Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're cooking up a plate of poutine, pouring a pint of mulson, and clearing a spot on the old Chesterfield. PWHL finals are on tonight in Canada. Eh It's Tuesday, May twenty. At the on Today Show, we'll be chatting with Minnesota Frost goaltender Matti Rooney about facing off against the Ottawa Charge in the PWHL finals, plus how she stays confident in high pressure moments and why the Frost seemed to
relish the underdog mentality. Plus a top seed topples non frosty relationships and a CV that sends a message. It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices, Here's what you need to know today. Let's start with hockey and the PWHL. The best of five Walter Cup Finals get underweight tonight with the number four seed Minnesota Frost taking on the number three seed Autawa Charge at Ottawa's
TD Place a seven pm Eastern puck drop. Live coverage in Canada is on TSN with French Length which coverage on RDS, and in the US you can watch live on YouTube or check your local listing to see if regional broadcast partners are carrying the game. Ahead of the finals, the PWHL looked ahead to next season, releasing the rules
and procedures for the upcoming expansion Draft. With two teams joining the league next season, Vancouver and Seattle, each of the existing six teams is set to lose four players. The process the league is using is just a little bit complicated, so stick with me here for a minute. First, each of the original six teams have between now and
June third to protect three current players. Yeah, just three players. Then, beginning on June fourth, the new expansion teams will be allowed to negotiate with all non protected players during a five day exclusive signing window. It's essentially expansion team free agency. Both Vancouver and Seattle will be allowed to sign five
players each during this period. Then, on June ninth, the expansion Draft, Seattle and Vancouver will take turns making picks until both teams have so elected twelve players total, either through the initial signing window or the draft. Once one of the existing teams has lost two players to expansion, that team will be allowed to add a fourth player to their protected list. Finally, all eight teams will take part in the official PWHL Draft, which is primarily for
recent college graduates. That's on June twenty fourth. Got all that, Even if you didn't, the good news is you don't have to worry about it for a little bit because in the meantime you can just enjoy watching the PWHL Finals. More on that later in the show with Matti Rooney to softball, where for the first time in Division one softball history, the top seed in the tournament didn't make it out of the regional round. Number one Texas A and M was upset by Liberty, losing the decisive game
on Sunday six to five. Now softball's NCAA bracket uses a double elimination format, meaning that after losing the first game to Liberty on Saturday, the Aggies had to win out the rest of their games during the weekend competition in order to advance to the Super Regionals. They were victorious in their first rematch against Liberty on Sunday afternoon, winning that one an extra innings, but they couldn't pull
off the Sunday sweep. Liberty trailed three to one, but scored five runs in the sixth inning to secure the upset, and there were three other upsets over the weekend too, with Nebraska upsetting number ten, lsu Ole miss upsetting number thirteen Arizona, and Georgia upsetting number fourteen Duke. The Super Regionals get underway this coming weekend with number two Oklahoma now the highest remaining seed in the tourney. They're looking
for a fifth consecutive Women's College World Series title. We've got two WNBA games tonight, both tip it off at seven pm Eastern, so get out that second screen. The Indiana Fever hosts the Atlanta Dream and the Las Vegas Aces host the Connecticut Sun. All teams, but the Fever looking for win number one on the season. More WNBA one loose end to tie up from a big opening weekend. Ahead of their season opener, the Phoenix Mercury announced that Kalia Copper will miss four to six weeks out after
undergoing a left knee arthroscopy. Copper, a four time All Star in the Mercury's only returning starter from last season, was expected to be a central part of the Mercuries rebuilt following the retirement of Dinah Tarrassi and Britney Griner's move to the Atlanta Dream Now. Copper also dealt with injury during the offseason, playing in just seven of sixteen games for her unrivaled squad due to a right leg injury.
The Mercury will also be without Natasha Mack for two to three weeks as she nurses a lower back injury. To soccer, Let's talk, Balloon Dior aka Ballon d'Or, the award given each year to the world's best male and female soccer players, and beginning last year, also given out to the best men's and women's coaches. On Monday, it was announced that the Ballon d'Or annual award ceremony will be held September twenty fifth this year, a date that
will better accommodate female players. You may recall that last year's event was scheduled during a women's international window, meaning many of the top female players were unable to attend. In fact, since a women's category was introduced in twenty eighteen, the ceremony has consistently overlapped with an international women window.
