NWSL Weekly - Wednesday Edition, July 22, 2020
The theme of the Challenge Cup quarterfinals was goalie domination + penalty kicks. Which true underdogs will advance to the finals? Oh, and there's a new team coming to LA if you haven't heard
Where to begin with today’s newsletter…yesterday was a hugely important and memorable day for the NWSL and women’s soccer in the United States with the announcement of the newest team to join the league (the Los Angeles-based team won’t join until 2022). With all the excitement and hype surrounding this, you might have somehow forgotten about last week’s quarterfinal games and today’s semifinals.
The Challenge Cup quarterfinals saw some of the best goalkeeping performances possibly in league history, and also saw three out of the four games go to penalty kicks. While lack of goals may seem boring to some, PKs are a great way to get your heart rate up after midnight two nights in a row and then you can’t fall asleep until 2AM (or is that just me…)
Anyhow, the NWSL proved that its goalie depth is unmatched in the world and we’re sure to see more world-class performances today. But first, more on that new west coast soccer team.
Top Stories
Big news dropped Monday night and Tuesday morning about the latest NWSL expansion team - Angel City FC (placeholder name for now) located in Los Angeles. The team’s ownership group includes some massive female Hollywood stars (Uzo Aduba, Eva Longoria, Natalie Portman, and Jennifer Garner to name a few), former USWNT players (Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, Angela Hucles and several more), Serena Williams (plus her two-year-old daughter, Olympia, and her husband, Alexis Ohanian), and quite a few other names from across various industries (most of them women - you love to see it).
Meg Linehan of The Athletic first broke the news of a confirmed team coming to LA back in June, and then Grant Wahl set all of woso Twitter into a frenzy when he broke news of the official announcement Monday night. There are MANY articles out there right now on this exciting development for women’s soccer in the US; I’ve tried to compile a variety of options for you to peruse below for some deeper dives.
There are also plenty of other NWSL stories to read this week so please be sure to scroll through to the bottom section to catch those!
National Women’s Soccer League awards expansion team rights to Los Angeles (NWSL Media Staff)
WOMEN'S PRO SOCCER COMES TO ANGEL CITY (We Are Angel City)
Los Angeles expansion signals new era for NWSL (Dan Lauletta, The Equalizer)
Q&A: Natalie Portman on the origins and ambition of NWSL’s LA expansion team (Meg Linehan, The Athletic)
Angel City’s Alexis Ohanian and Julie Uhrman on a shared vision for NWSL in LA (Meg Linehan, The Athletic)
Natalie Portman part of L.A. ownership group for NWSL expansion team in 2022 (LA Times, Kevin Baxter)
VCs, celebrities and athletes are writing a new LA story to bring women's soccer to the city (Tech Crunch)
The A-list investor group behind the NWSL Los Angeles expansion team is incredible (Sydney Kuntz, SB Nation)
NWSL to Los Angeles: It’s money that matters (Beau Dure, Medium)
NWSL Challenge Cup
The quarterfinals were upset city; the Portland Thorns eked out a goal and an unexpected win against the Courage booting the number one seed from the tournament while true underdogs Sky Blue eliminated the Spirit in PKs. Utah and the Dash played a spicy match that featured no less than six yellow cards and the first PKs of the tourney. The hometown hosts were no match for penalty-kick-stopping stalwart Jane Campbell and were the second team knocked out of the tournament. OL Reign put together their best performance of the tournament but it ultimately wasn’t enough as they fell to Chicago in PKs.
The remaining three matches now move from Zions Bank Stadium to Rio Tinto Stadium (aka The RioT) which means teams finally get to play on grass and everyone can stop destroying their skin (see: Midge Purce’s tweet). Sadly this also means saying good bye to fan-favorite stadium fixtures like the playground, the sun glare (evening games only), and the farm.
The Bracket
(Image source: NWSL)
Semifinals - #4 Houston Dash vs #8 Portland Thorns FC
Wednesday, July 22nd 12:30PM ET
Match Previews:
Portland Thorns FC vs. Houston Dash Preview (Sandra Herrera, CBS Sports)
NWSL Challenge Cup Preview | Thorns take on Dash in Challenge Cup semifinals (Mike Donovan, ThornsFC.com)
Semifinals - #3 OL Reign vs #7 Sky Blue FC
Wednesday, July 22nd 10PM ET
Match Previews:
Sky Blue FC vs. Chicago Red Stars Preview (Sandra Herrera, CBS Sports)
Match Preview: Chicago Red Stars vs. Sky Blue FC (Lindsey Goldner, Chicago Red Stars)
Sky Blue FC to Play the Chicago Red Stars in NWSL Challenge Cup Semifinal Match (Sky Blue FC)
Both semifinal games air on CBS All Access (US & Canada) and Twitch for international viewers.
