Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we've discovered
Speaker 1: all the four D replays from ESPN's NCAA Gymnastics Championships coverage.
Speaker 1: They installed thirty cameras at the Beam and Vault to
Speaker 1: create these insanely cool videos.
Speaker 2: Can't stop watching.
Speaker 1: It's Monday, April twenty first, and on today's show, we'll
Speaker 1: be talking to Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson about keeping
Speaker 1: her confidence even as she endured moves from backup to starter,
Speaker 1: to backup, back to starter again. We discuss ACFC naming
Speaker 1: a new head coach, the Angel City celebrity owners she
Speaker 1: most wants to meet, and getting her first US women's
Speaker 1: national team call up. Plus a border battle we can
Speaker 1: get behind, a reason to feel unwell, and celebrating losing
Speaker 1: in front of a big crowd. It's all coming up
Speaker 1: right after this. Welcome back Slices. Hope you had a
Speaker 1: great weekend. Here's what you need to know today, Starting
Speaker 1: with hockey and the conclusion of Women's World Worlds for
Speaker 1: the twenty third time in twenty four World Championships, the
Speaker 1: US and Canada met in the gold medal game on Sunday,
Speaker 1: and as always, the matchup did not disappoint. It was
Speaker 1: tied three apiece after regulation and the game went into overtime,
Speaker 1: with Team USA coming out on top, Tessa Janicky scoring
Speaker 1: the game winner seventeen oh six into the extra period
Speaker 1: to lead the Stars and Stripes to the four to
Speaker 1: three victory. Backup goaltender Gwyneth Phillips came up big for
Speaker 1: Team USA, making seventeen stops on eighteen shots, including all
Speaker 1: ten in overtime, after coming into spell starter Aaron Frankel,
Speaker 1: who suffered an injury in the third period after a collision.
Speaker 1: Phillips was understandably a little overwhelmed and at a loss
Speaker 1: for words after the win.
Speaker 2: Take a listen, all right, tell me what is going
Speaker 2: through your mind?
Speaker 1: Honestly, before, during, during, not a lot like just like
Speaker 1: peer instinct.
Speaker 2: I guess how were you able to stop.
Speaker 3: Everything that came your way?
Speaker 2: Why Did's not that y by?
Speaker 3: I had a lot of really good help in front
Speaker 3: of me, so they made my life as easy as
Speaker 3: it could be.
Speaker 2: Tell me what you're feeling in this moment right now.
Speaker 3: Shock it off. I'm ecstatic.
Speaker 2: Congratulation, Thank you, I love it.
Speaker 1: Hillary Knight, who holds nearly every record in the books
Speaker 1: for Women's Worlds extended another with her record tenth gold medal,
Speaker 1: and she's heading home with the nifty shiner on her
Speaker 1: left eye too. Tmusa had made it to the final
Speaker 1: with a two one win over host nation Checkia on Saturday,
Speaker 1: while the Canadians defeated Finland eight to one in the
Speaker 1: other semi More hockey, the Professional Women's Hockey League has
Speaker 1: reportedly picked its first expansion city, Vancouver. Local Vancouver paper
Speaker 1: The Province was the first to report the news. The
Speaker 1: team is expected to begin play in twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: twenty six. This expansion comes less than two years after
Speaker 1: the league's launch in January twenty twenty four. The official
Speaker 1: announcement confirming Vancouver is expected.
Speaker 2: To come this Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Per the Associated Press, Seattle appears to be the top
Speaker 1: contender for expansion city, now number two, though plans to
Speaker 1: announce Seattle as the pick are currently on hold. To Gymnastics,
Speaker 1: Oklahoma captured the NCUBLEA Gymnastics Championship on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas,
Speaker 1: besting second place UCLA, third place Missouri, and fourth place Utah.
Speaker 1: This is Oklahoma's third title in four seasons and seventh overall.
Speaker 1: Tying them with the UCLA for third most titles in
Speaker 1: NCAA history. Earlier in the competition, Oklahomas Jordan Bowers won
Speaker 1: the individual all around title, beating out a decorated field
Speaker 1: that included multiple Olympians. As for the individual apparatus titles,
Speaker 1: LSU's Kaylin Chio one on vault, UCLA's Brooklyn Moors took
Speaker 1: the floor title, Missouri's Helen Who one on beam, and
Speaker 1: UCLA's Jordan Chiles topped the floor exercise. To softball, Stanford
Speaker 1: broke the NCUBA softball single game attendance record while hosting
Speaker 1: rival Cal on Saturday thirteen thou Two hundred and seven
Speaker 1: fans crammed into Stanford Stadium, the venue where the school's
Speaker 1: football team plays, for the quote unquote big swing. But
Speaker 1: while the Cardinal won the record, they did lose the game,
Speaker 1: falling to Cal ten to eight. The previous softball record
Speaker 1: was twelve thousand, five sixty six set in Oklahoma at
Speaker 1: last year's College World Series. To soccer, US women's national
Speaker 1: team and Washington's Spirit star Trinity Rodman is out indefinitely
Speaker 1: as she deals with ongoing back issues. In a statement
Speaker 1: to ESPN, the Spirit said, quote Trinity is taking time
Speaker 1: away from team activities to manage her back.
