November 27, 2023 • 19 mins
Aly Wagner connects with Angel City FC midfielder Savannah McCaskill, one of NWSL's Best XI Presented by Mastercard for 2023. They discuss Angel City's wild season, her competitiveness, and her goals for the off-season.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Savannah McCastle approved once again. She is a key orchestrator
in Angel Cities attack. The goal scoring midfielder has the
ability to progress her team along with an eye for
the final ball. She was in the top ten league
wide for passes into the final third and even more impressively,
chances created. I sat down with the twenty twenty three
NWSL Best Eleven presented by a MasterCard honoree to discuss
(00:25):
Angel City's wild season, competitiveness and goals for the offseason.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
First of all, Savannah, congratulations on being named in the
twenty twenty three NWSL Best Eleven presented by MasterCard.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
How was this season for you?
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Yeah, I think it's no secret that it started off
pretty slow. You know, we found ourselves as a team
at the bottom of the table going into kind of
the mid season break, and then you know, Becky took
over as the head coach, and I think as a
team on a refocused and training got way more intense,
(01:04):
way more competitive. We finally got pretty much a full
roster back and having healthy bodies and options on the bench.
Who's going to start was a competition and I think
that really pushed us into the run.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
That we had.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
I think we ended up going eleven unbeaten and then
obviously making playoffs for the first time in club history.
Was the cherry on top. So you know, it's kind
of looking at it from two sides, like it was
two seasons in one, but the way that it ended
is really positive and something that we can grow on
going forward.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Well, when you guys talk about the first half of
the season and it being a slow start, I understand
what changed in the second half. But you have a
lot of veterans in your squad, you have players that
have had success in the NWSL before.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
What do you think was going wrong in the environment?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I think it was a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I think the biggest thing that I think obviously switched
going forward was how competitive training was. I think, you know,
obviously the old saying of how you train is how
you play, and I think that was a big, big
part of you know, what was going on on game day.
I think a lot of us were kind of showing
(02:18):
up to training and going through the motions and not
really making the training atmosphere competitive every single day, and
so I think going into games you saw lacks of
you know, lapses of focus, and we were giving up
goals early in games or super late in games, or
you know, we would score and then immediately give up
a goal. And I think, you know, those little areas
(02:41):
was a huge, huge growing place for us just as
a group, just that mentality of you know, not giving
up those soft goals in training so that on game
day we were in the headspace to not give those
goals up as easily going forward.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Yeah, well, I have a hard time believing, by the
way that you weren't competitive in the beginning part of
the season, because Madison Hammond has said you are the
most competitive player she's ever come across, and you're surrounded
by professionals, So I am sure that you wouldn't change.
But has that always been a staple in your game
growing up?
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Yeah, I am an extremely competitive person. I've always been
a competitive person. I've like told this story a couple
of times, but whenever I was little in school, I
used to think that I had to turn my tests
in first.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Like I don't know why.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
I thought it was a competition of who could finish
their test's quickest, but I would have to turn my
test in first. And my mom, who has worked in
education for the last like twenty five years, would get
so mad at me because I would make careless mistakes
because I was rushing through these tests because I thought
I needed to be first, and so then I had
(03:55):
to finally realize that, oh no, the competition is who
can get the highest grade, not who can turned the
test in first. But yeah, I mean that's just kind
of correlated onto the field of you know, I want
to win and that's what drives me the most. Obviously,
being being really good and being the best that I
can be also drives me. But you know, winning games
(04:16):
is something that I hold special and I'm just like
super competitive about Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Competitive family. Do you come from that?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, I would say, I would say so.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I mean, like both my parents obviously, I've seen their
work ethic and how how they go about things, and
they attack things like they want to get it right.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
And do it perfectly and kind of be the best.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
And so I kind of grew up, you know, seeing
that in them, and that's just been instilled in me
from you know, an early age.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Well, now as you're kind of progressing, I was reflecting
on your career.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
You've been and well traveled in the league.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Let's say Chicago, Louisville, Sky Blue, now Angel City. So
you've experienced a ton of different environments, But what would
you say you're seeing in in the NW cell as
a whole and the growth within the league.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Yeah, I think obviously, when I first got drafted to Skyblow,
the league was you know, pretty early days, and the
sky Blow situation at the time was one of the
you know, let's say poorest in the league as far
as resources facilities, playing out of Rutgers at the time,
not having a stable training facility and kind of all
(05:34):
those pieces that come with it. And so I've seen
from that perspective of how hard it is to just
show up and perform. You have to think about a
million other things just to get to training, and then
