Hall of Legends: Megan Rapinoe | NWSL Spotlight: Defenders & Goalkeepers | Attacking Third

Intro happy Wednesday everyone welcome into attacking third alongside Sandra Herrera I'm Lisa Carlin we have tons to get through today we launched it last week a3's Hall of Legends we're running it back this Wednesday and adding someone new into the A3 Hall of Legends we're going to do an nwsl Spotlight defense Edition focusing on Defenders and goalkeepers because if you've been here you know how much sandraa and I appreciate defense and of course we round out the show with in case you missed it filling you in on all the news and notes that we haven't gotten to yet good morning Sandra you're rocking a kit and a hat today I know the people love that how are you uh I'm doing great I'm trying to enjoy these last days of summer Lisa but it's like 100 degrees out in Chicago right now so it's a little bit difficult to do that got some rain last night because you know I gotta let people know we're weather podcast sometimes uh but I'm I'm enjoying it so far so I'm just kind of like you know what let's we're gonna talk about some very specific things for very special segments let me give some Clues let me give some Clues oh so I like that's really that's a good tease um if you think you know who Sandra is talking about a legend that we may be inducting into the Hall of Legends let us know in the chat if you're joining us live on YouTube thank you um Sandra I I'm sorry we are a weather podcast for those that didn't know actually I can't believe it's 100 degrees in Chicago that's actually crazy it's ped off I'm I'm still living in the past it was it was tough yesterday I'm not I'm not going to lie do doing a favor for some friends and we're we're dog sitting I just feel so bad can't take this big lug nut anywhere because it's just rough out there but uh you know channeling The Good Vibes for the for the last days Lazy Days of Summer and you know you're roing a little bit of sunshine with your kit I am yeah I'm wearing angel city today um I like this kit the Volos kit with like the pink palm trees that they have on it it's a good one um but we're not nearly 100 degrees on the East Coast right now it's still hot though it's like we still have hot summer sunnd days though which is amazing thank you um yeah SCD Miller we got to get the slip and slide out that would be fun that's a great way to end the summer especially with some dogs if you're dog sitting um I like that so we are a weather podcast and we also are dog podcast but mainly we do talk about women's football so thanks if you stuck around for this uh because we are very happy to announce that we are finalists attacking the finalist in the People's Choice podcast award thanks to you everyone that listens and watches us uh but we could still use your help there's one more thing we need from you if you voted for us in the last round you may be eligible to vote again so check your email and if you get something from People's Choice podcast Awards click on it and give us that final vote you can vote until September 3rd so check your emails everyone and vote for us in the People's Choice podcast Awards all right Sandra uh let's dive into it because a3's Hall of Legends launched last week this new A3's Hall of Legends - Megan Rapinoe segment that we're doing we inducted our very first Legend into the Hall of Legends and that was Heather O'Reilly and this week we are going to induct someone else and this is our new home where we get to recognize all the great players teams and significant moments that have occurred both on and off the field in regard to women's football and today we are inducting the one the only US Women's National Team star Megan rapino into the Hall of Legends now so many people Everyone ourselves included recognized the portion of Rino's career where she played with the US Women's National team that was probably the most prolific right she won an Olympic gold medal she won two World Cups with the US and she was such an influential and impactful part of that team and their fight for equality both on and off the field today however Sandra we want to honor rapino focusing on her Club career because there is so much that goes unnoticed and sometimes gets overshadowed by her career with the US Women's National Team but she just had her number 15 jersey retired with the Seattle Reign and that's kind of what sparked this ultimately and Sandra we had to pick rapino as our number two inductee because of everything she's done yeah we're just like kind of a big deal energy going into this one but I I love how we're trying to kind of frame it for her impact for for club right because there's such a chunk of players here that we're looking at to to roll out in our Hall of Legends where yes they have accomplished so much at the international level but so many of them were tasked with like really aiding and helping grow the game at the club level here in the United States and of this specific generation of players like mean Rino's absolutely included in that and yeah maybe it's a little bit of you know the fact that they retired her number in Seattle coming off of that but massive deal I don't know if folks recognize or realize that that's a a massive deal that that's a huge honor because of the of the layers that are in it like when we look at the history of of women's domestic soccer here in the United States we we talk often about how there were failed attempts we're talking W USA WPS these these were launched leagues that eventually had very short lives they were talking two to three years and