Casual FC

Angela: Welcome to Casual FC,
an Angel City preview pod.

I'm your host, Angel Morales,
with my favorite co host in the

whole wide world, Mario Salazar.

Mario: Ba pow!

Angela: also, we have a special,
special guest from the Sirens supporter

group of Mortal Enemy, San Diego Wave.

Sean, welcome to the show.

I hope you, don't.

I feel like there's too much animosity.

We come here in peace get some inside
details from, a real life Wave fan.

Sean: thanks for having me.

Yeah, I'm friends and acquaintances
with, people in the supporters

groups and with Angel City, so
we're friendly until, you know, we

got some banter going for the games

Mario: Yeah.

Sean: right?

Mario: like we like to say, we're
friendly up until the whistle.

From whistle to whistle, I don't know you.

Sean: We can drink in the parking lot.

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: Exactly.

Sean: away from me during the game.

Angela: Alright, so this is our
match preview episode of our

upcoming match on Thursday, the
23rd, against the San Diego Wave.

We'll be playing at home, at BMO,
with a kickoff time of 7pm, obviously

Pacific, because we're playing in LA.

The game will be streamed on our
other mortal enemy, CBS Sports

Network, and Bally Sports.

com.

locally, if it still exists come Thursday.

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: TV rights are weird,
nothing makes sense right now,

but crossed you can watch it.

And if you can't, you can always
tune in to iHeartRadio to listen

to Isaac and Tracy on the Angel
City FC network, or on the radio in

Spanish at 1330 AM Tu Liga Radio.

And We're doing a giveaway!

You

Mario: It's cute.

we're not doing a giveaway.

The team is doing a giveaway.

Angela: team.

Yeah, I don't think Mario
and I have enough to invest,

twenty thousand beach towel.

we're not that level

Mario: yeah.

Sean, will you be coming up?

You just made the trip to San Jose.

Are you making the trip to L.

A.

for the midweek match?

Sean: we got a couple, got a
couple buses coming up, there's

a bunch of sirens coming.

We'll be in section 217, so stay
away from us, just like you said.

I don't know if we'll get
the beach towels, though.

Maybe they should be for us.

isn't it supposed to be like a blackout,
but the beach towel is pink, right?

Mario: Yeah,

Sean: how's that supposed to work?

Mario: marketing

Angela: nothing makes sense

Mario: nothing makes sense, Sponsors
want to pay for stuff whenever

they want to pay for stuff, so

Sean: yeah, I know how that goes.

Angela: Yeah, and like Sean mentioned,
it is a blackout game, so make sure

you wear your Dawn jerseys, your,
what is it, the Grit jerseys from this

season, black shirts, black on black.

It's a blackout at BMO.

Mario: yes.

Angela: This makes me really
excited because we had very

successful blackouts of the pyramid
at Long Beach when I was there.

And it was always a good time.

It somehow adds this level of, animosity
that, you can't, what's the word I'm

looking like, you can't make it happen
unless there's, something like this.

black.

in on the thing.

Mario: yeah.

It's gonna be fun.

Although, I'm also excited to the
fact that, I could be wrong, but I

think this is our second night game.

There was one game down in San Diego
that was at night, but everything

else has been like during the day.

Angela: Freaking 2pm at Snapdragon?

Sean: It'll be at one at
Snapdragon later this year.

I

Mario: of the summer.

Angela: in August or something ridiculous.

Yeah.

Sean: year, but I guess that was like a 4.

30 start or something like that.

Mario: Yeah, so last
year we had a lot of 4.

30 starts, like that was our main start
time and we mainly had Sunday matches.

This year it's been a mix of
some Saturday, some Sunday.

this will be our first Thursday match.

we have, some Friday matches.

Sean: is our only Thursday match.

Mario: yeah, so it, yeah, it's weird.

Those, I feel bad for everybody that,
it's nothing compared to what you guys

get at Snapdragon for a midday game,
because there's no shade whatsoever.

But for those 40, unfortunately, because
the 430 matches are the norm, the east

side of the stadium gets blasted with
sun for pretty much the entire game.

So I feel bad because like they're baking,
especially as it's just gonna get hotter.

Angela: yeah, we, Mario and I sit
on the west side of the stadium

where we are always in the shade.

So we're spoiled in that sense.

Mario: Yeah.

Sean: think I was on the east side,

Mario: Yeah,

Sean: it was an April game, so not
quite as bad as later on in the season.

Angela: Yeah,

Mario: yeah, middle of the
summer ones get brutal.

I remember sitting at BMO, it, for
a rare, one, one o'clock, MLS game,

and my seats are closer to the front,
and the shade, and I'm still on the

west side, but the shade did not
come to me until, the 75th minute.

It was so hot, it was so bad.

Angela: in general, Outdoor stadiums
need to have more shade than they

think, because everybody is just baking
the whole time, players included.

Mario: yeah.

At least the good thing we have
is that the concourse is shaded,

Angela: Yes.

Mario: whereas, I've only sat in one
section going down to Snapdragon,

but the rest of the concourse
around it is on the outside, right?

is there any, Sean, are there
any under shade areas on

the concourse at Snapdragon?

Oh,

Sean: yeah,

Mario: when you,

Sean: taller tower side is, it's not
really like a concourse though, so

it's housed in, but it, there are areas
where there would shade, would be shade,

but you can't really, enough people
under there for it to matter, and.

There's not like TVs or anything there.

Mario: yeah, it is what it is, but
it's going to be a Thursday match,

so plan for traffic, plan for leaving
work early, do all that stuff, get

yourself there, wear your black, get
your towel, it's going to be fun.

Angela: So who made our lives
crazy this weekend, Mario?

Mario: Yes,

Angela: award?

Mario: Chaos Award.

Sean, we'd like to give a Chaos Award
to just, team or player or fan base

or weather or whatever that's causing
shenanigans in the league or causes

shenanigans for us but this time
i'm not taking the chaos award in a

negative light i'm going more on the
kind of chaotic good of it all and go

with record setting this weekend had
Just records being set and broken and

tied and just everything all around.

Orlando ties the record for
most consecutive wins at seven.

So if they win next, they, they
have, they hold the record.

Lynn Williams

Angela: Woo!

Mario: has broke,

Angela: I'm a big Lynn Williams fan.

Mario: she has broken the all time
leading score record for the NWSL.

Angela: yeah, so she beat Sam Kerr's
record, and Sam Kerr hasn't played

in the league for quite a few years.

she currently is out within, she's one
of the victims of the ACL this season,

but she normally plays for Chelsea.

she is engaged to Chrissy Mewes.

I'm giving just a little bit
of background of Sam Kerr.

She is a prolific goal scorer.

She's known for backflips.

She's just freaking cool.

but yeah, she's held that record
for, I want to say closer to a

decade than not because she was
playing in when it first came up.

And I need to check to see what year,
she came over or she went over to

Mario: To the UK.

Angela: Lynn very sneakily did that,
I want to say, because People do not

respect Lynn Williams the way she needs
to be outwardly respected and both on

the national team level and in the NWSL.

So, uh, Team Lynn Williams.

Mario: We also had Sam Staab being
the first player in NWSL history

to start 100 consecutive matches.

Those are some strong ass knees.

