Midseason Review of NWSL Rankings | GSMC Hoops and Heels Women’s Sports Podcast

hello guys welcome back to the gsmc hoops and heels woman Sports podcast brought to you by the gsmc sports network we just got done talking about the recent WNBA games and now we're going to be switching over to talking about the nwsl teams and I rank them my chat box is currently not working right now which is unfortunate so I am unable to see any chats that are happening um and I sincerely apologize for that um I will need to be getting that fixed after this I'm so so so so sorry um before we begin I did want to ask you guys to like and follow the show and to become a part of our show to tip and donate using link jsmc podcast. net I meant to remind you guys to do this in the second segment but a lot of games we had to go over there so I just completely forgot to do that so I'm doing it now um and the Tipping and donate really helps us out helps me as a person um and I would really appreciate it um also before my chat box did close out I did get a question if I'm going to be all year um at the moment yes I am unsure of I I mean I don't have anything like plans for okay never mind I was like going to go into the fact that like I don't I plan like everything like by week I'm like what I going to talk about so like what I mean by that is like I don't know what I would talk about about in December well like I know like the general just because like things that are going on but anyway if you all have ideas of things that you want me to talk about things you want to hear always put them in the chat box and I would love to get your guys's feedback and opinions on all of that of course but I can't see the chat box right now so maybe put it in the YouTube comments um we're just going to head right into ranking the nwsl teams okay at 14th is I think this is very obvious Utah Royals they have been 14th on my list for so long um and they're just not having a good season that's just really what it is um they've had one win one draw and 10 losses this is going to sound terrible but I'm just kind of a person who doesn't really follow the last place or last ranked team and the only reason that I've been keeping my eye on the Utah Royals is because of Alex sner this is our first year playing in the nwl and she's been killing it for a rookie she has already scored two goals for the Royals but the team itself is just not doing too good the team has been seeing a lot of Staff Chang in the season so far and I think that might be putting a bit of an effect on how the team has been playing I don't know they have never I mean last season they didn't do great either I don't know what's going on there they're just they're R 14th right now at 13th I had the Seattle rain FC they have nine losses this season and two wins they were standing on 11th and their losses just kept bringing them down on Sunday the r had a chance to bring a new Vibe into their season they went against the Kansas City current who was currently undefeated despite coming out with some offensive punch powered by the return of Jordan heima the rain crashed and burned defensively and fell 5 to2 to Kansas City and that's a very high-scoring game for soccer their unfortunate loss to this time sort of confirmed their inability at the moment to move up in the rankings to be honest at 12 is the Angel City FC their record stands at three wins two draws and six losses they haven't won a game since May 3rd midfielder Clarice lean provided the lone goal and a two to one loss at home against Gotham the goal marks her first for Angel City and makes her just the fourth player to score for the soow side this season there's star power in this team but relying on two players and I mean by that is Claire as Milly and Sydney Loro for three4 of your goals won't be sufficient Kristen press has been out because of an ACL injury but she is said to return pretty soon and hopefully when she recovers her return will help the team um but this is not I want to make it clear these rankings are not like the standings like the official standings because this team is ranked much well sorry I should make it clear this team standing is not at 12 they're actually much higher but the reason the main reason why I have them ranked at 12th is because they have not been able to win since May 3rd so even though their standing has not been affected that much yet they just haven't been able to get a win okay so at 11th is the Houston Dash they have three wins three draws and three and six losses wo there we go they were previously ranked at 10th so their losses are hurting them too much but still they need to focus on their next game to get a win I also did I say they are hurting them too much they aren't let me like sometimes when I say like like contractions it like doesn't make sense they're losses aren't hurting them that much but still they do need to focus on that win because they are moving down and rank games they'll go against the angel CFC on Saturday and that will be an interesting pretty evenly matched game Diana Ardon has been doing really good on this team though scoring four goals so far and 10th is the bay FC and they keep improving and improving the team was so close to their second clean sheet of the year though PP Hawking stop his time goal was a fitting moment for the historic occasion the 2 to1 victory in base forth the season marking more wins than any other team sitting outside the playoff positions with no draws and eight losses though the expansion side needs a focus on their defending and consistency as they head home for a surmountable run of games in the Bay Area at Ninth this is Chicago red stars they have five wis1 draw and six losses Alysa nir is their goalie and I firmly believe she is one of the best goalies in the league I think she's been a huge part of their defensive success but as we know you can't can't just have good defense you need a dominating offense to get those goals and I think they need to focus on that in their next game which will be on Friday against Casey current but to be honest with how the Casey Kern is playing I don't think the red stars are going to win the game but maybe we'll see more defensive opportunities for the goalkeeper to be a star player for them who knows hopefully they can get some offensive opportunities it would be cool if they could you know flip around how they're doing by beating a team that is undefeated but I don't know if that would happen to be honest at eighth is the North Carolina courage they were previously ranked at six and I think they have the potential to get back to that spot but I don't know they seem to be struggling to recover with their losses a bit their record is five wins zero draws and seven losses they fall last week's 3 to Z drubbing at the hands of Houston Dash with a more respectable one to0 defeat to Portland Thorns this weekend but the courage are in dire need of a confidence boost they've now lost five of their last six games with the only one