then just folded under so the arrival of nwsl at one point and its own Growing Pains that it's gone through and and frankly still going through as players fight for the the CBA that they just ended up announcing and and kind of introducing these new things that have never been in place for nwsl as far as minimum standards and things like free agency for all so all of those things are are so important and to have a legend and for to play for one club for so long and then say you're going to retire the number to pay homage to them One Club Career it speaks not only to the impact of the player specifically that they had for their Club but also the longevity of of the league prior to to Megan Rino there's only been a couple of other players who have received this honor we just saw with Sam mu and in the Ring of Honor and we have to shout out maybe Lauren holiday maybe we conduct her into the into the this hasn't been done before so massive kudos to Megan Rino for everything she's accomplished with Seattle R absolutely deserve to get her number retired Megan rapino becomes just the fifth player in nwsl history to have her jersey number retired you mentioned Leslie Osborne uh lorri CH lney Lauren holiday and Joanna lman with um Boston Chicago FC casc and then Washington spirit so now Megan Rino's number 15 has been retired by Seattle rain but let's rewind a little because you touched on a lot of it there Sandra the impact that rapino has had in the domestic American women's soccer um let's take it all the way back to when Drafted by Chicago & Emma Hayes she started her professional career in 2009 Megan rapino was selected second overall in the WPS draft by none other than the Chicago Red stars that was for the inaugural season of women's professional soccer um ultimately she was named to the League's All-Star team that year but if you're joining us live and watching um the current US Women's National Team head coach Emma Hayes was then the red stars head coach and she is the one that drafted Megan rapino back in 2009 which is absolutely crazy I mean this picture Sandra Oh I love I love that shout out to our producer Mark for queuing this up for folks who are watching us on on the show I mean there's just so much going on in this photo from whether it's the the AL to the haircuts to the the logo WPS in the back there's there's a lot look I'm sure rapino and Hayes have had a good laugh at this this this photo but yeah that's we're Connecting the Dots here that's why I threw on the the red stars kid I wanted to find something with kind of an old school Crest on there to kind of pay homage to to that and yeah just a Plucky upstart Megan rapino getting drafted by Emma hey someone else who was sort of really trying to begin the trajectory of her her coaching career it's so cool such the the timelines right and stars Aline so that was 2009 then in December of 2010 Megan rapino signed with expansion team Philadelphia Independence um that was when the red stars kind of ceased operations uh but before she could really make an impact or any impact at all with the independent she was traded to Magic Jack which was formerly the Washington Freedom um but this all happened while she was overseas in Germany playing in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011 the WPS voted to terminate Magic Jack franchise leaving rapino and many other players actually as free agents for the 2012 season but ultimately the WPS folded in 2012 so there was a moment there where rapino signed with Australian W League team Sydney FC she only played a handful of games in Australia um and then during the summer of 2012 Megan rapino joined um a couple other national team teammates Hope Solo Sydney laroo Alex Morgan Steph Cox to play with the Seattle Sounders women this was in between camps with the national team as these national team players were preparing for the 2012 Summer Olympics um then Megan rapino in January of 2013 signed just for a six-month half a year to play with Leon now 2013 is when nwsl came about so Megan rapino joined Seattle rain FC um to which she had been previously allocated in the national women's soccer league so the her first year in the nwsl and with c Seattle rapino only played half of the matches less than 12 of 22 regular season games yet she led Seattle rain with five goals her second season in Seattle 2014 they end up winning The nwsl Shield a record of 162 and six with 52 points that is 13 points ahead of second place team Kansas City um and in the final the championship match that year against Casey Megan rapino scored the only goal for Seattle But ultimately they fell 2-1 to Kansas City in 2015 uh Megan rapino which is kind of crazy to believe she scored her first professional hattick in The Opening match of the 2015 season against the Western New York flash um plus she also got an assist in that match to her longtime teammate Jess fishlock um rain ultimately go on to win their second Shield that year in back-to-back years 2014 and 2015 but fall again in the nwsl championship um Megan rapino wins her third shield in 2022 also with the rain and also with Laura Harvey so during her time at Seattle rain she had seen a number of different coaches come and go Laura Harvey for one right start there leave and then ultimately come back um and in 2023 in July of last year Megan rapino announced that she's going to retire from professional soccer at the end of the 2023 nwsl season and as the story would be written um Seattle rain go on to the nwsl championship and the final against Gotham FC and Heartbreakers of all Heartbreakers right at