Emma Hayes, who last year was named the Women's Coach of the Year, called out event organizers, saying it was quote like running an Oscars or a Golden Globes without having any females present. Glad to see they've made the switch. Now about those weird photos they use every year, We got to take a quick break when we come back. It's Frost goalie Mattie Rooney. I caught up with her Monday afternoon. I had a game one of the PWHL
finals tonight. Stick around joining us now. She's one of the starting goaltenders for the Minnesota Frost at the Professional Women's Hockey League and won the league's inaugural Walter Cup with the team last season. She was also the starting goaltender for the US women's national team when they won gold at the twenty eighteen winner Olympics, and she also went silver with the team at the twenty twenty two
Games in Beijing. A Minnesota Duluth grad, still the Bulldog's all time career saves leader, She's got a pup named Riley, and she gets coffee with legendary NHL goalie Mark Andre Flury every Tuesday. It's Maddie Rooney.
Hi, Maddie, Hey, thank you for having me.
Is Tuesdays with Flurry really a thing?
No, I don't know why My fiance decided to start that rumor. But no, I'm shutting that down right here. It is not true. Though I wish it was true, but no, he.
Said it with such like certainty and seriousness. He's like, yep, she gets coffee with him every Tuesday.
Yeah, the amount of times I've been asked that, I'm like, no, I don't know why he just pulled that out of his butt.
But maybe he's manifesting it. Maybe Mark Andre will hear it and be like, all right.
Him in Yeah, I wouldn't be mad.
Let's talk about this Frost team, the underdogs rising again second straight year that your team makes the finals as the number four seed. How similar or different does this season feel from last year?
It honestly feels pretty similar, just with kind of our record going into the home stretch. Like last year, you know, we're kind of on a little bit of a losing streak, but we turned it around at the right time and got hot at the right time, and it feels kind
of the same as this year. We have a little bit of a downtime after that international break, but we're heating up at the right time, and I thought we had a great series against Toronto obviously really did well offensively, and I think we're going to use that momentum coming into this final series here.
Evny guesses as to why the squad seems to peak end of season and in the postseason.
I don't know. We always joke we do our best elimination games, but I think I think this group just has a ton of heart and like we truly just want to win, so we do what we can to get it done here in the final stretch and in playoffs.
Yeah, you yourself, You've been in some pretty high stress, high pressure situations, including being between the pipes for the USA and those Olympics that I mentioned, leading the team to gold at just twenty years old, and I'm wondering what are your tools for staying calm and present because you are truly the last line of defense for your team.
You know what I would think of the gold medal game. I would never think it would come down to a shootout, So I love shootout. So grateful it came down to it like that. But there was a lot of nerves. I think in the moment. I just remember kind of relying on that bench energy, you know, looking over at the bench and seeing like my teammates excitement or support whenever they were yelling. I just try to stay like as in the moment as possible. Goalie is such like
a mental game. It's easy to think like, oh, I'm going into this player again. She's done X, Y and Z in the past on previous shootout moves. But that just kind of leads to too much overthinking. So I think in order for me to stay calm, I truly just constantly remind myself to just play in the moment, be present, don't think in the future, don't think in the past, and it's worked out well for me.
I can't believe you just said you love shootouts as a goalie. Why do you love them? You love the pressure put on you?
Yeah, I think I do like the pressure and kind of just being in that position to make or break games. It's fun.
Yeah, And I guess nobody else is contributing to that moment except for you. It can't be a deflection. It can't be a player standing in front of you and you can't see. It's like just everything on you. But you're in charge.
Yep, You're in full control.
Yeah. That game against Canada, that twenty eighteen gold medal is one of my favorite sporting events to watch of all time. It was so tense but so joyful that Joscelyn Lamaroue goal, the oops I did it again, reverse deek in the shootout, and just the back and forth, Like I can't imagine what being a part of that would feel like in those moments. Are you able to sort of block out how big of a deal it is and just focus on I'm just playing hockey, and I play hockey all the time.
