[washingtonismoney]

So far neither team is playing terribly well. I'll focus on Stanford: relative to the standards I've seen earlier this season, or in seasons past, they're well below. The passing is connecting, but not crisp. The ball needs to move quickly in order to keep it, let alone get a look at goal.

Defensively, UCLA's finding a lot of space when they have the ball. Fortunately they are exploiting it in the most naive way possible: dribble in a straight line, towards...something. Still, the Stanford formation is leaving them space; the formation is supposed to control the ball to compensate, which...isn't happening.

Hopefully they pick it up in the second half.

[washingtonismoney]

So far neither team is playing terribly well. I'll focus on Stanford: relative to the standards I've seen earlier this season, or in seasons past, they're well below. The passing is connecting, but not crisp. The ball needs to move quickly in order to keep it, let alone get a look at goal.

Defensively, UCLA's finding a lot of space when they have the ball. Fortunately they are exploiting it in the most naive way possible: dribble in a straight line, towards...something. Still, the Stanford formation is leaving them space; the formation is supposed to control the ball to compensate, which...isn't happening.

Hopefully they pick it up in the second half.

[washingtonismoney]

So far neither team is playing terribly well. I'll focus on Stanford: relative to the standards I've seen earlier this season, or in seasons past, they're well below. The passing is connecting, but not crisp. The ball needs to move quickly in order to keep it, let alone get a look at goal.

Defensively, UCLA's finding a lot of space when they have the ball. Fortunately they are exploiting it in the most naive way possible: dribble in a straight line, towards...something. Still, the Stanford formation is leaving them space; the formation is supposed to control the ball to compensate, which...isn't happening.

Hopefully they pick it up in the second half.

[washingtonismoney]

So far neither team is playing terribly well. I'll focus on Stanford: relative to the standards I've seen earlier this season, or in seasons past, they're well below. The passing is connecting, but not crisp. The ball needs to move quickly in order to keep it, let alone get a look at goal.

Defensively, UCLA's finding a lot of space when they have the ball. Fortunately they are exploiting it in the most naive way possible: dribble in a straight line, towards...something. Still, the Stanford formation is leaving them space; the formation is supposed to control the ball to compensate, which...isn't happening.

Hopefully they pick it up in the second half.

[Viking_Guy]

WiM--

Tried to post the below to the blog earlier today.

So there’s a team on campus that lost its offensive leader, one of its most valuable playmakers, and a couple of solid senior defenders. Now it’s having trouble scoring on the road, as other teams load up their defenses to put pressure on our offense to take long shots over the top rather than a more methodical short passing game.

I’m of course talking about the women’s soccer team.

Tonight they face off, #1 vs #2, Stanford vs UCLA in Los Angeles at 6:00 pm on the Pac-12 network. Give it a watch, but if you were basing your expectations off of last season’s team, be prepared to be frustrated.

The Cardinal hasn’t been able to replace Lindsay Taylor up front, Kirsty Zurmuhlen in the defensive midfield and Cami Levin on the back line, but most especially they have no one to take the place of attacking central midfielder and playmaker Teresa Noyola.

Those issues have to a certain extent been disguised by the excellent play of the senior defenders, Alina Garciamendez and Rachel Quon, keeper Emily Oliver and most especially by defensive central midfielder Mariah “Clutch” Nogueira. But there is little connection through the midfield to the front line; while Nina Watkins has taken on some of the defensive duties of Zurmuhlen, she doesn’t seem to be able to convert tackles into balls going forward as well as Kirsty did.

At attacking center mid, Alex Doll seems a bit lost, and Stanford has had a couple of knocks to other players. Up front, Chioma Ubogagu, back from playing with the U-20 national team, and Courtney Verloo form a potent outside combination on the left and right, but I think Lo LaBonta is playing a bit out of position at center forward; she would be much more natural at a “withdrawn striker” or as an attacking center mid.

There have been some great moments this year, but almost all of them have come through Nogueira, Garciamendez or Quon. Late in tight games, if Stanford needs to score, they end up moving forward into the attack. They do it well, but that also leaves Stanford open to the counter, especially as the mids tend to not cycle back and cover as the defenders go forward.

Watch tonight’s game. Stanford’s offense seems to consist of playing the ball among the back five, reversing it until one of the outside backs, Quon or Laura Leidle, can move forward. Then the ball bypasses the midfield entirely, looking for either Verloo or Ubogagu out wide or LaBonta (who while marvelously skilled with her feet is neither very big nor very fast in the central forward role). Which leads in general to either Chi or Courtney trying to beat a double-team, or LaBonta launching a 35-yard shot in the vicinity of the goal.

