Casual FC

Angel City's Double Header: Kansas City & Houston Dash Preview feat. Dash Dispatch | Casual FC

We're recording live from a Portland hotel room, and you know what? A point, is a point! We'll take it after a hard-earned road draw against the Thorns. We've got a double header ahead and break down the Kansas City Current (yes, Temwa Chawinga is back and terrifying) and sit down with Laura Gomez from the Dash Dispatch to preview our matchup against Houston. Two rebuilding teams, one prayer: somebody please just score.

🗓️ Wednesday, May 20, 7:00 PM PT
🏟️ BMO Stadium
⚽ vs Kansas City Current
📺 Victory+
🎙️ iHeartRadio

🗓️ Saturday, May 23, 5:45 PM PT
🏟️ Shell Energy Stadium
⚽ vs Houston Dash
📺 ION TV
🎙️ iHeartRadio

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#AngelCityFC #NWSL #FootyTherapy

00:00 – Intro from Portland
00:43 – Double header match info
02:05 – Portland recap & road draw
04:35 – Chaos Award: NWSL reffing
05:02 – Kansas City preview: Chawinga is back
08:38 – Guest intro: Laura Gomez, Dash Dispatch
11:18 – Houston's scoring drought
14:23 – Step-sisters of the standings
18:58 – Rookie pressure & standouts
22:00 – Carina Lageyre & Karsyn Cherry
24:47 – Just give us a mid season
28:52 – Kat Rader watch
30:13 – Outro

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Creators and Guests

Host

Angela Morales

Co-host of Casual FC. The Expert of the duo. Masters in Sports Psychology.

Host

Mario Salazar

Co-host of Casual FC. The Casual of the duo.

What is Casual FC?

From causal and seasoned fans to fresh new fans to the game, Casual FC is your Angel City FC podcast previewing all upcoming matches, highlighting what to look for as the casual football fan.

Mario: Hey, everybody, and welcome
to Casual FC, your Angel City match

preview pod and footy therapy pod
featuring two podcast footy therapists.

I'm Mario Salazar with my
travel buddy, Angela Morales.

Angela: Hiii.

Mario: We're gonna be doing a little
bit of a mic hot potato because we

only have one while we're traveling,
and we're up in Portland, everyone.

but this is our match preview
episode, and I gotta read it all

out loud because I can't remember
anything for anything right now.

This is our match preview for
our double header against Kansas

City on Wednesday, May 20th.

It's gonna be at home at BMO,
so it's a 7:00 PM kickoff.

It will be streaming on Victory+, and
you can listen to it, as always, on

iHeartRadio with Isaac and Tracey.

Then we have a match on Saturday,
May 23rd versus the Houston

Dash at Shell Energy Stadium.

It's gonna be a 5:45 kickoff,
for us here in the Pacific Coast.

and it's gonna be streaming on ION TV
as part of their multi-game, weekend.

And also, once again, you can
listen to it on iHeartRadio with

Isaac and Tracey, the homies.

And, we will have a special
guest later on in the episode

to talk about the Houston Dash.

And, I, I think we're both, as Angela
mentions, essentially step-sisters

at this point of teams and where we
are on the table and how we're doing.

But We commiserate on that,
and then we take a l- look on,

you know, what, what to expect.

with that, we're in Portland, everyone.

Angela: And as you know, yesterday's
game ended in a tie with no goals

scored, which honestly, hell yeah,
because we got a point, and a point

on the road is a point on the road,
especially up here at Providence Park.

For those of you who haven't been,
if you ever get the opportunity

to come to a game up here, it is
genuinely a sick-ass experience.

The stadium is amazing.

I wish there was grass, but I understand.

the crowd is thunderous.

The crowd is involved.

I've never heard a more coordinated,
one band, one sound vibe in a stadium.

20,000 people were at the game yesterday,
and it was a wonderful experience.

Everyone's super cool.

Those of you who listen who
are also gluten-free, they

have offerings in this stadium.

The...

If you were in the Discord while I
was screaming throughout the entire

game, you could hear yourself think.

We weren't being blasted out
by the PA system in the press

box or on the concourse.

It was wonderful.

we got to, we got to see a
really good matchup, honestly.

Our, our defense is what's up.

And granted, defense hasn't
always been our issue.

our issue is getting
the ball to the offense.

But, Sarah had an amazing, amazing game.