Speaker 2: We look forward to her returning when she's healthy. End quote.
Speaker 1: Rodman's agent told The Washington Post that she'll be meeting
Speaker 1: with a doctor in London and will return to the
Speaker 1: team as soon as she's healthy. Rodman has battled back
Speaker 1: injuries for several years now and has previously said that
Speaker 1: she never expects to be back to one hundred percent
Speaker 1: health more NWSL. Even without Rodman and without Kroy Bethune,
Speaker 1: and without Hal Hirschfeldt and without Casey Krueger, the Spirits
Speaker 1: still manage to win their match against the Orlando Pride
Speaker 1: on Saturday one nil, handing the Pride their first law
Speaker 1: the regular season. The lone goal of the game was
Speaker 1: scored by Spirit rookie Gift Monday, who was signed by
Speaker 1: the team in March. Also congrats to the Seattle Rains
Speaker 1: lynbian Doolo, who notched the thirty first regular season assist
Speaker 1: of her career on Friday night. She's now tied for
Speaker 1: the most assists in NWSL history. She set up Mattie
Speaker 1: Dleen's goal in Seattle's one nail victory over the Portland Thorns.
Speaker 1: The Rain's first regular season win over its regional rivals
Speaker 1: since twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: We got to take a quick break. When we come back.
Speaker 2: It's Angelina Anderson.
Speaker 1: We caught up with her last Thursday, the day before
Speaker 1: Angel City's four nothing lost to Gotham, the team's first
Speaker 1: loss of the season.
Speaker 2: Are we bad luck? I say no, but Angel City
Speaker 2: might feel otherwise. Stick around joining us now.
Speaker 1: She's the keeper of Angel Cities, Hopes and Dreams aka,
Speaker 1: the starting goalkeeper for ACFC, and she recently got her
Speaker 1: first US.
Speaker 2: National team call up.
Speaker 1: A Berkeley grad who was a team captain her sophomore, junior,
Speaker 1: and senior seasons in college, her mom was a track star,
Speaker 1: her dad was a football player, and her middle name
Speaker 1: is Dora. It's Angelina Anderson. How often do you get
Speaker 1: Dora the Explorer?
Speaker 2: Just all the time?
Speaker 3: I got that a lot growing up in like elementary school.
Speaker 3: People thought that was really really funny. Now I don't mind,
Speaker 3: but only only special people know my middle name.
Speaker 2: So now all of our.
Speaker 1: Listeners, Yeah, a really nice start for your Angel City
Speaker 1: club to to and o sitting in fourth in the league.
Speaker 2: What's going well for you guys?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean I am so proud of us. I'm
Speaker 3: so excited. Been a great start. Like you said, it
Speaker 3: just feels great to be undefeated. Honestly, I think the
Speaker 3: team's just really together. Like we've had a lot of
Speaker 3: moving parts, and obviously with some interim positions and new
Speaker 3: people coming in and new players coming in, but it's
Speaker 3: been like a seamless transition, and I just kind of
Speaker 3: have an impression that no matter what's going on outside
Speaker 3: in the world or external forces, like, if your team's together,
Speaker 3: you can get through a lot. So I just feel
Speaker 3: like we've got a really good vibe in the locker
Speaker 3: room right now, and we're all kind of just like
Speaker 3: riding off of each performance and hoping that the next
Speaker 3: one's better. You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1: I actually was recently talking to a retired player and
Speaker 1: it was that conversation about vibes that, yeah, of course
Speaker 1: you need skill, and of course you need structure, but
Speaker 1: there's something about a magic between teammates that if it's
Speaker 1: happening early in the season, just like the intangibles and
Speaker 1: the things you almost can't describe, happen, and it keeps
Speaker 1: you united through the tough times and keeps you together
Speaker 1: when people are frustrated. That's just it's so important, and
Speaker 1: that's really special to have with a team that does
Speaker 1: have some things in flux. After a pretty lengthy search
Speaker 1: going on since last December, you just announced a new
Speaker 1: coach and Alexander Strauss.
Speaker 2: He won't be here yet.
Speaker 1: He's going to leave German squad Byron Munich and come
Speaker 1: in June, but has had a lot of success with
Speaker 1: them since twenty twenty two out there.
Speaker 2: What do you know about him? If anything?
