Posts: 312
Threads: 33
Joined: Mar 2014
Stanford's pressing paid big dividends as it was responsible for the first two goals. The third goal was a masterful set piece shot by a freshman. Against Villanova, a different freshman took the shot in a similar area of the field. Clearly Jeremy Gunn does not consider seniority in assigning important tasks.
I too was dismayed by the officiating; in particular, the extent to which the referee allowed SMU to grab the Stanford players when the SMU player was beaten. I don't recall seeing such clutch and grab to anywhere near the extent it happened in this game. To a lesser degree, Stanford also got away with impeding the SMU player after the Stanford player was beaten by the initial movement of the ball, but much less so in the (likely biased) eye of this observer. As a general principle, the failure to enforce the adage of "play the ball, not the man" significantly gums up the game, as it makes it that much harder to develop any offensive flow, and the soccer can devolve into a game of pinball. Were I refereeing a men's college soccer game, I'd tell both teams that I will be closely calling any clutch and grab, and that any repeated or blatant behaviors will prompt a yellow card.
