of the players who are here in the state still a chance to keep getting matches and
00:08:22
Speaker
Um, keep their fitness up. So I liked it from that perspective. It's going to be really interesting. I don't particularly love having to play Portland, Angel City and San Diego so many times a year. So I'm happy that that's changing.
00:08:36
Speaker
I want to give a little shout out to Olivia Athens, who got a lot of minutes as well, similarly to Shay Holmes. And she led the challenge cup group stage and progressive passes. And I think when she can find those pockets and the team can really get her involved, I think she made a big impact. And I think the one thing that maybe
00:08:59
Speaker
With a lot of rotation, we didn't see as much of was goals, which has kind of been an issue for the rain lately. They scored seven and six matches, and it'll be interesting to see if that desk that depth can bring a little bit more to the challenge cups in my final, which is what I'm going to turn to now, unless anyone wants to add anything about the group stage.
Preview of Reign vs. Racing Louisville
00:09:21
Speaker
Um, so the rain are going to be facing racing Louisville who finished second in their group, but they were the top second place team, which is how they advanced to the semi-finals as the number four seed. Um, what should people know about racing Louisville heading into this match? Um, I think the, if you are listening to this, but you hadn't seen the news, they're going to be without, uh, one of their biggest, uh, playmakers in Wong-Shuang, uh,
00:09:51
Speaker
She basically left Sunday evening to go play for China or correct me if I'm wrong. What's the name of the tournament? Asia Cup. I think it's like Asia Cup. Asia Cup. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, that's that is pretty big for Louisville because she's been as good as advertised when she joined the team in terms of just being
00:10:18
Speaker
the playmaker for them. So I think that right right off the bat for me is like that's the big thing that people should know about like they're going to be without one of their key impact players. That is one impact player they'll be missing. They've also been dealing recently and I'm not sure what it will look like on Wednesday with some injuries.
00:10:40
Speaker
Hey, Savannah DeMello was out with, um, yellow card and red card, yellow card accumulation and red cards, both in recent matches. And they've been without Jalen Howell, but they still managed to get a result, um, against Portland. Um, and I'm wondering what, what you all think are some of their like danger points, even without Wong Chuan on the field, then be that she scares me.
00:11:08
Speaker
I mean we saw what she did in the World Cup and she got the game winner this weekend regular season played against Portland as you mentioned and she was everywhere on that pitch when they played them she's just
00:11:22
Speaker
you can't really defend her for 90. So I'm sure there's a tactical plan in place to try to at least minimize her. But then you also have Ari, if they decided to start, Chenna, like they have a really formidable attack and players that can progress the ball from that midfield position. And again, that yellow card suspension, I don't think it would matter anyway, but that doesn't carry over to challenge cup. So they'll have the mellow. I'm not sure about how, I don't know if that was injury or,
00:11:51
Speaker
what that looks like. Also, I don't know if Pickett's healthy. That makes a world of difference. Yeah. Carson Pickett was led a lot of stats in the Challenge Cup group stage and has missed the last, I believe, two matches for them with injury. So it'll be interesting to keep an eye on who starts at left back for them. June or Steve, anything stand out that we haven't mentioned about Louisville?
Analyzing Louisville's Key Players
00:12:19
Speaker
Yeah, I would add their defense has been really stingy this year. They have the second few schools conceded, I believe behind Houston, randomly enough. Yeah. So, so considering the rain, I've been struggling to find goals lately going up against a really solid defense that's going to limit their opportunities. I think that's going to be a big challenge on Wednesday, and they're going to have to find ways to kind of break down the racing defense and get a lot of shots on Katie Lynn to get a couple in.
00:12:49
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, and in challenge cup too, like they'd only conceded two goals until late on their final match, uh, when they went down a player, um, and then gave up a couple more, but, uh, don't know that we'll see them, but I'm always nervous when like Nadim or Jess McDonald are on the pitch, just too much history there with the rain. Uh,
00:13:17
Speaker
Yeah, they have a lot of as we've listed off, they have a lot of attacking options, which is
00:13:24
Speaker
which is really nerve wracking. I think once, once that I saw at least in the, um, regular season, which Louisville hasn't really shifted how they play in the challenge cup either is like their ability to get down the field when they're attacking is the, like the quickest in the league. Um, they have a lot of speed and they have a, like a lot of playmakers who can make those passes. So that definitely scares me about how the rain defend that.
