2017 National Women's Soccer League Game of the Week Begins Live Saturday, April 15
Lifetime and National Women's Soccer League Broadcast Schedule & On-air Talent Announcement
Style Magazine Newswire | 3/30/2017, 1:35 p.m.
Los Angeles (March 30, 2017) -‐ Lifetime and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced today the 2017 NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime live broadcast schedule, which includes 22 regular-season matches, both playoff semifinal games and the NWSL Championship.
Featuring Jenn Hildreth, Aly Wagner, and Dalen Cuff, with special appearances by Kate Markgraf, the NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime will air Saturdays beginning at 3:30pm ET with a 30-minute pregame show leading up to kickoff at 4pm ET.
The season opener on Lifetime will feature Portland Thorns FC hosting the Orlando Pride on Saturday, April 15, with the pregame show starting at a special time of 2:30pm ET/11:30am PT and kickoff at 3 PM ET from Providence Park. The complete list of the Games of the Week set to air live on Lifetime is detailed below.
The NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime will also be available for live and on-demand streaming via the Lifetime iOS and Android apps and online at MyLifetime.com. In addition, international fans outside of the United States can watch live and on-demand streaming of the Game of the Week via NWSLsoccer.com.
A versatile broadcaster who has covered women's soccer as a play-by-play announcer, host, analyst and reporter, Hildreth served as play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and has been filling the same role for ESPN's coverage of college soccer, including the 2016 NCAA Women's College Cup. She is well known to NWSL fans for announcing in the 2015 and 2016 seasons and Championship games. Hildreth's résumé also includes play-by-play duties for basketball, softball and gymnastics, as well as sideline reporting for football, basketball and baseball. In college, Hildreth played goalkeeper at Emory University, where she lettered in basketball, soccer and track and field.
Former U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup athlete, Wagner served as an analyst on FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and currently works on their USWNT matches. Wagner was featured on-air talent at the 2017 NWSL College Draft. After winning the MAC Hermann trophy as the top women’s college soccer player in 2002, Wagner was the number one overall selection in the 2003 Women’s United Soccer Association Draft. She played professionally for several years in the WUSA and the Women’s Professional Soccer League.
As a host/reporter at Comcast SportsNet New England, Cuff covered Major League Soccer and the New England Revolution for three seasons. He hosted "Revolution Post-game Live," the Emmy nominated bi-weekly show, "State of the Revs," and wrote for CSNNE.com. He worked for NBC Sports Network, most recently as part of NBC's Olympics coverage in Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games. A former basketball player at Columbia University, Cuff is currently a college basketball in-game and studio analyst for ESPN.
An analyst for NBC Sports Group’s Premier League and USWNT coverage, Markgraf was a member of NBC’s Olympic soccer coverage for the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. She became the first women analyst to work a major men’s soccer tournament to air in the United States, during ESPN’s coverage of the 2016 European Championship. A former starting defender on the USWNT from 1998-2010, Markgraf earned two Olympic gold medals and a silver medal. In 1999, she won FIFA Women’s World Cup and went on to finish third in 2003 and 2007. She played professionally in the WUSA and WPS. Markgraf was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where as member of the Fighting Irish soccer team, she was a three-time All-American.