PawedCast Episode 267: Pride-Gotham, FC Cincinnati Preview, USMNT Qualifiers, and More

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Orlando City was off this week so we don’t have the Lions to recap, but that doesn’t mean we took the week off with them. Oh, no. Our show is about the same length as it usually is. So what did we talk about?

The Orlando Pride had a key match-up in the NWSL playoff race against Gotham FC and it did not go well. The Pride made the final score more respectable and had a shot at stealing a late point but Orlando came up just short by a post. But even if that final shot had gone in, there have been some worrying trends over the last two matches for the Pride. The team has allowed the most goals in a game this season in back-to-back games, lost consecutive games for the first time since Becky Burleigh took over, gave up a goal in the third minute for the second straight match, and hasn’t been getting goals from Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux during this recent skid.

We’re still hopeful the Pride can pull out of this recent slide and get back above the playoff line but it won’t be easy. We talk about the remaining schedule, the overall playoff picture, and the oddly timed re-signing of midfielder Emily van Egmond, who may not even get her international paperwork to go through before it’s too late for her to help Orlando in 2021.

Dave Rohe and I also spoke about the United States Men’s National Team’s performances in the first two World Cup qualifiers in this three-match international window. The Concacafing couldn’t stop the Yanks against Jamaica but then they turned right around and failed to take anything home from Panama on Sunday. Tonight’s match looms as a must-win now to keep the team on track and above the qualification line.

This week’s mailbag asks about MLS expansion teams. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

We close the show with our key match-ups and score predictions for Orlando City at FC Cincinnati this week and then we have a spoiler warning prior to our Ted (Lasso) Talk about Season 2, as requested by a listener last week.

That’s all for this week.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how No. 267 went down:

0:15 – The Orlando Pride are giving up early goals, lots of additional goals, and their big guns aren’t scoring. Still, this team is in the hunt and it has lost all margin for error with three games left.

26:30 – The USMNT split its first two games of this international window and now must get something from the Costa Rica match tonight to avoid big issues deeper in the qualification cycle.

48:16 – We give you multiple warnings before launching into our spoiler-filled discussion of Season 2 of Ted Lasso.