00:13:49
Speaker
No, yeah, they play very, I like that word, they play very downhill. I guess my other big question would be, do we have an update on Balsa?
00:14:01
Speaker
We didn't after the game that, um, Laura Harvey said that she felt pain from it that like came on a cup, you know, a minute or so from the, um, challenge, um, from Anna more house. And so they were just like super precocious and taking her out and they hadn't heard an update after the match. So she wasn't wrapped in ice on the bench and she went back out into the bench and sat at the bench. So, um, we're hoping that it's more positive.
00:14:31
Speaker
So I think, I think we play a different game, um, when she starts and I'd like to see maybe what, uh, like boats and Bennett combination looks like, like just to see if we can do something a little different in terms of goalscoring. And now what we haven't had most of the year, we do have Roosevelt available. So I wonder if that's something Laura is going to throw out because we don't have a regular season game this weekend. So you can kind of put all your chips in the middle of the table.
00:15:00
Speaker
Yeah. Um, in the general sense, after Sunday's match against Orlando, Laura had just said without going into full specifics, it's a mix of, it's a combo of like, see how everyone's feeling, uh, with how, with how our training went today for them. And we're at today, as in we're recording this on a Monday evening, the training they have, um, tomorrow, uh, the day before the game. But she also said like, uh, anybody that played 90 minutes on Sunday,
00:15:30
Speaker
Mostly, you know, probably isn't going to be. I don't remember if she said the word starting Susie or like, but basically she had said that anyone that played that played 90 minutes on Sunday. Probably may not feature for the challenge. Am I final, but then.
00:15:48
Speaker
You know, it's, it's one of those, it could just be Laura saying things to play mind games with everybody. And cause she doesn't, she doesn't show her hand at all. So she, she would absolutely kick, kick all her asses in poker. Um, but, uh, yeah, so, um, that's as far as she went in terms of addressing what the match day squad could be for the semi, uh, semi final.
00:16:15
Speaker
Yeah, considering they will play on Saturday if they win and they're definitely going to have to travel, that's been confirmed for that match. I think she's going to be a little more conservative for this game because she really trusts her depth. I mean, Sam Hyde didn't start this weekend, so.
00:16:30
Speaker
Um, feels like she's probably a given on the back line, I would guess. Um, and Zara King didn't have planning minutes. Elise Bennett didn't play very many coming on. So they have a lot of forward options. And if both ulcers healthy, she obviously didn't get minutes at all against the pride really. So, uh, they have a lot of options. Um, and I'd love to see Angelina get some more minutes too, because I really liked what I saw when she came on. Yes. Right.
00:16:57
Speaker
I think that's a good shout as well because she hasn't gotten to play a whole lot since coming back from injury. So yeah, and a similar player profile, so it doesn't, again, spoil her choice with depth. A great way to build a squad. So yeah, you can switch her out for Lavelle. I think we'd be just fine.
00:17:14
Speaker
It's nice to have gone from half the season really struggling at that progressive midfield point to suddenly having options.
ZR King's Understated Contributions
00:17:20
Speaker
Yes. Right. It was like a ball carrying the ball possession. We were putting, I mean, I know Bethany Balzer played, like Jordan Heinemann got minutes there. I think we were pretty desperate. We did make an ole up there for a minute. We did. We did everything. It was very much midfield by committee for a little while. Whoever was in the spot, congratulations. You're the 10 for now. Yeah.
00:17:43
Speaker
Susie, also you mentioned her name, but also shout out to Zara King as somebody who put in some stand up performances as part of the challenge campaign campaign. You know, it's one of those kind of like with Elise Bennett, where the stats may not show it or at least in terms of basic stats, like scoring goals, getting assists. But I mean, there was there was at least at least two games where she was the impact player.
00:18:09
Speaker
best player on the field because of just what she was doing against defense is having them try to chase her as best as they could. But also she did set up some goals and also at least scored one from my memory. But yeah, that was another player in terms of like how did OLA do so well in the group stage of Challenge Cup to get to where they are? That's because of players like ZR King really kind of
00:18:37
Speaker
become, you know, uh, become, you know, playing her game as the way she, uh, she knows how to, and, you know, someone like Laura and the coaching staff just enabling her to like, go do your thing. That's a great one. A great point. Yeah. At the game she had on the road against San Diego. Yeah. Yeah. She was playing out of her mind and she had a, like a banger that was saved and pushed off the post or something that game.