That’s where Stanford misses Taylor; accuracy and finishing. As a team, Stanford is still in general outshooting its opponents by wide margins; the shots just are nowhere near the net.

In Friday’s game against what should have been an over-matched USC, Stanford had 8 shots in the first half, 1 of which was on frame.  Early in the second half, Stanford again was firing blanks high and wide.  Until late in the game, when Nogueira and Quon pushed up in the attack, and Stanford’s chances got more dangerous.

But that push up also changed the shape of Stanford’s defense, and SC had several good chances late in the game to score.  Most especially off a series of corner kicks, one of which ended up in the back of the net but was waved off for either a foul or offsides, it was difficult to tell.

How was the game rescued?  By Quon, who lofted a free kick from the half line onto the head of Nogueira at the top of the box.  Mariah flicked it on – directly into the path of an onrushing Garciamendez, who toe-poked the ball into the left-side netting, ending a 100+ minute nightmare in about 4 seconds of playing time.

Now, you can say what you want about the field – they played the game in the Coliseum, which meant the field was short and narrow, allowing SC to pack the defense and not allowing Stanford to spread the ball around.

But beyond that, the lack of threat and pressure in the midfield is allowing bad teams to stay with Stanford,  and good teams to threaten all of Stanford's streaks.  Tonight, we'll see how they fare against a very good team in the Bruins.

Because Stanford's had it relatively easy thus far - most of their difficult games have been at home, the one exception being the early and great victory at Penn State.  Which was followed with a 1-0 loss.

It comes down to road scoring.  At home, Stanford has 32 goals in 10 games; away or neutral, 15 goals in 7 games.  And that is skewed by two 4 goal wins against weak opponents in UNC Greensboro and Arizona.  1-0 in 2 OTs at a mediocre SC.  2-1 and 1-0 against middle of the road Utah and Colorado.

What does it mean?  I'm not sure, but I'll be watching tonight, because, despite star-studded recruiting classes, when Nogueira, Quon and Garciamendez graduate, I'm not sure where the team is going without them.  Nogueira is the leading goal-scorer despite being a defensive midfielder, and Garciamendez is tied for second despite being a central defender. Be sure to watch the corners and other set pieces, as that's where we're likely to score.

Viking Guy

[Viking_Guy]

WiM--

Tried to post the below to the blog earlier today.

So there’s a team on campus that lost its offensive leader, one of its most valuable playmakers, and a couple of solid senior defenders. Now it’s having trouble scoring on the road, as other teams load up their defenses to put pressure on our offense to take long shots over the top rather than a more methodical short passing game.

I’m of course talking about the women’s soccer team.

Tonight they face off, #1 vs #2, Stanford vs UCLA in Los Angeles at 6:00 pm on the Pac-12 network. Give it a watch, but if you were basing your expectations off of last season’s team, be prepared to be frustrated.

The Cardinal hasn’t been able to replace Lindsay Taylor up front, Kirsty Zurmuhlen in the defensive midfield and Cami Levin on the back line, but most especially they have no one to take the place of attacking central midfielder and playmaker Teresa Noyola.

Those issues have to a certain extent been disguised by the excellent play of the senior defenders, Alina Garciamendez and Rachel Quon, keeper Emily Oliver and most especially by defensive central midfielder Mariah “Clutch” Nogueira. But there is little connection through the midfield to the front line; while Nina Watkins has taken on some of the defensive duties of Zurmuhlen, she doesn’t seem to be able to convert tackles into balls going forward as well as Kirsty did.

At attacking center mid, Alex Doll seems a bit lost, and Stanford has had a couple of knocks to other players. Up front, Chioma Ubogagu, back from playing with the U-20 national team, and Courtney Verloo form a potent outside combination on the left and right, but I think Lo LaBonta is playing a bit out of position at center forward; she would be much more natural at a “withdrawn striker” or as an attacking center mid.

There have been some great moments this year, but almost all of them have come through Nogueira, Garciamendez or Quon. Late in tight games, if Stanford needs to score, they end up moving forward into the attack. They do it well, but that also leaves Stanford open to the counter, especially as the mids tend to not cycle back and cover as the defenders go forward.

Watch tonight’s game. Stanford’s offense seems to consist of playing the ball among the back five, reversing it until one of the outside backs, Quon or Laura Leidle, can move forward. Then the ball bypasses the midfield entirely, looking for either Verloo or Ubogagu out wide or LaBonta (who while marvelously skilled with her feet is neither very big nor very fast in the central forward role). Which leads in general to either Chi or Courtney trying to beat a double-team, or LaBonta launching a 35-yard shot in the vicinity of the goal.