Speaker 3: Not much, pretty much basically what you've just said. Obviously,
Speaker 3: the team was told and we got kind of a
Speaker 3: brief synopsis. I think it was nice to hear from
Speaker 3: management their confidence in him and that throughout the search,
Speaker 3: one of the big priorities was finding like a winner,
Speaker 3: you know, who has proven time and time again that
Speaker 3: they can win in big moments, and so I think
Speaker 3: we all love to hear that from him, and it's exciting.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, like, I'm just proud of
Speaker 3: our groups. I guess kind of mentality and ability to
Speaker 3: like take that big news that we got and then
Speaker 3: still be like, Okay, well that's coming in June. We
Speaker 3: got a game to win tomorrow, you right, we're keeping
Speaker 3: We're keeping this bus roll in and we'll see you
Speaker 3: in June. So yeah, I think yeah. I think it's
Speaker 3: been a really really great conversations and good vibe after
Speaker 3: hearing the news exciting.
Speaker 1: How has it been playing under Sam Sam Lady your
Speaker 1: interim coach, knowing he's not going to stay on his
Speaker 1: head coach but will be around. Does it feel any
Speaker 1: different than any other year when you've got a full
Speaker 1: time coach in place?
Speaker 3: Not necessarily. I think you kind of you act under
Speaker 3: the guys that this is your head coach and he's
Speaker 3: kind of setting our style of play and leading the ship.
Speaker 3: And I think Sam's done a really good job with
Speaker 3: that of coming in and bringing us together. And obviously
Speaker 3: he's been in the league for a while, so he
Speaker 3: knows how this league works. And I think that's definitely shown.
Speaker 3: I feel like he has the group together and it
Speaker 3: doesn't really feel like he's interim necessary.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know the new coach news is very new,
Speaker 1: but do you have any indication about whether they'll start
Speaker 1: to try to have your new coach's style or any
Speaker 1: of his impressions transferred to Sam to start you working
Speaker 1: on things. Is there going to be a difference between
Speaker 1: Alexander's approach and Sam's in a way that Sam might
Speaker 1: want to start slowly introducing so that when Alexander gets here,
Speaker 1: y'all are already, you know, understanding what kind of approach
Speaker 1: he has the game.
Speaker 3: Right from what we've been told. Part of that search
Speaker 3: was finding somebody who like aligns with the type of
Speaker 3: football that Angel City wants to play, that we want
Speaker 3: to put in front of the fans, that management wants
Speaker 3: us to play, that we have players who can play
Speaker 3: this way. So I think that was one of the
Speaker 3: big like guiding factors too throughout the hiring process, of like,
Speaker 3: who is somebody that we're aligned with, They're aligned with us,
Speaker 3: so we can just play the like, dynamic, exciting football
Speaker 3: that we want to play. So I think should be
Speaker 3: should be a pretty smooth transition. You know, you never
Speaker 3: know new people and coaches with quirks and stuff. So
Speaker 3: I'm excited to see the differences and the similarities and
Speaker 3: all that good change coming up.
Speaker 1: Well, on the one hand, it's great that Sam will
Speaker 1: be sticking around to be the senior assistant because he
Speaker 1: knows the team well.
Speaker 2: He'll help with the transition.
Speaker 1: It's going to be mid season, so that way Alexander
Speaker 1: doesn't have to come in and just try to figure
Speaker 1: it out himself, but also always to have someone go
Speaker 1: to a position of a little less authority after being
Speaker 1: the head man. Do you have an impression based on
Speaker 1: what you know of Sam of how he'll handle that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I couldn't imagine that role change for sure, like
Speaker 3: it would. I could imagine that you might feel some
Speaker 3: type of way about it, But I think Sam has
Speaker 3: just shown such professionalism and his goal at the end
Speaker 3: of the day is to help us win and to
Speaker 3: help us be successful. And I think like overall in
Speaker 3: our club, we have that mentality like whatever your role is,
Speaker 3: you do it to the best of your ability, and
Speaker 3: that's what it's going to take to get us to
Speaker 3: win and to be successful. And I have no doubt
Speaker 3: that Sam will continue just to bring his quality in
Speaker 3: whatever role he takes on.
Speaker 1: You personally have had to deal with a little bit
Speaker 1: of that top of the rung, a little bit back
Speaker 1: and forth. You were drafted twenty seventh overall in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three. You made four regular season appearances. Your rookie
Speaker 1: season started the first playoff game in Angel City, franchise history,
Speaker 1: first rookie and quite some time to get us start
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, and then you started the beginning of
Speaker 1: last year, but replaced by did Harcich before resuming the
Speaker 1: starting role again this season.
Speaker 2: That's a lot of back and forth for a young career.
Speaker 1: How did you handle that setback last year and stay
Speaker 1: focused and ready in your backup role and make sure
Speaker 1: you were still doing your best for the team.
