Episode 17 - PWHL Playoffs Set, NWSL Week 5, and WNBA Preseason

Thu Apr 30 2026 Filed under: PWHL

Cover art for Episode 17 - PWHL Playoffs Set, NWSL Week 5, and WNBA Preseason

Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts

In This Episode

The PWHL wraps a record regular season — Kelly Pannek sets a new single-season points mark, the league tops one million fans, and Montreal controversially picks Minnesota over Ottawa in the first round
The NWSL returns from its international break with San Diego looking like the team to beat and reigning Shield-winner Kansas City in a surprising early freefall
WNBA preseason kicks off under a record broadcast deal, with rookies like Raven Johnson and Olivia Miles already making an impression
Allyson Felix announces she’s coming out of retirement at 42 to chase a sixth Olympics in her hometown of Los Angeles
Jess Fishlock announces her retirement from professional soccer, then is stretchered off with a leg injury days later — an ending nobody wanted for one of the NWSL’s all-time greats
Sophia Wilson scores her first goal back from maternity leave for the Portland Thorns

It’s a big week in women’s sports. The PWHL just wrapped a record-breaking regular season and the playoffs are here. Kelly Pannek set a new single-season points record with 33, the league topped one million fans for the first time, and Montreal used its top-seed pick to choose Minnesota as its first-round opponent instead of the weaker Ottawa Charge. We have thoughts on that call.

Meanwhile, the NWSL returned from the international break with a full slate of results, San Diego is looking like the team to beat, Kansas City is in a surprising early-season freefall, and the new Boston expansion side has somehow managed one goal in five games. On the WNBA side, preseason kicked off with a record broadcast deal in place and some notable rookie performances. And Allyson Felix announced she’s coming out of retirement to chase a sixth Olympics at 42 in her hometown of Los Angeles. As one of us said on the show: women are constantly told to take up less space as they get older. She said no.

There’s also the bittersweet news that Jess Fishlock announced her retirement from professional soccer, and then days later was stretchered off the pitch with a leg injury. One of the best players in NWSL history deserves better than that ending, and we’re all hoping it isn’t.

PWHL Playoffs: Montreal’s Questionable Pick

The PWHL wrapped its third regular season with a bracket that has people talking. As the number one seed, Montreal earned the right to choose its first-round opponent, and they opted for the Minnesota Frost over the Ottawa Charge.

Montreal went 4-0 against Minnesota in the regular season and seemingly liked their chances against a team they’ve had success with
Ottawa finished fourth after a late surge, winning several of their final games heading into the playoffs
Boston, seeded second, will face Ottawa in the other semifinal
All four regular-season matchups between Boston and Ottawa went to overtime, with Ottawa taking three of four in shootouts
Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Phillips has been elite down the stretch and is the kind of goaltender who can steal a series
The Frost have won the Walter Cup twice and have finished fourth both previous years they made the playoffs

“I think they were a little short-sighted in saying, ‘we’ve got this team’s number, we’re going to play them.’ History would show us that the lower seeds advance. The four seed has won the championship, and the four seed has been the Frost.” — Caitlin

“I would always pick the weakest team. I don’t care how many times you have someone’s number. I think that luck runs out eventually.” — Alex

The season itself produced a string of records. Pannek’s 33 points were 22 more than she scored all of last season. Teammate Taylor Heise finished second with 30, making them the only two players in PWHL history to reach 30 in a season. Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens posted a .955 save percentage and a 1.11 GAA, both records. Aerin Frankel set a new shutout mark with eight. Kendall Coyne Schofield recorded a plus-22 rating. Haley Scamurra scored a hat trick in two minutes and 44 seconds. And the league crossed one million fans, with a 28% year-over-year attendance increase and a 9,300 average across all games.

On the expansion front, an announcement is expected imminently. Two cities are expected to join next season, two more the season after. Vegas and San Diego have reportedly entered the conversation alongside the Detroit and Denver markets that have long been discussed. The Walter Group has held firm on full league ownership, citing the importance of controlled, consistent growth over selling stakes to NHL partners who might not understand the product.

“You know how to run a men’s team. You do not know how to run a women’s league, and we actually maybe don’t trust you to run a women’s league.” — Alex

We’ll be covering the whole playoff bracket in our PWHL episode archive.

NWSL Week 5: San Diego on Top, Kansas City Puzzling

The NWSL returned from the international break and Week 5 delivered a full slate of results. At the top of the table: San Diego Wave at 5-0-1 with 15 points. At the bottom: a Kansas City Current side that nobody expected to be there.