you know, obviously actually train and try to perform. And
so I've you know, coming from that to going through
the league in the last six years of now being
(05:56):
an Angel City and having the resources and playing in
a sold out stadium and you know, not having to
worry about you know, doing your own laundry or bringing
your own water to training, and obviously with the CBA
now and you know, the minimum salary has increased and
hopefully we can continue to push that from a financial
standpoint for all of the players.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
In the league.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
But I just think as a whole, like viewership has increased,
sponsorship has increased, and I think that's just driving the
standard as well. And so you know, we as players
can help drive the standard from the inside. But the
more that we can get people to care about and
watch women's soccer, the better off the league is gonna
is going to do going forward.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
It's such a good point.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
How much do you guys internally as players discuss your
ability to impact the viewership, your ability to drive tune
in sponsorship, and how much you guys lean into that.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I think it's kind of an unspoken thing.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I think, you know, everyone has their own individual platforms
and kind of the groups of people that they can
reach out to and have effect on, and I think
it's just kind of an unspoken responsibility that you know,
everyone takes on when they joined the league of like
we need to get as many people out to games.
You know, do the community service, go to all the
(07:20):
fan events, you know, reach as many people as we
possibly can across you know, all different types of people
to try to get as many people out to games.
Watching games, knowing about the club in the league. I
think is is super important for everyone to just kind
of take responsibility.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Of Yeah, and and so that's a lot of the
responsibility off the field that you know, you guys have
have carried the torch on when you look at your
game in particular.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
I know we talked about it last.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Year, but every year is a new evolution and potentially
you know, you your ability as a player.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
What are you focusing on. I mean, right now, best eleven,
it's a good.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Season, but you've got to I'm sure you're aspiring for
something even greater.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Yeah, I think for me now it's now that I've
you know, gotten into you know, the best eleven and
you know, kind of slowly getting some recognition in the league.
I think that's now kind of the baseline standard for
me going forward. I want to continue that in the
(08:28):
next few seasons, and that in order to do that,
then I have to continue to a game that might
not be the strongest. And so I think, you know,
for me right now, it's scoring more goals, you know,
my efficiency of of my scoring opportunities, being able to
be more efficient in those moments, and just kind of
continuing to push my quickness, my agility. It's just kind
(08:52):
of finding those little moments of that I can continue
to push in this offseason so that next season I
don't have a drop off or I don't become complacent.
I want to keep improving and keep you know, keep
evolving so that I can be the best that I
can be.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
What will you do this off season? Where are you?
By the way, I think everyone wants to know where
are you driving to?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I'm actually driving out too.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Yeah, I can tell I'm actually driving out to Nevada,
like on the other side of Vegas for the weekend.
Just see a little getaway for the weekend, Unplug, unwind.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Will you do a lot of training over the off season,
because so many players they buckle down or they completely
step away from the game and just clear their mind.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Which Which are you?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I think I'm a little bit of both.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I think I take my trips like spread out throughout
the off season so that I can have time to
train and focus, but also have a weekend here or
there to kind of unplug and unwind and enjoy friends
and family that I don't.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Get to see all year.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
But I think the biggest thing is you know, the
first couple of month and month and a half, I
focus more on agility, or not really agility, but like
off the ball stuff, so you know, endurance lifting again,
trying to get some muscle back that I lost over
the season. And then the second half of my off
(10:17):
season I focus on ball stuff and getting sharp and
developing that kind of stuff in my game, while still
you know, focusing on the the off the ball stuff
as well, but incorporating a ball more towards pre season.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I think a lot of people listening to this would
be surprised to hear you say the muscle you lose
during the season, because everyone thinks you build up the
course of the season.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Can you speak to that a bit more.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Yeah, Obviously, with the amount of games that we're doing training,
you know, pretty much six days a week, five days
a week, whatever the tempo might be. We do a
ton of running, and so it's really hard to maintain
muscle masks, especially because we usually get in two lifts
a week if in an ideal world, but you're not
really pushing weights. It's more of maintaining and so you know,
(11:06):
you try to not lose as much muscle mass, but
it's still inevitable because we run so much, and so
it's really important from an injury prevention standpoint to try
to build that up as much as possible going into
the next season and so that you can maintain what
you already have throughout the season and not you know,
be an injury risk or you know, help as much
(11:29):
as possible from that standpoint.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
What are you seeing, Savannah and in the global game?