Angela: Yeah, and she's
played on different teams.

She recently was traded, so to have, to
go from a starting spot on one team for

a few seasons to then get traded and just
pick up where you left off is insanely

difficult because you have to transition.

game transition, sometimes
positions, offensive schemes,

all kinds of things, but

Mario: Yeah.

And then we have two records.

That were set by Angel City, the
first one being, the Thompson sisters.

The first time in NWSL history that
two sisters start for the same club.

They both finally got their start.

I want to say it was.

mainly influenced by us by
releasing our Thompson Time t shirt.

check out shop.

casualfc.

com, quick plug, to check out our
Power Rangers inspired Thompson Time

t shirt, that came out this week
and they got the start this week.

So great job on us.

and then unfortunately, the
other record that was set was the

fastest six goals were scored.

36 minutes in our match that we.

Ended up losing four to two.

So we'll talk about that in a little bit.

But

there's some things that happened.

Angela: there's some things.

Mario: yeah.

And so quick roundabout for the other
scores in the league this weekend, we

Portland beat the dash two to zero, The
North Carolina Courage beat out Utah 1 0.

Bay FC beat out the Wave 2 1.

We have Sean here who
was actually at the game.

Tell us about the game real quick.

Sean: I watch a lot of baseball,
and I would, and I watch the Padres

as well, and sometimes the bullpen
blows the game, and this felt like

one where the bullpen blew the game.

It's just, Wave had that lead, and it
was just, it was an injury that gave

up one goal, and it was a defensive
mistake to give up the other, and it

just didn't feel like a game they should
have lost, but it got out of hand.

Mario: Yeah, there's been plenty of
those for us this season that we failed.

Angela: fan, I can't relate.

Mario: there's,

Angela: an Angel City fan, I can.

Man, I

Mario: multiple, San Diego,
LA, rivalry references.

but how was playing at the stadium with
Bay FC and the, Bridge Brigade supporters

and just like the vibe in general?

Sean: the vibes are pretty good.

they invited us to the tailgate
beforehand, so we were there.

We've got like a flip cup challenge.

they've already come to Snapdragon, and
we've gone up there, so we did, they beat

us twice in flip cup as well, which is
embarrassing, but, I didn't play, but

the, that seems to be a big thing that,
that the bridge brigade likes to do.

Angela: haven't played flip cup.

In a very long time.

Sean: Me neither.

I think that's true of a lot of the
sirens that were playing in it and,

we, they had some ringers on the
bridge side, but that's okay, they're

an expansion team, they can have it
for now, we were there at one point,

Mario: we get to go up to Bay later on
this season just trying to try to get the

lay of the land before we head up there.

Sean: yeah, it was nice, if you do, if
you are able to do, a tailgate with them

and then they want you in, they want the
supporters in, an hour before, you could

do a little march, it's pretty close,
you're not gonna, you're not gonna have

to go too far to get over there and,
they let us bring in a drum, Angel City's

being nicer, we were supposed to have
five drums for the game on Thursday, and

flags, but they weren't allowing flags,
so maybe they have some, growing pains,

or maybe we just need a bigger group going
up there for them to give us a little

more, but, yeah, good for an expansion
team starting off, and they beat us, so

that part of the vibes wasn't so good.

Angela: for an expansion team, I would
love to know the strategy they had for

drafting, transfers, internationals,
that team is stacked for, just fresh

out of the gate, brand new team.

Sean: it feels like their
attack is, two players.

and definitely they're fast.

you, it's not like they're super fast,
like they're just worrying by, but

you can see like them picking up a
step where you're like, your defender

looks like they're going to get the
ball and they're being closed down

on, that definitely was a part of the
second goal that, that Wave gave up.

And I think they've got
experience on their backline

along with a talented rookie.

And then, they're missing their,
I think her name is Alex Lora, the

center defensive mid, their sixth,
they had Loera, I think that's

messing what they want to do.

But Pickett did an okay job,
filling in there, so they've, yeah,

they've got, they definitely built
out a system of sort of starters.

I don't know how deep they are,
but they haven't needed, they

haven't been tested there the way
that some of the other teams have.

Angela: They've been lucky, injury wise.

somebody might have a knock for a game
or two, but that's about it, aside

from Alex Loera falling to the curse.

Sean: too.

they've,

Angela: Yeah,

right!

Yeah, their keepers are struggling.

Mario: yeah.

But it feels like they're doing
okay for the, for an expansion.

They are pretty good.

we can say it gladly here.

They're below both of us.

No, wait.

Yes, they are.

They're below both of us.

at least we're both at Diego and
Angel City are ahead of them.

But, It feels like they're very much
the expansion team, but like we're not.

Either watch out the rest of this second
half of the season or watch out next

year, and they're gonna be like a tear.

getting, just getting that experience
for some of their like younger players

or some of their newer, newer to the
league players, things like that,

and they're just gonna dominate.

So that could be a tricky one coming up.

yeah.

Angela: definitely keep your
eye out for whatever the heck

Bay FC has up their sleeve.

Mario: Yeah.

alright, so just to finish off the scores,
we have, the current end racing tied at 3.

Gotham beat Chicago 2 1.

Seattle lost to the Pride 3 2.

Which brings us to our game.

Which

Angela: Yup.

Mario: we yeah, that happened.

Sean, I don't know if you saw it, but
we will take you through what happened.

Sean: I saw some highlights, I
definitely noticed something that

we've been struggling with, too,
is that, clearing the ball is,

sometimes can be an adventure.

Angela: Yeah, clearing the ball
is, it is difficult in general.

more difficult than it has been in
the last two seasons for us, for sure.

over the weekend, we played the
Spirit, we lost 4 2, it was insane,

and of the best and worst and weirdest
soccer I've seen in a very long time.

So to just go through the goals, I'm
gonna do it in order, chronological

order of when they were scored, not

Mario: Okay.

Angela: because it's so fast.

So the Spirit kicked off the scoring
avalanche with Trinity Rodman, and the

back of the net in the ninth minute.

Then, ten minutes later, Clarice
had a shot towards the box?

she's in the box, she's to get like an,
just set up Syd or something like that.

Ends up being an own goal off the
Spirit's Boutelle at the 20th minute.

We equalized faster than I
think we've ever equalized.

Or there was one game I
think we equalized faster.

And then, like, okay, cool, take a deep
breath, awesome, great, Syd scores.

In the 23rd minute, I blinked and missed
it, or I went to get, a cup of water

or something at Eva's, and then, seven
minutes later, Trinity finds the back of

the net again, in the 30th minute, that's
why I said Trinity Rodman is so damn good.

you can't track her.

She's just everywhere.

then minutes later in the 34th
minute, Casey Kruger scored, who

is someone I'm going to talk about
the next time we match up against

them because she's just fantastic.

That goal was one of those where there
was so much movement in the box Didi

couldn't see where the ball was like
I watched that one a few times because

I was really curious how it happened
and she just found it that's all it was

just boom and then it just happened.

After Casey scored, Ouleymata
Sarr in at the 36th minute and

just knocked another one in.

And okay, it's 4 2 and we're not
even at the end of ha or, the first

half is not even close to being
over because we end up having,

frickin 10 minutes of stoppage time.

Mario: Yeah.