Legends they go through hard times too Sandra in megga Pino's very last match as a professional against Gotham in the nwsl championship just three minutes in she inured herself and tears her Achilles um a tough and terrible way to end her career but it doesn't take away from all of the incredible things she had accomplished Megan rapino is is one of The Originals as as we call them quote Originals just one of five players who helped launch the league and played with the same Club their entire career some of the other ones Tory houster Christine Sinclair uh Jess fishlock and Lauren Barnes and then of course Megan rapino her Jersey was retired on Sunday August 25th number 15 with the Seattle rain but taking a look at this reg this incredible resume Sandra it what kind of Rapinoe's NWSL Legacy Legacy did rapino leave specific spefically in nwsl domestic women's football yeah I think for for rapino there's there's been a enough that's been said about everything that she's accomplished for the game on and off the pitch but I think when what sticks out for me in the club level I you know for a long time maybe even now sometimes national team players have a that really big uh Spotlight on them when it comes to to club play Because when you're navigating um football Duty for club and Country maybe sometimes Club kind of gets left behind in certain cycles of of of a window so when I'm looking at her Accolade seeing that how she's got some of the most appearances of all time for for the rain like that that stands out for me because when you when you match it up with numbers you're just like oh this this is a player who put in who put in work for for their Club despite maybe a louder contingent that might say well players like these don't actually play so often of for Club well when you get a player like this who has been with one Club throughout the entirety of this League's existence I mean it's it's massive I don't think we're ever really going to see that again unless a very special kind of relationship happens with club and player where you want to see longevity within one typical Club but we're talking from 2013 all the way to 2023 I don't know if we're ever going to see anything like that again and this is also just like to note that again this is this isn't a time where nwsl was trying to get its its its footing off of the ground and these players this allocation system that used to exist that no longer exists was to make sure that there was a specific amount of talent that was kind of scattered and spread around to to teams in in the league and and these players were were celebrating the concept of free agency that didn't exist with an allocation system in place so you have some players who are going to teams where they're just like okay we're we're just going to take a shot on on faith of of Faith here and and go with these teams and see how they work out and for Megan rapino it ended up I you could say working out because she stood as long as she did she accomplished as much as she did she played as much as she did she's she's got the record for goal scored for for this club we'll see if that gets broken that's a lot of goals I think for for Club when you when you think about it can a player reach that Milestone with uh with Seattle rain in in the future after 10 years years too right 2013 to 2023 she ends up with 52 goals and it is such a rarity to have one player um play for one Club their whole time but rafino has some former teammates or I guess current teammates of Seattle rain Jess fishlock and Lauren barns that have also been there the entire time of this club so it's it the terms rapino fishlock Barnes Lou Barnes are pretty synonymous with rain and how uh this team has done even Laura I'm going to say I'm going to throw her in there although she wasn't the head coach for a a few years in the middle of this tenyear she is also synonymous and like really helped grow this club and Grow American women's football um but it really Falls a lot on the shoulders of Megan rapino so congratulations Megan rapino on of course your incredible US Women's National Team career but mostly what you did in the nwsl and the WPS growing this game and this Legacy and your number ultimately being retired um so good luck if you wanted to wear number 15 and play at Seattle yeah I like it Sandra hit the pose pose to end it all hit the pose I love it congratulations magnar rapino you have been inducted into the attacking third Hall of Legends here's your imaginary trophy we're so proud of you thanks everyone for being part of this and conversating about it if you have favorite memories of Megan rapino whether it's watching her play or things she's done off the field or maybe something you learned during this segment about her um let us know in the chat on YouTube or on our socials at attacking third congrats Megan um this was great don't go anywhere though because we are diving into an nwsl Spotlight talking about defense baby don't go anywhere [Music] welcome back to attacking third she's Sandra I'm Lisa we are diving into an nwsl Spotlight series and for those that NWSL Spotlight: Goalkeepers have been here with us for a little bit I mean like Sandra and I since 20 21 whenever we started this thing we've been high on defense every single game championships International tournaments defense wins championships and it's not just a cliche saying for no reason they are the backbone of the team so we decided that we were going to highlight some incredible goalkeepers we're going to start with them because there have been outstanding Keepers this year in the