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Hey Full Time readers, Gossip Woman, er, Emily Olsen right here with the crew, and we now have the largest information ever. One in every of our many sources says issues are actually heating up within the NWSL playoff race.
Kansas Metropolis Present’s has but to . The ultimate sufferer of the “Temwa Sweep,” the , didn’t have an opportunity when despatched a go throughout purpose to Chawinga. Don’t imagine it? We’ve got the video proof. Are you able to say, “MVP”?
TEMWA. CHEATCODE. CHAWINGA. 🐐
How fortunate are we to exist similtaneously TC6?!
There’s been numerous sappy goodbyes recently, however you’ll by no means guess who was noticed at . That’s proper, the last word insider Dan Humphreys, I imply Penn Badgley, wanting awfully smiley and complementary Gotham jersey. Attempting to like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, , , Heather O’Reilly and are we, Dan? Hold making an attempt.
Talking of Midge … do you wish to know what everybody’s watching? Ask the NWSL champ about how she spent
Till subsequent week … XOXO, Full Time.
(Missed the reference? Watch the CW’s “Gossip Woman,” co-starring Badgley, in your streaming service of alternative and it’ll all make sense.)
Earlier than the , let’s take inventory of the NWSL playoff image. Right here’s the place issues stand headed into the ultimate weekend, beginning Nov. 1:
Honorable point out: could have been eradicated from postseason competition this weekend, however that doesn’t take away any of the sauce from 👀 because the workforce .
Chawinga scored within the 54th minute of a 4-1 Present win over San Diego at CPKC Stadium. She has formally scored a purpose or extra towards each NWSL workforce in 2024 alone. As in the event you want the numbers to persuade you any extra about Chawinga’s unprecedented season, we requested Jeff Rueter to spell it out:
“At this level, I’m comfy stumping for Chawinga because the MVP front-runner. has undoubtedly been unstoppable and one Orlando’s two hearts alongside . She’ll be entrance and heart within the Greatest XI, and she or he may even win NWSL Championship MVP.
“Nonetheless, the Delight was already on its solution to an all-time nice season earlier than Banda debuted. It’s exhausting to think about the place this Present aspect could be with out Chawinga.
“The truth that Chawinga is main in objectives (20 to 13) and is tied with Banda in assists (six apiece) additional cements their affect on outcomes. Irrespective of who wins out, we’ve really been spoiled by these two world-class strikers who’ve performed on the high of their sport all season lengthy.”
The New York Liberty are WNBA champions after Sunday night time’s win on the Barclays Heart. Funding ended up being a key theme after the confetti rained down. Presenter Holly Rowe gave props to Liberty homeowners Clara Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai for bringing the workforce out from Westchester to Brooklyn, however throughout the board 2024 was .
Girls’s soccer and the NWSL can look to the WNBA for loads of classes after this season, not only for the league’s explosive development but in addition the that comes with it. However generally it actually does boil right down to a single concept: funding.
It wasn’t exhausting to think about what we’ve seen from this 12 months’s high 4 NWSL groups and the way significant funding on and off the sector has modified all 4 golf equipment, .
Because the NWSL season winds down, a problem awaits the league: tips on how to capitalize on this momentum round ladies’s sports activities. These high 4 groups all have an opportunity to maintain constructing as they host quarterfinals subsequent month. For some, like Orlando and , it’s the primary likelihood to host a house playoff sport. Alternatives like this matter.
Above all, the expectations are going to be sky excessive for viewership this 12 months, particularly with the championship within the primetime slot on Saturday, Nov. 23. Final 12 months’s remaining between Gotham FC and the Reign pulled 817,000 viewers — and that was with the added storylines of Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger retiring. The NWSL received’t fall as a result of they fail to crack 1 million viewers this 12 months, however it feels extra crucial than ever for the NWSL to hit tangible metrics like this.
Severely, what number of instances have we stated goodbye to long-time NWSL gamers this 12 months? Three extra gamers introduced or had been honored for his or her retirements final week. We’ve shared the emotional baggage by taking turns with our immortalization of gamers.
Melanie on ’s farewell: “KOH tried her finest to not cry, even joking that somebody ought to set a timer to see how lengthy she’d final. When she turned to her Gotham teammates, . Gotham on Sunday night time, following their final common season residence sport, a 3-1 win towards the Delight earlier than 10,757 followers, together with a-listers Morgan and Rapinoe, in addition to, for some cause, Penn Badgley. She ended her remarks by saying, ‘I really feel just like the luckiest lady on the earth, and I’ve had the perfect time of my life.’ (Subsequent up, one other emotional farewell with the USWNT in Nashville.)”
Steph on : “In a 12 months of massive retirements, Scott’s feels prefer it flew underneath the radar, even together with her together with her face on them. That’s Scott in a nutshell: understated, however invaluable. It’s been exhausting watching the top of her profession dwindle the way in which it has between damage restoration, a troublesome private 12 months and an especially unusual Olympics with Canada. However Desi Scott ever has, her 5’3″ body churning within the midfield for many years. Might she haven’t any regrets and considerable reminiscences.”
Meg on : “I’m nonetheless fascinated with my earlier than her retirement announcement — not only for her honesty and vulnerability, however as a result of she raised so many large, vital questions on what it means when an NWSL nice retires. Mathias bought her flowers this weekend at Angel Metropolis’s final residence sport (and a pleasant homage from her teammates with ), however she’s really an NWSL OG and a one-of-one human being, too. With a lot consideration paid to nationwide workforce careers, Mathias is an ideal reminder that we’ve bought to have a good time the perfect of the perfect on the league stage too.”
Who’s the BOS?: We didn’t have a publication final week to correctly focus on the botched rollout of BOS Nation FC, however Steph was on the unveiling and captured the , whereas Meg weighed in with .
Going tenting: Emma Hayes named her final week with 18 Olympic gold medalists and a handful of gamers who possible impressed Hayes on her latest U.S. tour. We see you, and ! The workforce faces Iceland on Oct. 24 and 27 earlier than dealing with Argentina on Oct. 30.
Troubling experiences: Final week, we revealed an interview with former Fulham Girls captain Ronnie Gibbons who instructed on two separate events whereas she was taking part in for the London membership. She waived her anonymity to inform her story after her former supervisor instructed the BBC that Fulham “protected” their ladies’s gamers towards Al Fayed. The total story is each heartbreaking and important.
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