[Hieronymus]

I watched the first half of Irvine v Nebraska and couldn’t take a second. Irvine was just terrible in the game and it was 3-0 at halftime. It finished 4-0. First goal, opposing players slide tackled each other, the ball squirted out towards Irvine’s goal where a CB whiffed. Ball goes right to a Nebraska forward - goal. Second was a nice cross but an Irvine defender let herself get pinned on the wrong side of the forward - goal. Third goal the goalie fanned on a corner. Irvine was just really bad.

Thoughts
- dale #9 is dangerous at forward
- the Nebraska CBs got really lost a couple of times in the first half but the Irvine CF made a mess of both chances
- it is very unlikely Nebraska plays any low pressure. At all. Looked like full on pedal to the floor all half. I don’t expect this game to be easy.
- Nebraska isn’t particularly tall but they had a lot of broad players. Physicality could be an issue.
- tight reffing will help us

The really big unknown for me is how spread out this game was, and how does it translate against us. The biggest difference college vs pro/international play is spacing. Top tier games you might see all 20 field players no more than 20-30 yards apart vertically. College is often much more spread out vertically. This game was insanely spread out. You often had players scattered across 80-90 yards vertically with huuuge spaces especially between the forwards and midfield. Do we force them back enough those spaces mostly close? Does Harvey get in trouble in wide spaces with her lack of quickness? Do we blow through midfield because Nebraska is pulled too far apart? I have no clue how this plays out.

Nebraska will be the best team we have played so far, and again I expect no lack of intensity this game. We are better, but this could be a real street fight.

[Hieronymus]

I watched the first half of Irvine v Nebraska and couldn’t take a second. Irvine was just terrible in the game and it was 3-0 at halftime. It finished 4-0. First goal, opposing players slide tackled each other, the ball squirted out towards Irvine’s goal where a CB whiffed. Ball goes right to a Nebraska forward - goal. Second was a nice cross but an Irvine defender let herself get pinned on the wrong side of the forward - goal. Third goal the goalie fanned on a corner. Irvine was just really bad.

Thoughts
- dale #9 is dangerous at forward
- the Nebraska CBs got really lost a couple of times in the first half but the Irvine CF made a mess of both chances
- it is very unlikely Nebraska plays any low pressure. At all. Looked like full on pedal to the floor all half. I don’t expect this game to be easy.
- Nebraska isn’t particularly tall but they had a lot of broad players. Physicality could be an issue.
- tight reffing will help us

The really big unknown for me is how spread out this game was, and how does it translate against us. The biggest difference college vs pro/international play is spacing. Top tier games you might see all 20 field players no more than 20-30 yards apart vertically. College is often much more spread out vertically. This game was insanely spread out. You often had players scattered across 80-90 yards vertically with huuuge spaces especially between the forwards and midfield. Do we force them back enough those spaces mostly close? Does Harvey get in trouble in wide spaces with her lack of quickness? Do we blow through midfield because Nebraska is pulled too far apart? I have no clue how this plays out.

Nebraska will be the best team we have played so far, and again I expect no lack of intensity this game. We are better, but this could be a real street fight.