nwsl um and we are going to highlight three of them Andra let's go three of them let's do all right who who do you want to highlight first all right first of all I just got to say I'm so excited for this segment because you prefaced it a little bit Lisa like if you go here if you've been hanging out with us if you're one of our day ones we have constantly talked about how much we love defense like Lisa and I we have always been like we love Defenders we want to give Defenders love goalkeepers love like let's do it so I love that we're doing this I think given the season in front of us right now Lisa that we're currently watching we got to give some love to anamor House of Anna Moorhouse Orlando Pride right now an incredible incredible season with the pride right now and honestly like I love the origin story a little bit for this because it just again if you've watched nwl you are familiar with Orlando Pride's kind of trajectory maybe you're like wow this Orlando Pride team look at what they're doing and accomplishing this is coming out of nowhere people who've been around will say no this has been a long time maybe even a little bit of a long time struggle to to kind of get to this point and and that means figuring out the right pieces the right players getting them in positions to succeed and maybe that even includes the goalkeeping position as well maybe some back and forth about who was going to take over and be the one in net and it is Anna morouse and the form is there the form is there for her I mean it's getting noticed she got this recent call up to England's national team had to give give her some love to to start off this segment absolutely Anam more house with Orlando Pride just 12 goals against this season with Orlando the team as an as a whole is on an undefeated streak of 18 matches setting a new league record and Anna morous specifically has picked up eight shutouts this year so she sets a new um record for season shutouts and she's picked up 15 in her career at Orlando Pride so morous also sets the record Club record for career shutouts surpassing Ashlin Harris who H held that record at 14 but Anam morous has done such an incredible job right her ability to be a good shot stopper to organize from the back to play with a lot of different rotation in in front of her there's been a few goalkeepers that have been asked to do that this year in the nwsl having a different backline in front of them different formations things constantly changing home away um gone during International breaks and international windows that hasn't necessarily helped with their consistency but animore house has been Ann-Katrin Berger Rock Solid incredible in goal um and it has been reflected in the play of the team in the records that they've broken she individually and as a team with 18 undefeated streaks so hats off to Anna moreal she was our first goalie that we wanted to highlight our second one is an cine Burger of New Jersey New York Gotham FC one of the most consistent goalkeepers in the league she has an 83 save percentage she's had five shutouts in her first 13 games she's had nine of 13 um nine wins of those 13 games and only nine goals against and one of the most important stats I found when digging a little bit Sandra is that of those 13 games six of them so just about half of those matches for Gotham FC that she has we one goal score line wins that an cin bger has been part of and yes you have to have the offense that's going to score the goals but in one goal score lines it is so easy to give up a goal or a chance and an opportunity and you drop two points on the game and an caten bger has been so consistent with her play with Gotham FC um that heading into this season right she was formerly at Chelsea and she wasn't playing a lot she she has talked about this publicly saying that her age she's over 30 um isn't seen as that desirable in Europe so she wanted to play she wanted to get back on the German national team and she talked to Juan Carlos amro's head coach at Gotham about doing that specifically and he said hey come and we'll get you time and you can prove yourself she did just that and ends up making the Olympic squad for Germany goes on and has um one of the best runs right in the Olympics you think of the quarterfinal match for Germany against Canada she they go into penalties she saves two penalties then steps up to convert them to advance Germany to the next round and ultimately Germany is in the bronze medal match against world champion Spain and at the end of that match Spain has an opportunity to equalize and and take points off of Germany it's a penalty kick and and Katherine Burger saves it and she helps Germany win bronze against Spain absolutely incredible for her she's second in the nwsl and conceded goals and all her play at the international level has led her to be named the German footballer of the year I love it I'm just so like every every stat you were dropping every fact you were dropping right now I'm just like hyped hyped hyped hyped like AKB like let's go I I'm total agreement with you I can't add any more you threw out all the numbers out there the nine goals allow like that stands out to me the most because not only is she on less games than any other Keeper in nwsl right now she's leading that stat among these Keepers so that's that's wild to me or maybe not so wild depending on who you ask you're just like yeah she's totally capable of this like American audiences might just be getting introduced to her for for the first time might be like whoa this is this is crazy but love that she rode that form