You know, we're talking about the incremental gains you can
make individually physically, but when what are you seeing in
the global game, either tactically, technically, physically mentally that is evolving.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
I think this past year watching the World Cup, obviously
countries that might not have been the strongest in years
past are competing and winning games and you know, making
history for their countries, and it's now become not a
matter of like the same three teams are winning.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
It's a matter of everyone's going into world.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Stages and world event competing, And I think that's really
cool to see because that means that, you know, obviously,
being an American, we have to also evolve and we
have to step our game up. And in the past,
you know, obviously athleticism and our physical side of the
game as the US, I feel like has been a
huge area that we've dominated, and I think the rest
(12:28):
of the world is reaching that and is competing from
a physical standpoint, and so I think, you know, from
a soccer standpoint, we also have to evolve and we
have to you know, keep up with the rest of
the world of from a tactics perspective, from a footy perspective,
I think it's a really important time for us as
as the US to you know, kind of look and
(12:49):
see how we can continue to evolve in and compete
on the world stage. But also that's going to push
the rest of the world because you know, we have
some of the best players in the world that are
competing the US right now, and so if we can
you know, put something together that's really special, I think
that also is going to help grow the women's game
from from a global standpoint, and so it's just a
(13:11):
really cool, you know time to be a women's soccer player.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Honestly, Yeah, if there was one player, speaking about all
the best players in the world, there's one player you
could bring to Angel City, who would it be?
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Oh that's hard, I.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Know, Oh, oh wow, I mean.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
One player I only get one, You only get one.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
I mean, if we're talking about scoring goals, maybe bring
Sam Kerr back to the NWSL.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Not a bad pick.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, I got to play.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
With her in Chicago obviously for one year, and just
talk about a goal scoring threat at any and all times.
You always have to know where she is anywhere near
the goal, So yeah, that could be a fun addition.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Was she easy for you to play with because this
season you had four goals but get three sis and
you do set up players, So could you read her
movements well?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Did she open up spaces for you to lay that
final ball in?
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (14:15):
I think I think if I got to play with
Sam now where I'm at in my career and kind
of how I've evolved, I think it would be really fun.
Because Sam Kerr's ability to threaten in behind back lines.
You know she's going to be in and around the six,
anytime you're in wide areas, anytime there's going to be
across in the box.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
It just allows midfielders to.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Operate in so much more space, opens the game up
a ton and kind of helps you become less predictable
because teams have to respect that she's going to threaten
in behind, but also that means if they drop, then
you can exploit seem to and so I think it'd
be really fun to get to play with her again.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah, I mean one of the world's best entertainers.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
I think in the women's game for me, changed what
I thought was possible in the women's game with her
athleticism and power pace and the way she was so
electric to watch. That's on the offensive side. Who's the
player that you most hate playing against.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
From a defensive perspective? Yeap in the league.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Honestly, one of I think the hardest sticks to play
against in the league over the last like six years
for me has been Andy.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
I think she like is really good at sitting in
spaces to break up play, and so I have to
be smarter with my movement of where I pop into
team too and try to get off of her back
shoulder so that she's not able to track me, and
so the more that I can stay hidden from her
kind of so she kind of pick me.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Up as early.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
It's always kind of a game of cat and mouse
when I play against Sarah Field.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, super intelligent.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I watched her play at Stanford obviously and then going
on to the professional game, but it's always fun to
watch that. I don't think of her as much as
a defensive stalwarts, So that's a really interesting pick.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
I like that some for us to watch Savannah.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
What would be then your priceless moment from the twenty
twenty three season.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
My twenty twenty three priceless moment would have to be
the final game of the season. I think whenever we
beat Portland at home in front of our fans, it
came down to the goal differential and it put us
into playoffs. If we hadn't have scored that many goals,
we wouldn't have made playoffs.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
And so I just think it was the timing of.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
It being at home, sold out BMO Stadium, just everything
that encompassed that game was super super special because I
remember the end of the game, we all looked at
each other because we had know we had We had
won the game, obviously, but we didn't know if we
had made playoffs, and there was a couple of games
that needed to finish, and so we were all literally
(17:08):
standing around waiting for someone to tell us that we
made playoffs before we could celebrate. But as soon as
we found out, like it was like tears of joy, happiness,
like that moment, like you didn't really know how to react,
Like you just had so many emotions running through you
that it was, you know, something that I'll personally never forget.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, when you guys were in the moment, you got
your first goal and then you got the second, and
then you got there talk about the crescendo of Wow,
we're putting on a show.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Like as soon as everything every single time we put
the ball on frame, I feel like we were scoring.
