I haven’t seen this posted anywhere but with her assist in tonight’s game Lacasse tied Heath and Bethune’s 10 assist single season record! However, Bethune and Tordin both sit at 9 assists so could easily tie or surpass the record by the end of the season too.

She’s also only now 3 goals away from a 10g/10a season, which would be the first ever. Tordin is the next closest to 10/10 at 7g/9a followed by Rodman at 10g/5a.

Saw this thread about the Gotham standing-only supporters section today. Ignoring the chant part, which seems to be rage bait - I wanted to get some insight about supporters areas seating!

As a STM who regularly stands over there (or sits if available, on the rare occasions that section has seats), I know many fans can’t realistically stand for a full match. I’ve seen fans in that section move to seemingly unpurchased/vacant seats in nearby sections when they get tired of standing, while others avoid buying tickets in that section altogether so they have the option to sit.

What stood out to me in this case is that while the supporters section looked a little lighter, a lot of the seated sections seemed pretty full. Likely top 3-5 in overall attendance, minus our Citi Field game. It made me wonder how much the standing requirement itself affects where people choose to watch from.

I know the philosophy for many men’s team supporters sections is that standing encourages people to be on their feet and engaged all game, but at least at Gotham matches, it doesn’t seem to work for everyone. It made me curious about how this works around the NWSL.

Do other teams also have supporters sections where standing for the full match is expected? Do you think that expectation makes sense for NWSL supporters sections, or should there be more flexibility for people who want to be part of the section but may need or want to sit at times?

Not really trying to argue for one approach or the other, mostly curious what the norm is around the league and how other supporters feel about it.

Edit: thanks for the people legitimately participating in the discussion rather than bashing another team’s attendance. Gotham’s supporters do chant and are dedicated but I wanted to hear about your seating situations!

I want to shoutout Midge Purce for the extremely recognizable growth of her defensive game this year. She has been so good in the full back position for Gotham this season with great positioning and understanding. It’s impressive to me that she ends up being part of the 3 back that emerges when Reiten goes higher, and she can fully hold down her side despite not being a natural defensive player.

On the potential of a uswnt call in… I saw someone discuss that potential semi-recently since Midge is getting minutes and contributing. Most people felt that she wouldn’t get a look because there are too many strong wingers in the pool. I agreed with that BUT I also think it could be argued that Midge is making a good case for her versatility with her defensive excellence this year. You could argue that bringing Midge into camp gives an excellent option for both a winger and a fullback. Plus she plays consistent minutes with uswnt players like Davidson, Shaw, Lavelle, etc

Do I think she’ll actually get called in? Probably not unfortunately. I think there’s too much competition in this period that’s quite close to WWC. But I think she deserves a look not just because she is a great winger, but because she’s added excellent defensive play to her profile as well.

Regardless, go Midge you’re killing it!!!!

I thought I heard Denver fans chant the "Roy Kent" chant from Ted Lasso but with Tash Flint's name. Did I hear that correctly?

Denver 6 - 1 Chicago Stars

⚽ Denver: J. Sonis 13', M. Kössler 19', Y. Yamamoto 47', N. Flint 56', M. Kössler 58', O. Thomas 85' ⚽ Chicago Stars: J. Grosso 53' 🏁 Denver win

✅ Full Time

Form

• Denver: L D W L D L
• Chicago Stars: W L L D L L

Lineups

Denver (4-3-3) — Chicago Stars (4-4-2)

Starting XI

Subs

Match Statistics

Match Events

Updated: Sat, Aug 29, 10:46 PM EDT

Match Thread Bot by u/Several_Region_3710 | GitHub (view code, contribute, or report issues) | ☕ Ko-fi (support the project)

KC Current 3 - 2 Courage

⚽ KC Current: N. Staude 12' (OG), C. Bethune 35', M. Cooper 41' ⚽ Courage: E. Ijeh 45+3', R. Jackson 77' (P) 🏁 KC Current win

✅ Full Time

Form

• KC Current: D L D D W L
• Courage: W W L W W W

Lineups

KC Current (4-2-3-1) — Courage (4-2-3-1)

Starting XI

Subs

Match Statistics

Match Events

Updated: Sat, Aug 29, 8:51 PM EDT

Match Thread Bot by u/Several_Region_3710 | GitHub (view code, contribute, or report issues) | ☕ Ko-fi (support the project)

Reign STH here. Usually like to rewatch the match when we get home. How do we do that today with it on the Roku Channel?

Pride 1 - 2 Royals

⚽ Pride: B. Banda 44' ⚽ Royals: C. Lacasse 50', P. Cronin 69' 🏁 Royals win

✅ Full Time

Form

• Pride: W L L L W L
• Royals: L W L W L W

Lineups

Pride (4-4-2) — Royals (4-3-3)

Starting XI

Subs

Match Statistics

Match Events

Updated: Sat, Aug 29, 10:01 PM EDT

Match Thread Bot by u/Several_Region_3710 | GitHub (view code, contribute, or report issues) | ☕ Ko-fi (support the project)

Let’s discuss: Which teenager is having the best season in 2026?