The stoppage time was insane.

And, okay, granted this was one of,

Angela: a reason for the stoppage
time in the first half that I don't

even want to talk about, here we are,

Mario: here,

Angela: Gorden got hurt,

Mario: Yeah, so

Angela: it.

Mario: I will admit and this
weekend was one of the craziest

weekends I've had in a long time.

I did not catch the game, but for the
second half, so like I was getting updates

from Angela, text updates about what was
going on because I kept getting buzzes

on my watch being like, score, score.

And I'm like, what?

I'm like, yes, we tied.

Yes, we're winning.

And then what the hell is happening?

and then I.

Angela: that's about how it

Mario: yeah.

And then I listened to the second
half on the radio and, on our,

on my way to, a show with the
Magic Castle, which was great.

But, that's a story for another time.

But, yeah, like it sounded like the second
half sounded like we were doing good.

We were doing good.

And then, at the end too,
we're like, yes, we got it.

And then it gets called back.

And then Isaac mentions that there
was another one that got called back.

And I was like, what the hell is going on?

Angela: Yeah, we had two goals called
back, Sarah Gorden got hurt, M.

A.

came back, so that's

Mario: Yes.

Angela: We got to see our girl M.

A.

I just don't like this situation we're
in right now with no real healthy center.

oh, we have Megan, my bad.

We've got Megan Reid, but we don't have
another healthy center back at the moment.

We all know why.

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: None of us want
to talk about it anymore.

Sean: Oh, you sure?

Oh, okay.

so who came in at?

So who came in at center back?

Because I saw Spencer came
in, she's not a center back.

Mario: Yeah.

No, she is not.

She's not at all, but she did come in.

Angela: she did come
in and fill that role,

Sean: Okay, because Thompson and Curry
were the other outside, were the outside,

Angela: yeah.

Sean: okay,

Angela: Yeah, Thompson and Curry were
on the wings, and Jasmyne Spencer

came in and held it down, honestly.

I feel like she has the Crystal Dunn
gene of I can play anywhere, and if

you don't believe that I can, bet.

And that was one of those.

she did fantastic.

We, it was weird because then A.

came in and was playing in the
midfield, which we found out she

hasn't done since like school.

we had people playing in really
weird positions because our

subsystem all sorts of jacked up

Mario: Yeah.

It's,

Angela: game was just, yeah,
I'm really curious what our

lineup is gonna be on Thursday.

really curious.

Mario: it feels like every week there's
a new reason to triage the, the lineup.

it just sucks.

She's,

Angela: many reasons.

Emotionally, fans are
hurting, teams are hurting.

physically, injuries are just
getting taken out right now.

But overall, showed a lot more
spirit, a lot more grit, and a lot

of the energy we were hoping to see.

Because had we not been offsides, this
game would have been a draw, and it

would have been, I would have walked away
okay, cool, we live to see another day.

but I feel like that anyway.

But yeah, Mario posted up after the game
in our normal, post game therapy Instagram

story of, instead of two truths and a
lie, give us two things and one thing.

So two good, two bad, two bad, two
good, two of something, one of another.

Kay said that the bad One was Sarah
and two was Gordon, which I have since

talked to Kay and yes, we both agree

The good it is that it feels like
Alyssa is this close to hidden and

getting in the back of the net, and
it does, it feels like this game

was a big turning point for her.

She was, she had a shot.

I, or she almost had an assist, like
she's in the scoring motion again.

So she's like, cleansed, whatever

Mario: she's getting the oil, the
gears oiled up and everything.

Like every time she's just inching
closer and closer to that goal.

And like we said, like there's just,
the yips are a little real here,

but I think once she gets that goal
and once she gets over it, hopefully

it's just floodgates from there.

it's just a matter of getting
that little bit of confidence of

Angela: And

Mario: Finally burying that, that goal.

Angela: so

Mario: Okay, so the, okay, so the
J'Anthony one, I was telling you,

I'm, I don't know what this means,
so I'm gonna let you try to decipher.

Angela: Yeah.

Sean, we encourage people to like,
give us emojis as their answers to

these, because then it's okay, we
either have to figure out what they're

trying to say, or we just get to

Sean: make it up.

Boutel

Angela: single emoji.

John Anthony, who we lovingly call
J'Anthony, gives us a French flag.

tiger, colon, so those are the two things,
and then the one thing is a goal, so

the French thing is Clarisse, the tiger,

Mario: is it Clarisse, though?

Is it Clarisse?

Because isn't, Ouley is French.

Angela: yeah, but, not on our team.

Mario: that could be the negative.

Angela: Oh, that's true, it
could be Ouley and Casey Kruger?

Or Trinity Rodman?

I don't know.

Mario: Who's the tiger?

Who's,

Sean: scorer.

Boutel, goal scorer,

Mario: oh.

Angela: Okay, so two French own goals.

I don't know what a tiger is, though.

That's the thing.

Mario: J'Anthony, you have stumped us.

Angela: Yeah.

please send us a DM with what this meant.

Mario PS: Okay, um,

Angela PS: this is like the, the
first PS from, the pod where we

stopped recording and decided we
needed to add something in post haste.

Mario PS: in the same episode.

Angela PS: yeah, in the same
episode, when we were talking about

everybody's Instagram responses, I
messaged J'Anthony about what his

response was because I was perplexed.

None of us could figure it out.

And came through.

So it was Frenchie, Tiger, and Goals.

He said, I said Goals were bad because
I couldn't find an emoji for the pitch.

That pitch was so bad.

Mario PS: It was.

Angela PS: I don't understand, if you're
gonna be a multi event, uh, stadium,

Mario PS: Yeah.

Angela PS: get your shit together

Mario PS: Well, I mean, they have, they,
they host the Spirit and they also host,

uh, DC United, but they now host an
American football team, like one of, yeah.

So, yeah.

Yeah.

Apparently Isaac pointed out that
there were some markings on the ground,

faint markings, but they were there.

Um.

Angela PS: could see them.

Mario PS: Yeah.

Angela PS: And I am upset.

Mario PS: Okay.

Was it as bad?

Was it as bad as the, the San Diego ones?

Okay.

Um, and then,

Angela PS: raining.

So it was, it was bad.

It was so bad.

It was embarrassing.

so he said the Tiger was Madison
Curry because she went to Princeton

and the French flag was Clarice.

So I was

Mario PS: you were right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And yeah, that pitch was terrible.

Yes, J'Anthony.

So thank you for giving us this
clarification and now back to

the regular recorded podcast.

Angela PS: Bye.

Mario PS: Bye.

Angela: Aaron said that the good
was that no one really gave up.

We've seen it in past games where
you just see the defeat take over.

and that didn't happen,
which was really nice to see.

bad was that Gordon and
Thompson, I'm not sure which one.

I also

Mario: Gisele.

Angela: watch the last 15 minutes
of the game because my migraine came

back, and I've had a migraine on
and off since Friday, and it sucks.

I didn't catch the last few
game, the last few minutes of

the game, but it was Gisele that

Mario: I believe it was Gisele.

yeah.

Angela: yeah, I did see that part, yeah.

And then Del said Didi
again worked her butt off.

We saw the back of the net with
like exclamation points like hooray!

