in honor of whatever tf is about to happen with the challenge cup (lol omg), letās look back at two chaotic outbursts in nwsl history that absolutely nobody ever thinks about:
itās portland thorns vs seattle (rip) reign in a 2018 match that will decide who gets to host a semi-final (yes this is so random) and no one, literally no one is at this time more in love with lindsey horan than one emily sonnett
here she is celebrating lindseyās goal during this game in a moment lindsey herself would later describe in a livestream as:
yes, this is lindseyās favorite moment in a season where they made it to the playoffs⦠MAāAM (pause to appreciate the gay panic racing across sonnettās face as she thinks, āyouā you noticed my cheer? what else do you notice??ā). sonnettās favorite moment was the goal in question or as she so delicately phrased it: āwhen lindsey horan ripped the net off in our last game against seattle.ā YEAH WE GET IT, YouAreInLove.mp3. now that thereās a baseline for where things were at ~*emotionally*~ during this game, moving on to some light rage on main:
first, start with a classic horan shove. despite soran being at its peak, lindsey can always find a little anger, as a treat. and if you shield her from a camera for .0005 seconds (thanks midge purce!) she will shove you off the face of the earth and make it look like stiff wind. the arm follow through here is⦠wow, pls choke me
then, invite a brawl onto the pitch. after three shoves, lindsey gets her 40th foul of the season. she is tied for first place in the category of Most Fouls Received In One Year Lindsey Please Seek Help because only the finest of honors for our gal!! this ref is a little too rambo-enthusiastic for my taste but do any of these people notice the ball slowly creeping away? whatever we are all used to seeing linessi summon her dragons
lastly, allow intervention from a trusted teammate. the real hero here is meghan klingenberg. first of all, she is beautiful. each and every one of you needs to get real enthusiastic about the understated beauty of kling and her majestic eyelashes. second, she is doing her lifeās greatest work trying to keep the peace. not only does she get between lindsey and elizabeth addo but when she sees sonnett coming for chaos out of the corner of her eye she goes, āOH HELL NO,ā and shuts that train right down. now letās compare:
first, jump up and down like a cranky two year old at bedtime. the juxtaposition of christen westphal face first in the grass while dasani rails in the background and ON THE JUMBO TRON is, dramatics your honor. sonnett is very fired up about her innocence here and/or she is NOT going to sleep. either way, girl gets AIR on that jump
second, allow intervention while testing the patience of a teammate. somebody give meghan elizabeth klingenberg the noble peace prize, ffs. note the double fisted arm grab and the near boob hand graze. just soft thorny things that will never happen again thanks mark parsons!!!
then, argue relentlessly. bold of miss emily to challenge jess fishlock AND the ref at the same time because all the best arguments are won at a disadvantage of 2 to 1 with a finger wag. s/o to lindsey coming over to look on with the deepest of concern, she is a meme
finally, acceptance. lol @ aly wagner not mincing words from the commentator box. kling is pulling double duty here for not only standing guard (eavesdropping?) but also doing a lap to make sure sonnett behaves. meanwhile, sonnett saying, āright, rightā with her hand on her hip has me so weak. itās shit like this that makes me 1000 times more gay than yesterday. i want to say something cute like, āsonnett is me when the grocery clerk explains they are out of almond milk,ā but really nothing about sonnett makes sense to me. i mean, here she is taking constructive criticism like an adult? when 30 seconds ago she almost pulled something from yelling? she is such an enigma. like, what does she wake up thinking about? why do i love her?
anyway!! iām declaring sonnett the winner of this little rage match because while her initial outburst far surpassed the great horanās, her growth is a beautiful thing! and donāt worry about lindsey, she will command a steady stream of anarchy until sheās 80 and delight as neighborhood kids run past her yard in fear.
(this post is dedicated to the memory of soran and all the times tobin heath will never be able to have one arm around sonnett and the other slapping lindseyās ass while sonnett rubs her back like sheās washing a window and lindsey gives her an aggressive head pat⦠at least in a thorns jersey. no doubt the gay will continue apace at camp)