Everybody was chirping at everybody.

M.A.

and Giselle were going at it.

M.A.

and Taylor Suarez were going at it.

M.A.

and Kennedy were going at it.

M.A.'s

shoulder is getting checked out.

We have checked in.

she's doing all right.

we're figuring out what happened,
but overall, super exciting match.

Again, the environment up here is amazing.

We got very lucky.

Saturday was raining and ugly
and overcast and really cold.

Yesterday was sunny and breezy, and
it's like that outside today so far.

It's gorgeous.

Footy Therapy-wise, our prompt
this week was, "A point on the

road is a point on the road."

And everybody was like, "We did it, guys."

Yay.

Lots of thumbs up emojis,
lots of "I'll take its."

thank you for everybody,
as always, for jumping in.

We're not doing a league roundup because
I don't know where my phone is now.

Mario put it...

Oh, it's on the bed.

Okay.

Perfect.

So my phone is still in the
room, but, games happened.

So many cards.

My Chaos Award is going
to refereeing this week.

We've had red cards.

We've had yellow cards.

We have things that don't make sense.

Per ushe, it's NWSL on
the regular at this point.

similar to the WNBA, I don't
understand what's happening when

it comes to refereeing, and I just
have to accept that at this point.

That's what I have to accept, is
that I don't understand anything.

I understand the rules of the game.

I don't understand the fouls anymore
because none of them make any sense

And, apparently at this point the
cards don't matter, they just occur.

Bianca St.

George's got a red card this week.

There was a million...

Ellery ...Eller-

Ellery Earnshaw, one of our assistant
coaches, it was her birthday yesterday.

She got carded.

let's go.

Yeah, that's, that's my recap
of the game in Portland.

Mario: Angela just plowed through
the entire episode in record time.

So she gave you the updates of
everything that happened in the game.

yeah, we, we've had a crazy whirlwind.

Angela's been on, no
sleep for, an entire week.

she's been reluctantly on planes,
for the majority of that time.

So she's, she's running on coffee
and hopes and dreams right now.

Basically.

But we, we made it to Portland with
a thankfully non-delayed ma- flight.

We got here f- fairly stress-free.

landed, essentially had enough time
to check into our hotel and then go

straight to the stadium, which worked out
perfectly, and had a really nice dinner.

Portland is very gluten friendly, and,
Angela is super happy with all of that.

and we're recording this right now
in the hotel room in the morning,

and we're about to head out to the
airport in about an hour or two.

So we had a very quick
turnaround on all of this.

And, yeah, I think overall, all, all...

The whole episode is shenanigans.

I think there is one Small little
hurdle that we have midweek, coming

up before we meet up with the Dash,
which is in the form of a K and a C.

we we have to play Kansas City midweek.

we do get to play them at
home, but we are playing them

a kind of a more healthy squad.

And so there are a couple things
that we wanna take a look at.

and I think Angela has a, a little
bit of a preview for us before we

get into, our Houston Dash talk.

So here you

Angela: go.

Okay, so here's the thing, guys.

Temwa Chawinga is healthy, Croix is
on the team, and they're starting

to click, and it's terrifying.

Temwa had a hat trick against
Chicago, I think that's who it was.

She had a hat trick regardless.

She had a brace against Houston.

She is coming back from
injury and taking names.

she is coming in to kick ass and
make sure that everybody remembers

why she's been the MVP, like why
she is the way she is, who she is.

did you forget?

"Oh, I was hurt, no big deal."

But Kansas City is getting back to
the Kansas City we know and don't

like because they're so damn good.

So yes, we played really well.

Our defense was super sharp yesterday,
but I'm really curious how we're

gonna match up against that front
line and that midfield given Sarah

playing a full 90, Evelyn pa-
playing a full 90, Emily playing a

full 90, Giselle playing a full 90.

that's a thing that's happening.

So I'm curious how we're gonna match up.

I hope we have a good showing
because our defense is good.

it's one of those things where if
we show up regardless of our lineup,

because it's gonna be different, we
obviously strive for consistency, at

least here in this Casual FC household.

we would love to see consistent
rosters, but with this many

midweek games, it's impossible.

You'll just-- nobody will
have gas at all ever.

but matching up against
Chawinga is always a feat.

Sarah has her work cut out-- or
Sarah, Emily, our whole back line

has their work cut out for them
because she is that prolific.