And so it was just kind of that like feeling
as a player where it was like if I shoot,
I'm scoring, like you just it was kind of that
kind of day, like there was nothing that was going
to stop us.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Things were clicking.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
Defensively, we were pretty solid, and I felt like Portland
couldn't really solve us. They didn't really have an answer
for it, and so it was just kind of you know,
you don't get those a lot in sport where you
feel like everything is going your way.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Even when they managed to score a goal.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
We immediately scored a goal again, and it was just like,
you know, we knew that we had won the game.
It was just a matter of how many goals we
were going to score because there were still I believe
fifteen twenty minutes left on the clock, and you know,
anything was possible, and it was.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
It was just one of those games you get as
a pro that's really.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Special, one of the best games of your career.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Yeah, honestly, yeah, I would definitely put it in the
top three, if not the top two.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah. Well, that's this priceless moment, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Thank you so much, sav and congratulations on incredible season
what Angel City did as an expansion team in their
second year to make it to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
You're a leader on that team and it's just been.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
A joy to watch you help that new program become
relevant in the in the end of yourself so quickly.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, h m hm
Savannah McCastle approved once again. She is a key orchestrator
in Angel Cities attack. The goal scoring midfielder has the
ability to progress her team along with an eye for
the final ball. She was in the top ten league
wide for passes into the final third and even more impressively,
chances created. I sat down with the twenty twenty three
NWSL Best Eleven presented by a MasterCard honoree to discuss
(00:25):
Angel City's wild season, competitiveness and goals for the offseason.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
First of all, Savannah, congratulations on being named in the
twenty twenty three NWSL Best Eleven presented by MasterCard.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
How was this season for you?
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Yeah, I think it's no secret that it started off
pretty slow. You know, we found ourselves as a team
at the bottom of the table going into kind of
the mid season break, and then you know, Becky took
over as the head coach, and I think as a
team on a refocused and training got way more intense,
(01:04):
way more competitive. We finally got pretty much a full
roster back and having healthy bodies and options on the bench.
Who's going to start was a competition and I think
that really pushed us into the run.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
That we had.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
I think we ended up going eleven unbeaten and then
obviously making playoffs for the first time in club history.
Was the cherry on top. So you know, it's kind
of looking at it from two sides, like it was
two seasons in one, but the way that it ended
is really positive and something that we can grow on
going forward.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Well, when you guys talk about the first half of
the season and it being a slow start, I understand
what changed in the second half. But you have a
lot of veterans in your squad, you have players that
have had success in the NWSL before.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
What do you think was going wrong in the environment?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I think it was a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I think the biggest thing that I think obviously switched
going forward was how competitive training was. I think, you know,
obviously the old saying of how you train is how
you play, and I think that was a big, big
part of you know, what was going on on game day.