That’s where Stanford misses Taylor; accuracy and finishing. As a team, Stanford is still in general outshooting its opponents by wide margins; the shots just are nowhere near the net.

In Friday’s game against what should have been an over-matched USC, Stanford had 8 shots in the first half, 1 of which was on frame.  Early in the second half, Stanford again was firing blanks high and wide.  Until late in the game, when Nogueira and Quon pushed up in the attack, and Stanford’s chances got more dangerous.

But that push up also changed the shape of Stanford’s defense, and SC had several good chances late in the game to score.  Most especially off a series of corner kicks, one of which ended up in the back of the net but was waved off for either a foul or offsides, it was difficult to tell.

How was the game rescued?  By Quon, who lofted a free kick from the half line onto the head of Nogueira at the top of the box.  Mariah flicked it on – directly into the path of an onrushing Garciamendez, who toe-poked the ball into the left-side netting, ending a 100+ minute nightmare in about 4 seconds of playing time.

Now, you can say what you want about the field – they played the game in the Coliseum, which meant the field was short and narrow, allowing SC to pack the defense and not allowing Stanford to spread the ball around.

But beyond that, the lack of threat and pressure in the midfield is allowing bad teams to stay with Stanford,  and good teams to threaten all of Stanford's streaks.  Tonight, we'll see how they fare against a very good team in the Bruins.

Because Stanford's had it relatively easy thus far - most of their difficult games have been at home, the one exception being the early and great victory at Penn State.  Which was followed with a 1-0 loss.

It comes down to road scoring.  At home, Stanford has 32 goals in 10 games; away or neutral, 15 goals in 7 games.  And that is skewed by two 4 goal wins against weak opponents in UNC Greensboro and Arizona.  1-0 in 2 OTs at a mediocre SC.  2-1 and 1-0 against middle of the road Utah and Colorado.

What does it mean?  I'm not sure, but I'll be watching tonight, because, despite star-studded recruiting classes, when Nogueira, Quon and Garciamendez graduate, I'm not sure where the team is going without them.  Nogueira is the leading goal-scorer despite being a defensive midfielder, and Garciamendez is tied for second despite being a central defender. Be sure to watch the corners and other set pieces, as that's where we're likely to score.

Viking Guy

[Viking_Guy]

WiM--

Tried to post the below to the blog earlier today.

So there’s a team on campus that lost its offensive leader, one of its most valuable playmakers, and a couple of solid senior defenders. Now it’s having trouble scoring on the road, as other teams load up their defenses to put pressure on our offense to take long shots over the top rather than a more methodical short passing game.

I’m of course talking about the women’s soccer team.

Tonight they face off, #1 vs #2, Stanford vs UCLA in Los Angeles at 6:00 pm on the Pac-12 network. Give it a watch, but if you were basing your expectations off of last season’s team, be prepared to be frustrated.

The Cardinal hasn’t been able to replace Lindsay Taylor up front, Kirsty Zurmuhlen in the defensive midfield and Cami Levin on the back line, but most especially they have no one to take the place of attacking central midfielder and playmaker Teresa Noyola.

Those issues have to a certain extent been disguised by the excellent play of the senior defenders, Alina Garciamendez and Rachel Quon, keeper Emily Oliver and most especially by defensive central midfielder Mariah “Clutch” Nogueira. But there is little connection through the midfield to the front line; while Nina Watkins has taken on some of the defensive duties of Zurmuhlen, she doesn’t seem to be able to convert tackles into balls going forward as well as Kirsty did.

At attacking center mid, Alex Doll seems a bit lost, and Stanford has had a couple of knocks to other players. Up front, Chioma Ubogagu, back from playing with the U-20 national team, and Courtney Verloo form a potent outside combination on the left and right, but I think Lo LaBonta is playing a bit out of position at center forward; she would be much more natural at a “withdrawn striker” or as an attacking center mid.

There have been some great moments this year, but almost all of them have come through Nogueira, Garciamendez or Quon. Late in tight games, if Stanford needs to score, they end up moving forward into the attack. They do it well, but that also leaves Stanford open to the counter, especially as the mids tend to not cycle back and cover as the defenders go forward.