Week 5 results:

Racing Louisville 3, Orlando Pride 2 (Louisville’s first win of the season)
Washington Spirit 2, Kansas City Current 0
Gotham FC 3, Bay FC 0
Legacy FC 0, Chicago Stars 2
North Carolina Courage 1, Houston Dash 0
San Diego Wave 3, Denver Summit 2 (Summit blew a 2-0 halftime lead)
Portland Thorns 2, Angel City FC 1 (Sophia Wilson’s first goal back from maternity leave)
Utah Royals 3, Seattle Reign 0 (Jess Fishlock stretchered off) San Diego is anchored by center back Kennedy Wesley, who scored another header on the weekend, and features Brazilian forwards Dudinha and Lumila up top. Midfielder Kenza Dali controls the middle, and Cat McCario — who signed a reported $5 million deal — is returning from a heel injury and was on the bench. They have creative players operating with freedom, and opponents are struggling to figure out how to stop them.

“Their head coach seems to have created a system where really creative, skilled players just have free rein to do whatever they need to do. I don’t know how you break that down or how you defend it.” — Caitlin

Kansas City, by contrast, is in the bottom three. They won the NWSL Shield last season with a record-breaking regular season, then brought in new head coach Chris Armis. The early read is that there’s still a chemistry gap between a talented roster and a coach who needs time to figure out how all the pieces fit together. It’s early, but it’s concerning for a team with legitimate title expectations.

The Columbus NWSL expansion team for 2028 also came with controversy this week. The Haslam Sports Group (Cleveland Browns, Columbus Crew, co-owners of the Milwaukee Bucks) put up a record $205 million expansion fee. The training facility is planned for McCoy Park, a space designed to serve an underserved community with accessible recreational space. A city council vote passed 5-3 after a contentious public hearing, with council members frustrated that the plan was submitted by the mayor and the NWSL before the council had a chance to weigh in. An amendment was added requiring a replacement park plan within 60 days, with $3 million from the ownership group to fund a new location.

“I am angry that we’re even considering giving a public park to billionaires.” — Columbus City Council member, as discussed on the show

We track the table every week in our NWSL episode archive.

Jess Fishlock: An Emotional Week

Jess Fishlock announced her retirement from professional soccer, effective at the end of the 2026 NWSL season. Days later, she was stretchered off the pitch in Seattle’s 3-0 loss to the Utah Royals with a left leg injury.

Fishlock has been in the NWSL since its inaugural season in 2013, making her one of only three remaining players from that first year (alongside Chicago Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and Angel City FC’s Sydney Leroux)
She is the only player to have been on an NWSL roster for every single season without interruption
She won three NWSL Shields with Seattle, was named the 2021 NWSL MVP, and earned seven Best XI selections
She is Wales’s all-time leading scorer across both the men’s and women’s national teams

“She just embodies what’s great about football. When I first watched an NWSL game with the Reign, she stood out to me immediately. Always talking to her teammates, always working. And then to see the emotion of that injury, realizing what might be happening, that was really, really sad to see.” — Caitlin

The hope is that the negative X-rays reported after the match mean this isn’t the end. She deserves to finish on her terms.

Sophia Wilson’s Return and the NWSL Storylines Worth Watching

Sophia Wilson scored her first goal since coming back from maternity leave, a 95th-minute game-winner for the Portland Thorns in a 2-1 win over Angel City FC. She gave birth to daughter Gianna in September 2025 and spent last season away from the game.

Trinity Rodman, watching on social media, reacted with genuine appreciation for the quality of the goal
Caitlin noted the emotion visible in Wilson’s celebration: turning toward the stands and blowing kisses, knowing her daughter was watching

“As a mom, you did it. You birthed a human, you brought life into the world, and now you’re back playing at the elite level. I’m so happy for her and for what that means for the U.S. women’s national team.” — Caitlin

The NWSL also announced it is joining Project ACL, a research initiative focused on understanding why women soccer players tear their ACLs at two to six times the rate of male players. The program launched in England’s WSL in 2024 and is designed as a three-year study tracking workload, travel, sleep, and game minutes. Currently only 8% of ACL research has been conducted on female athletes. The goal is to eventually use data — including potential digital twin modeling — to personalize training and prevention programs for each player.

WNBA Preseason: Rookies Are Ready

The WNBA opened preseason with four games, and the early takeaway is that this rookie class is not waiting around.

