[Redrum]

Well, just outside the last minute.    Long goal fired by defender Garcia Mendez who came up to support the attack.  Tough game put on by Boston U.  Stanford played lots of time in BU's half,  but their defense and goalie were always just good enough despite many Stanford  shots on goal.

But the REAL news is I saw the game streamed live on the Pac-12 Network even though Comcast here in the Deep South doesn't carry the P12N.  Ahh,  the wonders of the internet.  All one needs is a cooperative friend out West.  And that's all I'm going to say about that.  Now.  All I need to really make it perfect is to have the Stanford game,  not the Arizona St., Illinois game that will be carried outside the Bay Area.  Oh, and perfection would also include an energized, dominant Stanford win.

[Redrum]

Well, just outside the last minute.    Long goal fired by defender Garcia Mendez who came up to support the attack.  Tough game put on by Boston U.  Stanford played lots of time in BU's half,  but their defense and goalie were always just good enough despite many Stanford  shots on goal.

But the REAL news is I saw the game streamed live on the Pac-12 Network even though Comcast here in the Deep South doesn't carry the P12N.  Ahh,  the wonders of the internet.  All one needs is a cooperative friend out West.  And that's all I'm going to say about that.  Now.  All I need to really make it perfect is to have the Stanford game,  not the Arizona St., Illinois game that will be carried outside the Bay Area.  Oh, and perfection would also include an energized, dominant Stanford win.

[fullmetal]

Out here the game will be Oklahoma State vs. Arizona tomorrow on the Pac-12 feed.  I'm going to need a cooperative friend out West to be able to stream anything here as well.

[fullmetal]

Out here the game will be Oklahoma State vs. Arizona tomorrow on the Pac-12 feed.  I'm going to need a cooperative friend out West to be able to stream anything here as well.

[Viking_Guy]

Much better Friday overall.  Beyond the women finally breaking through against a game Terriers side, volleyball walloped Santa Clara in 3 straight, field hockey knocked off #10 Iowa 3-2, and men's soccer scored the best win, beating the Irvine Anteaters 2-0 on the road.

As for the women's game, I was struck by the similarity between the women's side and the football team.  Both lost their quarterback, the person who put them in the right position offensively but could take the game into their own hands if necessary - Noyola and Luck.  Both lost their primary deep threat - Fleener and Taylor.  Both lost players who contributed mightily on defense - Zurhmuhlen and Levin, Thomas and Howell.  And both are really searching for answers.

Women's soccer had to deal with what they're going to see a lot of this season - an absolutely packed in Boston U defense.  At times, the Terriers didn't even pick up the ball until Stanford was across the halfline. 

But the Cardinal still generated chances - they just don't have a finisher.  Good chances went begging, in part because BU's keeper had a good game, but on one chance in the second half, Rosen got free inside the penalty spot and hit the ball directly into the keeper's hands.  Last game, against BC, twice Stanford missed open looks inside 10 yards, not even forcing a save.

Stanford's getting very little from their forwards and outside midfielders - no sustained possession, not a lot of concerted movement, not a lot of crossing and diagonal runs to open up the defense.  It's scary that it took a last 90 seconds 25 yards shot by our center back to beat a game but overmatched team.  I had forgotten that Marjani Hing-Glover is also out, in addition to Chioma Ubogagu.  But more than that, unless Nogueira makes a run at the defense from her defensive midfield spot, we have very few players who seem willing to take on defenders consistently.  A lot of chances tonight were missed because a Stanford player already in the penalty area tried to pass a ball through a packed in defense to another player.  Verloo showed some spark, and Griffen, the team's leading scorer, can finish on occasion, but no real deadly shooter has emerged along the lines of Taylor or Noyola, who at least forces saves on the majority of her chances.

That being said, Leidle is a keeper; a different sort of back for us, much more physical and bigger than our outside backs have been in the past.  Maddy Thompson was more conservative than Kendall Romine, who she replaced in the center of the backfield tonight, but she also avoided Romine's tendency to make 1 or 2 absolutely crucial turnovers a game.

Going forward, one thing I would definitely like to see is more willingness to go to the endline on offense.  Tonight, almost every attacking ball up the wing ended with the offensive player trying to cut back inside at the top of the box - and ending up cutting right into the middle of BU's retreating defensive shell.  Our best chances, including Rosen's miss, were off balls that were carried to the endline and then cut back, letting the offensive players make runs in behind the defense, rather than right at them.  Another bad offensive trend, in keeping with the one above - little to no width in the attacking third.  When the ball was played through the middle, it was rare for a forward to cut through to the wing to open up the defense.  Instead, they ran routes up the middle that depended on a very low percentage pass getting through a tight defense.