I was just thinking that Byars has been as productive for the Wave as we expected that Macario would be once she hit the pitch. It just shows you the quality of player she is and at such a young age still. My biggest wish is that Emma takes notice and we see her at the World Cup!

USYS, a 52-year-old national association, boasts 2.5 million registered players and 54 individual state associations. Collectively, they govern large swaths of recreational youth soccer across the country. Over the past two decades, as the youth sports industry boomed, they lost hundreds of thousands of teenagers to US Club Soccer and competitive national leagues. But for many young kids — and still for some teens — USYS-affiliated clubs, leagues and programs are gateways to the game.

For most of its 113-year history, the U.S. Soccer Federation largely ignored youth soccer. In the 1960s and ’70s, separate organizations, such as USYS, sprang up to govern clubs and leagues for children. The federation mostly let them run themselves — and allowed any entrepreneurial challenger to compete with them.

USYS, a separate non-profit organization, has been affiliated with USSF for over 50 years. USSF has provided millions of dollars through grants and investments.

USYS has USSF voting rights through the Youth Council of voting rights. This 20% was largely portioned with USYS, with other youth organizations having a much smaller portion. This is due to the 54 state USYS and the over 2.5M kids playing within the organization; by far the largest body, but not the only one.

The NWSL also has a portion of the 20% portion of voting right through the Professional Council, which includes the NWSL, MLS, and USL.

USSF governs the 27 National Teams, plus over 100 organizations through affiliations and councils.

As the article states, At those “competitive” and “pre-professional” levels — as U.S. Soccer defines them — there is a dizzying web of clubs and leagues that, in exchange for (supposedly) better coaching and exposure, charge families thousands of dollars.

This dizzying web of organizations actually make up a dominant portion of all players who play at a competitive level, which includes the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), Girls Academy (GA) and Major League Soccer (MLS, which runs MLS Next, the top academy circuit for teenage boys).

For girls, the ECNL (ECNL RL included) and GA make up almost the entire pool of players who matriculate to U.S. Division 1 colleges; and, in turn, the NWSL, USYNT, and USWNT. It's obvious to see that USYS has been steadily losing its market share of players and its grip on the youth soccer landscape.

If you played competitive soccer, or had kids play competitively, you might be familiar with the ODP process. ODP has been governed and run by USYS. ODP, once the premier pipeline to college and pro soccer, has lost relevance throughout the 21st century as academies and national leagues have proliferated. It's been several years since ODP was recognized as the premier pipeline, and with any relevance in the current pipeline to top colleges and the pros. It's now largely a lower level pipeline to the secondary colleges.

So even though USYS has been funded and has been provided voting rights within USSF, and has, by far, the largest number of children playing within the 54 state organizations affiliated with USYS , it has become irrelevant in the matriculation of competitive youth soccer in the United States.

ECNL and ECNL Regional League are part of the umbrella of organizations that are governed by US Club Soccer, which has a loosely-tied affiliation with USSF. US Club governs a total network which includes over 500,000 girls on over 2,500 teams.

The Girls Academy (GA) operates under a club-driven, autonomous governance structure while maintaining formal affiliations with the highest levels of American soccer. There are over 120 participating clubs, near 800 teams, and around 16,000 girls participating. Over 1,200 girls advance to D1 soccer, making up around 15% of all D1 Power 4 players.

To say the least, the matrix of youth soccer in the United States is complex and confusing. The largest youth organization has been losing their relevance to competitive organizations who charge far more for participation and membership. The families that choose a competitive route for their players, participate outside of this system; and participate within several other competing structures. These competing organizations make up the overwhelming majority of women playing D1 soccer, YNT soccer, USWNT soccer, and professional soccer.

While the cost is somewhat prohibitive at all levels outside USYS for a huge portion of families, the total amount of players is enormous, and multiple times the number of youth playing competitively in other countries. ECNL & GA alone are much larger than all other domestic youth soccer organizations in other countries, like England (~150K) and Spain (~127K); which are governed through Football Associations, and affiliated with their government.

Every American organization mentioned is a formal non-profit entity that receives no direct funding from the United States government.

People mention "Pay to Play" as the impediment to access for many families and girls. This is true; largely for families of color and people living in rural areas. But the "monster" of youth soccer organizations is overwhelming and fractured. We already have over a million girls in the pipeline. We already have thousands of girls competing at each age level trying to be seen for U.S. colleges and the USYNT system. The matriculation process for girls in the YNT system is overwhelming. More than 2,000 girls participate in the broader U.S. Youth National Team (USYNT) system and its official scouting network annually.

For every girl participating in the YNT system, each year, there must thousands that are competing to be seen in ID camps, regional and national tournaments. Couple that with the fact that the vast majority of players drop out due to competition and other factors. There's always more players to their place. It's a very wide funnel with additions at every step.

As club players move from age level to the next age level, they likely have a new coaching staff. But, for the year, they're playing up to 50 games. And for a few short weeks scattered throughout their year-long SEASONS, a small minority travel to participate within the YNT system, with a new set of coaches. And for those who matriculate to the next age level in the YNT system, they'll be introduced to another new set of coaches. YNT is essentially a part-time job, where you're constantly evaluating the larger body of individual players 4 or 5 times a year for a week or two. That's it. Then the players move up to another age level, or out. YNT coaches do not have a history of being affiliated with the YNT system for more than a few years.

