Kayla Mehring This site will mostly go dark this weekend as we prepare our move. In the meantime, you can visit us at PNWSoccerMedia.com. It was over a decade ago that Dave Clark first brought Sounder at Heart onto the SB Nation platform. The site and the media landscape have changed a lot since then. By now, you hopefully know that we’ve made the rather monumental decision to strike out on our own as a primarily reader-supported and independent website. Assuming all goes well, when you visit this page on Monday that move will be complete. But over the weekend, this site will mostly go dark a ..read more

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports A missed penalty for the Reign saw KC take all three points. The NWSL officially returns this weekend and OL Reign kicked off the weekend with a trip to Children’s Mercy Park to meet Kansas City Current. The two sides met earlier this season at Lumen Field with OL Reign picking up the 2-1 victory. The return leg saw Kansas City avenge that June 10 loss with a 1-0 win. Cece Kizer scored Kansas City’s lone goal in the 61st minute. OL Reign were awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute after a VAR check took longer than intended as the referee had to run back out onto t ..read more

Max Aquino/Sounder at Heart Strong start gives way to flagging performances. Ratings Overview After an early exit from Leagues Cup, Seattle Sounders (and Realio) have had a lengthy break from soccer. Although still in fourth place in the Western Conference, recent results have soured many fans on Seattle’s ability to compete at all, let alone for trophies. This Sunday the team faces Atlanta with a chance to right the ship and determine what is left to play for this season. Below is a recap of ratings so far this year, and some thoughts on the rest of 2023. To no one’s surprise, the team leade ..read more

Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports Sounders are being cautious in bringing back midfielder from second concussion of season. TUKWILA, Wash. — Although Cristian Roldan has now been fully training for about a week, his participation in Sunday’s match against Atlanta United remains questionable. That’s not due to any physical setback, Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said, it’s more to make sure that the midfielder is in the right headspace after suffering his second concussion of the season and being limited to just 11 appearances all season. “I’m going to have one last conversation with h ..read more

MikeRussellFoto / Sounder at Heart 5 PM PT. Paramount+. Watch with us. OL Reign returns to regular-season play on Friday evening with a road match against the Kansas City Current. The match kicks off at 5 PM PT and will stream on Paramount+ for fans in the U.S. and on the NWSL website for international viewers. Angelina, Quinn, and Jordyn Huitema returned from World Cup duty last week, have been training with the team and are expected to be available for selection. The five U.S. players, however, didn’t return to training in time for the road trip and will be unavailable for the Friday night m ..read more

Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images We’re not really going away, we’re just changing Way, way back in the year 2009 when Sounder at Heart joined SB Nation the first bit of advice was to add “Links posts.” These would help support others on the network, generate SEO and provide daily content for our readers (eventually). Links started as a weekly thing for SaH. Then two days. Then three days. Then five days. We even tried adding a weekend edition focused on what to watch in MLS. Some posts were long banks of links and I’m not convinced people actually read them. In the end they were mo ..read more

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports Atlanta United President is bullish on MLS, Leagues Cup and his former team’s future prospects. Editor’s note: This interview is being made available to everyone. In the future, though, full versions of interviews like this one will usually only be available to paid subscribers. You can access those for as little as $19/year while also doing your part to make Sounder at Heart and independent soccer journalism sustainable. Garth Lagerwey may have left Seattle, but about six months into his new job it doesn’t appear as though Atlanta United has changed him all that ..read more

Michael Thomas Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports The Reign return to regular-season play on Friday. After playing in a series of Challenge Cup matches while their national team players were away for the World Cup, OL Reign returns to regular-season play on Friday, August 18. They’ll head on the road to face the Kansas City Current at Children’s Mercy Park in a match that kicks off at 5 PM PT. The game will stream on Paramount+ for fans in the U.S. and on the NWSL website for all other international viewers. Angelina, Quinn, and Jordyn Huitema returned from World Cup duty last week, have been training w ..read more

Rob Usry gives us the lowdown on Atlanta United. Atlanta United has sort of become Seattle Sounders South over the past few years. First it was Osvaldo Alonso, then Gonzalo Pineda and now Garth Lagerwey who went to Atlanta. Lucky for us, they fell into the very capable of hands of Dirty South Soccer. Rob Usry was good enough to answer our questions this week: SaH: Both the Sounders and Five Stripes are underperforming expectations. In Atlanta’s case it seems they’ve struggle on the road more than typical. Does Gonzalo Pineda change up tactics or is something else going on when y’all leave th ..read more

Jenna Watson-USA TODAY Sports England and Spain will meet in the World Cup final Today is the second to last day of links as we’ve done them for years. Tomorrow will mark the final links post before the transition. While it won’t look the same, the links team will still look to share the big stories of the day/week. It’s been great bringing stories to everyone and I look forward to what is coming. World Cup The head coach’s four-year tenure was filled with what-ifs, right to the final days. How the Vlatko Andonovski era could have had a different ending – Equalizer Soccer USWNT head coach Vlat ..read more