Results:

Indiana Fever 109, New York Liberty 91 (Kelsey Mitchell and [VERIFY: Walker Kimbrough] each scored 18; Caitlin Clark returned with 7 points)
Minnesota Lynx 77, Washington Spirit 66 (balanced scoring across the board; nobody in double digits but everybody contributed)
Phoenix Mercury 108, Chicago Stars 104 (played in Sioux Falls, SD)
Golden State Valkyries 78, Seattle Storm 76 Rookie standouts:
Raven Johnson (Indiana Fever): 6 points on 3-for-3 shooting, 8 assists in 18 minutes in her first outing. Was the primary Caitlin Clark defender at UConn, and her defensive versatility combined with her playmaking could take real pressure off Clark and Kelsey Mitchell
Olivia Miles (Minnesota Lynx, #2 overall pick): Creative passer who is clearly ahead of teammates in terms of anticipation; chemistry will take time
Lauren Betts and Cody McMahon (Washington Spirit): Combined for 24 points in a starting lineup that may be the youngest in the league The broader concern is player durability. Rookies come off a full college season with minimal rest and go straight into a professional schedule. With the WNBA’s most marketable stars also being some of its youngest, that’s a business problem as much as a health one.

The league also announced a record broadcast deal: 216 nationally televised games, including all 44 Indiana Fever regular season games. Distribution spans NBC, CBS, ESPN, ABC, USA, Ion, Amazon Prime Video, and NBA TV. The Lynx have a full-season deal on Victory+, currently free.

“There’s no excuse not to watch it this season. None.” — Alex

Full season coverage all year in our WNBA episode archive.

Allyson Felix Is Going to the LA Olympics

The most decorated American track and field athlete in history announced she’s targeting the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Allyson Felix, currently 40 and retired since 2022, told TIME magazine about the plan — which she internally called “Project Six,” a reference to her potential sixth Olympic Games.

Felix would be 42 when the Games take place, which would make her the first American sprinter to compete in the Olympics in their 40s
She framed the decision not as a victory lap but as a challenge to the expectation that women should scale back ambitions as they age
She plans to begin serious training in October and return to competition in 2027
She has 11 Olympic medals, seven of them gold

“So many of us have been told not to do the big, bold thing. At this age, I should probably be staying home and taking care of my kids. And just… why not? Let’s flip it on its head.” — Allyson Felix, as discussed on the show

Winners, Losers, and What to Watch

Winners: The PWHL as a league. A record regular season, a playoff format where every single game meant something down to the final day, and an expansion announcement likely coming any day. The product is good.

Also a winner: Trinity Rodman. After some form concerns raised a few weeks ago, she came back from the national team window with two assists and then scored a goal in her first Spirit club game back. She looks like herself again.

Losers: Kansas City Current. Hard to call it any other way right now. Denver Summit also squandered a 2-0 halftime lead to lose 3-2 to San Diego. And the Fishlock injury is its own kind of loss for the sport.

What to Watch this week:

PWHL: Ottawa Charge at Boston Fleet, Thursday, 6 PM Central (NSN/TSN)
PWHL: Minnesota at Montreal, Saturday, 1 PM Central (Scripps Sports Network/Prime Video/YouTube); Boston-Ottawa Game 2, Saturday, 6 PM Central
NWSL: Portland Thorns at San Diego Wave, Wednesday, 9 PM Central (CBS Sports Network)
NWSL: Angel City FC vs. Utah Royals, Sunday, 7:45 PM Central (Ion)
WNBA: Indiana Fever vs. Dallas Wings (Wings’ first game), Thursday, 6 PM Central (Ion)
WNBA: Minnesota Lynx vs. Toronto Tempo (Olivia Miles’ first home game; Kiki Rice’s debut), Friday, 7 PM Central (Ion)
Women’s Elite Rugby: Boston Banshees vs. New York Exiles, Saturday, 4 PM Central (Women’s Sports Network)

A lot is happening and it’s only going to accelerate. The PWHL playoffs are the best women’s hockey we’ve seen, the NWSL table is genuinely unpredictable, and the WNBA hasn’t even started its regular season yet. Good time to be watching.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or read our newsletter on Substack.

Full Transcript ## PWHL Playoffs Are Set

Caitlin: They have figured out a great way to make the season down to the last day — every game entertaining and meaningful. It’s so smart and I love it. Hi, I’m Caitlin.

Alex: Hi, I’m Alex.

Caitlin: And this is Raising the Game, a women’s sports podcast covering primetime performers, the business behind the athletes and the leagues, and what the growth of women’s sports means for the next generation of women’s athletes.

Alex: We’re back. PWHL playoffs are upon us.

