A Season Of Rebirth

NWSL Matchday Two

The Utah Royals arrived in Philadelphia on Thursday evening, hoping to use a full training session on Friday to acclimate themselves to the lower altitude and remove the effect of the time change before Saturday afternoon's match. The geriatric set from the Victory (head coach Christie Pearce, goalkeeper coach Jill Loyden, Carli Lloyd, and Yael Averbuch) had dinner with Ali Krieger and Steph Labbe at Maggiano's Little Italy, a short walk from the Downtown Marriott, where the Royals were staying.

Ali Krieger: Carli, how are you adjusting to being "back home" and your role as the senior citizen of this squad?

Carli Lloyd: Even though I get on well with and like my younger teammates, I wouldn't have been open to the move if it weren't for Christie and Jill being here. The lines between coach and player get a little blurred with the two of them, myself, and Yael together, but they respect our experience and believe we can be a greater help in maturing the squad through our leadership on the field than in their having to do it from their perches.

Ali: And off-the-field?

Carli: It feels oddly enough like the same ish I went through when playing for Sky Blue back in 2010. On the good side, Christie and Yael are here, and Jill is with us now. On the bad, Brian (Hollins, her husband) is around almost all the time and the uptick in media attention concerning us is already a problem in my opinion. I'm frankly done with the facade and hope to get through this season, which I'm pretty sure will be my last as I turn 36 in July, then quietly divorce him and start a relationship with someone else.

Jill's ears perked up slightly at Carli's confession and she banked it in her mind for discussion at a later date.

Christie Pearce: I thought moving from playing to coaching would help fix the growing-apart feeling I had been having with Chris (Rampone, her husband) since the Victory Tour after the 2015 World Cup, but it's only made it worse. Having my salary paid by the USSF covered up a lot of financial decision-making that we hadn't discussed. When I was not allocated for the 2017 season, things got a bit tight but I didn't understand why until after I was offered the head coaching job and the two of us had a sit-down over the future. He had been banking away excess money of mine to use for various endeavors while I was away on national team duty. The bills got paid and Rylie and Reece never lacked for anything, but the nest egg I thought would be there when I retired wasn't. That discussion led to other things coming out and we are currently separated.

Steph Labbe: I'm so sorry to hear that. Guess I should feel a slight bit fortunate to not be married at the moment and dealing with the potential for my wife to chisel away what I bring home for herself. Jill, how is Madden doing?

Jill Loyden: The kid is great and I'm glad I walked away from playing when I did in order to place him as the top priority in my life. I just wish I could find someone who would accept us being a package, one that might not increase numerically and definitely won't decrease. Most of the women I've tried dating either don't want the responsibility of a child or are eager to have one of their own, and I don't know yet if I'm interested in shaking up Madden's world with a sibling.

Yael Averbuch: So Ali, give us the rundown of how Krashlyn flamed out and where you are now in the dating game.

Ali: After the Spirit finished just shy of the 2016 NWSL title, Jim (Gabarra, Washington's head coach) chose to reload for a shot at the title in 2017, which meant that I was asked to return instead of being able to join Ashlyn in Orlando. Over that season, we grew apart some due to the distance. Alex (Morgan) left Servando (Carassco, her husband) and I guess she and Ashlyn got closer. Because I was feeling at a loss, Steph and I started spending more time together, especially after she hit rock bottom following Jim's comments about the team not playing in front of her, which justified his sitting her for DiDi Haracic. When Steph left the team and went into seclusion, I realized I missed her more than I did Ashlyn, but was still sort of committed to her. I made a surprise visit to Orlando to greet the Pride's plane after their return from Portland after the NWSL semifinal game. Ash hadn't told me that she and Alex began living together after her split from Serv and I was shocked to find this out. In a quick turn of foot, I hopped a plane for Vegas and Steph's delayed Dirty 30, where I confessed what I had been feeling for her and, well, things happened.