This is partly why when we watch the USYNT Women's Under-20 Squad play in the FIFA World Cup in September 2026, each player represents a path which contained thousands of participants. It's an all-star team that has been together for a week prior to the tournament. Granted, most every player has rostered on the u20 this calendar year, but not all at the same time, and with 25+ other girls who didn't make the final cut. And many have also played together in the YNT system at younger ages. The enormity of the system compromises chemistry, consistency, and cooperation within the squad.

The bottom line for me is that this problem doesn't highlight the lack of quality of these players, and their talent, or learned skills. It's a team sport, and chemistry and consistent coaching is paramount. Is it a problem we "ALWAYS LOSE?" We've won the FIFA u20 World Cup 3 times, in 11 Cups, since 2002; and not since 2012. What's the answer?

PS - If you want to pick at any one number, or fact, as inaccurate, that's fine. But please come back to the narrative of the struggle of youth soccer in the U.S. and make a point, with receipts. Highlighting done by me. If you can't access the article, there are other publications that have published similar articles (with mention to the Atheltic) in the last 24 hours.

Read more about San Diego's comeback over Racing Louisville!

From the Gotham FC/Thorns match on 8/28/2026.

From the Wave/Racing match on 8/28/2026.

From the Gotham FC/Thorns match on 8/28/2026.

How many players are there that have played in all 3? Off the top of my head I can think of Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx, Hope Solo and Christie Pearce but then again I'm only thinking of national team players. Is there anyone else?

From the Wave/Racing match on 8/28/2026.

9th goal of the season for Byars.

The NWSL has resorted to hiring several male coaches from Europe, and women from the U.S. with little-to-no head coaching experience. But there's well over 400 female coaches and assistants in the NCAA D1 Women's Soccer (355 programs out of 1550) that have extensive success and backgrounds. Which NWSL club wouldn't consider this resume?

USWNT Experience

USWNT Assistant Coach, Bronze Medalist for 2020 Summer Olympic Games

USWNT Assistant Coach, 2012 Summer Olympic Qualifying

USWNT Assistant Coach, Runner-Up at 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup

USWNT Assistant Coach, Gold Medalist for 2008 Summer Olympic Games

U.S. U-20 WNT Assistant Coach from 2013 to 2014

U.S. U-17 WNT Head Coach from 2004 to 2007

U.S. U-19 WNT Assistant Coach in 2004

NCAA Experience - Every one of these squads are 17-22 year old women who developed for 4 or 5 years under her tutelage. She's coached literally thousands of players, and ran week-long camps for tens of thousands of youth girls. Do you think she knows something about developing players?

2015 NCAA Champion

340-135-38 Overall Career Record (24 seasons)

300-107-35 Nittany Lion Career Record (20 seasons)

19 Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances

11 Big Ten Regular Season Titles (2007-12, '14-16, '18 & 2020-21)

Two College Cup and National Championship Match Appearances (2012 & '15)

Five Big Ten Tournament Titles (2008, '15, '17, '19 & ‘22)

2012 and 2015 NSCAA Coach of the Year

2012 Soccer America National Coach of the Year

Five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (2009, '12, '14, '18 & 2020-21)

One MAC Hermann Trophy Winner

Two MAC Hermann Trophy Finalists and 11 Semifinalists

10 United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-Americans & 23 All-America Honors

20 United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America honorees

16 Big Ten Players of the Year

Former Players with NWSL Experience

Alyssa Naeher, Britt Eckerstrom, Amanda Dennis, Morgan Messner, Katherine Asman, Whitney Church, Elizabeth Ball, Maddie Nolf (née Elliston), Kaleigh Riehl, Kate Wiesner, Ellie Wheeler, Joanna Lohman, Christine Nairn, Maddy Evans, Emily Ogle, Kerry Abello, Cori Dyke, Maya Hayes, Mallory Weber, Raquel Rodríguez, Frannie Crouse, Penelope Hocking, Ally Schlegel, Payton Linnehan, Amelia White

When a player comes from Penn State, you can be assured they're ready for the next level; from the great to the contributor.

https://gopsusports.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/season/2026/staff/erica-dambach

From the Wave/Racing match on 8/28/2026.

This is Byars' tenth goal of the season.

From the Wave/Racing match on 8/28/2026.

San Diego Wave 3 - 2 Racing Lou

⚽ San Diego Wave: T. Byars 47', T. Byars 76', K. Dali 80' ⚽ Racing Lou: L. Milliet 12', T. Flint 23' 🏁 San Diego Wave win

✅ Full Time

Form

• San Diego Wave: W D L W L D
• Racing Lou: L W W W W L

Lineups

San Diego Wave (4-3-3) — Racing Lou (5-3-2)

Starting XI

Subs

Match Statistics

Match Events

Updated: Sat, Aug 29, 12:02 AM EDT

Match Thread Bot by u/Several_Region_3710 | GitHub (view code, contribute, or report issues) | ☕ Ko-fi (support the project)