Speaker 3: It's definitely a lot of back and forth, and I
Speaker 3: think it's really easy to look at, you know, starting
Speaker 3: last year and then getting benched, It's easy to see
Speaker 3: that as a really like a negative thing. I personally
Speaker 3: think that last year will probably be one of the
Speaker 3: most valuable years of my professional career for a long
Speaker 3: long time, just of learning how to be a pro
Speaker 3: when things aren't going your way and how like to
Speaker 3: really really own your role and to be the best
Speaker 3: version of you regardless of the circumstances. So yeah, it
Speaker 3: was definitely challenging. But I think like my ultimate goal
Speaker 3: and like desire no matter what position I'm in, is
Speaker 3: like I want the team to win, and like when
Speaker 3: d D was starting over me like I support the
Speaker 3: hell out of d D. Support currently, you know, like,
Speaker 3: I just want whoever's on the field to be ready
Speaker 3: to go and to smash it, and I'm going to
Speaker 3: do whatever I can to get us there. So yeah, challenging,
Speaker 3: but I think my own like internal sense of being
Speaker 3: a part of something bigger than just myself kind of
Speaker 3: took over and that was my like bigger motivation for sure.
Speaker 1: I love that you've actually described last year as the
Speaker 1: biggest year of growth in all your life. I think
Speaker 1: it takes a certain kind of person to be ready
Speaker 1: for that moment and to handle it the way you
Speaker 1: have and to realize even in that moment, what an
Speaker 1: opportunity it is, what a learning experience it is. A
Speaker 1: lot of people can look back years later and be like, oh,
Speaker 1: that was good for me, But you seem to have
Speaker 1: had the emotional awareness to do it in the moment.
Speaker 2: To what do you attribute that.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I've been told that I am wise
Speaker 3: beyond my ears. Maybe it's that, yeah, but no, I
Speaker 3: just yeah, I think like I had a really good
Speaker 3: support system around me too, of people like who lifted
Speaker 3: me up and still made me feel valued, and so
Speaker 3: I was able to still really feel like I do
Speaker 3: impact this team. I make this team better right now.
Speaker 3: I need some development. I gotta get my feet under
Speaker 3: me a bit more, and I know my time's coming.
Speaker 3: I think that was kind of my mindset of just
Speaker 3: keep pushing forward. This is a part of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, your teammate Alyssa Thompson has been on one lately,
Speaker 1: scoring in three or four Angel City games, lighting it
Speaker 1: up in the national team friendlies. I imagine that facing her
Speaker 1: and training every day has probably helped with you honing
Speaker 1: those skills.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Yeah, like you said, Alyssa is in top form
Speaker 3: right now, and I mean she is special, like Alyssa
Speaker 3: Thompson is special. And it's funny because her and I
Speaker 3: have such a great relationship. We're draft mates, we're roommates
Speaker 3: on the road, like Alyssa is my girl. So I'm
Speaker 3: so happy to see her being so successful. But yes,
Speaker 3: in training, it's just like the best training ever for me.
Speaker 3: I mean, you have shifty Alyssa coming at you, and
Speaker 3: I just have to say she is way quicker in
Speaker 3: person than you guys see on TV. And yeah, it's
Speaker 3: it's great being able to train with liss. I think
Speaker 3: the thing that's popping into my head right now is
Speaker 3: phill score on me or score like a little sneaky
Speaker 3: goal on me, And then I see the biggest grin
Speaker 3: on her face and she's just running away, just you know, just.
Speaker 2: To make that so proud of hers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, but no, she's special, and I just I mean, yeah,
Speaker 3: she's playing at such a high level right now. I'm
Speaker 3: so happy for her.
Speaker 1: I love that you also get to spend a lot
Speaker 1: more time with her because you're at US women's national
Speaker 1: team practices together. So you played for the US under
Speaker 1: seventeen and under twenty teams, and then you got your
Speaker 1: first senior national team call up in January of this
Speaker 1: year as a training player, one of a handful of
Speaker 1: keepers that Emma Hayes wants to get a look at.
Speaker 2: So how did it feel to get that first call?
Speaker 3: Oh my god, I cried. I mean, getting called up
Speaker 3: to the senior team has always been like a life
Speaker 3: goal of mine, and now it's happened twice this year.
Speaker 3: So I'm just like, I mean, I'm overjoyed. I'm honored
Speaker 3: just going into that environment. It's like my goal is
Speaker 3: just to improve and to smile and take it all
Speaker 3: in and be grateful and just like, look, look around
Speaker 3: like I'm being coached Byanma Hayes, I'm with Olympians. I'm like,
Speaker 3: it's really really special, and yeah, I think just like
Speaker 3: immense gratitude and excitement.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an exciting and interesting time for the US
Speaker 1: women's national team. When it comes to the keeper position,
Speaker 1: it's kind of an unusual moment. There's been this pretty
Speaker 1: clear transition from Brianna Scurry to Hope Solo to a
Speaker 1: listener and now there's.
Speaker 2: A real battle for it.
Speaker 1: How has the sort of pod of keepers at national
Speaker 1: camp dealt with the uncertainty around the role.