00:19:05
Speaker
and had a good reaction meme from it. Was that the 3D? Was that the 3O? It was. Yeah, she was in her bag. She had a really lovely post after that sharing about really focusing on making sure she brought Joy back to soccer this year and being very intentional about that. She said she was the happiest she's ever been. So it's really nice always to see a player who is playing with so much joy. Absolutely.
00:19:33
Speaker
All right. Any last thoughts about the rain or racing Louisville before we sign off? I gotta just say I'm thrilled. We're able to play the semi-final at home this year, even if we're not going to be able to have the championship. Still snaps to that. Staying home on a short turnaround is so much better than having to travel. Not just, not just playing away from home and playing at your opponent's field.
00:19:59
Speaker
but you're the one seat. Okay. I'll never be over it. I'll never get over it. Sorry. Well, Laura had a nice little clip during her post game about yesterday about just the scenario where, yeah, they plan Wednesday and if they win, they have to travel. And she basically said, yeah, it's great finishing being the one seat in this thing.
00:20:19
Speaker
Right. You just get screwed every time. It's almost like they forgot. West Coast teams exist even though they have a West Coast region. Yeah. So I do think for anyone that's listening to this and if they just don't know how or why it is that if it is rain, wind on Wednesday and then play the Challenge Cup final, basically somewhere else, even though they would be, you know, technically the ones, you know, the hosting team. I think we should just kind of remind everybody it's the simple fact that
00:20:49
Speaker
The day that the challenge is happening, it's scheduled for Saturday. It'll be on, it's on a CBS broadcast window of basically 9 30 AM our time here in Seattle. So that kind of makes it impossible from a physical preparation standpoint for the players, but also it's on the East coast time. It'll be 12 30 for as far as TV goes, but also, um, this weekend is NFL, uh,
00:21:17
Speaker
regular season week one. And lo and behold, the Seahawks are hosting the LA Rams on Sunday. So it's basically venue availability, which is there's no availability.
00:21:30
Speaker
Yeah, I know people on in my mentions have been like, well, they've turned it around for the sounders in Seahawks in that time frame. And I think like you mentioned, first week of play, maybe. And I think the Seahawks play fairly early on Sunday. So it's not an evening game. So the turnaround for changing lines. Maybe they need practices on the field after after seeing the lines in that San Diego pitch. Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:59
Speaker
And I think the conversion that people that sounders fans I think are trying to remember it's the other way around of taking away the NFL lines to clear it up for for soccer. Think about NFL field preparation is it's basically a week long process. So by the time let's just say if
00:22:20
Speaker
You know, they were if rain were playing in the championship game and we're playing there on Saturday at 9 30 a.m. The NFL lines wouldn't be there like there's because there are there are benchmarks in terms of field preparation and field inspection where the NFL basically says, OK, by 72 hours before the scheduled game day, we are checking that field to make sure it's compliant. And it may not have it may not have full field markings, but it will have some because you still need that paint to dry.
00:22:49
Speaker
Yeah. And NFL is king. I mean, that's the downside of sharing your stadiums. And unfortunately for most NWSL teams, that's their case either with other MLS teams or NFL or whoever.
00:23:02
Speaker
And the reason the game is on at 930 AM our time is because it's college football all day on CBS after that, which is Queen. Yeah, exactly. So King and Queen taking a darn monarchy.
Upcoming Match Details & Viewing Options
00:23:16
Speaker
So if you want to watch the rain match on Wednesday, they'll be kicking off at seven p.m. at Loom and Field with tickets still available. And if you check out the rain social media, there are some tickets for as low as ten dollars. Great seats.
00:23:31
Speaker
Uh, if you can't watch it live in the stadium, you'll have to watch it on CBS sports network. That's where both of the matches on Wednesday night will be. So I know not, not the best option for a lot of people, but that's the cable satellite channel.
00:23:47
Speaker
not on Paramount Plus, that's a live channel. So you don't have to know somebody with cable or satellite or find, you know, a roughened apple. I think you can get like YouTube TV or something like that. Call your friends, see if they have it. Yeah. All right. That is all for all things Challenge Cup. Thank you for listening to Coffee and Valkyries.