coming against the bottom of the league Utah oals so I mean they're just struggling right now I guess more mentally because we know they have that physical ability to get back up there it's just more of a confidence confidence booster thing I think is what they're need to focus on I guess I don't know that's a difficult thing to say because you it sounds so simple when he said they need a confidence booster as a team it's like that's not yeah but like that's not like that easy to do like you know I don't know we'll see they need a good win and and I think they'll get back on their stride at seventh is the racing Louisville FC I've been really impressed with them recently they've been doing really good they're PR previously ranked at eth and they have been having a really good season so far Louisville started slowly hosting the dash on Saturday but grew into the second half and claimed the two goals and route to their third one of the season and their second consecutive clean sheet they're not the flashiest team but they can grind out results and and they have some real quality in their ranks Savannah deelo is the Sid's top scorer as she's collected her fifth goal of the year in a decisive performance that also marks three goals in three home games and six is the San Diego wave of sea they were previously ranked set seven so C they been having a really good season so far the team put an end to Orlando's pridee historic eight game winning streak with a one toone draw at Snapdragon this Friday San Diego has let in the second fewest goals of any team in the league at 10 and K and Sheridan five STS did their part to keep Marta and Banda at Bay McKenzie doniac skull from the bench brought the wave level the 62nd minute which marched her eth goal as a substitute in WSL the main reason why they are ranked here is because they were able to tie the orando pride and before Casey Curran's like being undefeated and all of that Orlando Pride was ranked first so the the fact that they were able to tie them just shows that they have the ability to get back up there and rank so I I feel like they're very deserving of a six Place rank right now maybe even higher I don't know I feel like six place makes sense for why they are sometimes I always like second guess my rankings and I'm like so I like try not to overthink it because then it's just this huge issue but anyway in fifth is the New Jersey New York Gotham FC they started out slowly in this season but after 11 games played they are fourth in points per match Saturday's 2 to1 victory over Angel City marks their fifth win in six games for team now unbeaten since April 20th fittingly players that started the year injured made the difference Crystal Dunn opened up Gotham schools and Rose lville slotted home the decisive factor and fourth is the Portland Thorns images of Sophia Smith getting CED from the bench for time wasting will long live in the meme world I'm sorry I think that's so funny like that's like why you got carded for time wasting I don't know like it sounds so funny I when I was I used to play soccer and I was I played soccer for more than 15 years and if if I ever I got carded so many times for stupid things but that would be like the end to me like if I got carded for wasting time anyway moving on nwsl's Golden Boot leader attempted to hide the ball beneath the Thorns bench and stoppage time of a 1 to Zer wi over North Carolina and was disciplined for the this time wasting it was clever how she did I'll say but it will forever live in my head rentree anyway so in the 79th minute of this game Smith provided the day's decisive goal from the penalty spot as reclaim the lead in her Golden Boot race with barbar Banda but she'll miss Portland's rivy match in Seattle next weekend and she leads and goals in the league at nine total goals and assists at a total of six obviously I think that she's an amazing player I think she's one of the main reasons why Portland Thorns has been so dominating this season in third is the Washington Spirit they collected their four straight win of the Year Saturday with the 1 to zero victory over the Utah Royals highlights include Kate wner scoring her first nwsl goal days after returning from her first senior us WT training camp and triny Rodman live streaming their visit to In-N-Out Burger afterwards the weekends 1 to zero Victory is the Speen ninth of the season that's more wins than any other team in the league and set a club record for wins and points in their first 12 games Cory bethon from the spirit leads and assist in the league at a total of eight assists and if I am being I want to say that this is correct but I think she's a rookie so no she definitely is so the fact that she's a rookie and she is making those stats is very impressive and second is the Orlando Pride they were ranked at first um but the reason they're ranked at second is because of Kansas City how they're doing with their being undefeated so Orlando's aame winning streak came to an end in San Diego this weekend that said after a 1 to1 battle at Snapdragon they're still like technically unbeaten in 2024 considering that was a tie wasn't a loss and Barbara Banda didn't score this time jul doy Julia Julia Doyle did her second of the year but Banda did set up do for the Counterattack goal marking her third assist of the season banda's 11 goal involvements in eight matches are the most per 90 in the N WSL honestly she's a huge part of why the pride is at second or as one of the best teams in the league I I wanted to say that they're first but they're not because of this tie so lastly and first is the Kansas City current they were previously ranked second so they did a little flip-flop with the Orlando Pride nobody has scored more goals than Kansas City current this season Sunday against Seattle Reign they added five to their season tally 31 marking 23 goals scored in the first six home games at cpkc Stadium that's the most scor goal scored in a six match home stretch in nwsl history hard to argue with that offensive power and HomeField momentum for a side that took the top spot back from Orlando City Pride Sunday night so that's kind of why they're up there and they switch with Orlando Pride still I think Orlando pride and Kansas City krent are such like an evenly matched team in a way I will say that I think the pride has more Stand Out standout players like bar Banda like she's just a stand out player on the pride team so that's just something to consider but I I don't know I I think that Orlando pride and Kansas City current might switch sometime soon maybe in the standings and in the rankings because this is how the standings are right now Kansas City current is in first and Orlando pride is in second not just the rankings that's also standings okay so we are now going to move on to our next segment where we're going to talk about a controversy regarding the weight classes in the UFC before we get into that we're going to be taking a very short break so I will see you guys very soon