Speaker 3: That's an interesting question. I think goalkeepers in particular are
Speaker 3: pretty good at like creating an environment that's like conducive
Speaker 3: to success through challenging each other and supporting each other.
Speaker 3: And so I feel like we're all pretty well versed
Speaker 3: of like we know that this is like the squad
Speaker 3: and at the end of the day, somebody's gonna play
Speaker 3: over somebody else. But when I've gone in, it's been
Speaker 3: really supportive. Obviously high challenge, and I mean from my perspective,
Speaker 3: like I kind of alluded to it earlier, is like
Speaker 3: I'm focused on improving me and improving the group and
Speaker 3: whoever steps on the field, let's go. I hope that's
Speaker 3: the best one for the team, and they get the
Speaker 3: job done. And it was super exciting seeing Fallin get
Speaker 3: her first cap, And obviously, like I look up to
Speaker 3: Mandy and she's been great to train against and with
Speaker 3: and see her thrive too. So it's been it's been
Speaker 3: really exciting just to kind of like be in be
Speaker 3: in that group, you know, and see like where do
Speaker 3: I fit in? Where's is going? And I think things
Speaker 3: will play out the way the way that they should.
Speaker 3: And it's been an honor being just called into that
Speaker 3: little group to get looked at.
Speaker 1: What have you learned from some of their keepers, anyone
Speaker 1: in particular that has given you a tip where you've
Speaker 1: watched them been like, oh yeah, I get I see that.
Speaker 3: I mean definitely, just like little technical things in training,
Speaker 3: like you get to watch people five yards away from
Speaker 3: you making insane saves and I think that's something I
Speaker 3: got to learn my rookie year of like watching Ddy
Speaker 3: do some crazy stuff right in front of me. I
Speaker 3: was like, oh, okay, that's how you get your foot
Speaker 3: out there or something. So I think, yeah, like little
Speaker 3: technical things like that, and then also for me, like
Speaker 3: still being a young goalkeeper and meeting some of the
Speaker 3: goalkeepers that like I've looked up to and really admired
Speaker 3: has been cool. Like I met Jane at the last
Speaker 3: camp and she was really cool.
Speaker 2: Jane Campbell. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I would just say, like being that in
Speaker 3: that ironman and being pushed by people that I've always
Speaker 3: really respected has been really valuable.
Speaker 1: You're one of the younger ones and you've got plenty
Speaker 1: of time to make your mark, so it's maybe a
Speaker 1: little bit easier to just go and soak it all
Speaker 1: up and just be grateful to be there. But I wonder,
Speaker 1: just in general as a keeper, is there some intentionality
Speaker 1: around the mental health approach, the sports psychology approach to
Speaker 1: the position, knowing that unless someone goes terribly wrong, you're
Speaker 1: probably not getting in if you didn't start, Like could
Speaker 1: you could be a forward or a midfielder and know
Speaker 1: that like, hey, I didn't get the start, but I
Speaker 1: might be a great sub that's going to completely change
Speaker 1: the game.
Speaker 2: But there's one keeper.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they probably are going to play every minute of
Speaker 1: every game, right, how do you? I mean it's easy
Speaker 1: to say, oh, you just have to be ready and
Speaker 1: like be you ready when your name is called.
Speaker 2: But that's hard.
Speaker 1: How much do you actually talk about that with either
Speaker 1: coaches or psychologists when you start to get on a
Speaker 1: path to be a professional or an elite keeper.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's something that you quickly learn if
Speaker 3: you're not the starter playing every single minute. And I
Speaker 3: think like what it comes down to is just you
Speaker 3: goalkeepers have to have this insane sense of like just
Speaker 3: perseverance through anything. And so yeah, like when you're when
Speaker 3: you're not starting and you're chilling on the bench for
Speaker 3: all these games, like you have to just stay ready
Speaker 3: and keep training as if you're going in. But it's
Speaker 3: like it takes that mental perseverance to do that. And
Speaker 3: then even like smaller things like when all the odds
Speaker 3: are against you and you got to make the save,
Speaker 3: like you have to I think as goalkeepers we just
Speaker 3: have to we have this ability to like push through
Speaker 3: perceived barriers. I guess is the way that I put it, Like, yeah,
Speaker 3: when all odds are against you, you got to make
Speaker 3: the save. When you're under the spotlight and you make
Speaker 3: a mistake, you got to get back up again. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we're really a special breed when it comes to perseverance
Speaker 3: for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting that you mentioned that because Briana
Speaker 1: Scurray was on our show recently. She actually talked about
Speaker 1: when she was going through all the different keepers in camp.
Speaker 1: She specifically said about you that you had the psychological
Speaker 1: edge because of starting, moving to back up, and working
Speaker 1: your way back to starter. She really sees toughness and
Speaker 1: resilience in that and sees you as someone who can
Speaker 1: deal with the pressures of being in a camp and
Speaker 1: battling it out for number one.