So now that Kansas City is kind of
running on a full tank of gas and,

and has their, their big names back
from injury, everybody in the league

has their work cut out for them.

And, it'll be interesting,
that's for damn sure.

That's my, that's my preview for
Kansas City is, as Laura said, "Please

soccer gods, please let it be okay."

That's where I'm at, but here's Laura.

Mario: This is our match preview section.

We're gonna be talking about our
upcoming game against the Kansas

City Current and the Houston Dash.

And we have the lovely Laura Gomez
with us from the Dash Dispatch, joining

us to be able to preview both really,
since they just played Kansas City,

and maybe get a couple of insights.

But Laura, tell us about yourself.

Laura Gomez: Hey, guys.

I'm, so happy to be here
to join, this podcast.

I'm with the Dash

Dispatch, and I myself
have been covering the Dash

in, you know, different outlets for many,

many years

since the team got to

Houston.

So it's been a process

to see the team grow and, and like that.

And Foxtrot, you know, now I'm

with them now, they've...

they

cover

the Houston Dash and the
Houston Dynamo, and a lot of

Houston

things.

So I mean, it's something that
you guys can really follow.

They give the insights.

Um, they do, like the pressers
and other things that perhaps...

It's, It's very,

very fan-oriented,

so it's very

easy to follow, easy to understand,
and things that the fans

wanna

know.

it's a

media and, very fan-based and,
uh, I joined them recently,

it's, it's been a, it's been
a fun ride so far, and I just

concentrate on the Houston Dash.

I've had enough of the Houston Dynamo.

I covered them for many

years.

and I'm, I'm just...

I wanna concentrate on women's
sports, specifically ...women's

soccer,

and

that's that.

Angela: I totally get that.

Our running joke is that I'm
like, "Men's soccer, what's that?

don't know.

don't...

Laura Gomez: I'm like, no, sorry, guys.

What?

Angela: What?

They play, they play soccer too?

They, they let...

Laura Gomez: Yeah.

Wow.

I'm like, "Who's that player?"

I know.

Yeah, but the

World, the World Cup is coming.

I'm Colombian and

I have to, I have to watch the
matches, even though I'm against a

lot of the things that FIFA does,

Angela: does, but- Ooh,

aren't we all?

Laura Gomez: everything's
tied in, good and bad.

So it's a big organization and
they do bad stuff, but then they

do good stuff.

But that's

another, that's another podcast.

Mario: Yeah.

Our the, the unexpected subtitle of
our last episode was just, "Ew, boys."

Yeah.

Laura Gomez: Yeah.

Angela: Very

Laura Gomez: There we go.

Invite me next time.

Angela: So with the matchup against Kansas
City, they've got Chuwenga back, and as

we are all now, essentially suffering
from, is her ability to score insane goals

and insane amounts of goals in one game.

And how-- Is there anything that
you wish you could impart on other

teams as like a fan to be like,
"How can we will our team to win?"

Like, how do we, aside from just
like shutting her down, 'cause

I don't want her to be injured.

You know, it's one of those,

Laura Gomez: Yeah, yeah.

I, yeah.

Angela: but

also please don't be good against my team.

Laura Gomez: Yeah, yeah,

I get it.

I mean, I was, uh,

heavy on the praying.

I was like, "Hey,

soccer gods, can we score?"

And I think that, that's

only, That's my thing,

Score.

Because if your

team has a goal scorer

too, then,

you know, maybe

it's, it's gonna be a tie.

Maybe it's gonna be

closer.

But unfortunately,

Houston Dash is

going

through a

rough, rough,

rough,

dry dry patch.

so the goals

aren't, aren't, aren't, aren't, being

made,

ar- aren't happening.

it's really hard to

have, really good defense.

Perhaps show with this

last game,

but I I do consider that we have a

really strong

defense.

I mean, Jane

Campbell is, you

know, national level team level,

right?

Yes, she

had some mistakes

and, you know, you have your

good days, your

your off

days, and she had an off day, honestly.

But defense and the
midfield of the Dash are,

you know, really good and,

and I wouldn't say the forwards aren't

good.

I just feel

the team has a lot of
newbies and it's just,

it's a

lot of learning and

recalculating and, they're know
each other still, and and the

rookies, and I think that

unfortunately

it's something that the
team really needs, like a, a

goal scorer

that is already branded goal scorer.

Um,

Angela: I feel that in my

Laura Gomez: have that.