Sarah Gordon had me in tears.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sarah Gorden's ankle injury, to be very
honest, made me nauseous, because it was

a no contact injury, I know what that
feels like, and it is not a good feeling.

and then Wes said, not enough
Messiah Bright, which I think

we all agree on at this point.

is Sarah okay crying two crying
emojis, and then Syd Leroux headers.

I think we all collectively
love when Syd scores.

Also, one thing I forgot in earlier
for the record setting, Syd is

now top ten all time goal scorers.

She has knocked Carly
Lloyd out of the top ten,

Mario: There we go.

So

Angela: about that.

Mario: another record to
the, to the Chaos Award.

There you go.

Angela: Yeah.

Sean: gotta say, especially
about the Emslie's, service on

that, the, where she put that

Angela: yeah.

Sean: head is, was great.

And I think there was at least
another corner Emslie had, I mean.

Angela: She,

Sean: the one I'm watching.

she's dangerous and she was last year too.

Angela: she's on a
different level this season.

It's really fun to see her play.

I, we joke that.

A lot of it is because she's no
longer planning a wedding in another

country and can, really just focus in.

Her life's calmed down a little bit.

But either way, she's on a
different level this season.

Mario: it was also really fun to see
how, Because we left it open ended and

be like, give us two good and a bad, or
give us the good and the bad, you choose

which one, it it really sets the mood
when people are like, here's two bads.

And here's the good, or I saw
more good than, it's the kind of

optimism, pessimism type thing.

I felt after our last episode, I was
looking for a clip to put on social and I

was like, okay, I gotta at least put the,
optimistic view before this game because

we were so down on the whole, on the whole
Houston, match that, we needed a little

bit of, There might be some hope going
forward, so I did find that one piece

that I was like, that we were, optimistic
about and, it is what it is, but, so that

leads us into our standings, we're still
in 9th place with 10 points, the good

news is we did not lose, we Any position?

Bad news is we didn't gain any position.

Overall though, there hasn't been much
movement in the standings this past week.

The current and Orlando
basically just swap spots.

and so they just swap spots basically.

They're just tangoing and playing
no you go first, no you go first.

and then positions 3 through 9

All stayed in the same place.

Nobody moved whatsoever.

And then,

Sean: but all picked up
points on except for Chicago.

Mario: oh, okay, yeah.

There were there, everybody,
we didn't pick up points, but

Angela: didn't pick up points.

Sean: Yeah, we didn't
pick up points either.

So

Mario: Oh, you're saying Chicago,

Sean: 1 through

Mario: okay,

Sean: farther away from
both of our teams except for

Angela: that's,

Sean: And by three

Mario: okay,

Sean: weren't any draws, right?

Mario: geez.

Angela: there was one,

Sean: Oh, Kansas City and Racing.

Okay,

Mario: Kansas City and racing.

Sean: City only

Mario: And that's why Kansas City flipped.

And then, speaking of racing, 10 through
13, they all leapfrogged each other.

like Racing Bay, Houston, and Seattle,
all kind of flip flopped switch places,

and then Utah has been steadily.

Holding the bottom for us, on the table,
so again, if you want to see a really

cool version of this, go visit, Alison
Gayle's Twitter, amazing infographic

stats, Sean, I don't know if you're in our
script right now, but I have the graphic

laid out down there, and it's really fun,
color spaghetti of the way the standings

have moved, over the last couple weeks.

and I just love actually
seeing the standings this way.

And,

Angela: it's fun to track like much
movement there is some weeks and how

much movement there is not others.

Like even just a couple weeks ago, were
flying all up and down the standings,

and this week it was like, okay.

Mario: yeah.

Angela: three teams moved.

Sean: Yeah, I'm sure a graphic like

Mario: Yep.

Sean: better at the end of last
season for both of us, where Wave to

Mario: Yeah.

Sean: and Angel City
to the playoffs, right?

Mario: Yeah.

Sean: surge at the end.

Angela: Yeah.

Thankfully this season is not over
and we can still figure our stuff out

Mario: Yeah.

our chance to like, still write
the ship are getting smaller and

smaller, but we still have time.

Angela: You never know what can happen.

A lot of, we have an Olympic break.

Mario: True.

Angela: can happen.

Mario: Yeah, that's true.

all So previewing the next
match versus San Diego.

We've got Sean here, our special guests
from the Sirens supporters groups.

First, I want to learn more
about Sean and about the Sirens.

So Sean, are you from
San Diego originally?

Sean: yeah, pretty much.

I was born in Sacramento, but my
parents were living in San Diego,

were in Sacramento for a very brief
time, and then came back to San Diego.

yeah,

Mario: You

Sean: time, since like I was like

Mario: basically just grew up.

Yeah.

Nice.

And then, did you When was it
that you joined the Sirens?

Sean: Pretty much immediately, as soon
as San Diego formed a team, I was hunting

around to see if there'd be a supporters
group, not to jump to your next question,

but I was in American Outlaws already,

Mario: Okay.

Sean: I was in San Diego, or in the locals
for the San Diego Loyal already, and, I

like that supporters group culture, I like
the community that it brings, I like it.

finding new friends and having something
that when the team wins or when they lose

that there's camaraderie involved in there
and it's not just about your sports team

and, throwing something at your TV or
whatever when they lose, that you have

people to, to banter about and cry over
it with or when they win to celebrate

with and buy shots with and, sing
songs with and all that sort of stuff.

I love that supporters culture.

So I was pretty much there from day one.

I wasn't leading.

I wasn't in leadership, but I was, I
wanted to be a part of that, and find new

Mario: Nice.

Nice.

Yeah.

that's always great to, to Be able to
come from this, to, or be able to come

to this from, knowing what all of this
is and being able to be part of that,

beginning, supporter structure and, just
making the culture of the, the sirens

and the wave, what it's going to be.

Being there from day one is always,
a really, fun, exciting thing.

we've, we're part of, Some
supporters groups or a supporter

group here with Angel City also.

And so we were there day one.

We've been season ticket
holders since day one.

And, same kind of
feeling of we were there.

We were there at the games in Fullerton.

We were there right when
we started playing at BMO.

and it was just.

It's been an exciting thing.

so what has your favorite moment been?

It's a two parter with the sirens.

So it could be, cause I know, as we
all know, or as some of our listeners

have been learning about SGs also,
we did a whole interview series,

all the six SGs, for Angel City.

and it's a lot more than just banging
the drum and chanting in the stadium,

there's a lot of community involvement.

There's a lot of helping
your neighbor type thing.

And, and every group has their own
focus and their own little twist to it.

So what has your favorite moment
been with the sirens, either with

the in the stadium or outside?

And then what has your favorite
moment been just as like

a wave supporter, so far?

Sean: so I got a couple
with the supporters group.

I mean, making TIFOs and
doing celebrations like in

the section is incredible.

I wasn't a part of that, the first time
we did that, but I have been as the, I'm

the spirit coordinator for the Sirens,
so I try to do the logistics for that,

even though I'm not an art person.

And, and,

Angela: you're the person, or
I was gonna say, you're the

person that the art folks need.

