11-24-2019, 05:47 PM
It was a pretty familiar script. Stanford comes out and wears another team out chasing the ball, gets a brilliant goal from Catarina Macario, poaches another, and sees out a comfortable 2-0 game.
That just doesn't happen very often in the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.
But Penn State, well, seemed like a slightly more athletic version of Hofstra's bus parking defense, at least for the vast majority of the first half and a lot of the second. They couldn't get enough quality possession on offense to really threaten; their best chance was when Stanford made a bad pass that led to a foul in the second half.
First, one thing I did see - Breide was having a lot of trouble with Penn State's speed in the midfield. She got turned a bit, and was the one who made the bad pass referenced above. But that was about the extent of the Cardinal's issues. Sort of like Gray's tight sets on the slide were an issue in the thumping of Colorado by WVB earlier today - nit-picking.
Penn State did what everybody is going to do: lots of bodies around Macario, at least a couple on Haley, and dare anyone else to score. And it worked for the opening stages, as the one player getting open was Carly Malatskey, and she had a couple of near-misses, a header off a lovely ball from Wesley and a narrowly missed roller from the penalty spot.
But it took a moment of Catarina to record the first goal, as she got a little space on the left, made a run at the defense, then cracked a ball into the upper left corner; not a true upper 90, but more than enough to leave Penn State's keeper no chance about thirty minutes in. That keeper, Amanda Dennis, had a superb game, recording 12 saves.
But the key indicator, again, was that Stanford limited Penn State - that is, the #18 in the country Nittany Lions - to ONE shot. Period. And that one shot was the free kick for Sam Coffey given away above. And that only came with the score 2-0, about 7 minutes left, and Stanford heavily into its bench.
The 2-0 result was off a bit of luck goal for Maya Doms, who hit a low burner about midway through the second half that took a lucky deflection off a defender. Dennis had the initial shot covered, and scrambled back to her knees to try to get to the deflection, but could only get a couple of palms without much force behind them to it as the ball bounced into the net.
The story of the game, and my player of the game, was Naomi Girma. Penn State got NOTHING. Even when bad passes led to a 1v1 chance for Penn State's freshman phenom Ally Schlegel, Girma calmly turned into the ball, got her body between the forward and any potential touch, and turned it wide to Wesley. And that happened more than a few times. She also stepped forward and won balls, and just kept the Lions from having any real threats.
Strong kudos as well for Hiatt, Pickett, and Wesley. The defensive unit as a whole was pretty spectacular.
On to the BYU Cougars, the last undefeated team left in the country.
Also, STRONG shoutout to Washington State, who beat West Virginia 3-0 in Charlottesville after knocking off the top-seeded Hoos on Friday. They advance to their first Elite Eight, and will play at South Carolina next weekend.
USC hung on to beat Santa Clara 1-0. Mick, did you watch?
Right now, UCLA and Wisconsin are tied at 0-0 heading into the half. But the interesting thing is that, if the Bruins win, the potential exists for an all Pac-12 College Cup - unlikely, to be sure, but all four Pac-12 teams are in different quadrants. Stanford plays BYU, Washington State at South Carolina, USC at North Carolina, and UCLA potentially at Florida State.
Go Card! Go Pac!
VG
That just doesn't happen very often in the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.
But Penn State, well, seemed like a slightly more athletic version of Hofstra's bus parking defense, at least for the vast majority of the first half and a lot of the second. They couldn't get enough quality possession on offense to really threaten; their best chance was when Stanford made a bad pass that led to a foul in the second half.
First, one thing I did see - Breide was having a lot of trouble with Penn State's speed in the midfield. She got turned a bit, and was the one who made the bad pass referenced above. But that was about the extent of the Cardinal's issues. Sort of like Gray's tight sets on the slide were an issue in the thumping of Colorado by WVB earlier today - nit-picking.
Penn State did what everybody is going to do: lots of bodies around Macario, at least a couple on Haley, and dare anyone else to score. And it worked for the opening stages, as the one player getting open was Carly Malatskey, and she had a couple of near-misses, a header off a lovely ball from Wesley and a narrowly missed roller from the penalty spot.
But it took a moment of Catarina to record the first goal, as she got a little space on the left, made a run at the defense, then cracked a ball into the upper left corner; not a true upper 90, but more than enough to leave Penn State's keeper no chance about thirty minutes in. That keeper, Amanda Dennis, had a superb game, recording 12 saves.
But the key indicator, again, was that Stanford limited Penn State - that is, the #18 in the country Nittany Lions - to ONE shot. Period. And that one shot was the free kick for Sam Coffey given away above. And that only came with the score 2-0, about 7 minutes left, and Stanford heavily into its bench.
The 2-0 result was off a bit of luck goal for Maya Doms, who hit a low burner about midway through the second half that took a lucky deflection off a defender. Dennis had the initial shot covered, and scrambled back to her knees to try to get to the deflection, but could only get a couple of palms without much force behind them to it as the ball bounced into the net.
The story of the game, and my player of the game, was Naomi Girma. Penn State got NOTHING. Even when bad passes led to a 1v1 chance for Penn State's freshman phenom Ally Schlegel, Girma calmly turned into the ball, got her body between the forward and any potential touch, and turned it wide to Wesley. And that happened more than a few times. She also stepped forward and won balls, and just kept the Lions from having any real threats.
Strong kudos as well for Hiatt, Pickett, and Wesley. The defensive unit as a whole was pretty spectacular.
On to the BYU Cougars, the last undefeated team left in the country.
Also, STRONG shoutout to Washington State, who beat West Virginia 3-0 in Charlottesville after knocking off the top-seeded Hoos on Friday. They advance to their first Elite Eight, and will play at South Carolina next weekend.
USC hung on to beat Santa Clara 1-0. Mick, did you watch?
Right now, UCLA and Wisconsin are tied at 0-0 heading into the half. But the interesting thing is that, if the Bruins win, the potential exists for an all Pac-12 College Cup - unlikely, to be sure, but all four Pac-12 teams are in different quadrants. Stanford plays BYU, Washington State at South Carolina, USC at North Carolina, and UCLA potentially at Florida State.
Go Card! Go Pac!
VG