So I think, yeah.

So I

think that,

I, I,

think that unfortunately
that that was the issue that

the Dash

kinda ran into.

it gave result that it gave.

So I think

that you really do need a goal
scorer with a team, um, like KC.

I mean, I think it, that's the
only way that you're gonna be

able to put up a fight with them.

Angela: Yeah.

Mario: Yeah.

I, yeah, we, we ha- believe we
have the goal scorers, and we've

seen great things from them.

And we've also seen great things from
even like, Gisele Thompson just like

coming up from the back, like on the, on

the sides, We've,
Svendis, things like that.

It, you know, again, I think
we're in the same-ish kind of

slump where, you know, there,

There's things that, that we kind of see
and they're just not coming to fruition.

You know, they're a little too
short on one pass, they're a little

too long on another, and like
things aren't, aren't gelling.

We had an amazing run of three games
at the beginning of the season, and

then the next four were, not so great.

Angela: Yeah.

I mean, our matchup, our first
matchup against Houston was like

the top of the table matchup.

That was that first, like we were both
undefeated going into it, so I feel

like our teams are very similar right
now in that where we both need the

veteran goal scorers to be like, "Oh,

hey guys, remember?

This is what we do."

And, and kind of take charge of that.

And I'm curious, I mean, granted I
know you are too, what's gonna happen

over the next stretch of games?

'Cause we went four lo-
three wins, four losses.

We got our first draw yesterday
And now what's gonna h- you

know what's gonna happen?

Because I feel like it,
matching up against Houston,

Angel City, like we're very,

Comparable when it

comes to

skill

Laura Gomez: to side on the, on the
chart, on the standing right now.

so you guys are up, I
think you guys are like

Angela: 12th

Yeah, 12th as

of this morning, I think it

was.

Laura Gomez: yeah, and
then the Dash is 13th,

Angela: then they're

down to 13, Yeah.

I feel like we're just

Laura Gomez: We both have

Angela: for a hot minute until
we all get our stuff together.

Laura Gomez: yeah, yeah.

yeah.

Mario: we do have two games
in hand, so that's the thing

that we just keep holding onto.

That's the little bit of like-
Yeah ... "yes, we're down

here, but like maybe we can..."

And then, you know, but given
our, our recent, slump, that, that

two games seems a bit of a, a big
leap to try to keep, you know?

Laura Gomez: I

am scared.

I really am.

I, I think it's something
that I said in the

beginning of the

season

in the

Dash

Dis- Dispatch, and, you

know, my other, my...

I'll say coworkers, my
other coworkers from the

podcast were

like,

"You know, Laura,

you're being a little negative

here," you know?

Debbie

Downer, the last episode.

But honestly, I

kind

fors- foresaw this, foreseen this.

foresaw this.

Anyways, I kinda saw the
future in the beginning.

Yeah, and I was like,

I'm

I'm scared now," 'cause, yeah,

I mean,

yes,

the beginning we

also had a good, really

good

start, 'cause At

some point we were like, the

top five,

And I was

like,

" This is

a dream."

"This .........is

amazing.

Let's keep this

up."

But then at

the same

time I was like, you know, teams

are

gearing up.

It's the beginning of the
season," et cetera, et cetera,

yada.

But my

fear

was, you

know, it's coming true because it's like

there's no

score, there's

no goals

being

scored, which is a

problem that I saw since, you
know, since, last season, honestly.

And coming

into this season,

still the

same thing,

you know?

Unfortunately.

for me,

in the

beginning I

was like,

I'm scared that

it's, it's still

gonna happen,"

because, yes, we got
new players and we saw

potential,

and we have a lot of

injuries

too,

right?

But

the thing is that

we can't

rely

just

one person to score.

think

that we

need to have

that

kind

of competition, at

least to have two goal scorers.

mean, maybe

I'm asking for

Angela: too

much.

I don't

know.

But no, if

you have a, a more spread out attack,
you're gonna have a better oppor-

the g- you know, more opportunities,
better opportunities, and like

more frequent opportunities.

So I feel like both of us going
into Saturday's match are like, like

you guy- your entire fan base, our
entire fan base is "Okay, but what

if we just, what if we just scored?"

'Cause there's a saying on,
I don't remember who it was,

and my Eva quotes it a lot.

She's if you prevent the other team
from scoring, you cannot lose."