into the Olympics walking away with a a bronze medal and just like the opportunity that she's been given and just sort of taking control of that making it hers I think is just so admirable I mean doing all this in your first year in in a league that maybe you're not too sure what to expect outstanding absolutely outstanding I um really dove into an catburger this past weekend when Gotham was playing Portland and um one of the things about an Catan burger that makes her so unique in the nwsl is her ability to build out of the back with her feet her distribution is so key for how Gotham wants to play right she's comfortable playing Under Pressure she can play short she gives an option she can skip lines of pressure she can ping a ball on a rope and that unpredictable buildout that burger provides for Gotham has is really what has helped make Gotham so successful in their attack and in their buildout and burger is so comfortable on the ball and with the ball at her feet and Poss pressing and passing because she was a striker until she was about 17 years old and she's talked about how she loves being on the ball and um it adjusting to the team because the main job is what she has to do is stop the shots but she can also build out because of her ability to play the field that she did until she was a teenager which is kind of crazy to think about you're scoring goals and then all of a sudden you switch to be a goalkeeper a professional one nonetheless going to the Olympics with your country winning footballer of the year um and winning bronze ultimately and being named the German footballer of the year as a goalkeeper is the first time this has happened since 1998 and there is no one more deserving than an cine smashing it smashing it all your young goalkeepers footwork matters footwork matters it that to me honestly Sandra is the separation between a good keeper and a great keeper age because your job is to block the shots but what are the things that you can do in the back okay so we've highlighted Anna moouse and an catchin Burger Sandra who's our third keeper that we're highlighting all right this was tough because there's so many good keepers in the league but we're paying attention to what's happening in front of us in 2024 and we had to shout out Aubrey kingsberry for another goalkeeper during this segment just the Aubrey Kingsbury type of goalkeeper for me that has maybe flown a little bit under the radar for this season just because of for example the two other goalkeepers that we were just talking about right now but I don't know if there's maybe one of the more definitive like put your hard hat on get your lunch pail go to work type of goalkeepers than Kingsbury at at this season because of everything that's happening in front of her in terms of Cy Bon's incredible rookie season Trinity Rodman balling out so many players and and and obviously rookies on their depth bench as well kind of making names for the themselves they're kind of maybe forgetting a little bit about what kingsberry can provide for this team this is a goalkeeper that when ever I find myself covering a game in person you can hear her all the way from the Open Press Box in a stadium in my case it's to see Keek out in bridg view but you can constantly hear her communicating organizing her backline reading the game as it's being given to her it's it's an incredible experience had to shout her out here yeah I absolutely love that this segment was hard because we wanted to narrow it down to just three um but we wanted to highlight ones that aren't always recognized right like Jane Campbell has been continuously recognized for her outstanding work at Houston and she deserves that but she's also kind of getting pummeled back there so like when your shots that your face is so high your save percentage is going to be higher than a goalkeeper that maybe isn't perhaps and I I even think we have to look at the Jos of an Catrine Burger she's only played in 13 games in the NWS whereas kingsberry this year has played in 17 and she only has 19 goals against um which is very good she has helped Washington reclaim that number two spot their first time there since early early in the season um and she has done such a good job I like the shout out for you uh saying how vocal she is during games um because it it's amazing to see her shot stopping ability she is fearless in the net her ability to come out on crosses her organization and kingsberry is also a a keeper of the fans I'm going to say because kingsberry does a really impressive job of signing every single Jersey that she sees that is a keeper jersey because once they put those on sale fans said we want to buy them and we want to support our Keepers we're going to bring them to game so uh kingsberry tweeted out and said I will sign every goalkeeper jersey I see people wearing postgame on Saturday and she's done that she is a keeper of the fans I'm going to say I love it I love that image and you know it's a long time coming more more keeper kids the the the fans were the fans were clamoring for them and now they're out there and now we get to see Keepers signing keeper kids I love it and I just like honoring the Defenders okay that was Keepers we got another Spotlight segment we're talking Defenders we're moving up the field a little bit don't go anywhere we're highlighting our best nwsl defenders next [Music] welcome back to attacking third Sandra people in our chat are like hey what about lond what about M Murphy talking about the goalkeepers guys there's so many great goalkeepers so many I I I wish we had like a little like