Caitlin: I am so excited that my “Everyone Watches Women’s Hockey” shirt — a collab with Together — is here just in time for the playoffs. Together, if you’re watching, I’m also wearing your hat. I think you should sponsor me. I also think you should do a collab like you’re doing with the NWSL, but with the PWHL, so I can get a purple one that matches my Frost hat, which I was planning to wear tonight, but it didn’t match this red, white, and blue situation I have going on.

Alex: We did a pre-show fit check and it wasn’t quite there.

Alex: We also have NWSL returning from an international break.

Caitlin: Yes, lots to talk about there.

Alex: Yeah, and a look back at the first week of WNBA preseason.

Caitlin: Oh, the W is back.

Alex: Maybe it is back.

Caitlin: We didn’t really watch any of it.

Alex: No, we were busy. We caught a little bit of that Fever-Liberty game, which was interesting. So we’re going to talk about what we’re watching for before the season tips off a week from Saturday.

Favorite Things

Alex: Should we do a favorite thing?

Caitlin: Let’s get into it. I’ll start — I have a couple. One of my favorite things was coaching my daughter. In our first game over the weekend. It was very rainy. The girls tell me that they lost 11 to 13.

Alex: I stopped keeping track after like four goals because I realized how high-scoring it was going to be.

Caitlin: It was a lot of goals, but some good things. We’ve got a good foundation to work on. Coach Caitlin is in full force.

Alex: There are some fast girls on that team. A couple that just cruise around the pitch.

Caitlin: We talked last episode about how you always have speed. Now I’ve got to work on possession. My other one — this is late-breaking news — U.S. track superstar Allyson Felix just announced that she is planning to make a run, no pun intended, to return to the LA 2028 Olympics. I was reading her post and she was like, “This isn’t about ego. It’s not about winning more gold medals. It’s about what am I capable of.”

Alex: Can you prove it to yourself?

Caitlin: Exactly. And she’s a mom now, she’s over 40. Women, at all ages but especially as we get older, are encouraged to shrink and take up less space. And she said, “Nah, I’m going to go for it.” I love everything about that. It’ll be really interesting to watch even if she just qualifies and gets there. That’s a huge thing. But the fact that she’s even doing it is fantastic.

Alex: My favorite thing — I saw it on your sheet, but Trinity Rodman’s reaction to Sophia Wilson’s goal on social media was really nice. I thought that was really cool.

Caitlin: I’ll talk a little more about Sophia when we do the NWSL segment. First of all, beautiful goal. That little touch right before to get past the defender.

Alex: To just create that space. Yeah.

Caitlin: But I’m going to talk a little bit about what the emotion may be behind it, from the perspective of a mom.

Headlines

Alex: All right, let’s go into headlines. I thought we were going to dive right into the PWHL, but we’re going to start with headlines, and they’re PWHL-heavy. The PWHL playoffs are set. Top seed Montreal is selecting to face off against three seed Minnesota, leaving two seed Boston to take on last-day qualifier and fourth seed Ottawa. I have some thoughts about that.

Caitlin: I’ll add that Vancouver won the golden draft-point thing, despite being eliminated with fewer games to go than Seattle. Seattle actually had an opportunity to gain more points and just didn’t. We’ll talk a little about the draft too — the players responsible for this shirt I’m wearing.

Alex: NWSL was back in action this weekend after the international break. We’ll do a breakdown a little later.

Caitlin: WNBA was back too. We’ll hit on that in a few minutes.

Alex: The NWSL will add an 18th team in 2028 in Columbus, Ohio, after the Haslam Group puts up a record $205 million in expansion fees.

Caitlin: So this is wild. This is coming about a year after the Arthur Blank group in Atlanta put up $165 million for an expansion team. When Angel City FC — currently the highest valued team in the NWSL — came into the league, the expansion fee was determined in 2020. Two million dollars. Five or six years ago. We’ve gone up 100x.

Alex: 100x.

Caitlin: Everything is up and to the right. Really cool to see. It does not come without controversy, which we’ll discuss.

Alex: U.S. Women’s National Team draws El Salvador for their World Cup qualifying match in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship in November.

Caitlin: The tournament bracket has now been released. The U.S. will play El Salvador — they essentially just need to win that match to advance. They qualified for the tournament by their FIFA ranking. This tournament also serves as an Olympic qualifier, with the top three teams advancing. The U.S. auto-qualified for the Olympics as host nation, so there’s an open question of whether CONCACAF still gets three additional spots or if the U.S. takes up one of those slots. That game is on November 27th in Texas.