Watch tonight’s game. Stanford’s offense seems to consist of playing the ball among the back five, reversing it until one of the outside backs, Quon or Laura Leidle, can move forward. Then the ball bypasses the midfield entirely, looking for either Verloo or Ubogagu out wide or LaBonta (who while marvelously skilled with her feet is neither very big nor very fast in the central forward role). Which leads in general to either Chi or Courtney trying to beat a double-team, or LaBonta launching a 35-yard shot in the vicinity of the goal.

That’s where Stanford misses Taylor; accuracy and finishing. As a team, Stanford is still in general outshooting its opponents by wide margins; the shots just are nowhere near the net.

In Friday’s game against what should have been an over-matched USC, Stanford had 8 shots in the first half, 1 of which was on frame.  Early in the second half, Stanford again was firing blanks high and wide.  Until late in the game, when Nogueira and Quon pushed up in the attack, and Stanford’s chances got more dangerous.

But that push up also changed the shape of Stanford’s defense, and SC had several good chances late in the game to score.  Most especially off a series of corner kicks, one of which ended up in the back of the net but was waved off for either a foul or offsides, it was difficult to tell.

How was the game rescued?  By Quon, who lofted a free kick from the half line onto the head of Nogueira at the top of the box.  Mariah flicked it on – directly into the path of an onrushing Garciamendez, who toe-poked the ball into the left-side netting, ending a 100+ minute nightmare in about 4 seconds of playing time.

Now, you can say what you want about the field – they played the game in the Coliseum, which meant the field was short and narrow, allowing SC to pack the defense and not allowing Stanford to spread the ball around.

But beyond that, the lack of threat and pressure in the midfield is allowing bad teams to stay with Stanford,  and good teams to threaten all of Stanford's streaks.  Tonight, we'll see how they fare against a very good team in the Bruins.

Because Stanford's had it relatively easy thus far - most of their difficult games have been at home, the one exception being the early and great victory at Penn State.  Which was followed with a 1-0 loss.

It comes down to road scoring.  At home, Stanford has 32 goals in 10 games; away or neutral, 15 goals in 7 games.  And that is skewed by two 4 goal wins against weak opponents in UNC Greensboro and Arizona.  1-0 in 2 OTs at a mediocre SC.  2-1 and 1-0 against middle of the road Utah and Colorado.

What does it mean?  I'm not sure, but I'll be watching tonight, because, despite star-studded recruiting classes, when Nogueira, Quon and Garciamendez graduate, I'm not sure where the team is going without them.  Nogueira is the leading goal-scorer despite being a defensive midfielder, and Garciamendez is tied for second despite being a central defender. Be sure to watch the corners and other set pieces, as that's where we're likely to score.

Viking Guy

[Viking_Guy]

WiM--

Tried to post the below to the blog earlier today.

So there’s a team on campus that lost its offensive leader, one of its most valuable playmakers, and a couple of solid senior defenders. Now it’s having trouble scoring on the road, as other teams load up their defenses to put pressure on our offense to take long shots over the top rather than a more methodical short passing game.

I’m of course talking about the women’s soccer team.

Tonight they face off, #1 vs #2, Stanford vs UCLA in Los Angeles at 6:00 pm on the Pac-12 network. Give it a watch, but if you were basing your expectations off of last season’s team, be prepared to be frustrated.

The Cardinal hasn’t been able to replace Lindsay Taylor up front, Kirsty Zurmuhlen in the defensive midfield and Cami Levin on the back line, but most especially they have no one to take the place of attacking central midfielder and playmaker Teresa Noyola.

Those issues have to a certain extent been disguised by the excellent play of the senior defenders, Alina Garciamendez and Rachel Quon, keeper Emily Oliver and most especially by defensive central midfielder Mariah “Clutch” Nogueira. But there is little connection through the midfield to the front line; while Nina Watkins has taken on some of the defensive duties of Zurmuhlen, she doesn’t seem to be able to convert tackles into balls going forward as well as Kirsty did.

At attacking center mid, Alex Doll seems a bit lost, and Stanford has had a couple of knocks to other players. Up front, Chioma Ubogagu, back from playing with the U-20 national team, and Courtney Verloo form a potent outside combination on the left and right, but I think Lo LaBonta is playing a bit out of position at center forward; she would be much more natural at a “withdrawn striker” or as an attacking center mid.

There have been some great moments this year, but almost all of them have come through Nogueira, Garciamendez or Quon. Late in tight games, if Stanford needs to score, they end up moving forward into the attack. They do it well, but that also leaves Stanford open to the counter, especially as the mids tend to not cycle back and cover as the defenders go forward.