Speaker 2: Do you think that does.
Speaker 1: Give you an edge at all when dealing with the
Speaker 1: pressure of competing for national team spots, that there are
Speaker 1: athletes who maybe have never gotten knocked down yet they've
Speaker 1: just always been number one starter, and that you maybe
Speaker 1: have already figured out how to get through the tough stuff.
Speaker 3: First of all, Wow, what a awesome compliment. And I
Speaker 3: do think that that might give me an edge. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think it's just a really valuable experience to kind
Speaker 3: of have some of those hardships early on as a
Speaker 3: pro And that's why I feel like last year might
Speaker 3: prove to be one of the most valuable years, you know,
Speaker 3: coming up, And yeah, I think having the experience of
Speaker 3: going through that is definitely going to help me, no
Speaker 3: doubt in my mind. And I think a lot of
Speaker 3: goalkeeping is just experience, and I think people only think
Speaker 3: about that in terms of playing time, but I think
Speaker 3: if you've experienced hardship, if you've experienced, you know, crawling
Speaker 3: your way back out of a hole, that's also really valuable.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think that will prove to help me
Speaker 3: out at some point.
Speaker 1: I want to hear about Emma Hayes' style and communication.
Speaker 2: What kind of manager is she?
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, I mean, no secret when you're around
Speaker 3: her why she's been so successful. I think her as
Speaker 3: a human being, probably in every aspect of her life,
Speaker 3: is just somebody who strives for excellence than just continues
Speaker 3: to push that boundary. And you can tell, like when
Speaker 3: you're in the environment. I mean, she's a super cool person,
Speaker 3: but on the pitch, like she's as professional as they come.
Speaker 3: She is driving a standard and elite standard and that
Speaker 3: just rubs off on the rest of the group. I
Speaker 3: think it's so great when you have a coach that
Speaker 3: you're like, yes, obviously, when you have captains and other
Speaker 3: teammates who pushed that standard. That's you know, that rubs
Speaker 3: off on the group too. But when you have a
Speaker 3: coach who is like really pushing a standard and really
Speaker 3: doesn't accept anything but that excellence, it's like you just
Speaker 3: fall in line, you know. And so it's been really
Speaker 3: special to be coached by her. I remember I had
Speaker 3: a moment my first senior team camp and I was
Speaker 3: just sitting in the team meeting and I had a
Speaker 3: moment where I was like, holy crap, that's Ema and
Speaker 3: she's talking to me. Right, Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2: I do think that's the sweet spot.
Speaker 1: It's like they have to be demanding and expect a
Speaker 1: ton out of you and push you to get your best,
Speaker 1: but you have to respect them and like them so much.
Speaker 1: Yeah that you're like, oh, yeah, tell me what to
Speaker 1: do versus like this motherfucker right.
Speaker 3: Like I will follow you.
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you know what she expects out
Speaker 1: of you and wants you to work on. Is she
Speaker 1: pretty transparent about saying here's what you need to get
Speaker 1: better at, here's what I don't like when you do this,
Speaker 1: or do you feel like you're trying to like search
Speaker 1: and figure that out?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think all the staff on the you know,
Speaker 3: on the US team, they have a certain level of
Speaker 3: professionalism about them where they're not just laying their cards
Speaker 3: out in front of everybody, which I think is really
Speaker 3: a great way to go about it. But on an
Speaker 3: individual level, obviously I work a lot with the goalkeepering
Speaker 3: coach as well, just like more one on one with that.
Speaker 3: But yes, I think it's very clear the style of
Speaker 3: play that they want to play, what your roles and
Speaker 3: expectations are as a goalkeeper, like specifically on the football side.
Speaker 3: And then for me, a big thing that we've all
Speaker 3: kind of been harping on is just getting a lot
Speaker 3: of experience in the league and starting this whole season
Speaker 3: and getting through a whole season as a starter, and
Speaker 3: that's kind of, I think all of our main goal
Speaker 3: to just continue my development.
Speaker 1: So I actually learned a lot from Briana Scurry about
Speaker 1: a couple things, including what Emma Hayes wants like in
Speaker 1: terms of a keeper who could be on ball, which
Speaker 1: means you can use your feet and stuff and not
Speaker 1: just pick it up and take it far. And they
Speaker 1: want to be kind of a possession team and integrate
Speaker 1: the keeper into the angles and possession to set things
Speaker 1: up instead of always feeling like you're separate from the
Speaker 1: rest of the team and moving into the offensive space.
Speaker 1: So is that a fit for what you're already doing
Speaker 1: with Angel City? Is that the style Angel City plays?
Speaker 1: Is it a possession team. Is it one where they're
Speaker 1: looking to incorporate you into starting and creating flow of
Speaker 1: offense or is that something you have to adjust when
Speaker 1: you get to camp to consider expectations differently.