Sean: Because the, sometimes the art
folks, they need a schedule, or they

need to have things purchased for them,
and they're at a certain time, and,

Make sure that things are set up and
create a signup sheet and all that sort

of stuff so they can focus on the art,
because, there's a lot of different

art things that can go on there.

and the one I think was the, the coolest
moment for me in that regard was when we

did our pride celebration last year and
we did a bunch of color streamers that

went up the section in the progress plus
the standard old school pride colors.

And, just organizing that and, I think.

you guys have a similar thing on game
days, not everyone's in their seat,

right at the time of the game starts or
standing in their place, making sure that

things were going through the section and
making sure that people were there and

they knew what to do and to raise it over
their head and just the feeling when it

all went up and it was there and every
single color was there and straight, and

just high fiving the other Sirens that
had helped us organize the end was pretty

cool moment of just felt like something
had been accomplished, and we were able

to do something, for that community.

and then I think also, just outside of
the actual Wave stuff with Sirens, even

though it is still NWSL, we hosted the
final, and doing some of the events for

that, for the NWSL final, either the
night before, Or the tailgate we did

the day of and just seeing all these
fans come together and just be able to

hang out all together and not be like,
not have any animosity going on there.

Everybody was having a good time and it
was fun and it was a nice social event

and becoming part of communities that are
outside of even, our team was pretty cool.

Mario: Yeah.

Sean: and then my favorite moment
for Wave is when we won the Shield.

just, it was just incredible.

smiles everywhere, people were super
excited, just, going into the playoff

about to host the semifinal, that
didn't go so well, but at least

that was on the horizon, it just, it
felt like the wind was at our sails,

and it was a pretty cool moment.

Mario: Nice.

Yeah,

Sean: doesn't win a lot of trophies,
that's pretty cool to win that one.

Mario: Yeah, having that first
piece of silverware in the trophy

cabinet is, it's a big feat.

And congratulations to the team
and, we'll get there one day.

yeah, but it's, I'm excited
to, to hear about what you've,

what you guys have done.

and like I said, it's always being
a part of SGs and things like that.

And knowing the work that
kind of goes into it.

I will say one of my favorite.

Things about, just visually as,
the spectator, is the bubbles.

I just love the fact that there's like
bubbles in the, on your supported section.

I, it just makes me happy.

Oh, gritty?

Yeah.

Angela: Yeah.

I'm a big gritty fan.

Sean: Have you met him?

Angela: No, I haven't
been down to Snappy yet.

Sean: He did come up, he
did come up last year.

I was on the bus next to him, I'll have
to check if he's coming on Thursday.

Maybe not.

He does have two small kids, so.

yeah, I

Mario: Yeah.

Sean: I've always been
encouraging the Bubbles.

Even before I was on leadership, I want
everything Bubbles, and, that was also,

to welcome Bay into the league when
they came, and we beat them at home.

we wanted, we did, a Bubble bash
to, extra Bubbles and make it feel

like it was something a little
bit special, and just to help get

enthusiasm for the season, because
that was our, third game of the season.

yeah,

Mario: Nice.

Nice.

Welcome to the beautiful BMO later on
Thursday and you guys will be making the

trip up on a couple buses and hopefully
everything turns out, the drive goes

well, not a lot of traffic, we get to
party together, have fun together, like

I said, whistle to whistle, you guys
go to your corner, we'll stay in ours.

But we're both coming into this
next matchup with some lost trauma.

We're both coming into this
thing with losses, so nobody's

riding a high right now.

Angela: Yeah, it's going to be a super
interesting game because, partially

because it's San Diego versus Angel
City and it always an interesting game.

It's one of those where matter
how good or how bad either

team is, everybody plays up.

we always want to win, you guys always
want to win, so it's always fun because

everyone shows out for the wave.

And for Angel City matches, it's just so
good, because the table is so close right

now, this is going to be what we have
called, what is called a six point match.

as it stands right now, the Wave
are at 11 points in 8th place.

have 10 points in 9th place.

So because we're so close, a win
for us and a loss from them does

more damage than normally would.

And I'm not going to give
the alternative because

Mario: Because it's our podcast.

Angela: because it's my podcast.

But

Mario: Yes, yeah.

And, like we mentioned earlier, we need
answers about what happened to Sarah.

That, I, as the Game was ending, Isaac
started talking about how, what the

conditions were on the pitch, and how
awful they were, and it was causing some

issues on both sides, but, hopefully,
Sarah, we are sending our love and,

support, and hopefully, the, it was
more of a in the moment type thing and

it's like something you can walk off.

hopefully that's where it is.

Please,

Angela: Mario's just trying to
stay hopeful and I'm sitting

here and just shaking my head
like, no, I know I've done that.

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: And it's not, I'm
just like, I need someone to.

Have intel and let me know, grade, what
grade this is, where we're at, what

the treatment plan is, ankle injury.

Angela is tapping in to this conversation
big time because I really want to

know prognosis and what's going on.

But obviously we don't
get that information.

Sean: And it's,

Angela: the pitch was so bad.

Sean: also hard for a center back
because if they're gonna have to come

back for 90 minutes, like you're not
going to be, we'll get into some of the

wave players, but, you can play the 45
and 45, but it causes a big problem.

And then if you have to come off
early, it's even a bigger problem.

it's not just a matter of getting back
and being like and trying to push yourself

it you really need that 90 minutes

Angela: Yeah.

Mario: backline is so important.

there is, truth to the saying, strikers
are forwards, score goals, but defenders

win games, you need a solid backline, and
that's something that is slipping away

from us, little by little, game by game.

Decision by freaking decision.

Angela: we have prided ourselves
in having is slowly but surely

finding its way through the cracks.

But we are going to stay
optimistic, regardless of how

bonkers everything feels right now.

just really be hopeful that Even though
we're in a precarious situation right

now, that one, whatever the FO is working
towards is going to be worth it, and

two, that Sarah back quickly and is
able to, heal, I don't know, give her

whatever they give Patrick Mahomes.

Call the Kansas City Chiefs, please.

I

Mario: we have, as we do for our match
previews, Sean, we like to highlight

for everyone the players that we
think would be just good to watch.

Usually we do our homework and kind of
You know, look at the roster and Angela

being the wealth of sports knowledge that
she is, sets all of these up for us and

we get to learn, but we've got you here
with our insider knowledge, our knowledge

from behind the supporters groups.

So give us your players to watch
or the players that you are

always keeping an eye out on.

And I already see your first bullet point.

So I'm like, all right.

Sean: that's there just for you guys the
yeah the first one's savannah mccaskill

i mean coming back to play against
angel city that's that's got to mean

something to her it means something to
the fans i don't know it's, it's gonna

be an interesting, spectacle to, to see
what's going on there, she's also been

someone that, maybe a little surprising
to us was, is just almost nailed on

into the team because it seemed like
there was a lot of competition for the

spots that she would play and whether
she'd fit the style and so far, I

don't know, there's some mixed things.

She's yeah.

the most impressive, unimpressive
player, the most player that you could

see, she's a lot of hustle, she's a
lot of hustle, but sometimes you wonder

if she's in the right spot after she's
been hustling, and, and, Yeah, it's

disruptive to the opponent and maybe
disruptive to the offense as well.

what that chaos could bring against
playing against her former team, who

I guess she still has some love for.

It's not like it was left on bad terms.

That's just interesting
to see where that's going.