Yeah. I think it was a little bit of a bunch of different things, you know, that being my first Olympics and haven't gone through the heartbreaks of some of those veteran players on the team did in previous Olympics. But it was also just kind of to talk more
about the veteran leadership. There was such good leadership on that team, and they throughout the whole residency, they made us feel like basically we were a part of that loss in Sochi in twenty fourteen in the previous Olympics, and I wanted to win it not only for myself, but I really wanted to win it for those veterers
on the team. And we just had, like I said, such great leadership and when it came down to it, it was just a lot of fun playing with that group, and yeah, it'll be one of the best memories throughout my whole career.
So your two of the p WHL playoffs, How do they compare it to Olympic pressure?
Honestly, kind of similar. Definitely not quite as high as the Olympic pressure, but it's similar. I'm playing in these big, big games against the most elite players in the world. Essentially, it's a lot, but it's also a lot of fun. Like it's so competitive. The atmosphere and the with the audiences and the crowds in the arenas is so it's so high level and it's so exciting. So it's just it's a lot of fun. Like I said, this group that we have this year, I think we really lean
on each other. Everyone has their own role, and uh, I think this is the best team to go out and do it again.
So, yeah, you mentioned the crowds. It's been fun to see some sort of organic things start to build in such a young league of you know, the dance breaks or the music in certain areas. Is there an opposing team barn that you most like playing in.
I really like playing in Toronto. They get a consistent good crowd each night, and they're loud, they're fun to play in, or their rink is fun to play in. But nothing be playing at home at the Xcel. You know, whether we only have three thousand fans in the arena or fifteen thousand, they bring the energy every night and it's just no matter where we're playing. Truly, the PWHL has had so much interest and the women's hockey movement is still going so strong, so continue I hope we
continue to grow here. But yeah, the atmospheres in every arena have been really great.
Did you get to play in a couple I think takeover tour games and was one of those your favorite places to go?
I really liked playing in Denver, not only because the city itself was so it was so cool too, but the fans were really passionate and it was it was considered one of our home games. So though it was a takeover to our game and a neutral sight, we were there and they had their Frost Frost jerseys, Frost signs and really made it feel like a home game. So I thought that was a really cool experience.
Any opposing team fan base particularly good at chirping you, as anyone get under your skin a little more.
I don't think I've really want to be chirped, though I don't hear them. Maybe someone's out there chirping me. But I think the hardest kind of rinked to play in is probably Montreal. Other fans are very passionate and it gets pretty loud in there. But it's yeah, yeah, I would say Montreal.
They're swearing at you in French. You're like, I don't know what you're saying, but.
It sounds me help you. I don't know what they're saying.
All right, take me back to baby Mattie. Why did we decide to get it in the goal?
Yeah? So I started hockey rooms age four. My parents kind of just threw me into a bunch of so I started off as playing forward for about five years, six years, and then switched to goalie at age ten. I really was just intrigued by the equipment, but my parents knew how expensive the position of goalie was, so I had to beg for like three years to get my dad to finally agree to letting me try out playing goalie. And so once I tried it, out in a squirt practice. I never went back.
You're kind of still a squirt no fence, but you're very You're a little nugget, you're like five to five. I always think of the joke when people are like, why don't they just throw like a sumo in that that takes up most of the space, Like you're the opposite of that. Was there ever a question about whether you were built for the position and to take it all the way to the pros?
I don't think so. I think on the women's side having smaller goalies is definitely more common than the men's side. I think us smaller goalies kind of make up for that lack of height with our quickness. Something I focused on my whole career is having good footwork, movement and kind of making up for that lack of height with my agility and speed, able to move well down low and like I said, have quick movement.
Let's talk about the PWHL finals starting Tuesday night. Give us your scouting report on the Ottawa Charge.
Yes, they're a good rush team. I think they generate a lot of the chances off of rush, So we're going to have to have a good neutral zone They're also a very quick team. They have a lot of depth, but I think we do as well. We're a quick team and we also have a lot of depth. So I really think it's going to be a good matchup. What's going to set us apart, I think is just our overall grit, like the hungerest to be able to score and to be able to want this next win,
to be on the attack every single shift. So yeah, I think our focus will be speed and physicality for sure.
