Jaedyn Shaw departing, a royally rainy draw, and ACFC up next

Hello Courage Country!

It never fails. 12 minutes after we ended our podcast recording this week … Jeff Kassouf at ESPN reported that Jaedyn Shaw is headed to Gotham, earning the Courage a record $1.25 million intra-league transfer fee. Katie and I hopped back on the mic to record a few thoughts, and will dig into it more in next week’s podcast.

At the season’s start, the club was full of excitement at the surprise announcement Shaw was joining the team. Unfortunately, that was followed by turbulent year with the Courage, with Shaw forced to play at odd positions (or even subbing in) while the team tried to find creative ways to balance her with Ashley Sanchez, another brilliant attacking midfielder already on the team. The club has struggled to find enough wins this season to make the playoffs a sure bet. And of course, the Courage also parted ways with Sean Nahas, whom Shaw publicly stated was a large reason for her interest in coming to the Courage.

The move also leaves the Courage with fading connections to the US Women’s National Team. Most recently, Shaw has been serving on the U-23 side along with Riley Jackson. But the senior USWNT players draw the most attention (read: ticket purchases) from fans. Recognizable names earn better exposure for the club on television and streaming services, who decide what matches to elevate based on potential viewership. Ambitious emerging talent may want to play for clubs that position them for entry onto the USWNT. It’s a narrative the Courage will have to contend with now that keeper Casey Murphy and Shaw stopped getting call-ups to the senior team.

On the bright side, having Sanchez and Shaw didn’t work, and this shows swift recognition of that challenge by the club. This move potentially allows Sanchez to return to her most comfortable role as a 10. The Courage also received enough in fees to pursue another top tier player – maybe even two. Theoretically, it could let Shaw have her own stage again, though how the Gothams work her in with Rose Lavelle may be more of the same challenge.

And finally, before all that broke, I was going write about Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Dr. Ceri Bowley hosting a town hall at least week’s season ticket holder event. He held an earnest and open dialogue with fans, touching on a range of key topics. While Bowley couldn’t get specific on the head coach search, he made it clear the club wants to continue the team’s identity as a possession-based squad. He also made it a point to remind everyone that the business side of sports means fleeting time with players at any given club. While he was referencing a broader trend, it’s interesting to reflect on those thoughts in light of Shaw’s departure. Katie and I discuss more about the event in this week’s podcast, which releases on Thursday.

Recap: Courage v. Utah Royals

We saw another round of changes up and down the pitch this week. Perhaps most surprising was keeper Marisa Jordan starting over Murphy. Occasionally, Murphy has looked a little shaky this season, so she may have needed a week off. An open secret of the NWSL is keeper depth is excellent across the league, so it was a nice opportunity to see Jordan get her first regular season start.

Malia Berkely was also listed as a sub, with Ryan Williams hanging back in a defense position, a formation similar to the ones we showed against the Portland Thorns and Chicago Stars.

For the first time since facing San Diego last May, Sanchez and Shaw got the dual start, though Shaw was in a defending midfield role. Shinomi Koyama joined her, each replacing an injured Denise O’Sullivan and Riley Jackson.

Brianna Pinto and Cortnee Vine were in as forwards, and new acquisition Payton Linnehan subbed in for Vine after the half.

The Courage came out on the attack. An early long bomb from Shinomi minutes into the match hit the post. Vine had the rebound, but kicked a wild shot over the goal.

Utah had a few nice looks throughout the first half, including a very dangerous set piece around the 10’ mark and an excellent shot on goal a few minutes later.

Some good back-and-forth football ensued, with Shaw being a true a menace to Utah … so much so she earned a yellow card for a fierce slide tackle at 22’. Even out of her natural position, it was fun seeing Shaw force opponents to route deeper into the midfield and get trapped.

Lightning forced a weather delay at the 39’ mark. Including stoppage time, there was another 10 minutes left in the first half when the players returned. Both teams took some hard runs at goal in that time.

After the half, Berkely subbed in for Maycee Bell. Natalia Staude came in for Tyler Lussi. This move let Staude stay back in defense, and freed Williams to move forward through the second half.

Around the 77’, Utah created a lot of chaos in the box. Jordan made a solid play on the ball, but confusion continued and it looked like Utah may have gotten a goal. A VAR review ruled the play a no goal due to a handball on Mina Tanaka.

The Courage goal came at 89’ when Sanchez made a great forward run, kicking a cross to Manaka Matsukubo in the box. Paige Monaghan interrupted the play, and was issued a yellow card for the hard hit.

Shaw took the kick and scored her third goal of the season.

Unfortunately, within five minutes, Utah immediately scored a goal at 90+4’ following a corner kick. Kate Del Fava tipped it to Paige Monaghan, who scored the equalizer, ending the match in a 1-1 draw.

Look ahead: Courage v. Angel City

An Alyssa Thompson-less ACFC pulled out a win against Bay FC, after dropping 2-0 to the side in May. And before that they beat Orlando 1-0, although Thompson scored the goal.

Angel City has been showing stronger form lately, with two draws and two wins allowing them to overtake the Courage before the weekend’s matches. Even so, they lost last week against Gotham, 3-1.

The club has relied heavily on Riley Tiernan and Thompson to lead scoring (with 8 and 6 goals, respectively). Mary Vignola, who has been with ACFC since their inception (recruited just after Christen Press), has replaced Thompson in the left forward position. She has one goal so far this year with the club.

They’ve been tinkering with their defense. Hannah Seabert has been in goal over Angelina Anderson for a few weeks, following an injury to Anderson. Giselle Thompson and Miyabi Moriya have swapped in and out at right back. Likewise, Macey Hodge has been starting over Kennedy Fuller.

If the Courage can contain Tiernen – and they’ve been excellent at stopping lead goal scorers over the past two seasons – they can pull out the win at home. Still, the Courage need better defense on set pieces, and to watch for a stray deep shot on goal, both weaknesses for the squad and areas Angel City might exploit.

The match is early this week, at 12:30p on Saturday, and airs on CBS (you read that right!).

Courage news and updates

• Following up on last week, when Kaleigh Kurtz tied Sam Staab’s record for consecutive regular season starts … she’s now broken that record at 107 matches.

• Meredith Speck was also honored for 100 regular season matches.

• Forward Heather MacNab, who’s been on-and-off as an injury replacement player and continued training with the squad, has signed through the end of the 2025 season.

Around the league and beyond

• Alyssa Thompson’s move from Angel City to Chelsea has been confirmed, a $1.3m deal. Her sister, Gisele, for now remains with ACFC, though ESPN reported she was also being scouted.

• Here’s a nice think piece from Jeff Rueter at The Athletic: with all of the high profile trades happening, the NWSL needs to review its salary cap (subscription required).

• The Chicago Stars are getting a major stadium upgrade next season, moving to Northwestern Medicine Field in Evanston. This weekend, their match was held in the new digs, and the lakefront view was gorgeous. They also had a great crowd turnout, so hopefully that bodes well for the club moving forward.

• Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya is stepping down at the end of the season, marking the end of a rocky season that included an NWSL investigation into his behavior. He was cleared, though NWSL made suggestions for policy improvements with the club.

That’s it for this week! As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: [email protected].

Find us on BlueSky: @lionspitch

For the podcast, subscribe at: Apple | Spotify | RSS