Mario: yeah, we'll see because of the fact
that, our current track record against

former ACFC players has not been so hot.

Angela: We're split, because we beat Utah,

Mario: okay,

Angela: beat up by Utah,

Mario: beat up by Utah, but

Angela: we had our hearts broken by

Mario: yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Angela: we deserved.

It wasn't even by

Mario: Oh no, but we also
lost against Bay, and

Angela: Oh, and

Mario: Scarlett, yeah,
so yeah, track record.

Angela: see what

Sean: She just

Mario: We'll see what happens.

Angela: I feel like Scarlett Kambrous
is like really finding her groove up

there, which I'm so happy for her.

She had so much.

outside of soccer happening at
Angel City while she was with us

at Angel City and like established
and moving and feeling safe and

all the things that were going on.

I'm glad she's finding her group up
there, even though it's detrimental

to the collective California

Mario: Yeah.

So I

Sean: Bay was here.

yeah, so it's cool to
see all their family.

It wasn't as cool to see the goal,
especially because that was an injury,

that was an injury on way of, Kristen
Westfall got hurt on that play and just

couldn't cover that side of the field.

and so she was wide open for the shot.

Camaras was wide open for the shot.

So that was unfortunate.

Angela: the worst.

When you're like, cool,

Sean: Yeah, there's nothing you can do.

Angela: Yeah.

Mario: have a question.

Sean: she got her pick
of both sides of the net.

Mario: so Sean, I have a question
for you as a, a Wave fan.

when the McCaskill trade was announced,
there was a TikTok that came out and it

was the joy for the Angel City fan base.

where we were laughing
because, because it.

She was running on the beach and
it was like, oh, I'm running to

San Diego or whatever it was.

And then everybody had fun pointing out
the fact that she's running the wrong way.

She was running towards LA.

She was running north on the beach.

was that, and of course,
everybody has their fan base.

So of course it was a big thing for us.

was it talked about at all
from the San Diego side?

Sean: there was a lot of chatter
just about trying to figure out

that move and was this the big move
that, that, Wade was promising.

we went to an event and we're the
offseason, it seemed like it was

promised that there'd be big moves.

And I think maybe, Maria Sanchez was
the planned big move that they wanted to

do and couldn't get through and Houston
blocked that, but, so at the time it just

seemed okay, is McCaskill the big move?

Because, I don't know, she was very,
she scored a lot of and assists

for Angel City, but it wasn't
necessarily something we needed,

what we were looking forward to add.

So there were a lot of different
feelings just about her as the player

and yeah, the sort of, their attempt
at a little ad campaign thing to,

to show it off that was like, I
don't know, but, yeah, there's been

Mario: Yeah.

Sean: since then so that it cleared out
some space for her to play, but it's,

I earn something special if something
happens on Thursday, because that'll

be fun, especially the way things have
been going with, Nielsen scoring against

Angel City or even like against us.

It was called back, but like Taylor
Flint, formerly Corniac, right?

scored against us.

That was called back and
was really celebrating hard.

And it's

Mario: Oh.

Sean: about?

there's some animosity going
on in NWSL right now of players

that have left teams, so

Angela: trade for agency, I don't remember
if it was for agency or a trade, but like

when that happened, I was just like, what?

it was so confusing because, yeah, she got
married in the offseason, but, her husband

plays in Canada, outside of Toronto, on
the Tiger Cats, he's a football player,

American football player in Canada, so
I didn't understand location wise, that

Sean: I don't think it's location.

I think she wanted to start.

I think, she could have
potentially started at Wave,

but she'd have to earn it.

it would have to be more of a competition.

There was a little more risk there.

I think that's, this is something
that comes with expansion, right?

With more teams, there's
more starting spots.

So it might be harder, especially
with a salary cap, to keep a deeper

roster, because players know they can
go somewhere and ask to go, or ask

to go somewhere and go play there.

And Wave's really accommodating
of the players that want to stay

here, we want to keep them here.

And the players that say
they want to stay here.

Play elsewhere or have a reason
to play elsewhere, they're gonna

try to find some way to do that.

and I think not only, I think she wanna
start, I think maybe she thinks her way

back to the national team is to play the
six to play that center defensive mid.

And that's what she's been
playing for Louisville.

And I don't think that's
what Wave would want to play.

Want to play her.

I think she was good as like a center
attacking mid or sometimes the eight.

and, sometimes in the game, at the
end of the game float forward and

almost become a nine and let Morgan or
somebody like that float back or float

to the side so that she can be that
target in the middle, whereas now it's

more, she uses her height to win those
aerial duels, when on goal kicks and

other free, other, long kicks from the
long crosses from the defensive line.

which she was very effective doing
that against Wave, I would say, like

Sheridan's and Germa and Dahlkemper are
all very good at kicking those long balls

and finding people, but when Flint's
head's in the way, it was difficult.

Angela: Definitely.

And speaking of, Naomi Girma is
next on your list of players.

And during the World
Cup, I was hyping her up.

during every time we've talked about the
Wave, I'm like, don't forget, Naomi Girma

Mario: yeah,

Angela: just, that's it.

That's it.

She's just so freaking good.

Sean: Yeah, to bring it back to
what I was saying earlier about

two things I brought up earlier.

So one, the clearances, if we have
GERMA back there, and especially

GERMA playing with Dahlkemper, then,

Angela: Yeah.

Sean: you're getting better clearances,
you're not having as much loose traffic

in there, We like to say in the sports,
Girma says no, because Girma will say

no, and the ball is no longer in, the
attacking third for the opposing team.

having her being able to play a
90, would be really important.

I don't know if that's possible.

She just played 45, and then
Dahl Kemper played the second 45.

And like I said, the second half
is when Some balls went in that

we, that, seemed like a better
defense could have taken care of.

hopeful she's going to play 90.

I think it's one to watch.

She's always a player to watch,
like you said, could be one of

the best centerbacks in the world.

Angela: Oh,

Sean: is one of the best,
could be the best in the world.

Angela: Yeah,

Sean: just the way that she anticipates
things, her speed too, which, as we,

with Bay, we were talking about speed.

And so then the other thing.

Yeah, to bring back is, yeah, when
you come, when you're help, when, for

centerbacks, you need them to play that
full 90, and it makes a big difference

if they don't, it changes things up.

Angela: sets a standard on the
back line for any team, really.

when you know who you have behind,
like, when you know you have this

defensive force, it settles the mind of
like your midfielders, your offensive

players, if anything gets past me, I
know, our next layer of defense is fine.

And then, Obviously, for us, it's oh,
yeah, obviously, it's Sarah, it's M.

A., it's Megan Reid, for you guys,
it's, Abby D., it's Girma, I don't even

know who else is on defense right now
because I haven't been paying attention.

Sean: The

Angela: been

Sean: backs have been
shifting around, yeah.

Angela: That's what I thought, you
guys have had very, and then Girma

was hurt at the beginning of the
season after the CONCACAF games.

There's been transitions and changes,
but still, your back line is so solid.

Sean: Yeah, and it's
not just defense, too.

Germa turns defense to offense
a lot of the times, too.

She's I said the long balls earlier,
but she's also good at distribution.