Alex: The USWNT also announced Brazil as its June window opponent — games on June 6th and 9th in Brazil.

Caitlin: This is so smart. Getting to play in Brazil, in front of fans that are not your fans, against a really strong contender, and we’re already seeing Brazil’s young talent on display in the NWSL. I’m really looking forward to these matches.

Alex: WNBA announces a record broadcast deal: 216 games being nationally televised, including all 44 Indiana Fever regular season games.

Caitlin: There’s no excuse not to watch this season. The season will be broadcast across NBC, CBS, ESPN, ABC, USA, Ion, Amazon Prime Video, and NBA TV. Plus teams like the Lynx have a full deal where you can watch all their games on Victory+, which is free right now. They’re clearly banking on Caitlin Clark being healthy.

Alex: USA Basketball gets its draw for the FIBA World Championships this September. They’ll play China, Czechia, and Italy in group play, with the top three advancing to knockout stages.

Caitlin: That tournament runs September 4th through the 13th. There’s a WNBA break for it. The team will be led by Kara Lawson, Duke women’s basketball head coach, with Sue Bird as managing director of Team USA women’s basketball selecting the roster.

Alex: Jess Fishlock announces retirement at the end of this NWSL season.

Caitlin: Man. This was big. Jess Fishlock has been in the league since its inception in 2013. She’s one of only three players still playing from that inaugural season, alongside Alyssa Naeher and Sydney Leroux. She’s the only player to have played every full season without interruption. She’s won three championships with Seattle, has been a teammate to so many great players. She just embodies what’s great about football. I remember when I first watched an NWSL game with the Reign — she stood out to me immediately. Always working, always talking to teammates. And unfortunately, we saw her take a really serious injury on Sunday. That looks like it may have accelerated her retirement timeline, which is really sad to see.

Alex: NWSL and NWSLPA join Project ACL, a research initiative focused on reducing ACL injuries in women’s soccer.

Caitlin: This is big. Women are two to six times more likely to tear their ACL than male soccer players, but only 8% of research has been done on female athletes. This initiative was launched in 2024 in England’s WSL and is designed as a three-year study looking at how travel, schedule, workload, game minutes, and sleep all impact ACL risk. I think we need a deeper dive on this someday. But we’re starting to see real investment — not just creating teams to make money from, but thinking about how to maintain the durability of these players because that’s their livelihood.

Alex: Arsenal beats OL Lyonnais 2-1 in the UWCL to take the lead in the two-leg semifinal, while Barcelona drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich.

Caitlin: The semis wrap up this weekend, and then the final is scheduled for the end of May. Some U.S. national team talent on these teams — Lindsey Horan and Lily Johannes on OL Lyonnais, Emily Fox on Arsenal.

Alex: At the 2026 Madrid Open, players are battling through a stomach virus that’s knocked several big names out.

Caitlin: Iga Swiatek had to withdraw mid-match. Coco Gauff somehow got through her match while ill. Aryna Sabalenka has managed to avoid it — she dropped a set to Naomi Osaka but rallied to win and make the round of 16.

Alex: Nelly Korda wins the first LPGA major of 2026 at the Chevron Championship.

Caitlin: This is Nelly’s second trophy at this tournament in three years. It also puts her back to number one in the world ranking. We’re going to start keeping an eye on the LPGA majors this season.

PWHL Playoff Breakdown

Alex: All right, let’s talk about these PWHL playoffs. The best time of the year. Montreal versus Minnesota Frost — Montreal picking Minnesota.

Caitlin: So the number one seed gets to pick their playoff opponent, which is a really cool wrinkle. But backing up — this past weekend, despite only one game where teams were literally playing for a playoff spot, everyone else was playing for something too. Montreal had to win to lock up the number one seed and the pick. Boston wanted the one seed. And Vancouver and Seattle were battling for that golden draft point. They figured out how to make the entire final day matter. It’s so smart.

This will be the first time Montreal and Minnesota have played each other in the playoffs. Both have made the playoffs all three seasons. They’ve just never crossed paths.

Alex: I don’t think it was the smart play for Montreal.

Caitlin: Montreal went 4-0 against Minnesota in head-to-head matchups this season, and I think they were a little short-sighted. They also saw that Ottawa had Boston’s number this season and maybe thought Ottawa would do them a favor. But I think the Frost are going to challenge Montreal. They’re going to make them work for it. If I were Montreal, I would have preferred to put Boston and Minnesota against each other and take my chances against Ottawa.

