Weekend NWSL Game Roundup: Unexpected Wins and Key Results

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00:00What's up, everybody? I'm super excited to report back about this weekend's games.

00:04We saw some unexpected wins, so I'm super excited to go in and talk a little bit more about that.

00:09So, I know that there's no more undefeated teams in the competition. Talk to me.

00:14That's right. Finally, Kansas City Currents are no longer undefeated. In fact, they were defeated

00:20by North Carolina Courage. The game was 3-2. It was an incredible game. North Carolina,

00:25this is their first win of the season. So, it's not too shabby to beat the number one place in the

00:31standings right now. I think they played with a lot of heart. I mean, not only is it difficult to

00:35beat this team, but to put three goals in the back of the net, that's pretty impressive to me.

00:41That sounds like one of those victories that changed the direction of a team season. Now,

00:45let's talk about some other team that had activity this last week. Let's talk about San Diego Wave.

00:52that it seemed that they're resurging from a slow start. Talk to me. How did they do this weekend?

00:57This weekend, San Diego had a definitive win against Chicago Stars. They've won 3-0. I mean,

01:04San Diego started off to a rocky start, but this is their second win in a row. So, I think they're

01:09getting some momentum again, getting more comfortable within the season. And unfortunately,

01:13Chicago Stars are still stuck at that last place right now. It feels like something's just not

01:18clicking with this team currently. Now, let's talk about a tie that was very, very interesting.

01:24We were talking about Bay City and Seattle. How did that game go end down?

01:30Seattle Reign and Bay FC ended up in a 1-1 tie this weekend. Both of these teams, you have to remember,

01:35they're in the middle of the bracket right now. They're both fighting. They want to get

01:39that leg up. And it showed up in this game, ended in a 1-1 tie. And it was an extremely back and

01:45fourth game due to both of these teams really just wanting that win. But both of them couldn't

01:49get it at the end of the day. And with that result, Camila, can you please tell me, how is the table,

01:54the standings looking right now? Kansas City, Orlando, and Washington Pride. Those three teams

02:00seem to be the front leaders this season, kind of as expected. They both had lots of wins this

02:06weekend. In the middle, we have Bay FC and Seattle Reign. Both of these teams are tied with eight points,

02:11currently in eighth and ninth place. And at the bottom, unfortunately, we have Chicago Stars,

02:18like we said, have only been able to acquire one win this season and four losses.

02:23Now, Camila, I know that you want to talk about something that is very unique. There has been a lot

02:28of talk about the football draft this week and a lot of drama. The NWSL did something different.

02:34They decided to do away with the draft this season. Can you talk to us a little bit about

02:38what came to be after the league made this decision?

02:42Yeah, I mean, this was a monumental decision for the league. This is a very

02:46un-American practice. Here, we're very used to every type of sport, pulling people from the draft.

02:52But NWSL said no more. And I actually think that although a lot of people were a bit apprehensive

02:58about this, it's showing up the positive results of this in the game. Lots of these young players,

03:04they're playing incredibly. I mean, we have, for example, ACFC, we have the Thompson sisters.

03:09Both of these sisters were signed directly after high school and they're thriving. I mean,

03:13although we do have to see the long-term results, but I think that this decision is giving players

03:19the autonomy to just make decisions for themselves, what's best for their personal and career choices.

03:25The NWSL is trying to do this different, trying to make sure that these kids are landing on teams

03:30that do well for their style of play, that the fit is right and it's not just a grab from the

03:36losing team to get the best player coming to the league. What other standout players have come to

03:43the league through this mechanism? For me, I think Maggie Graham is a standout young player in this

03:49league. She's playing for Houston Dash right now and she scored in her first two appearances.

03:55So I think that's showing that you don't have to discount this new youth, that they can show up

03:59and they can play on the same level as some of these older veteran players.

04:03Very interesting. Camila, also, I know that there's some defensive players that came to the

04:08league through this mechanism and they're really standout players. Could you share a little bit

04:12with us? Yeah, I mean, to me, the first two players that come to mind, Lily Real on Gotham.

04:17Gotham is a team that has been climbing up the rankings. They're currently fourth. And I think that

04:21her defensive contributions have been massive. I mean, sometimes these younger defensive players,

04:26they're not in the glitz and the glam of scoring goals, but they're still putting in

04:30so much effort to their teammates.

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