Posts

Why The NWSL *Shouldn't* Change their Schedule to July-May

If the NWSL were to start in July, coverage of the second month of their season would be drowned out by NFL preseason coverage. ESPN already goes wall-to-wall and over the ceiling with NFL preseason coverage in August to the point where NWSL career milestones are pushed out of the ESPN top headlines by preseason analysis- and that's, as things already stand, the start of the second half of the season. I don't even want to imagine how second-month-of-the-season coverage would look like if the second month of the NWSL season and NFL preseason are the same month- Seattle Reign goalkeeper Evan O'Steen could make her first pro start or Chicago could win their first five games with five shutouts and the top headlines on the ESPN website would be debating the Buccaneers' QB battle or the Steelers' TE competition.  If the NWSL keeps their March-October schedule and MLS goes to July-May, the NWSL wouldn't have competition for viewers March through April. As things sta...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why I'd have Jane Campbell in Goal for Friday's Game

Quite simple- Jane, with 10 senior-level international appearances, is the most experienced goalie for the USWNT in this window. And the U.S. is coming off one of its first international defeats in a while (by a goal, but still). If I was Emma Hayes, I'd tab the most experienced goalie of the three for the third and final game in the series on Friday to tell the starting XI "okay- that was just one loss. No need to panic yet". 
Post a Comment
Read more

NWSL Team Newcomers

With less than a week to the NWSL kickoff, let's take a look at who's newly signed with various clubs. First, the Utah Royals get some needed goal-scoring help with Kiana Palacios from Club America. Palacios tallied 90 goals in league play for CA (174 games in the league for them) and she joins a Royals roster that only picked up 28 goals in 26 games in 2025.  The San Diego Wave get Gabi Portilho from Gotham FC From 2020 to 2024, Portilho tallied about 74 appearances for Corinthians. Bay FC will get Italian international Cristiana Girelli from Juventus on loan through August. Girelli has 155 apps for Juventus as of a week ago and 122 apps for Italy as of November.   Cate Hardin signs through this year with Houston after being a preseason trialist. Hardin appeared in 81 games for UGA and was a 2025 captain.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Portland's Preseason Takeaways- Angel City, February 15th

Morgan Messner gets preseason minutes: This is bigger than you might think initially- after Bella Bixby's SEI it's just Mackenzie Arnold and Messner on the active roster. Preseason is the perfect opportunity to give Messner low-risk minutes- if Arnold goes down in the regular season, Messner will be called into action right then.  Five people make their unofficial Thorns debuts: New signings Carolyn Calzada and Maddie Padelski and preseason trialists Sydney Cheesman, Jenni Immethun, Renee Lyles and Farrah Walters all appeared off the bench for the Thorns- and Lyles tallied Portland's lone goal. Lyles, in particular, is one to keep an eye on the next few years, as she subbed in for Portland's most dependable player- Olivia Moultrie. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Denver's goalie upgrade

The Denver Summit's goalie room got a fairly major upgrade when Pauline Peyraud-Magnin joined through 2027. No disrespect at all to Abby Smith, but there's a huge difference between the 79 appearances for Juventus and Women's Champions League appearances like Peyraud-Magnin has and the 8 NWSL appearances that Smith has. Peyraud-Magnin will make Denver's backline play with a lot more confidence after competing in Europe and the WCL from 2021 to last year... not to mention that Smith will gain a lot from practicing with Pauline for two years, so there's a more natural succession plan for Denver. Add to this that Denver has two Ironwomen defenders in Megan Reid and Kaleigh Kurtz and the Summit's defensive third looks to be in great hands as their first official season kicks off in a few weeks. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Who's the Chicago Stars' Goalie of the Future

Alyssa Naeher, who recently returned to the Chicago Stars on a one-year deal through the end of this year, is a club legend with around 165 appearances since joining the team in 2016. She's also 37. Right now, there are three other goalies on the roster- Mackenzie Wood, who's 25 and who has three appearances for Chicago; Halle Mackiewicz, who's 24 and who has four appearances for Chicago; and Katie Atkinson, who's 29 and who recently signed with Chicago after 80 appearances at Racing Louisville.  I'm not suggesting that any of them slot in at #1 right away- I'm saying Chicago needs to look long-term at this position and use either friendlies or any cup games or any games where standings don't matter late in the year- where either they're already in the playoffs or already out of the playoffs- to play a combination of Wood and Mackiewicz and Atkinson, just so the coaching staff can evaluate all three and start laying the groundwork for a season without Na...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Jordan Silkowitz will Have a Good Shot at a USWNT Cap This Year

Bay FC keeper Jordan Silkowitz is in an interesting position entering the official start of the 2026 season in about a month's time- she was called up for the previous two USWNT camps but has not yet gotten her first senior-level cap. However , I think that Emma Coates being the new coach of Bay FC might change that for the better for Silkowitz. Why, you ask?  Coates has coached the U19 and U23 sides for the England women, meaning she brings national-team-coach experience to Bay FC. This means that Silkowitz can ask Coach Coates, "what do I have to do to appear in USWNT games, not just be on the bench for USWNT games" and Coates will actually have answers for her. 
Post a Comment
Read more