Alex: I would always pick the weakest team. Ottawa has nine wins this season to Montreal and Boston’s 16 and the Frost’s 13. Ottawa had an outsized number of overtime wins — eight OT wins. They’re not as good as these other three teams. But history also shows the lower seeds advance every year. The four seed has won the championship every year, and the four seed has been the Frost.

Caitlin: Yes. Sucks to have a winning streak sometimes.

Alex: Boston-Ottawa is interesting too. Their four regular-season head-to-heads all required overtime, and Ottawa took three of four in shootouts.

Caitlin: In Ottawa’s defense, Gwyneth Phillips in goal is the real deal. I watched her in the playoffs last year and she can stand on her head. A really dominant goaltender can disrupt everything.

Alex: The best championship matchup is probably Montreal versus Boston or Minnesota versus Boston. If it’s anyone versus Ottawa, it might be a little one-sided.

Caitlin: My prediction is that the Frost beat Montreal, because it is our time. And I’m a sucker for a good goaltender, so I could also see Ottawa pulling an upset in Boston.

Alex: I would love a rematch of Minnesota versus Boston from that first season. That would be something.

Caitlin: The star power in this playoffs is real. Montreal has Marie-Philip Poulin back and Ann-Renée Desbiens in net — she posted a record .955 save percentage and a 1.11 GAA this season. Boston has Megan Keller, Haley Winn, and Aerin Frankel who set the league shutout record with eight. And the Frost have Kelly Pannek with 33 points and a record 22-point improvement from last season, plus teammate Taylor Heise at 30 — both the only players in PWHL history to reach 30 points in a season.

Caitlin: Not only are attendance records being broken — the PWHL surpassed one million fans for the first time, about 1.1 million total, at a 9,300 average and a 28% year-over-year increase — but play records too. Pannek’s 33 points, Frankel’s shutouts, Desbiens’ save percentage and GAA, Kendall Coyne Schofield’s plus-22, and Haley Scamurra scoring a hat trick in 2 minutes and 44 seconds. She plays for Montreal, and somehow they lost that game.

Alex: And the Takeover Tour sellouts in Boston at TD Garden, New York at Madison Square Garden — 17,000 and 18,000 fans respectively. Those are proof-of-concept moments for expansion.

Caitlin: Speaking of expansion, we don’t have an official announcement yet. What we know is the league and PWHLPA were supposed to meet to discuss plans, and the NCAA was also voting on a fifth year of eligibility for college hockey, which affected the expansion timeline. It sounds like four teams total are planned, two joining next season and two the season after. And Vegas and San Diego have entered the conversation as potential expansion cities.

Alex: The Walter Group is holding firm on full league ownership. No NHL partner ownership, at least not yet.

Caitlin: Right. And the logic makes sense: they see this going up and to the right and they are not willing to sell pieces of it right now. The venue issue with some NHL partnerships is that not every NHL team wants to share without owning a stake. Vegas has multiple venues so that isn’t as complicated. San Diego has the AHL Gulls arena as a potential home.

Alex: Ottawa Charge playoffs tip off Thursday at 6 PM Central in Boston.

NWSL Week 5

Alex: Let’s talk NWSL. Big return from the international break.

Alex: Racing Louisville notched their first win of the season, 3-2 over Orlando. Washington Spirit stomped Kansas City 2-0. Gotham looked revived in a 3-0 win over Bay FC. Legacy still struggling, losing 2-0 to Chicago. Courage downed a strong Houston team 1-0. Denver Summit squandered a two-goal halftime lead and lost 3-2 to San Diego in front of a sellout crowd. Portland Thorns topped Angel City 2-1 behind Sophia Wilson’s first goal back from maternity leave. Utah blanked Seattle 3-0, with Reign captain Jess Fishlock stretchered off.

Caitlin: A lot of goals, which is good. Fans stay engaged. But a lot of shutouts too. It’s more fun when games are competitive, like the Summit-Wave game.

From a standings perspective: San Diego is top with 15 points at 5-0-1. Portland second with 13 points, Utah and Seattle both at 10, Angel City at 9. Washington, Houston, and Orlando round out that top eight. What’s surprising is Gotham not in the top eight and Kansas City in the bottom three.

Alex: Kansas City finishing in the bottom three is not where anybody had that team.

Caitlin: And looking at their roster and the investments they’ve made there, I don’t think they expected it either. And then poor Boston Legacy — the expansion team that had a 30,000-person inaugural attendance — has scored one goal in five games. They relied heavily on international players and a European coach who has them playing a very conservative 5-at-the-back scheme. That’s unusual in the NWSL, and teams are figuring out how to exploit it.