Oh, and I thank my lucky stars that Chi should be back next week.  For those insomniacs out there interested, the U-20 Women's World Cup final is tonight at 3:30 AM PT, a deservedly underdog U.S. team against a Deutscher Fussball Bund juggernaut.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Much better Friday overall.  Beyond the women finally breaking through against a game Terriers side, volleyball walloped Santa Clara in 3 straight, field hockey knocked off #10 Iowa 3-2, and men's soccer scored the best win, beating the Irvine Anteaters 2-0 on the road.

As for the women's game, I was struck by the similarity between the women's side and the football team.  Both lost their quarterback, the person who put them in the right position offensively but could take the game into their own hands if necessary - Noyola and Luck.  Both lost their primary deep threat - Fleener and Taylor.  Both lost players who contributed mightily on defense - Zurhmuhlen and Levin, Thomas and Howell.  And both are really searching for answers.

Women's soccer had to deal with what they're going to see a lot of this season - an absolutely packed in Boston U defense.  At times, the Terriers didn't even pick up the ball until Stanford was across the halfline. 

But the Cardinal still generated chances - they just don't have a finisher.  Good chances went begging, in part because BU's keeper had a good game, but on one chance in the second half, Rosen got free inside the penalty spot and hit the ball directly into the keeper's hands.  Last game, against BC, twice Stanford missed open looks inside 10 yards, not even forcing a save.

Stanford's getting very little from their forwards and outside midfielders - no sustained possession, not a lot of concerted movement, not a lot of crossing and diagonal runs to open up the defense.  It's scary that it took a last 90 seconds 25 yards shot by our center back to beat a game but overmatched team.  I had forgotten that Marjani Hing-Glover is also out, in addition to Chioma Ubogagu.  But more than that, unless Nogueira makes a run at the defense from her defensive midfield spot, we have very few players who seem willing to take on defenders consistently.  A lot of chances tonight were missed because a Stanford player already in the penalty area tried to pass a ball through a packed in defense to another player.  Verloo showed some spark, and Griffen, the team's leading scorer, can finish on occasion, but no real deadly shooter has emerged along the lines of Taylor or Noyola, who at least forces saves on the majority of her chances.

That being said, Leidle is a keeper; a different sort of back for us, much more physical and bigger than our outside backs have been in the past.  Maddy Thompson was more conservative than Kendall Romine, who she replaced in the center of the backfield tonight, but she also avoided Romine's tendency to make 1 or 2 absolutely crucial turnovers a game.

Going forward, one thing I would definitely like to see is more willingness to go to the endline on offense.  Tonight, almost every attacking ball up the wing ended with the offensive player trying to cut back inside at the top of the box - and ending up cutting right into the middle of BU's retreating defensive shell.  Our best chances, including Rosen's miss, were off balls that were carried to the endline and then cut back, letting the offensive players make runs in behind the defense, rather than right at them.  Another bad offensive trend, in keeping with the one above - little to no width in the attacking third.  When the ball was played through the middle, it was rare for a forward to cut through to the wing to open up the defense.  Instead, they ran routes up the middle that depended on a very low percentage pass getting through a tight defense.

Oh, and I thank my lucky stars that Chi should be back next week.  For those insomniacs out there interested, the U-20 Women's World Cup final is tonight at 3:30 AM PT, a deservedly underdog U.S. team against a Deutscher Fussball Bund juggernaut.

VG

[81alum]

Paul Ratcliffe said after the game that it was ironic that Garcia Mendez scored the goal, given that he had asked the other defenders to press forward on attack but that she absolutely was our last line of defense and was told to stay back.

It does seem that our team lacks aggression.  It reminds me of a few times over the last few years when I thought that our women's basketball players were too unselfish for the team's own good.

[81alum]

Paul Ratcliffe said after the game that it was ironic that Garcia Mendez scored the goal, given that he had asked the other defenders to press forward on attack but that she absolutely was our last line of defense and was told to stay back.

It does seem that our team lacks aggression.  It reminds me of a few times over the last few years when I thought that our women's basketball players were too unselfish for the team's own good.