Her pass is to, to find, a fullback
that's moving forward, or to find,

the eight, or find, You know, put the,
put it in a spot where the six can

turn around and make the pass forward.

She's much better at that
than any of the replacements.

Kennedy Wesley, who's filled in at times,
she definitely has the instincts to play.

She has the athleticism to play.

She has the tenacity to play, but she's
not the passer that Germer is, and

she's not the anticipator that Germer
is, and so you lose all this little

extra stuff that can help the team,
Be more than, pray for a clean sheet

and pray for a last minute goal, so,

Angela: Definitely.

And so much of that, Germa especially,
so much of it is experience, but it's,

even more of it this, intangible soccer
IQ that she just has mountains of over

everyone else in the league right now.

Sean: and it's still growing, she's
learning from Stoney all the time,

I think that's why she's still,
she's stayed with WAVE, she's

not going to become a free agent.

anytime in the next few years, we

Angela: I don't

Sean: just played San Jose, a lot of
the fear was she would go to a team

like that, where she, that's her
hometown, but I think she's, she likes

the coach that's here, she's, and
learning all the time from that system.

Angela: learning from
amazing defenders as well.

just the fact that Abby Dahlkemper
is, back on the pitch is a miracle.

But then to have, allow players like Irma
to learn from her, learn from that World

Cup experience and that international
experience, she's just, it's so cool.

so cool.

Because Dahlkemper has
a freaking boot on her.

Sean: Yeah, I didn't realize how,
important that was to, I watched,

You know, Dahlkemper's games with
the national team, and obviously was

impressed with their defense and whatnot.

I don't think I quite understood the
long balls that she was able to put out

there until we lost them for Wave, and
then I was listening to, Tobin Heath

and Kristen Press just talk about how
important that was, and how they missed

that, and how they loved having those
balls to help them, them get service,

and that sort of transitions us into
the, to the next part, because even,

those players are wingers, right?

And I have Sophia Jakobsson as
the third player, as a troll job

against you guys, because she,
it was a great moment last year

Mario: Nice, so

Sean: going and all that sort of stuff,
and, and then also just as a stand

in for, our play from those forward
wings, it's going to be, It's so

important, Doniak missed the last game.

She scored a couple goals for us.

We're looking for Maria Sanchez to
start, really helping with that attack.

Maya Jones looked good at times
for, she's a great dribbler and

setting up play, from the right side.

Amir Ali can come in and
change games at the end.

So but Jakobsson was, before she got
hurt, again, there's so many injuries,

I know you guys are talking about
injuries on our side, your side, we've

had a lot of players going in and out,

Angela: so

Sean: we're a very deep team, so it's
you can still, they can still get points

while they have key injuries, but yeah,
Jakobsson was playing pretty well and

getting a lot of the attack, lot of
the run, a lot of the shots on goal

that were, we're forcing great saves.

And so we'd like to see that, again from
her or from whichever wingers end up

starting that game or trying to finish
that game and become game changers.

yeah, that's a third player for me.

Angela: Awesome.

it is an ultimate troll,
but I appreciate it.

And

Mario: good, fair play.

Angela: yeah, exactly.

It's one of those where it's I'm never,
she's a Swedish national team player.

she's so decorated.

She's so good.

It's one of those where yeah.

She's on my team.

What'd you expect?

Sean: Yeah, that was one of
my favorite moments last year.

especially earlier in last year, yeah.

I'll never forget that Singing Happy
Birthday to her from 2017 up there in BMO,

Angela: That's awesome.

if you, I'm in 227, Mario, you're in 228?

Mario: No, I'm 128.

Angela: 126.

Mario: 20.

Angela: Something like that.

He's in the 100 levels, I'm in the
200s, but, if you end up running

into either of us, let us know.

We'll make sure, we'll pass some stickers
along to you guys and, spread the love.

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: When it comes to just supporting
each other, and I talk about this

a lot across sport in general, but
there's such a camaraderie within

fanbases of women's sports, soccer,
basketball, like whatever sport, there's

such camaraderie between fanbases
because that's all we had for so long.

We didn't have like casual fans that
would check out games here and there.

We didn't have.

access, easy access to watching games.

So it's if you knew somebody who
had, season tickets to another team

or had a cable package, you shared
information, that kind of thing.

And it's so cool that now we're able
to do this with other supporter groups

to then connect us even further.

And it just, it makes me and my little,
female athlete heart real happy.

I'm not going to cry, Mario.

Mario: okay.

we still got a little bit more of
the episode left, so let's see.

Angela: I know.

I'll keep it together.

Mario: All right, and for every,

Angela: for crying, Sean.

Mario: for

Angela: About sports.

Sean: I'll work on that
next time you bring me on,

Mario: And for everybody who is
new to keeping an eye on these Wave

players, we have Jakobsson at forward
number 10, we have Girma being a

defender number 4, and of course,
you might be familiar with McCaskill,

midfielder number 21 on the Wave.

So let's turn the tables and let's
talk about our ACFC players to watch.

And, Yeah, in honor of this record setting
weekend, let's talk about the sisters.

Oh,

Angela: trying to stay positive
and look for the good things, even

though I'm stressed about this team.

but I wanted to talk about Alyssa
and Gisele because they accomplished

something that is incredibly difficult
to do in sports in general, is one,

to have your sibling play at the same
level as you, to play on the same team.

We never got a muous crossover.

They never played on the
same team in the NWSL.

so we got, we got it.

we hold that crown now at Angel
City with Alyssa and Gisele.

And it's so cool having met their dad,
having gotten more access to Knowing,

like, where they're from, what they
do, they went to the same high school

as our captain, Ali Riley, they are L.

A.

born and bred in the Valley,
which if you're from L.

A., you know it's like a
different land up there.

If live south of one freeway, you don't
go north up another, it's a whole thing.

but Alyssa came in as the number one
draft pick last season, she's number

21 of forward, She's just fantastic.

She was a Gatorade player
of the year in 2021.

She was the only player in the MLS
development league playing against

male players around the country.

A lot of that happened pre COVID
when everything shut down, that's

when everything shifted a little
bit and they just stayed local.

She will run through a defense
seemingly with no fear.

We've seen a little bit

trepidation After the games with the
national team and the World Cup and some

of the stuff that happened last season
with Angel City, but she's starting to get

that confidence back and she's starting
to like better, faster decision decisions.

She's not as apprehensive with
when she's on the ball, so

it just, it was so good and.

She, I'm so glad we're seeing
her back to herself again.

we're seeing this craftiness
when she gets the ball.

She's not afraid to put herself
and her body in the position

to have penalty called.

just so many things that she does
that I don't think people really

understand are really difficult.

dribbling and running is also hard.

I cannot do it.

That's why I didn't play soccer.

But You have at least two defenders
on you at all time, and you're doing

this, and you're trying to get the
ball to someone else, all these things.

She had consecutive assists prior to, the
last game, which was absolutely fantastic.

She's the first, or the
youngest player to do that.

And it's just, it's so cool
to watch her grow and to watch

her develop with this team.

And What's insane is that her sister,
Gisele, plays a completely different

position, which I think is fantastic
for their relationship, she started

training with Angel City early last year.

So after Alyssa had already been
with the team for a few months, she

started training with the team, which
is why she didn't have to go through

draft and all the things because
we had been basically scouting her

before she became a legal adult.