What did you see from them out of their semi final series against the Victoir that you thought, Okay, that's really something we're going need to watch for.
Yeah. I think definitely their rush chances like I had mentioned, and also they just looked very very quick, very fast, they moved the puck well. So yeah, it's gonna be a good matchup because I think those are some of our strengths as well.
Any particular player on the other team you're least excited to see skating your way open path to the net.
I don't know. They have a lot of skilled forwards. I think Brian Jenner has had my number on a few of their power play goals this year, so I think I'm going to have a extra sense when she's up. Nice. Yeah.
Yeah, what's it like splitting starts in time with your fellow frostcool tender Nicole Hensley.
Yeah, we've been goalie partners now for seven or eight years since that twenty eighteen Olympic team. So we started training together in twenty seventeen and it's just been it's just been fun. Like we're great friends outside of the rinks, so each and every day we're pushing each other to be better, but we also are just having a lot of fun. We crack jokes all the time, and we
just have so much support for each other. I mean, it's hard being in our position given that only one goalie is getting the nod each night in the game, but whoever's in net, we know that the other is on the bench giving us the utmost support and just being there for each other. So it's been it's been really fun and I'm grateful to have her.
That's very mature. How has it been navigating a friendship, a teammate relationship in the midst of a really competitive situation.
Yeah, you know, sometimes I don't know how we do it. Sometimes people like look at us and be like they shouldn't be friends. Like I know, like coaches that we've had over the years are like, this doesn't make sense. But it's just been something that we've been doing for, like I said, seven or eight years now. We live together in the twenty eighteen Olympic residency, so I think there's never really been any you know, tension or like awkwardness.
It's always just came very naturally, and so I'm grateful for it.
How much notice do you usually get as to who's starting when.
Typically it's maybe the day before or two days before.
Why do you think the team continues to split minutes and goal instead of deciding on one of you and riding it out.
Yeah. So I think it showed last year, especially in the playoffs, that we could both be relied on in different situations, me closing out the Toronto series and then Nicole closing out the finals against Boston, and it's rolled into this year. I think we both just bring a different aspect on the ice, but both of our styles have contributed to the team's success obviously, and it's just
it's for me personally. It's been grateful because you know, this season can be long and the position is very mentally tough, so it's been almost like it's just been a good tantem, I guess to say, like to know that I can go in and win the game, and then also Nicole can come in the next night and win the game. And if one of us is off, you know that the other might be in that next game, and it's kind of just become a natural thing that we've gotten used to.
Does it feel merit based, like if one of you is just standing on your head and crushing it, you stay in for an extra couple of games before making the switch. Or is it feel more like it's on a schedule of take a few off, take a few, take a few off.
Yeah, maybe a little bit merit based, But I think that's just something we came to kind of expect and we know that that's probably how it's going to go. But it also has kind of allowed us to just raise the bar for each other day in and day out in practice. You know, we got to be have a great work ethic, we got to be doing well, and just it's just pushing each other and like I said, there's a lot of support for each other. But I think it is like a really healthy environment.
So I'm so impressed, I have to admit, because there is a lot of pressure in like, oh, no, I had a bad game. What does this mean? As opposed to when you're the starting star and they know they're counting on you. You know you can get through some tough times. But I also just think your mental fortitude to see those breaks as beneficial instead of being on the sidelines, like, oh, I should be in there. If I was in there, this would be happening. Being able
to support your partner, It's really special. That's really really cool. How much of advantage do you think your team has having been through this last year and coming out on top, not just winning it all, but coming from the fourth position, knowing that you weren't maybe the strongest all season long, but that you could put it together at the end.
Yeah. I think it's just giving the team a bunch of belief knowing that we were at rock bottom last year and we came back to win it all. I think we went on a seven game losing streak if I remember correctly, into that Game three of Toronto is when we turned it around at home. So I think this year, with going or being in that little down spot too going into the playoffs. It's just it's just like we believe because we know we can do it. We did it last year, we can do it again
this year. So I think it just gives the team that extra boost to confidence.
Take us behind the scenes last year for the celebration, what did it look like?