The championship will air on CBS and CBS All Access (US & Canada) and Twitch for international viewers on Sunday, July 26th at 12:30PM ET. Game replays air on CBS Sports Network and can be found on the NWSL website for international viewers.
Match Recaps
Fri. July 17th - North Carolina Courage 0, Portland Thorns 1
Portland Thorns oust top-seeded North Carolina Courage in massive upset at NWSL Challenge Cup (Sandra Herrera, CBS Sports)
Britt Eckerstrom and Morgan Weaver Come Up Big in Thorns’ Upset of Top-Ranked Courage (Grant Little, Stumptown Footy)
Fri. July 17th - Houston Dash 0 (PKs - 3), Utah Royals 0 (PKs - 2)
Houston Dash vs. Utah Royals score: Dash win in shootout to advance to NWSL Challenge Cup semifinals (Sandra Herrera, CBS Sports)
URFC Knocked out of NWSL Challenge Cup (RSL Communications)
Sat. July 18th - Washington Spirit 0 (PKs - 3), Sky Blue FC 0 (PKs - 4)
Sky Blue FC beats Washington Spirit on penalties, knocks No. 2 seed out of NWSL Challenge Cup (Sandra Herrera, CBS Sports)
Penalty kick heartbreak for Washington Spirit after NWSL Challenge Cup elimination at the hands of Sky Blue FC (Jason Anderson, Red and Black United)
Sky Blue Defeats Washington Spirit in Penalty Kicks, Earns Spot in Challenge Cup Semifinals (Sky Blue FC)
Sat. July 18th - OL Reign 0 (PKs - 3), Chicago Red Stars 0 (PKs - 4)
Chicago Red Stars edge OL Reign in penalty shootout to advance to NWSL Challenge Cup semifinals (Sandra Herrera, CBS Sports)
OL Reign fall to Chicago Red Stars in NWSL Challenge Cup Quarterfinal (Jacob Cristobal, Ride of the Valkyries)
Chicago Red Stars Defeat OL Reign In Penalty Shootout, Secure Spot in Semifinals (Lindsey Goldner, Chicago Red Stars)
League-wide News and Stories
Shirts, armbands, and kneeling: is NWSL truly ready to commit to antiracism? (Erica L. Ayala, All for XI)
NWSL board to decide soon if league will play more games in 2020 (Jeff Kassouf, The Equalizer)
Unlikely NWSL season will have an unlikely Challenge Cup champion (Graham Hays)
NWSL bubble remains COVID-free as Challenge Cup enters final week (Jeff Kassouf, The Equalizer)
Experiencing live sports during the pandemic: A day at the NWSL Challenge Cup (Hannah Lichtenstein, The Equalizer)
The Challenge Cup’s goalkeeping masterclass and the truth about load management (Meg Linehan, The Athletic)
Team and Athlete Highlights
Coach pressed into backup goalkeeper duty for Thorns (Annie M. Peterson)
More Than a Cup of Joe (Kristen Saibini, Backline Soccer)
Bella Bixby and the Calm Within the Storm (Charles Olney, Backline Soccer)
We spoke to USWNT star Kelley O'Hara about interviewing iconic female athletes for her new podcast with Just Women's Sports (Meredith Cash, Insider Sports)
How NWSL star and 'soccer nerd' Allie Long is expanding her passion for the game off the field (Sandra Herrera, CBS Sports)
Sky Blue FC's Midge Purce opens up about playing outside back and her plans for NWSL's Black Players Coalition (Sandra Herrera, CBS Sports)
Kaiya McCullough and the Chamber of Fandom Secrets (Stephanie Yang, All for XI)
One-time underdog Thorns now see pressure shift for semifinals against Dash (Richard Farley, ThornsFC.com)
‘Game of her life’: Britt Eckerstrom meets the moment as Thorns oust the Courage (Meg Linehan, The Athletic)
If you’d like to chat all things NWSL or share any important stories I missed, you can find me on Twitter here - @CWxSports.
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