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Women's Soccer - BobK - 10-07-2016

Lost Campbell to the previous game red card and lost to USC 3-0.   
Will lose Campbell and Sullivan for 2 games after Oregon state
As they are called up to the National team.  They are 2 of the 3 called up

But if we make the Final 4 the games are here

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/ncaa-announces-sites-relocated-championships

Re: Women's Soccer - Papa John - 10-07-2016

Thanks BobK. I was going to post something but was too depressed. Stanford had its chances vs SC.

Re: Women's Soccer - Spiny_Norman - 10-07-2016

One team looked like the top team in the country yesterday.  It was not Stanford.

Re: Women's Soccer - fullmetal - 10-07-2016

What happened? :(  What kind of a loss was this?

Re: Women's Soccer - TheFarm07 - 10-08-2016

(10-07-2016, 12:33 PM)fullmetal link Wrote:What happened? :(  What kind of a loss was this?

Yea, how do we get blitzed 3-0 after being undefeated all season long? Our opponent was top ten, but the result seems very surprising

Re: Women's Soccer - oldalum - 10-08-2016

The score is a little misleading because of the absence of our regular GK, Jane Campbell, in goal due to the red card in the previous game. Had she been playing, SC would not have scored its second goal which was mainly caused by a rookie goalkeeper mistake (got caught too far from the goal in transition, SC player lofted a long ball over her and into the goal before she could scramble back in time). Jane might have blocked the first goal as well. With Jane, we would have lost anyway but the score wouldn't have been so lopsided. SC is very good. Of course I'd prefer to win, but may not be such a bad thing in the long run to lose a game to a good team at this point.

Re: Women's Soccer - Viking_Guy - 10-08-2016

A few additional thoughts.

Stanford has a VERY unbalanced schedule this year, thanks to the Pac-12 schedule-making people.  They played 9 matches in a row at home, and now have 6 of their last 8 matches on the road.  SC was their first REALLY tough road match of the season.  UCLA will be in the same league.

The Cardinal is extremely unbalanced talent-wise - their best players are in their backline and defensive midfield.  I would say the five best players on the team are Sullivan, Campbell, Cook, Bauer and Davidson.  So they can struggle to score against good defenses, unless Sullivan and Davidson commit forward, which opens them up to counter-attacks.  Part of this is injuries to some of Stanford's best returning attacking players - Lee.

In the attack, Stanford has little breakaway speed in the middle or on the counter-attack.  Meaning other teams can press forward much more comfortably than they've been able to in the past, disrupting the Cardinal's attempts at moving the ball around the back to find space in the midfield.  What speed they do have is outside.

One other thing I am starting to reconsider is the drive for changing forwards into outside backs.  This year, with Stephanie Amack being hurt and out all season, they've had to go with McGrady with one year of defensive experience and a rotating mess at right back (which directly lead to SC's third goal - the ball-side defense held the 18-yard box, but the offside fullback held on a Trojan attacker a good four yards further upfield from all the way across on the far edge of the area, then couldn't get into position to cover the resultant cross.  Speaking as a goalie, I like a defender who knows how to defend and can help with the attack, not an attacker trying to figure out how to defend.

More after the other football,

VG


Re: Women's Soccer - oldalum - 10-08-2016

yes, our lack of team speed is going to be a problem for us against UCLA and Cal who have some very fast players.



Re: Women's Soccer - Viking_Guy - 10-09-2016

A few more thoughts.

On the SC game in particular - 2 of the goals, as OldAlum and I have said, a direct result of defensive breakdowns; I also don't underestimate (being a keeper) the uncertainty in leadership and direction that not having Campbell in back led to - I've often noticed that young keepers are reluctant to be as vocal with their defenders as they really need to be.  Campbell may have been able to stop the first, but it was from really close in and hit with some pace.

They are not the #1 team in the country, and I didn't think they were even when they were so ranked - they don't have enough "threat vectors," scoring and offensive playmakers that defenses have to honor.  Most especially on offense, they don't really threaten a packed box with great outside shooting (outside of Sullivan and perhaps Davidson), and when they bring the d-mids forward, they are really susceptible to quick counters up the middle - neither Bauer nor Cook really has the pace to match up with, oh,  say a Morgan Andrews.

We also suffer from formation - Jordan DiBiasi is not enough of a threat off the dribble with the ball at her feet, and in a 4-3-3 doesn't have any real help in the offensive central midfielder role.  She's also not big enough to stand up to some of the larger d-mids in the Pac-12, SC being a case in point.  We have some size in Collins, but no one who combines two of the three of size, speed and touch on the ball, at least not in offense.

Stanford has only really been able to score consistently out of having a LOT of people in the box, with the exception of Sullivan from distance. To be fair to Jordan, she's been almost Wondolowski-like in her being in the right place to poach goals.  They also don't have any great aerial attack - no Mariah Nogueiras.

But with our outside backs being reticent to stream forward (perhaps worried about their defensive assignments), I've noticed a lot of play with 6 players back (the backs, Davidson and Sullivan) and 4 players forward, with very little movement between the lines.  The women to a certain extent suffer from the same problem as the men - an uncertain connection between the backline and the forwards.  Both of them are hitting a lot more "route one" balls over the top than I've seen in the past.

Both also have some hope on the wings - Marion for the men, Xiao for the women (and McGrady, who seems to be getting a bit more comfortable).  But there's really no threat the other team has to honor in the middle of the offense - no Teresa Noyola or Simon Elliot or even Eric Verso.  For the men, I think they may miss Verso and Thompson even more than they miss Morris.

So what do they have?  A really good center of the defense.  Youth on the outside.  A very scrappy target forward in Carusa who does a lot of really good dirty work.  But against better teams, that don't have to retreat against Stanford's possession, they don't have a lot of offense without bringing extra attackers up.  And when they do get extra attackers up, the other team can pack the box, and Stanford can't break through often.

Tomorrow, or rather today, will be interesting.

VG


Re: Women's Soccer - oldalum - 10-09-2016

Thanks for the insightful analysis. You are right that we have not really been a #1 team which is why I think a loss is not a terrible thing, gets us off that perch. We have a big weakness at right back on defense; it may not always have been true, but I think currently we are converting forwards (e.g., Gee) to outside backs out of necessity. We have no other players listed as defenders on our roster except for frosh Logan Karam. We just have to hope that they will learn through the season as film review reveals mistakes (over-watching the ball instead of watching both the ball and your mark seems like a correctible tendency) and that we have some good defenders coming in next year (also need to replace Maddie). Not having Amack has been a big loss this season.

Several players (e.g., Dibiasi, Davidson) are capable of delivering good strikes from distance, but so far they require an open shot to do this; only Sullivan can consistently create her own shot off the dribble (Xiao and McGrady have shown at times they can do this). So we are not scoring much against good defenses that can take away our end-line/crossing game.

I agree that today's game will be instructive, especially with UCLA's speed and ball control.

Re: Women's Soccer - Viking_Guy - 10-09-2016

Stanford won 3-2 in 2OT against UCLA.

Maddie Bauer with the winning goal out of (what else) a goalmouth scramble off a corner kick.  Andi Sullivan and Michelle Xiao also scored.

Originally had been listed as being available on UCLA's video stream, but only could watch via gametracker.  While Pac-12BA had a replay of Stanford Cal men's soccer as its 1 pm Sunday offering.  Yay Pac-12 Network!

Important win, because SC lost to K.al 1-0.

But Stanford still has a tough road, and I do emphasize road, ahead.  At OSU, then home to Colorado and Utah (at least avoiding the mile-high roadie this year), then away to the Arizonas and ending up in Berkeley.

VG




Re: Women's Soccer - oldalum - 10-09-2016

Even tougher, we are going to have to play both Utah and Colorado (currently 4-0-1 and 5-0-0 respectively) without our two best players, Andi and Jane, who will be with the USWNT. But great not to have lost twice on this road trip.

Re: Women's Soccer - cardfan77 - 10-10-2016

(10-09-2016, 03:23 PM)Viking_Guy link Wrote:Stanford won 3-2 in 2OT against UCLA.

Originally had been listed as being available on UCLA's video stream, but only could watch via gametracker.  While Pac-12BA had a replay of Stanford ןɐɔ men's soccer as its 1 pm Sunday offering.  Yay Pac-12 Network!

So happy for the win but so frustrated with PAC12.  I was hoping to spend my Sunday afternoon watching this game but instead PAC12 decided to play a rerun.  2 highly ranked teams and no media coverage?  boo >:( >:(

even worse: a video exists somewhere - oldalum - 10-10-2016

W Soccer twitter feed has a high-quality video of the winning goal. Why can't we see the whole game?