And it's like that's what,
that's what we all need to do.

'Cause

like I feel like for, for a
second both of our teams started

to bleed goals a little bit,

where-

Laura Gomez: Yes.

Angela: If you blink the wrong way,
something weird happened, the next

thing you know there's a breakaway or a

weird goal from the depth
essentially at the goal line.

Mario: Or some really bad
reffing and, not going our way.

Angela: Oh, yep.

But

I feel like for both of us, like
injury-wise, our, our forwards can't

score if they don't get the ball.

And the ball can't get past the
midfield, nobody's gonna score.

It's just a battle of the midfield
at some point where it just goes

back and forth and back and forth.

But who do you think kind of going
into this second third of the season

now that we've passed the first
international break, who do you

think are the standouts on Houston?

Laura Gomez: I mean, I think that we

have

a, we have a lot of

good

players.

I really

think that

we have a

lot

of good players

and, unfortunately, h- and I, you

know,

and it's something that,

again, I'm

I'm using the word unfortunate.

I feel like a broken record, but

I think that the Dash
has had a tough couple

years.

A l-

Angela: in one season.

Laura Gomez: Exactly.

That's where I'm

leading to.

I mean, it's just, it's not
fair to the players, and it's

something that I argue a lot

with,

like MLS bros, I call

them.

And I'm like, it's

it's

not...

I'm not...

making

excuses for these

women,

but it's really hard for you to

do your job,

think when you're...

in the

back of your mind,

you

also have to worry about who's the new

coach

coming

' in.

Cause I think a lot of people

don't

realize that

when a new

coach comes in,

it's

a, it's a

it's a

huge

change with everything

because

you change,

not only

do you

change

the head coach, but you also

change, the people who,

you

know, do the workouts or

the,

uh, assistant coach and the, the
workout coach and the- goalie

coach, and you have different,

you have different changes, right?

So I think that people sometimes don't
realize that, and it takes a while

kinda get

that

well-oiled machine

kind

of kind of

working.

But I feel like with

the Dash, a lot

of,

you

know, things have been

thrown.

So when you're

like, getting

that momentum, like

yeah, "Yeah,

Then, no, just kidding here.

Change coach.

You're

like, yeah, yeah.

No, we're selling Maria Sanchez.

Bye.

You're like, "Okay, dude."

can you calm down?

Angela: Agrees in Angel City.

coaching changes, players leaving,
players coming, players getting hurt,

players coming back, somebody's pregnant.

And it's not to say that like
maternity leave or staffing changes

can't happen in the middle of the
season, but when there's so many,

at some point

I feel

like- Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

It's like for both of our teams,
especially over the last couple

seasons, like the Dash has not been
given historically, has not been given

the opportunity to su- to succeed.

Like investment-wise,
coaching-wise, like all of that.

And now

I'm like, I'm hoping, and this is my
hope for the league in general having

been a fan for so long, like I just,
I just want our girls to be okay.

Like I want them to be safe.

I want them to have- Better playing
environments, all that kind of stuff.

So to see the Dash kind of do this like
little bit, start a rebuild this last

season and like to some degree I feel like
the Dash and, and Angel City are now like

step-sisters because you've got Paige,
you've got Angela Hucles Mangano, like you

have like part of us out there

and there's so many similarities
of what is the rebuilds of our team

like consistently going through and

it's it's hard to be a fan sometimes when

you just

are

like,

Laura Gomez: I mean, it, it's hard to be a

reporter for it.

Angela: Yeah.

Yeah.

Laura Gomez: I mean, if you if
you rewrite the same thing and

you're like, "We're rebuilding.

2026, we're rebuilding.

2024, we're rebuilding."

Like, I want a different headline, you

know?

And

like, a- again, it's something that

people don't,

sometimes

don't realize

and are

kind of just just look at

the score

and they're like, "Eh,

they're always

losing," or,

"Eh."

But they don't

see the

s- the big

or,

small

changes that

the

team has or

hasn't made-

......that

sometimes,

have to do with the results
that you have on the pitch.

So like you were saying, we
want players to feel safe.

We want

players to be, you

know, p-

get paid, we

want

players to feel like

there's

a stable environment,

and that's

something

that,

you know, hasn't

always been true

for,

for the

Dash.

You

know, I, I think

it's...

This is

the second season that
we have the same coach,

and I don't think that
had happened in a while,

Angela: No.

