SkoPurp Soccer Episode 135: Washington Spirit Rewind, Utah Royals Preview, and More

The Pride bounced back from a gut punch loss at Portland to swipe all three points on the road from the Washington Spirit. If you saw the game, you’re probably still not sure how the Spirit didn’t at least equalize at some point, given the insane disparity in possession and shots, but no matter how ugly a win is, it’s still a win, and the Pride haven’t had enough of those lately, so savor it. A new face emerged in goal as Anna Moorhouse got a day off and Cosette Morche made her NWSL debut, and although the Spirit (and the woodwork) helped her out quite a bit, as did her teammates by getting in front of shots, she made a gigantic save deep in stoppage time to preserve the victory.

We look back at the Washington match and the tell-tale sign that obviously should have signaled a win (Haley McCutcheon scoring early in a game), check back on our score predictions, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox asked about the goalkeeping situation, how we feel about our Barbra Banda vs. everyone prediction, player minutes during the rest of the season, Gabi Nunes, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday’s home matchup with the Utah Royals. The Pride will have to be sharper to build on the win in Washington and get a second straight result, especially on set piece defending. We check the series history, look at where the teams stand now, provide our key matchups, and make our final score predictions.

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Here’s how Episode 135 went down:

0:15 – The Pride got an early blast from McCutcheon and…well, really, what else do you need?

22:58 – The mailbagbox is talking goalkeepers, minutes, and goals.

42:05 – The Utah Royals come to town on Saturday and the Pride need to find a way to get more points.