So the rules were different.

Mario: Yeah, we snuck
in there to sign her.

Yes, thanks, Olivia.

Angela: but because we signed
Gisele before she turned 18, were

different, contract rules and
drafting rules and things like that.

played alongside her sister the majority
of their careers in high school and

club and all that kind of stuff.

she's just different.

She comes onto the pitch
and the energy she brings.

brings the rest of the team up with her.

So when she started this last
week, I think there was a

different level of confidence
that was reinstilled in the team.

Because they've they've gone
through it the last three weeks.

Mario: Yeah,

Angela: So I think having another jolt
helps them, one, because she's barely

18 and um, we joke that she's got
fresh knees, she's got fresh legs, and

Mario: still works.

Angela: yeah, she's able to do a lot
more at a lot, with a lot more speed

and a lot more, 18 year old energy that
comes with that, and it's so cool to

see she's played on the wing, she's
played in the midfield when we tried

to down on defense for a couple games.

going to be a very
versatile player for us.

And then whichever team she ends
up on around the league in years to

come, I hope she stays with Angel
City, but given the chance at some

point, I'm sure she'll move around.

but she is on the U 20 national team.

And, working her way up through the
system there, so I wouldn't be surprised

if we get another sister crossover
national level in a couple years.

Mario: Dude, to have Thompson
connection on the national team.

That'd be awesome.

Angela: Ugh, I want the Thompson to
Thompson connection at Angel City, I want

it at the national level, just, they're
so fun to watch, and part of it is because

they're so young, so they're, there's
not that same fear, players don't have

the scouting reports on them as well,
you play, Sarah Gordon has played against

Paige They played together for a couple,
and now they're playing against each

other again, so that matchup is different,
because they have that experience, or,

and, they play similar positions, they
know each other's tendencies, and all

of that, but at the same time, Sarah's
played against Alex Morgan, Sarah's

played against all of the better strikers
in the league, it's it's so different

when you come in as this fresh body.

Yeah, you can be scouted, but
it's a little bit different when

you don't have, seven years of
experience in the league to watch.

But, with that said, go
buy a Thompson Time shirt!

Thanks to Ethan, who got one last weekend,
and I was at Home Depot and made my day.

Mario: yeah, that was awesome.

Getting that email that
said, Hey, you made a sale.

And we're like, yes.

and then also something interesting that
Tracy mentioned on the broadcast was

that Saturday was Gisele's, prom night.

And last year.

And of course she missed it, right?

She was starting.

Last year was Alyssa's prom night for
the home match against the Spirit.

So just overall Spirit
just ruins everything.

The Spirit just, they're
big party poopers.

Angela: Yeah, that, that sucks.

Mario: all and then we have our little
history between the teams and because

the NWSL tried to do this forced,
Challenge cup, injury cup, that they

wanted to do for Granted it, it did
what it needed to do when it started,

but they kept it going for a little too
long and didn't really quite make sense.

But we have a lot of
matches against the Wave.

We have three wins.

Two draws and three
losses against the Wave.

So we're pretty much dead even,

Angela: Yeah.

Mario: history wise.

So,

Sean: I think if you

Mario: let's,

Sean: the Challenge Cup,
too, it's dead even.

Angela: Yeah.

Sean: two, two wins, one,
two wins and two losses each.

Mario: yeah.

anything can happen.

It's gonna be an exciting game.

you know, it's just gonna be real fun.

So again, just a reminder of
where to watch and listen.

Match is gonna be this Thursday at 7 p.

m.

at BMO, so leave work early, make sure
you get there with enough time, you're

driving through traffic near USC, USC,
the school's done now, but near downtown,

all of that stuff, it's crowded, it's
gonna be hard, we're playing the Wave,

Thursday, May 23rd, TV will be CBS
Sports Network, which we've already,

we've said our piece about them.

Bally Sports, hopefully they are
on your TV package because they've

been having some issues too.

Or just listen to the radio,
iHeartRadio, listen to Isaac and Tracy.

Or in Spanish, you can
listen to 1330 Tuliga Radio.

And remember, there is a beach
towel giveaway, a bright ass pink

beach towel on our blackout match.

Angela: I will say, because I know
people are going to be, them around and

Mario: I was asking my wife, I was like,
do you think it's like beach towel?

Or is it like mini beach towel?

is it like doll sized beach towel?

Angela: Yeah, is it Barbie Beach
Towel or Adult Beach Towel?

Mario: if you like what you hear,
hit subscribe button wherever you're

listening, check out casualfc.

com for all the pod links.

check out the Sirens, social media.

stuff.

They have really cool things going on.

If you're ever down in the San Diego area
to catch a match, I highly recommend it.

their matches are fun.

just like we, both of us coming into
this league, we brought a lot of

energy, a lot of fans and a lot of
support, to their teams and to our

respective teams and to the league.

And it's been, when it
comes to the support.

The atmosphere and the fans, the West
Coast is by far leading the charge.

Sean, where can people find, more out,
more about the Sirens supporter group?

Sean: Yeah, I mean Our socials
are always SD Sirens, so the

letters SD and Sirens, and we've
got a webpage too, sandiegosirens.

com.

if you happen to be a Wave fan and you're
listening to this and you want to join

up, we've got a way to be a member there.

Or you just like our scarf
and you want our cool scarf,

you can be a member as well.

but yeah, I love our socials.

Tanya does a great job with those.

and, Instagram

Mario: Yes.

Sean: X are good spots for it.

Mario: Yeah.

the scarf are beautiful, but I think the
logo is really cool for the Sirens too.

And I think the whole.

The whole, nautical theme, just,
everything just works out really well.

It was done really well,
so kudos to all of you.

Yeah, go check them out.

And best ways to support the pod,
share, comment on any one of our

posts on social media, or leave
us a review on wherever you're

listening because it helps engagement.

That's the best way to do it.

And it's free.

It's gonna take you like
two minutes, maybe less.

If it takes you less, Send us a
DM and be like, look, record time.

Or go grab some merch at our store, shop.

casualfc.

com.

Like we said, we always
have fun and silly ideas.

We just dropped the Thompson Time Power
Rangers t shirt and it's been really fun.

It was really fun to finally get that
out and actually make the idea work.

We went through a couple of revisions,
but we were both happy with it.

And if you feel so inclined, the other way
to support us is by buying us a coffee.

Check out our link on our
socials or go to buymeacoffee.

com slash casualfcpod and follow us on
all our socials, casualfcpod on Instagram,

Twitter, Threads, TikTok and Facebook.

And, as always, tell a
friend about the pod.

It brings us good luck.

We bank all that good luck and
send it off right to the team.

sometimes good luck is gonna
give us that little extra boost.

Sometimes good luck doesn't always
do that, it never hurts to send it.

Angela: send it to Sarah Gordon's ankle.

I've made that executive decision any good
luck, any Everything that is sent that

is good towards this team us is going to
be like funneled and like cortisone shot

into Sarah's ankle for a speedy recovery.

Mario: And with that,
everyone, we'll see you at BMO.

Remember, Blackout.

Bye.

Angela: Awesome.

Bye guys.

Thanks for coming, Sean.

Sean: Thank you.