Laura Gomez: You

Mario: you know.

No.

Yeah.

Out of, out of your y- you know,
you said that you guys have kind of

a lot of rookie players coming in
and a lot of-- there's been a lot

of shifting and stuff like that.

What would you say are your like, your
like two promising rookies that we

would most likely see on the pitch when
when we play with, with Houston, and

like what are you hoping from them?

Laura Gomez: You know, I'm

trying to

process it, because I think that

Angela: the,

Laura Gomez: the,

the rookies that

we've got, and I think

that

they have a lot

potential,

again,

think

it has to do with

The

team really

meshing.

I think that, again,

it, it is,

it's

gonna take time for

us to really

see what

they

can

do because we know that

they're

good.

We've seen what they've done with

their, you

know,

prior

teams

of being, before being

in the

NWSL.

it doesn't show when they're

on the

pitch

because, again,

you're having...

you're in a

different

league, right?

You're a

professional now.

It's a different

pace.

you have to get used to your
teammates too and know, you

know, what, gonna

go or

where

should

you kick that

ball

for

to end

up in the

forward's

legs

and,

for

to go

into

the net or,

you know, maybe I

shouldn't stand

here when Jane's here 'cause
she's she's gonna go for the ball

Angela: and, you know,

it's

just little

things

Laura Gomez: that,

Angela: the place

Laura Gomez: that kind of

plays

in...

You

know, maybe if you

asked

this

same question

at the

end of the season,

then I'll

able to

tell you,

you

know, this is

what

this

rookie

is good at,

this

what

this rookie

needs help in,

and this

what

this

rookie,

um, has the potential to do next

season.

don't

know.

I don't wanna name the

names cause I feel like

it's gonna

put a lot of

pressure on a lot of the players

.........that are still new.

I, I...

And,

I don't wanna taint them and say,
"Oh, this is the rookie that we're

looking for," because we've seen that

we, we give names

of rookies and it goes down south

fast.

And sometimes I

feel

that's a lot

of pressure,

whether it's,

you

know, on the

men's team or the

women's

team.

I know

we've, we've put a lot
of players on a pedestal,

... and they don't end up being our

savior.

I don't wanna do that to a player.

So when everyone, they ask me like, "Hey,
what's your favorite rookie right now?"

I'm like, "Mm, I'm not

gonna

tell

you.

I'm just gonna hold off and

see what happens."

And hopefully they won't

get injured

because we already had a

rookie

get

injured, you

know?

season-ending injury.

Yeah.

come back and ask

Angela: me at

the end of the

season.

We'll, we'll check in.

Don't worry.

Laura Gomez: yeah, yeah.

yeah,

Mario: yeah.

I think, I mean, for, for your listeners,
on, on our side, I think the, you

know, I think the rookie conversation's
actually a really important one to have.

And yes, there are, points
where, you know, sometimes you

put too much expectation on

the rookies.

The rookies aren't going to fix, problems
that are bigger than them, right?

The, the rookies are coming in
first year like you said, they're

playing in the, in big time now,
and, and they're, they're learning.

They're, they're learning how
not to get bodied by experienced

like-

Laura Gomez: Oh, my...

Yes.

Mario: them on their ass.

But,

Laura Gomez: Yeah

Mario: I think we've seen some
promising things from our rookies.

D- uh, we just had,

Angela: Karina Lagare

... Mario: Karina Lagare come into this
Portland match, and she held herself.

She did well.

We were, ourselves, uh, seeing if
she's going to be featured more

often in the next couple games.

Especially, you know, we have
the, the two games coming up.

We have, like we said, Kansas midweek,
and then Houston on the weekend.

But then, you know, we have our, not
so rookie rookies with uh, you know,

uh, and, Our sophomores this year.

Yeah ... our sophomores, our sophomores.

We have Carson Cherry that
we're excited that she is on--

She was on the squad at least.

She suited up for the, last
match that she part of.

And, we're, we're- stoked.

We're, we're excited.

But we've both been in this
slump of multiple matches.

We were, we were riding the highs
of that beginning of the season,

and then we both got knocked on

our

asses and have been-

Laura Gomez: Why are we so Like the high-

when the highs are highs
and when the lows are at...

Can we be,

Angela: Yeah.

Laura Gomez: can we

be mid?

Angela: mid?

Right.

Like at some point, I-- like I said at the
beginning of the season, because we're...