I think a lot of us were kind of showing
(02:18):
up to training and going through the motions and not
really making the training atmosphere competitive every single day, and
so I think going into games you saw lacks of
you know, lapses of focus, and we were giving up
goals early in games or super late in games, or
you know, we would score and then immediately give up
a goal. And I think, you know, those little areas
(02:41):
was a huge, huge growing place for us just as
a group, just that mentality of you know, not giving
up those soft goals in training so that on game
day we were in the headspace to not give those
goals up as easily going forward.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Yeah, well, I have a hard time believing, by the
way that you weren't competitive in the beginning part of
the season, because Madison Hammond has said you are the
most competitive player she's ever come across, and you're surrounded
by professionals, So I am sure that you wouldn't change.
But has that always been a staple in your game
growing up?
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Yeah, I am an extremely competitive person. I've always been
a competitive person. I've like told this story a couple
of times, but whenever I was little in school, I
used to think that I had to turn my tests
in first.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Like I don't know why.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
I thought it was a competition of who could finish
their test's quickest, but I would have to turn my
test in first. And my mom, who has worked in
education for the last like twenty five years, would get
so mad at me because I would make careless mistakes
because I was rushing through these tests because I thought
I needed to be first, and so then I had
(03:55):
to finally realize that, oh no, the competition is who
can get the highest grade, not who can turned the
test in first. But yeah, I mean that's just kind
of correlated onto the field of you know, I want
to win and that's what drives me the most. Obviously,
being being really good and being the best that I
can be also drives me. But you know, winning games
(04:16):
is something that I hold special and I'm just like
super competitive about Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Competitive family. Do you come from that?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, I would say, I would say so.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I mean, like both my parents obviously, I've seen their
work ethic and how how they go about things, and
they attack things like they want to get it right.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
And do it perfectly and kind of be the best.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
And so I kind of grew up, you know, seeing
that in them, and that's just been instilled in me
from you know, an early age.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Well, now as you're kind of progressing, I was reflecting
on your career.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
You've been and well traveled in the league.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Let's say Chicago, Louisville, Sky Blue, now Angel City. So
you've experienced a ton of different environments, But what would
you say you're seeing in in the NW cell as
a whole and the growth within the league.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Yeah, I think obviously, when I first got drafted to Skyblow,
the league was you know, pretty early days, and the
sky Blow situation at the time was one of the
you know, let's say poorest in the league as far
as resources facilities, playing out of Rutgers at the time,
not having a stable training facility and kind of all
(05:34):
those pieces that come with it. And so I've seen
from that perspective of how hard it is to just
show up and perform. You have to think about a
million other things just to get to training, and then
you know, obviously actually train and try to perform. And
so I've you know, coming from that to going through
the league in the last six years of now being
(05:56):
an Angel City and having the resources and playing in
a sold out stadium and you know, not having to
worry about you know, doing your own laundry or bringing
your own water to training, and obviously with the CBA
now and you know, the minimum salary has increased and
hopefully we can continue to push that from a financial
standpoint for all of the players.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
In the league.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
But I just think as a whole, like viewership has increased,
sponsorship has increased, and I think that's just driving the
standard as well. And so you know, we as players
can help drive the standard from the inside. But the
more that we can get people to care about and
watch women's soccer, the better off the league is gonna
is going to do going forward.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
It's such a good point.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
How much do you guys internally as players discuss your
ability to impact the viewership, your ability to drive tune
in sponsorship, and how much you guys lean into that.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I think it's kind of an unspoken thing.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I think, you know, everyone has their own individual platforms
and kind of the groups of people that they can
reach out to and have effect on, and I think
it's just kind of an unspoken responsibility that you know,
everyone takes on when they joined the league of like
we need to get as many people out to games.
You know, do the community service, go to all the
(07:20):
fan events, you know, reach as many people as we
possibly can across you know, all different types of people
to try to get as many people out to games.
Watching games, knowing about the club in the league. I
think is is super important for everyone to just kind
of take responsibility.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Of Yeah, and and so that's a lot of the
responsibility off the field that you know, you guys have
have carried the torch on when you look at your
game in particular.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
I know we talked about it last.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Year, but every year is a new evolution and potentially
you know, you your ability as a player.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
What are you focusing on. I mean, right now, best eleven,
it's a good.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Season, but you've got to I'm sure you're aspiring for
something even greater.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Yeah, I think for me now it's now that I've
you know, gotten into you know, the best eleven and
you know, kind of slowly getting some recognition in the league.