Speaker 3: A little bit of an adjustment, I think a Angel City,
Speaker 3: a lot of my role at the moment has been
Speaker 3: like relieving pressure and you know, finding those smaller, more
Speaker 3: possession based passes when I can and when it's on.
Speaker 3: But I think for us we really want to for
Speaker 3: Angel City, that is, we want to maintain possession higher
Speaker 3: up the field, and one of my strong suits is
Speaker 3: definitely my range of kicking. And so yeah, I think
Speaker 3: it's a little bit of an adjustment just because I mean,
Speaker 3: as a goalkeeper you're still involved in possession and in
Speaker 3: the build up, but going into national team like you
Speaker 3: are really a playmaker. So yeah, just like another step
Speaker 3: up of my like role I guess in possession. So yeah,
Speaker 3: there's like a little bit of a learning curve there
Speaker 3: for the first day when I get into camp. But
Speaker 3: having both kinds of styles that you know, they really
Speaker 3: they do mesh. But having both those styles and all
Speaker 3: those skill sets in my pocket, like, yeah, it'll help
Speaker 3: you bring it on exactly.
Speaker 2: Wherever you go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm starting to learn some of the differences in
Speaker 1: understanding style of keepers. Everyone that's elite is a good
Speaker 1: shot stopper, that's kind of necessary for the role, but
Speaker 1: there's so much more to it. Are there certain keepers
Speaker 1: that you watched growing up or more recently even that
Speaker 1: are kind of your influencers or role models or you
Speaker 1: try to model your game after.
Speaker 3: Uh, yeah, I'm currently my one of my biggest role
Speaker 3: models or someone that I'm just I disrespect so much
Speaker 3: is and Caterrin Berger and we're playing her tomorrow. I
Speaker 3: just think she is unbelievable with the ball at her feet,
Speaker 3: and you have to the other team has to play
Speaker 3: you differently when you're a goalkeeper who can play the
Speaker 3: ball anywhere on the field, at any time, any height
Speaker 3: on a dime. I'm just, yeah, I'm so impressed with her,
Speaker 3: and I literally I want to I want to be
Speaker 3: here one day with all my feet. So yeah, I
Speaker 3: say akb At the moment, I'm gonna I might ask
Speaker 3: her for her jersey tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I love it.
Speaker 1: Do the jersey swap for those who aren't familiar place
Speaker 1: for Gotham FC German keeper and was the NWSL Keeper
Speaker 1: of the Year last year. Really changed a lot for
Speaker 1: that team and changes their style because they've got her
Speaker 1: back there.
Speaker 2: She's She's fantastic. I love the jersey swap.
Speaker 1: Okay, I gotta let you go, but we're gonna do
Speaker 1: a very quick La speed round. So what are your
Speaker 1: favorite ways to decompress or distress in La?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a challenge hanging out with my cat and
Speaker 3: I'm a big like meditator, breathwork visualizer, so I make
Speaker 3: sure I get that in every day. And hard to
Speaker 3: find nature around here, but I do my best. I
Speaker 3: take I take little hikes or I hit the Yeah.
Speaker 1: I like how you think it's hard to find nature
Speaker 1: in La. I'm in Chicago. Okay, we do have a
Speaker 1: lake to ride a bike on or whatever. But I
Speaker 1: miss living in La because I would hike like three
Speaker 1: to four times a week. But it was my favorite
Speaker 1: spots were Pacific palisades that are no longer with us
Speaker 1: my favorite hiking places. But yeah, I mean, soak up
Speaker 1: the la vibes that you do have. There's a lot
Speaker 1: more nature near you than you probably think.
Speaker 3: I know, I'm from nor Cal where I could walk out.
Speaker 2: My back so spoiled. That's right. Okay, I get it.
Speaker 2: I get it.
Speaker 1: Which Angel City team owner were you or are you
Speaker 1: most excited or nervous to meet?
Speaker 3: Oh? Meeting Jennifer Gardner and Natalie Portman. That was like
Speaker 3: I was starstruck for sure.
Speaker 2: Jennifer's on my list.
Speaker 1: I've met Natalie a couple of times, but Jennifer's like,
Speaker 1: I feel like we'd be bff.
Speaker 3: Jennifer, she seems like so cool when I talked to her,
Speaker 3: or like when I would be warming up last year,
Speaker 3: she was always sitting pitchside and I'd be like hi,
Speaker 3: and she'd be.
Speaker 2: Like, oh, I love that. Okay, go to La restaurant.
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm this one's This one's a hole in the wall.
Speaker 3: Well maybe not a hole in the wall, but it's underground.
Speaker 3: It's right in Woodland Hills in the valley called Monty's Steakhouse. Okay,
Speaker 3: Old unassuming, would never think to go in there, so
Speaker 3: every time.
Speaker 2: Okay, good to know favorite store to splurjet.
Speaker 3: Oh gosh, I will say since moving to La I
Speaker 3: have become a chopoholic, really bad.