a fly camera and like our content planning meetings because literally all these goalkeepers were see how many we wanted to talk about right Burger Campbell Sheridan Hada cheich Anam morouse Lund Murphy we know guys we know um but I like I like what you said about trying to give that Spotlight to maybe some other folks that hav gotten it it was a good shot on the Campbell and I think maybe we followed some of that into the Defenders as well we definitely did okay so nwsl Spotlight we are talking Defenders this segment because without NWSL Spotlight: Defenders goalkeepers um their first line of defense is the Defenders and this year has been a tricky one because some of the goto day in and day out top Defenders have been put in really crappy positions this year and there are some Defenders that we're not going to highlight in this section because we're focusing on the ones that have been the most consistent and getting results for their team right so Naomi GMA I'm just putting it out there we love her as a Defender and we talk about her on this show constantly she's not in this segment because San Diego has been struggling they have been conceding goals and she also wasn't there for a lot of time because of the Olympics and things like that so our Defenders that we are highlighting in our nwsl Spotlight we have to start with Orlando Pride Center back and outside back Emily Emily Sams Sams this player has been absolutely Rock Solid for seines this year in her versatility to play center back position or in the outside back role and that versatility earlier this year that came came specifically because sein said I want to give her that versatility on the pitch so that she has an opportunity to tap into the US Women's National Team and if she can play multiple positions and an outside B role that is going to help her get there because the center back role at the US International level is pretty locked up ultimately Sams gets called into our first senior national team Camp ahead of the Olympics and unfortunately due to some injuries and some changes she then gets called up to be an alternate for the Olympics and she does make the full-time roster in Paris and Emily SS wins Olympic gold with the US Women's National Team but her play at Orlando Sandra has been so impressive to watch this year yeah absolutely I think we can even kind of backtrack a little bit in into 2023 and sort of just really see the trajectory of this particular player Orlando has been trying to build towards something maybe even a very special season like the one we're watching right now and for them rest in peace to the draft it it kind of came in in the way of having some of these disappointing seasons and then having some decent first round spot and selections to get a chance to go ahead and draft some some high-rated talent but you never really know right we we hear so often least in the conversations that we have on this show with players about that gap between the Collegiate level and going pro that sometimes it takes a little while to kind of really get your legs underneath you and I think Emily Sams is a little bit of an example of that maybe a 2023 where she needed a few weeks to kind of go ahead and and get the feel of an nwsl game but I think once she had we're talking maybe a first quarter of a season behind her she started to stand out more and more and more and like most prior Seasons where rookies kind of stand out a little bit maybe her performances with Orlando Pride where were over Shadow from some other rookies who were doing incredible things whether it was Alissa Thomas or or or Michelle Cooper with Kansas City but we're talking about a player that went from year one now to year two and I think people are forgetting that this is just her sophomore season in the league and she's out there helping regulate and run that back line whether it's as a center back or an outside back as if she has been playing in this league for years and years and years absolutely it's been so fun to watch Sam's and her development professionally right be able to um really establish yourself as one of the best defenders in this league and defending comes on both sides of the ball right you have to be a lock down One V one Defender your positioning has to be good your organization and your communication out of the box out of the back but also your ability to play with your feet to connect to be an option to keep the ball moving play quickly but not rushed play h really intelligently as well um and Emily Sams has that high IQ it will be very fun to watch her break into the US lineup and continue to get call-ups and caps and ultimately because that is the trajectory for Emily Sams um okay next Defender that we are talking about Kaleigh Kurtz Defender at the North Carolina courage Kaylee Curts a center back like no other KK has been so impressive this year um organizing and it it hasn't been the easiest year for North Carolina right they're they've struggled to find consistency specifically on the road and to have someone that is so positive and so willing to get the job done to put their body on the line to save goine um goals to uh organize to connect to play alongside a lot of different people um in the backline it it all eyes Point towards kitle Kurt she has done such a good job this year um through a lot of adversity and a lot of changes that have come through North Carolina they are doing a lot of it without kolene which I don't think that was the plan right you when when a player gets injured that's never the plan and so defensively the courage have had to take on a lot