Alex: Is there any chance the coach is just imposing a scheme that the personnel don’t actually fit?

Caitlin: Totally possible. Even if the scheme can work, you need the players to execute it. And if you’re not using the wide channels, it becomes extremely defensive and you’re going to be playing in your own backfield all the time.

Alex: The Columbus expansion news: $205 million fee, Haslam Sports Group ownership, 22,000-seat Scotts Miracle-Gro Field to be renovated with an NWSL locker room. The U.S. Women’s National Team has played 13 games in Columbus. Strong market for the sport. But the city council voted 5-3 after a contentious hearing over the training facility being built on McCoy Park — a community green space designed for accessibility and serving an underserved area.

Caitlin: The council members said the plan was essentially submitted by the mayor and the NWSL before the council ever saw it. And one council member said, “I am angry that we’re even considering giving a public park to billionaires.” An amendment was added requiring the city to produce a replacement park plan within 60 days, with $3 million from the ownership group. But it’s complicated. A replacement park may not serve the same community in the same way.

Alex: Even as a player, I’d be thinking, “This is our training facility that replaced a park for people with disabilities.” That doesn’t feel great.

Caitlin: Get the community buy-in. It’s just stakeholder management. The price pressure argument makes more sense — going from $165 million to $205 million year-over-year, the fee is only going up, so maybe they felt they had to move fast.

Caitlin: San Diego had a rough season last year and a rough offseason where they were losing players. I came into this season being like, “There’s no way.” And then they’re at the top of the table. Kennedy Wesley at center back, Dudinha and Lumila up top, Kenza Dali in midfield, and Cat McCario returning from injury. It’s a very creative, free-flowing system where talented players just do what they do.

Alex: I genuinely don’t know how you stop them right now.

Caitlin: Sophia Wilson’s goal was beautiful. Trinity Rodman watched it on social media and was like, “That’s a really good goal.” And it’s more than that — as a mom, you did it. You came back. And the way she turned toward the stands, looking for baby Gianna. It was a feels moment.

Alex: And as an opponent, if you thought the injury or the time away had taken something from her, that goal just told you: nope.

Caitlin: Kansas City — new coach Chris Armis, with former head coach Vlatko Andranovski moving into a sporting director role. New coaches sometimes need time to learn their rosters, but Kansas City won the NWSL Shield last season with record-setting performance. With the talent they have and the investment behind them, this start is hard to accept.

WNBA Preseason

Alex: All right, we had our first few WNBA preseason games. Walk us through the results.

Caitlin: Four games over the weekend. Indiana Fever beat the New York Liberty 109-91, with 18 points each from Kelsey Mitchell and [VERIFY: Walker Kimbrough]. Caitlin Clark returned with 7 points in her first WNBA action since last summer. The Liberty had Han Xu — she’s a Chinese international, and I was watching thinking: this girl is so tall. She put up 20 points and looked really good.

Then the Minnesota Lynx beat the Washington Spirit 77-66. Nobody on the Lynx scored in double digits but everybody scored — except Amaya Battle who played one minute. That means everyone else was contributing around 6 to 8 points each.

The Spirit had maybe the youngest starting lineup in the league: Sonia Citron, Georgia Amoore — she was drafted last year but missed the whole season with a torn ACL in preseason — Lauren Betts, Cody McMahon, and Angela Dugalic. Average age might be 22, 23.

Alex: If they click, that could actually be really interesting. But I don’t think that level of inexperience carries you through a full WNBA season.

Caitlin: Mercury beat the Sky 108-104, played in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Sanford Pentagon. Chicago got 20 points from Hailey Van Lith and 15 from Rickea Jackson, who they acquired in a big trade with LA. Ca’Rya Copper hit 19 for the Mercury with 16 from Kayla Williams. And finally, the Golden State Valkyries beat the Seattle Storm 78-76. Flau’jae Johnson led Seattle with 12, and Golden State got strong production from Veronica Burton. Caitlyn Chen had a good showing too, a UConn alum from Paige’s graduation year.

Alex: I went on Threads during the Lynx preseason game — they were down 21-12 at some point — and the fans were ready to burn it down. “Call Tasha Cloud, get someone in here, get Cheryl out.” And meanwhile, Napheesa Collier isn’t playing, Courtney Williams didn’t play, and four players are still playing overseas.

Caitlin: That is the most Minnesota sports fan thing to do. It’s over. We’re done.