It was a whirlwind. I remember postgame in the locker room, the champagne showers, and then just celebrating with the team for the rest of the night. But then getting back to Minnesota, the Excel in the League put on a great celebration for us back at the Excel Energy Center, which was super cool. To have family and friends there and just have one big celebratory gathering with all of
our fans. Super cool. And then just doing kind of various media opportunities throughout the throughout the city, and just the support from everyone across Minnesota and across the across the country was super special.
Got anybody on a wish list or any place you want to go celebrate if you win it again this year.
That's a good question, I think, because we only had one day with the Cup and I did like a small kind of family gathering because it was kind of short notice. I think this year I'd really do like a big gathering back in my back in my hometown of Andover, Minnesota, and do it up big this time.
Nice. Well, you know, the Minnesota Wild have never won the Cup, so it's nice for you to bring that city something that the guys have never done. I'm a black Hawks fan, so I've always enjoyed sending the Wild golfing for the off season. But I love that the Frost are showing him how it's done, letting them get some of those Cup celebrations, and then maybe maybe one day, maybe one day, they guys will figure it out.
Yea.
We talked earlier about how your fiance Carson and Taylor Heies's boyfriend were miked up for a recent playoff game. You did not approve of his made up story about your friendship with Marc Andre Fleury. What else did you make of his commentary? Did you do you think he's got a future?
I think he was pretty tame in that, but I do think him and him and Park would be great. Great announcers are great commentary.
Whatever.
I don't know where that rumor started and why he had the motivation to start that rumor. I was like, out of all things, that is what came out of your mouth. So n actually, but I thought they were great. They're funny, and it's cool to see the Frost supporting them too.
So yeah, And it was fun to see them trying to impress each other with hockey phrases that they kind of knew.
That was brutal.
It's like that one's called a safe, that one's a sick. Well done. Yeah, do you have a wedding date yet?
Yeah? This September?
YEP? Amazing, so exciting. Well, it was really fun to watch them just be nervous and excited and watch YouTube play and it's been really fun to watch this team all season long and the rest of the league. Is there anything you want to see next season in the PWHL. Is there a wish that you've seen already year to year from season one to two that you're like, this is the only thing that's missing, or this is something that could be addedive.
Well, that's a good question, I think, just because it's on the top of mind right now. I think what I'm most excited for is to seeing this expansion happen and knowing that this is going to continue to grow. Throughout the coming years, this league will continue to grow. I think it's going to be really exciting, and it's just overall a really exciting time for women's sports to see this coming to fruition finally after many years of
building it. And yeah, it's just great that now the youth generations have this one league to look up to, and now it's expand into the West Coast, so it's going to be going to be really cool.
Any excuse to get to Vancouver for work is good in my book. Yeah, I love Vancouver so beautiful, and Seattle's great to well. Thank you so much for the time, good luck, We're excited to watch.
Yes, thank you so much.
Thanks so much to Maddie for taking the time. We got to take another break when we return. Were your accomplishments on your sleeve or your shirt? Welcome back, slics. We love that you're listening, but we want you to get in the game every day too, So here's our good game play of the day. Make sure to tune in tonight at seven pm Eastern to watch game one of the PWHL Finals. Tune In details are in the
show notes. We'd love to hear from you, Hit us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, Rate and review. It's real easy. Watch printing out your career accomplishments on your jersey rating five out of five concise bullet points review. When aliawan Yie, captain for Italian Serie A club FC Como, retired from soccer earlier this month, the Italian player used
her jersey to make a statement. The thirty seven year old collaborated with her club and a creative agency to design a retirement jersey that included all of her professional accomplishments formatted like a resume. Yan Ye said she wanted to make a statement about how professional female footballers have to find work after retiring from sport, but often don't have a clear path or opportunities lined up for them.
She told The Athletic quote, after a career on the pitch, we female footballers are forced to stop and face a void. We don't have clear pathways into professional life and we can't stop working end quote. FC Como posted a video about Yuani's jersey and the statement she wanted to make. We'll link to that in our show notes. Now it's your turn rate and review, tell us you love us,
Thanks for listening, slices, See you tomorrow. Good Game, Mattie, Good Game, PWHL You people already get caught up in the same tired conversations about Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Watch the fucking basketball people. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You could find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm your host Sarah Spain