more responsibilities to build out of the back to connect through the lines to be options for the midfielders to play those longer balls and the way that the courage plays they send their outside backs so high up the field that puts so much more pressure on the center backs to stop play before it develops to slow down transition and they've done that the the pictures that Mark is showing is against Orlando pride and North Carolina had a great defensive game against the best offensive team in the league Orlando yeah I I I'm so happy that we're shouting out Curts I feel like she has been that kind of definitive defensive player for North Carolina courage I think when you when you look at clubs across the league and we talk about team cultures or or what is a team identity who are the players that you look to to represent those things I think when it comes to North Carolina courage Kaylee kurts is that player that helps to find those things for the courage and just again at this point in her career a bit of a veteran of this league has experienced kind of helping communicate and keeping things organized back there I I'm just thinking of this this last you're mentioning the the struggles on the road Lisa but how they're coming it's not for lack of effort I mean we're talking about a game that they just had against Seattle that they lost one zero a narrow win and part of this game which was 90 plus minutes of will it happen won't it happen what's going to happen here in this match you have this moment with kayy Curts comes up with such a massive clearance in the late stages of the game to at that point keep things at least scoreless for the team on the road it was just incredible defensive recognition for me an absolute read the entire way where she sees this shot from Quinn as they take it from distance and just pops this thing away with with her head I I love that kind of stuff from Defenders specifically center backs in late stages of of the game and it's just one example of what she's been able to provide for this team throughout her time with the courage it's something that she does consistently when watching games of course I get fired up and and excited when great goals happen or really beautiful through Ball but there is not a moment more than when a Defender saves a goal line ball or gets a header at the last minute or when they're on the post of a corner kick and they save the ball from going in the net that I am on my feet cheering and screaming and Kaylee curtz does that a lot for North Carolina and she has been such a backbone defensively of that team so we definitely wanted to give her a highlight don't go anywhere guys though we have in case you missed it our news and notes segment coming up next and we have a lot to fill you in on Stick Around [Music] hey there welcome back to attacking third in case you missed it the league and the PA signed a brand new CBA last ICYMI: News & Notes week that was absolutely groundbreaking and one of the biggest points in this CBA is establishing free agency for all players no more tiered roll out based on how long you've been in the league or how much of a veteran you are and in this announcement they said that the free agency window was going to open in the nwsl on September 1st so because of all of this the initial list of players eligible for free agency that begins on NWSL's Initial Free Agency List & notables September 1st has been announced there were 88 players on this initial list Sandra absolutely insane Houston Dash the team with the most players on the list with 12 Utah and San Diego tied for the least amount of players at three but there are some pretty big names on this free agency list that we just have to talk about because the players that are going to be free agents include Danielle caprico Vanessa de Bernardo June Endo Abby EG at Louisville carolene the reigning MVP of the nwsl goalkeeper ad franch Kristen Hamilton key hubly goalkeeper Alyssa ner and Kristen press who just this month returned to play with Angel City following her 4 ACL surgery so of these notable free agents Sandra which one maybe two I'll give you two are you keeping your eye on to see where they sign if they move teams and what's going to happen especially come September first oh my gosh I you're narrowing it down to one or or two when I want to just say like all of them I have to shout out carolene the reigning MVP I think there's a some question marks around you know what is she going to look like when she finally hits the ground running for for North Carolina courage and listen this is the second half of the Season there's just you know nine weeks left and this is the the time where maybe she gets into games and boosts up that uh that value you know for for her going going forward she's already MVP can she still will show that she's explosive can score goals create goals all of that stuff will will make the negotiations maybe a little bit more difficult when you've got a player that you know is so good and maybe will still be good and of course I think you have to keep an eye on on the veterans in this one the veteran national team players and Alysa n and Christen press I'm sure folks are going to be focused on that as well like where how are they going to navigate this this free agency in a different phase of of of their career so I think uh those are those are my Trio I went with three even though you told me to keep too yeah well I knew you were never going to follow the rules CRA we don't follow rules here at a time no we weren't we just don't we just don't um I'm I'm keyed in on some of the