I think that's now kind of the baseline standard for
me going forward. I want to continue that in the
(08:28):
next few seasons, and that in order to do that,
then I have to continue to a game that might
not be the strongest. And so I think, you know,
for me right now, it's scoring more goals, you know,
my efficiency of of my scoring opportunities, being able to
be more efficient in those moments, and just kind of
continuing to push my quickness, my agility. It's just kind
(08:52):
of finding those little moments of that I can continue
to push in this offseason so that next season I
don't have a drop off or I don't become complacent.
I want to keep improving and keep you know, keep
evolving so that I can be the best that I
can be.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
What will you do this off season? Where are you?
By the way, I think everyone wants to know where
are you driving to?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I'm actually driving out too.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Yeah, I can tell I'm actually driving out to Nevada,
like on the other side of Vegas for the weekend.
Just see a little getaway for the weekend, Unplug, unwind.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Will you do a lot of training over the off season,
because so many players they buckle down or they completely
step away from the game and just clear their mind.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Which Which are you?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I think I'm a little bit of both.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I think I take my trips like spread out throughout
the off season so that I can have time to
train and focus, but also have a weekend here or
there to kind of unplug and unwind and enjoy friends
and family that I don't.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Get to see all year.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
But I think the biggest thing is you know, the
first couple of month and month and a half, I
focus more on agility, or not really agility, but like
off the ball stuff, so you know, endurance lifting again,
trying to get some muscle back that I lost over
the season. And then the second half of my off
(10:17):
season I focus on ball stuff and getting sharp and
developing that kind of stuff in my game, while still
you know, focusing on the the off the ball stuff
as well, but incorporating a ball more towards pre season.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I think a lot of people listening to this would
be surprised to hear you say the muscle you lose
during the season, because everyone thinks you build up the
course of the season.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Can you speak to that a bit more.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Yeah, Obviously, with the amount of games that we're doing training,
you know, pretty much six days a week, five days
a week, whatever the tempo might be. We do a
ton of running, and so it's really hard to maintain
muscle masks, especially because we usually get in two lifts
a week if in an ideal world, but you're not
really pushing weights. It's more of maintaining and so you know,
(11:06):
you try to not lose as much muscle mass, but
it's still inevitable because we run so much, and so
it's really important from an injury prevention standpoint to try
to build that up as much as possible going into
the next season and so that you can maintain what
you already have throughout the season and not you know,
be an injury risk or you know, help as much
(11:29):
as possible from that standpoint.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
What are you seeing, Savannah and in the global game?
You know, we're talking about the incremental gains you can
make individually physically, but when what are you seeing in
the global game, either tactically, technically, physically mentally that is evolving.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
I think this past year watching the World Cup, obviously
countries that might not have been the strongest in years
past are competing and winning games and you know, making
history for their countries, and it's now become not a
matter of like the same three teams are winning.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
It's a matter of everyone's going into world.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Stages and world event competing, And I think that's really
cool to see because that means that, you know, obviously,
being an American, we have to also evolve and we
have to step our game up. And in the past,
you know, obviously athleticism and our physical side of the
game as the US, I feel like has been a
huge area that we've dominated, and I think the rest
(12:28):
of the world is reaching that and is competing from
a physical standpoint, and so I think, you know, from
a soccer standpoint, we also have to evolve and we
have to you know, keep up with the rest of
the world of from a tactics perspective, from a footy perspective,
I think it's a really important time for us as
as the US to you know, kind of look and
(12:49):
see how we can continue to evolve in and compete
on the world stage. But also that's going to push
the rest of the world because you know, we have
some of the best players in the world that are
competing the US right now, and so if we can
you know, put something together that's really special, I think
that also is going to help grow the women's game
from from a global standpoint, and so it's just a
(13:11):
really cool, you know time to be a women's soccer player.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Honestly, Yeah, if there was one player, speaking about all
the best players in the world, there's one player you
could bring to Angel City, who would it be?