Mark Parsons, our GM, is like,
"This is a three-year rebuild."

So we're kind of in this weird like

year one and a half.

It's like year, year six months to year
one and a half, depending on who you ask.

And so I'm like, honestly, if we have
a 500 season, like if we just go mid,

if we're mid, I think everybody's
okay 'cause we're not at the bottom.

And I feel like it's similarly like
for you guys, if we have a mid-season,

ideally we all make the playoffs, but
if we have a mid-season and end up not

at 11th place where we've been the last
couple seasons, I think everybody's happy.

I-- or not really, but

you

Laura Gomez: Yeah.

Yeah, Yeah, I--

I'm like, Yeah,

Mario: you know, you know it as, as like
kind of half depressing as it sounds

of like saying a mid-season, you know
what a mid-season is, is consistency.

Yes.

Laura Gomez: that's why
I said I don't wanna say

Mario: as in

Angela: mid

in performance

Laura Gomez: in performance or

mid as in mid, but I'm just like-
when I say mid, I wanna say like seven

Angela: or

Yes ......pushing

it at six

Laura Gomez: it at

the

eight.

Angela: the middle.

that's it.

Like just get me above the bottom and I'm

okay at this point, because I know
the consistency hasn't been there,

and the more we get it, the better.

'Cause there was...

Like for us a couple
seasons ago, we had what?

Four-- 12 different starting
lineups, something like that.

You did the y- what is that?

And granted,

sometimes...

And when you have midweek games and
things like that, but that's different

than let's just see what happens
and mix it up every week, you know?

And yeah, soccer's a difficult
world to live in when you just

want your team to win a lot.

Laura Gomez: It is, it is.

It's, when they're rebuilding, quite

often it's, it's intense.

But I I mean, I agree

with you.

think

that

ideally,

yeah,

the

Dash

goes

off to the playoffs

and wins.

I mean,

that would be,

like,

the perfect,

underdog story

and, 'Cause I

Dash is, has

always

been, kind of that underdog.

I, I

don't

think that there's

been a

moment

that

people

have

always

been like,

"Oh, yeah, the

Dash,

that, they're

gonna

it.

They're gonna..."

You know, it's always

been kinda like the
understory, which is fine

' because, I mean,

they've gone

out

there and shown them what's what,

you know, in

several

games.

that for me

is not a

worry.

But,

you

know, I would want

to see

the

team make

it to the playoffs,

and being

realistic, knowing all,

everything

that

they've had

to deal

with

in the

past seasons, if they

just make it

the playoffs,

would

be, you

know, stoked.

I would be like, "Okay, good.

This is a good

starting point.

I, I see where this

rebuild

going."

But that

hasn't happened

yet

You

know, and going

back

the rookies, I

mean,

would dare

say, I

mean, Cat Rader, I think

that that's one that you w- you

Angela: you wanna

keep your

Laura Gomez: eye

on.

I mean, I think that,

you know,

she has the talent.

She has the

smarts.

mean, I

think

that

she's fast.

I think an

intelligent player.

But again,

she's still,

you

know, she's

a baby.

I mean, we're all babies.

We're all living for
the first time, right?

you know, I don't wanna
put that pressure on her.

But, you

know, I mean, maybe she's gonna wake and

just be the one that we need,
maybe season, maybe next season.

But

if I,

if I did have to name
one, I think I would name

her

one of the

rookies.

Angela: She's scary good.

Like,

when she's on and when you guys
are, are cruising, like those first

couple games, I was like...

When we did our first preview,
I was like, "Yeah, we need a

mark on Cat Radar, and I don't-

Yeah

... I don't want her to score."

Keep her out of the game, please.

Laura Gomez: Guess what?

Your dreams have come true because

she hasn't

scored,

so-

Angela: sorry it.

Laura Gomez: Stop that.

Stop that.

right

now.

Mario: I'm, really interested
to see what, what this match is

gonna be because of, one, us...

Do you guys have a midweek game?

Yeah.

Oh,

you do.

We're playing

Laura Gomez: Yes.

Yes, yes, yes, Wednesday.

Yeah, Yeah, yeah,

Mario: So yeah, you, you-- So

Laura Gomez: Bye, Cuba.

Mario: coming into this with tired legs.

our first matchup was very
much a tale of two halves.