players at Kansas City current because of how much success they've had this year um it's intriguing because you want to stay at a team that's that's finding success however Casey's brought in a lot of new players and there have been some players that maybe haven't seen enough time on the pitch that they want to see I'm looking at a play like Kristen Hamilton right even ad French in goal like these are players that could be game changers and starters but when you kind of fall to the subl list at times that's not always where you want to be and as a free agent now these players have the control and the power to change where they want to go play which style under which coach where they want to be in the league so it all opens free agency window starts on September 1st we will be covering every every single piece of it here at attacking third whether it's in studio or Wednesdays with us some other big news Brooklyn FC in the USL Brooklyn FC Kit drop Super League have debuted their inaugural 2024 2025 season women's kit it's designed in collaboration with Diaz also liquid death is the sponsor on the front and Brooklyn FC has their first home match this Saturday August 31st at 7:30 pm it's against Carolina ascent and you can go to Coney Island to watch that but Sandra these are pretty fire I love these kits I think they look I think it's a great partnership I also love liid death shout out um I tragically am a white sock fan and it was giving me like Southside white so kind of energy so I'm like I need that kit because I'm gonna leave that Southside kit in the in the closet for for a little while but I it's it's simple it's clean I love the collar I love the such a great great type of vibe so uh congrats to them hopefully they they go out there and get a win um home opener this Saturday for Brooklyn FC in the nwsl um because of free agency and and the trade and transfer window closing at the end of August there have been some big moves happening Bay FC have reached an agreement with Juventus women for the transfer of Canadian goalkeeper lissan pru and BFC had also acquired Defender Abby do camper from Bay FC acquire Abby Dahlkemper the San Diego wave this trade comes in exchange for $50,000 in allocation money um and then following that trade Abby do keer signed a contract extension through 2026 with an option for 2027 this happened just a few days ago and last night Bay FC took the pitch against FC Barcelona in a friendly we already got to see doll keer make her Bay debut but in this match it was Barcelona getting the 5-2 win over Bay FC in an International Friendly in San Francisco at PayPal Park goals from Bay coming from asisat schalla and Rachel kinji um 21 different players featured for Bay FC in front of over 14,000 fans and Abby damper being one of them I need your take on do camper to Bay FC Sandra I'm I was glad to see the move honestly it's a huge loss for San Diego but that story continues on the weird season that they're having but I think it was a massive win for Bay nearly every team I felt had some movement over the summer window but BFC wasn't one of those teams and it was like what's going on here are y'all just really gonna kind of stand Pat when you're like just outside of the playoff window so turns out they made a move and I think it's a good move you want to have players like that with experience can help kind of bulk up the the backline in a little bit and I think it's reflective of maybe what we might even see in free agency Lisa I think a lot of times this is what players are looking for they not only do they want the the playing time but they want stability so congrats to to BFC for making the move and for Abby C for forg getting to go back home and with San FR San Diego excuse me you have to think about how they they let go of Casey Stony and and players maybe like coaches and now they going downhill yeah yeah we'll talk about it but because of that I think we could see a lot of players changing too like what what's going to happen um okay a couple other big news that have happened a new four-year contract extension has been signed for Defender Paige neelsen in Houston the center back came to the dash earlier this year via a transfer in April um she was set to become a free agent but Houston has locked up Paige neelen a great job by them they've got tarciana neelson has comeing and does a great job defensively um more Defenders making contract extensions Defender Ellie wheeler signs an extension through 2028 with Kansas City current um so she is staying there and um some other big news that I want to touch on two Colombian Internationals are on the move forward Manuel avei is headed to West Ham United and Catalina usme is headed to Galatasaray uh those are some of the biggest transfers and everything that have happened tomorrow attacking third is back in studio and we have huge interviews coming up Orlando Pride head coach Seb Hines Chelsea Defender Millie brigh and of course nwsl weekend preview don't forget to vote for us if you received an email from People's Choice podcast Awards please vote for us in the final final words from you Sandra anything vote for us we appreciate the support as always vot let's go I appreciate everyone thank you so much for watching and joining us today make make sure you follow attacking third wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a five-star rating and review we are available on youtube.com/ attacking third and you can watch us on CBS Sports Gazo Network for all your women's football coverage for Mark Seaman and Sandra Herrera I'm Lisa Carlin this was attacking third