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Oh that's hard, I.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Know, Oh, oh wow, I mean.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
One player I only get one, You only get one.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
I mean, if we're talking about scoring goals, maybe bring
Sam Kerr back to the NWSL.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Not a bad pick.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, I got to play.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
With her in Chicago obviously for one year, and just
talk about a goal scoring threat at any and all times.
You always have to know where she is anywhere near
the goal, So yeah, that could be a fun addition.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Was she easy for you to play with because this
season you had four goals but get three sis and
you do set up players, So could you read her
movements well?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Did she open up spaces for you to lay that
final ball in?
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (14:15):
I think I think if I got to play with
Sam now where I'm at in my career and kind
of how I've evolved, I think it would be really fun.
Because Sam Kerr's ability to threaten in behind back lines.
You know she's going to be in and around the six,
anytime you're in wide areas, anytime there's going to be
across in the box.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
It just allows midfielders to.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Operate in so much more space, opens the game up
a ton and kind of helps you become less predictable
because teams have to respect that she's going to threaten
in behind, but also that means if they drop, then
you can exploit seem to and so I think it'd
be really fun to get to play with her again.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah, I mean one of the world's best entertainers.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
I think in the women's game for me, changed what
I thought was possible in the women's game with her
athleticism and power pace and the way she was so
electric to watch. That's on the offensive side. Who's the
player that you most hate playing against.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
From a defensive perspective? Yeap in the league.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Honestly, one of I think the hardest sticks to play
against in the league over the last like six years
for me has been Andy.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
I think she like is really good at sitting in
spaces to break up play, and so I have to
be smarter with my movement of where I pop into
team too and try to get off of her back
shoulder so that she's not able to track me, and
so the more that I can stay hidden from her
kind of so she kind of pick me.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Up as early.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
It's always kind of a game of cat and mouse
when I play against Sarah Field.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, super intelligent.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I watched her play at Stanford obviously and then going
on to the professional game, but it's always fun to
watch that. I don't think of her as much as
a defensive stalwarts, So that's a really interesting pick.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
I like that some for us to watch Savannah.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
What would be then your priceless moment from the twenty
twenty three season.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
My twenty twenty three priceless moment would have to be
the final game of the season. I think whenever we
beat Portland at home in front of our fans, it
came down to the goal differential and it put us
into playoffs. If we hadn't have scored that many goals,
we wouldn't have made playoffs.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
And so I just think it was the timing of.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
It being at home, sold out BMO Stadium, just everything
that encompassed that game was super super special because I
remember the end of the game, we all looked at
each other because we had know we had We had
won the game, obviously, but we didn't know if we
had made playoffs, and there was a couple of games
that needed to finish, and so we were all literally
(17:08):
standing around waiting for someone to tell us that we
made playoffs before we could celebrate. But as soon as
we found out, like it was like tears of joy, happiness,
like that moment, like you didn't really know how to react,
Like you just had so many emotions running through you
that it was, you know, something that I'll personally never forget.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, when you guys were in the moment, you got
your first goal and then you got the second, and
then you got there talk about the crescendo of Wow,
we're putting on a show.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Like as soon as everything every single time we put
the ball on frame, I feel like we were scoring.
And so it was just kind of that like feeling
as a player where it was like if I shoot,
I'm scoring, like you just it was kind of that
kind of day, like there was nothing that was going
to stop us.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Things were clicking.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
Defensively, we were pretty solid, and I felt like Portland
couldn't really solve us. They didn't really have an answer
for it, and so it was just kind of you know,
you don't get those a lot in sport where you
feel like everything is going your way.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Even when they managed to score a goal.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
We immediately scored a goal again, and it was just like,
you know, we knew that we had won the game.
It was just a matter of how many goals we
were going to score because there were still I believe
fifteen twenty minutes left on the clock, and you know,
anything was possible, and it was.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
It was just one of those games you get as
a pro that's really.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Special, one of the best games of your career.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Yeah, honestly, yeah, I would definitely put it in the
top three, if not the top two.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah. Well, that's this priceless moment, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Thank you so much, sav and congratulations on incredible season
what Angel City did as an expansion team in their
second year to make it to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
You're a leader on that team and it's just been.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
A joy to watch you help that new program become
relevant in the in the end of yourself so quickly.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, h m hm
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