Like- Yeah ... you know, you guys,
you guys, you kicked our butt,

half, and then, you know, whatever,
whatever Straus said to the team

at, at the half, them up, and then we came
back with a vengeance, which was great.

So see if we have a little bit
more consistency against you guys.

But yeah,

Angela: You're

like, "Please,

Laura Gomez: hopefully you don't

guys.

Sorry, guys.

Hopefully you don't.

Hopefully you guys

get so hot that you wanna score.

Hopefully it's so humid Saturday,

you know?

That's what I'm wishing for,

Mario: That's what I'm wishing

Laura Gomez: with you.

Mario: for.

Oh, man.

I'm gonna,

Angela: gonna laugh if it's just a
draw and all three of us at the end of

the game are like, "Ugh, I knew it."

Laura Gomez: I mean, hey,

i- it would

be a change for

us.

Angela: It's a point.

A point is a point.

Laura Gomez: point is a point.

Angela: Ex- That was us yesterday.

A point on the road?

A point on the road.

Like-

Yeah,

Laura Gomez: yeah,

Angela: yeah ... yeah.

yeah,

Absolutely.

Mario: All right, Laura,
thanks for hanging out with us.

And, where, where can everybody
else follow you guys and follow

all the stuff you guys do?

'Cause I know you, you cover a lot when
it comes to, both the Dash and the Dynamo.

And, I believe you yourself and, and
some of your other hosts kinda cover

other, Houston and Texas sports, right?

So where

Laura Gomez: yeah.

Yeah, Yeah,

Yeah,

mostly

the Houston...

I only do Houston Dash.

I don't know what

else

they

cover.

know they do

Houston

Dynamo

and

other stuff.

don't know about

them,

but what

cover.

no,

but you can

find them at, uh,

Foxtrot.

That's

one

them.

think there's one more, and I know,

guys,

editor's gonna be, Laura,

why don't

you

give the

other

one?"

But

you

know

what?

I'm

getting

older, and I forgot the other handle.

So just go to follow Foxtrot,

okay?

Just follow Foxtrot.

Dynamic Foxtrot, that's the other one.

And, mine is Laura Gomez News,

simple, and

everywhere.

Angela: other

Mario: one.

And mine is Laura Gomez-Nunez.

Perfect.

Everywhere.

Yeah.

Perfect.

Laura Gomez: Thank you

Mario: so much for hanging out with us,
and we'll, we'll see what, what happens i-

In our match.

Laura Gomez: Yes, we'll see.

Hopefully

you guys lose.

Angela: you guys lose.

Laura Gomez: Mean...

Angela: Same to you.

Same

to you.

Laura Gomez: Yes, there you go.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Angela: All right, everybody, thank you
for tuning in for this shenanisode from

a Marriott hotel in downtown Portland.

We appreciate you tuning in.

This is so silly, but per usual, engage
however you can with this content.

Repost it, comment it, like it, share
it, send it to people, just click on it.

I don't care what you do, watch it.

doom scroll through our
stuff, whatever you wanna do.

You can find us online just about
everywhere at Casual FC Pod,

YouTube, I almost said Twitter, ew.

TikTok threads, Instagram,
Blue Sky, all that good stuff.

Type in Casual FC,
you'll find us somewhere.

And I just appreciate the fact
that you're sticking around with

us as we're doing this wild and
crazy shit, and it's a good time.

You can rep our merch if you would like.

We've got some new stuff out.

We've got a Carson Ch- Ch-
Ch- Cherry Bomb shirt we just

dropped up at the merch store.

You can go to shop.casualfc.com

to find it, and then If you
feel so inclined and you wanna

support us monetarily, you can go
to buymeacoffee.com/casualfcpod

and drop us a dime there.

Thank you to everybody who is now
officially, supporting the travel

fund as everyone is commenting.

We've gotten multiple, donations to
refill the coffee cup to get us on

another trip, and the second the first one
came in, I texted Mario and I was like,

"Cool, I'm just gonna cry all the time."

And then another one came in
an hour later and I was like,

"Guys, what are you doing?"

so thank you so much.

We are going to need so much good luck.

We brought it here to Portland.

Maybe it got damaged on the way
'cause we didn't score, but we got

a point and that's what mattered.

So Kansas City, if you have a
two-for-one coupon, cash it in this week.

So we've got Kansas City and Houston,
and we'll see you at BMO on Wednesday.

Bye, guys.

Bye, everyone.

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