Speaker 2: You got to keep up with the girlies on your team.
Speaker 1: They are like bringing the fits and I'm trying.
Speaker 3: Honestly. The mall, which is like five minutes away from me,
Speaker 3: has every store imaginable, so I just walk in there.
Speaker 2: It's a whole mall.
Speaker 1: Uh. And then final, one notable celebrity encounter outside of
Speaker 1: your own team's owners.
Speaker 3: I actually haven't had that many. But I did see
Speaker 3: Simon Cowell. Okay, that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Did he look crouchy?
Speaker 3: No, we actually seemed really happy.
Speaker 1: I'm good. Maybe it's just a persona for television, I
Speaker 1: think so. Well, it was so nice to get to
Speaker 1: know you. Congrats on the success. It's been really fun
Speaker 1: to watch angel City have such a great start and
Speaker 1: we look forward to watching more this season.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much.
Speaker 2: Thanks again to Angelina for taking the time. We got
Speaker 2: to take another.
Speaker 1: Break when we return to quote Sam, muis are you
Speaker 1: having an okay time?
Speaker 2: No? Actually, I'm unwell, stick around. I'll explain welcome Max Slices.
Speaker 1: Heads up to all of our Minnesota Aurora FC investors,
Speaker 1: Your Aurora Times. Good game hats are finally on the
Speaker 1: way to you all thanks to number one unpaid assistant husband, Brad,
Speaker 1: who helped me stuff and label and ship all sixty
Speaker 1: something of them this weekend when we were both finally home.
Speaker 2: So he's the real MVP, and I.
Speaker 1: Apologize for committing to that, but the hat's around the way.
Speaker 2: That's the most important part.
Speaker 1: We always love that you're listening slices, but we want
Speaker 1: you to get in the game every day. So here's
Speaker 1: your good game play of the day. We are rapidly
Speaker 1: approaching our two hundredth episode, Holy Shit, and we're planning
Speaker 1: to both celebrate our loyal listeners and help new slices
Speaker 1: rookies seedlings if you will catch up on what they've missed. So,
Speaker 1: if you were talking to a new listener, what would
Speaker 1: you tell them they need to know about the show?
Speaker 1: What terms belong in the Good Game of Sarah's Bang glossary,
Speaker 1: What are the top two episodes you might have them
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Speaker 1: It's easy. Watch the NWSL supporters group rating zero out
Speaker 1: of five stars.
Speaker 2: What are we doing here? Review?
Speaker 1: NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman has announced that part of the
Speaker 1: league's new partnership with Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex
Speaker 1: Cooper and her hangover drink, Unwell is something Berman's calling
Speaker 1: a quote league supporters group called unwell FC end quote.
Speaker 1: She compared it to Natalie Portman or Jennifer Garner leading
Speaker 1: the supporters group at Angel City FC games, except you know,
Speaker 1: those two are owners of Angel City and therefore supporters
Speaker 1: of Angel City, while these Cooper led supporter sections at
Speaker 1: games will be rooting for I guess the league or
Speaker 1: the game of soccer, or both teams having fun. I
Speaker 1: love big swings that I love trying to appeal to
Speaker 1: a new audience. But this is not only not very
Speaker 1: well thought out, but has also upset actual supporters groups
Speaker 1: who feel like the league completely misunderstands its fan base.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of curious to see what happens when the
Speaker 1: so called league supporters groups first hit a game. Will
Speaker 1: they sit with the supporters group of the home team
Speaker 1: somewhere else, Will they chant, play music, or otherwise interact
Speaker 1: with the game in a way that competes with the
Speaker 1: home supporters group. Who or what exactly will they be
Speaker 1: cheering for, and what will the response from fans be like?
Speaker 1: I do want to point out that I understand that
Speaker 1: in women's sport there are a lot of people that
Speaker 1: like support the whole league and want all the teams
Speaker 1: to succeed and all the players to succeed, But that
Speaker 1: just doesn't really translate to being in a stadium cheering
Speaker 1: for an abstract thing. Again, I hope both teams have fun.
Speaker 1: Is kind of a funny thing to say, but hard
Speaker 1: to put it to practice in a supporters group. If
Speaker 1: you want to hear more about this, and specifically from
Speaker 1: some of the supporters' groups that are a little chuffed
Speaker 1: about it, Meglenahan and Tamara Griffin hosts a full time
Speaker 1: with Meg Linahan. Did a great episode where they actually
Speaker 1: reached out to some of those folks so you could
Speaker 1: check it out.
Speaker 2: It's their April sixteenth episode. Now it's your turn.
Speaker 1: Y'all rate and review, give us five stars, say something nice,
Speaker 1: thanks for listening.
Speaker 2: See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Good Game, Angelina, Good Game, Oklahoma gymnasticsk you back Injuries.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch.
Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm your host
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain