WSoc: Stanford 4 Colorado 0 - Printable Version
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WSoc: Stanford 4 Colorado 0 - Viking_Guy - 10-24-2019
Cold weather and snow on the ground didn't slow things down much. Goal and an assist for Macario. The assist was a beautiful run up the left side, then chopping the ball back central to Haley, splitting the defense and finishing a 1v1 with the keeper. After the subbing started with Stanford up 2-0 midway through the second, Stanford added two more, from Beattie Goad and a beautiful header from Jojo Harber.
It didn't start out that pretty. Stanford faced a strong headwind in the first half, and Colorado tried to take advantage. The wind really discounted the possibility of long balls from the Cardinal, and the Buffaloes pushed forward in the midfield and tried to keep high pressure. But the game itself at points felt sluggish - not sure if it was altitude, but the propensity to chase down runs and balls was not as high as I have seen in games closer to sea level.
For the first few minutes, the game was very much of a feeling-out process. Colorado had one player marking Macario wherever she went on the field, which I think we might see more of in the future. It definitely threw the rhythm of Stanford's offense off; Macario could receive the ball, but she was under immediate pressure, and had a difficult time initially trying to turn her defender.
But for the first goal, it didn't matter. She got behind the defense and was brought down by Colorado's keeper as she went endline, and buried the PK 10 minutes in. It was goal #50 on her career.
The remainder of the second half was a pretty balanced affair. Stanford had the possession edge, but Colorado wasn't giving any ground, and with the wind in their face, Stanford's attempts at balls in behind often hung up and slowed enough for the defenders to get back in position. Malatskey had a long shot tipped into the crossbar about midway through, and shortly after Sophia Smith hit a narrow-angle bullet, but the keeper was guarding her near post well.
Colorado, meanwhile, was demonstrating one of my concerns. Their best offensive chances were playing set pieces into their big players, Taylor Kornieck (6'1") and Camilla Shymka (5'9"). With the wind at their backs in the first half, their keeper would flight balls from anywhere close to the midfield stripe into the box, and several times Stanford was a bit overwhelmed by the size, especially from Kornieck. On one long ball, Kornieck simply walled off Hiatt, and got a good look at the ball. The Cardinal has a lot of great attributes, but size and aerial strength isn't their forte.
That said, those chances rarely turned into something more dangerous. Katie Meyer played a solid game in goal, coming out when necessary to collect the ball, and was only tested once or twice throughout the game.
Trailing 1-0, Colorado came out a bit more aggressively in the second half. They pushed still higher, looking to dispossess Stanford in the midfield, and successfully baited the Cardinal into some iffy passes at points (the long ball on the ground through the midfield variety that are easy to run onto for defenders). But the game itself opened up a bit more - more aggression from the Buffs left more space for the Cardinal to operate in, and they got the all-important second goal about 20 minutes into the second half.
A loose ball about 30 yards from Stanford's endline is about to be jousted for by Goad and a Buff player. Macario swoops by, taking the ball of Beattie's foot and using Goad as a screen on the defender, and Catarina is off to the races. Zooming up the left wing channel, she looks up and spots Haley in the center lane, and chops down on the ball to hit a perfectly weighted and angled cross on the ground directly into Madison's path. Haley takes an easy touch forward, splitting the two defenders, before beating the keeper as she came out and went to ground into a wide open left side of the net.
With that finish, a bit of the starch came out of the home team. Kornieck hit the crossbar, but the shot was well-covered by Meyer. And Stanford, I think in a bid to give as much recovery to starters as possible before another game at altitude against Utah, subbed out Macario, then Doms, Wesley, and finally Haley.
I don't know if it was fresh legs, but they put together some nice pressure and touches resulting in a ball from Enge being touched along to Greubel, who touched it forward and slotted a ball into the near post run of Beattie Goad for a simple finish from the corner of the crease in the 76th minute. More subs, and finally a flighted ball from Malatskey found Harber just to the left of the penalty spot, and Jojo hit a nice header back across goal that the keeper got a hand to, but could not keep out, for the 4-0 final.
Really solid games from Breide and Doms in the midfield, keeping Colorado from getting too much traffic through the center - most of the Buffs' threats were lofted balls over the top or counters. In the face of an organized and strong opponent, Stanford showed some good grit all over the pitch. Which will stand them in good stead going into the home of the, umm, physically oriented Utes.
VG
RE: WSoc: Stanford 4 Colorado 0 - TheRicker - 10-25-2019
Analysis much appreciated. I was able to watch live (Pac-12) and enjoyed our continued success.
RE: WSoc: Stanford 4 Colorado 0 - oldalum - 10-25-2019
A tip of the hat to the grounds crew that cleared the field of the 6 inches of overnight snow.
snow on field