Alex: But actually — I think the Lynx might be a sleeper team. Everyone’s talking about the Fever for obvious reasons, Chicago because it’s a big city. The Lynx lost players they had to lose. They got the number two pick in Olivia Miles. And when you get Cat McCario back, and Fee returns from injury, that’s a different team.

Caitlin: The DNA of winning doesn’t just go away. Four championships, the most of any team. Cheryl Reeve is the strand running through all of it. And they have four players playing overseas right now who would be starters.

Caitlin: On the rookies: Raven Johnson was impressive for Indiana. In 18 minutes she had 6 points on 3-for-3 shooting and 8 assists. She guarded Sarah Strong in the UConn semifinal and shut her down. Versatile defensively and can handle the ball. That takes real pressure off Clark and Kelsey Mitchell.

And Olivia Miles at Minnesota is a very creative passer — but creative passers need receivers who are anticipating creative passes, and that chemistry takes time.

On Caitlin Clark: she’s a phenomenal basketball player, undeniably good for the league, and a meaningful influence for young girls. But the intense polarization around her online is strange. She has real impact — Caitlin’s daughter wanted a Caitlin Clark basketball. That’s the beauty of what she’s built. But the portion of the internet that believes any criticism of Clark is a coordinated conspiracy is genuinely exhausting to navigate.

Alex: The internet is unhinged when it comes to WNBA players. Threads especially. Enter at your own risk.

What to Watch

Alex: All right, What to Watch. PWHL is starting Thursday night. Ottawa Charge at Boston Fleet, 6 PM Central on NSN and TSN. Then a Saturday doubleheader: Minnesota at Montreal at 1 PM Central on Scripps Sports Network, Prime Video, and YouTube. Then Boston-Ottawa Game 2 that same day at 6 PM Central. All final-round PWHL games will be nationally broadcast on Ion.

NWSL: a lot of games this week. The one to watch Wednesday night is Portland Thorns at San Diego Wave, 9 PM Central on CBS Sports Network. Yes, it’s late. Watch 15 minutes of it and pass out. Weekend game: Angel City FC vs. Utah Royals, Sunday on Ion.

WNBA: Indiana Fever vs. Dallas Wings — first Wings game of preseason, Arike Ogunbowale making her debut alongside Paige Bueckers against Caitlin Clark. Preview of the season opener on May 9th. Thursday at 6 PM Central on Ion. Also free on the WNBA app if you make a WNBA ID, though the app sounds like it has some issues based on threads.

Friday at 7 PM Central: Minnesota Lynx vs. Toronto Tempo. Olivia Miles’ first home game. Toronto’s Kiki Rice, their first-round pick, also makes her debut. Ion and the WNBA app.

And Women’s Elite Rugby kicks off Season 2 this Saturday. Boston Banshees vs. New York Exiles at 4 PM Central, Chicago Tempest vs. Twin Cities Gemini at 7 PM Central, Bay Breakers vs. Denver Onyx Sunday at 6 PM Central. All on Women’s Sports Network.

Winners and Losers

Alex: Let’s wrap it up. Winners and losers — losers first.

Caitlin: Jess Fishlock’s injury. Not a loser at all, just heartbreaking. She’s not a loser in any sense. Just very unfortunate timing.

Alex: My loser: Denver Summit. Up two-nothing at half and lost 3-2 to San Diego. I thought that game was over.

Caitlin: My loser is Kansas City Current. With the players they have, with the support they get, it should be better. I have no doubt they’ll turn it around. But they dominated last season and this is a shocking reversal. Part of it is the coaching change. Part of it might be that Chris Armis is still figuring out how his pieces fit.

I’ll add a secondary note: we watched the Spirit-KC game, and the Kansas City goalkeeper dropped two absolutely unforgivable balls. You can’t do that. Clean it up.

Alex: Winners: the PWHL as a league. Record regular season. Every game mattered down to the final day. One million fans. Expansion coming. They’re doing great.

Caitlin: My winner is Trinity Rodman. I complained about her form a couple weeks ago. I think someone talked to her. She came back from the national team window with two assists, then scored a goal and added an assist in her first Spirit club game back. She looks like she’s having fun again. That’s great for her and great for the league.

Alex: One more winner: Team Wildfire. Caitlin’s daughter’s soccer team. They came up with the name themselves — red jerseys. We’ll keep a tally going as the season progresses.

Alex: RTG underscore pod on Instagram, Threads, and YouTube. Rtgpod.com. Raisingthegamepod at gmail.com. And Raising the Game on Substack. Reach out to us.

Caitlin: Till next week.

Alex: Till next week. All right. Bye.