Watch tonight’s game. Stanford’s offense seems to consist of playing the ball among the back five, reversing it until one of the outside backs, Quon or Laura Leidle, can move forward. Then the ball bypasses the midfield entirely, looking for either Verloo or Ubogagu out wide or LaBonta (who while marvelously skilled with her feet is neither very big nor very fast in the central forward role). Which leads in general to either Chi or Courtney trying to beat a double-team, or LaBonta launching a 35-yard shot in the vicinity of the goal.

That’s where Stanford misses Taylor; accuracy and finishing. As a team, Stanford is still in general outshooting its opponents by wide margins; the shots just are nowhere near the net.

In Friday’s game against what should have been an over-matched USC, Stanford had 8 shots in the first half, 1 of which was on frame.  Early in the second half, Stanford again was firing blanks high and wide.  Until late in the game, when Nogueira and Quon pushed up in the attack, and Stanford’s chances got more dangerous.

But that push up also changed the shape of Stanford’s defense, and SC had several good chances late in the game to score.  Most especially off a series of corner kicks, one of which ended up in the back of the net but was waved off for either a foul or offsides, it was difficult to tell.

How was the game rescued?  By Quon, who lofted a free kick from the half line onto the head of Nogueira at the top of the box.  Mariah flicked it on – directly into the path of an onrushing Garciamendez, who toe-poked the ball into the left-side netting, ending a 100+ minute nightmare in about 4 seconds of playing time.

Now, you can say what you want about the field – they played the game in the Coliseum, which meant the field was short and narrow, allowing SC to pack the defense and not allowing Stanford to spread the ball around.

But beyond that, the lack of threat and pressure in the midfield is allowing bad teams to stay with Stanford,  and good teams to threaten all of Stanford's streaks.  Tonight, we'll see how they fare against a very good team in the Bruins.

Because Stanford's had it relatively easy thus far - most of their difficult games have been at home, the one exception being the early and great victory at Penn State.  Which was followed with a 1-0 loss.

It comes down to road scoring.  At home, Stanford has 32 goals in 10 games; away or neutral, 15 goals in 7 games.  And that is skewed by two 4 goal wins against weak opponents in UNC Greensboro and Arizona.  1-0 in 2 OTs at a mediocre SC.  2-1 and 1-0 against middle of the road Utah and Colorado.

What does it mean?  I'm not sure, but I'll be watching tonight, because, despite star-studded recruiting classes, when Nogueira, Quon and Garciamendez graduate, I'm not sure where the team is going without them.  Nogueira is the leading goal-scorer despite being a defensive midfielder, and Garciamendez is tied for second despite being a central defender. Be sure to watch the corners and other set pieces, as that's where we're likely to score.

Viking Guy

[washingtonismoney]

Ubogagu looks like the creative force of the team: fantastic dribbler, aggressive.

Still, you need something in midfield, a #10, like we had with Christen Press.

We pulled out the game, 2-1. They know how to win.

[washingtonismoney]

Ubogagu looks like the creative force of the team: fantastic dribbler, aggressive.

Still, you need something in midfield, a #10, like we had with Christen Press.

We pulled out the game, 2-1. They know how to win.

[washingtonismoney]

Ubogagu looks like the creative force of the team: fantastic dribbler, aggressive.

Still, you need something in midfield, a #10, like we had with Christen Press.

We pulled out the game, 2-1. They know how to win.

[washingtonismoney]

Ubogagu looks like the creative force of the team: fantastic dribbler, aggressive.

Still, you need something in midfield, a #10, like we had with Christen Press.

We pulled out the game, 2-1. They know how to win.

[Viking_Guy]

Game report:

Well, Stanford played a tale of an opening 60 minutes and a final 30.  The difference was moving Rachel Quon to attacking center midfield from her right back spot after Stanford conceded a bad goal early in the second half.

The first half was back and forth; Stanford got forward, but UCLA's counterattack down the left side through the ultra-fast Zakiya Bywaters was problematic throughout.  Especially because Quon was moving forward to be an offensive option and would get caught up the field. 

Accuracy was again a problem - Stanford at one point had 6 shots to UCLA's 7, but UCLA had forced three saves while Stanford had forced only one (a fine one by their keeper against Verloo about 3 minutes into the game).  Basically, every defense is overcommitting to our proven players and leaving space for the reserves or the role players.

We again had problems in the midfield; Nina Watkins plays hard, but gives up pace, especially against the speedy Bruins.  Alex Doll, who started at attacking center mid, works hard, but always seems to be behind the play.  Lo LaBonta, all 5'2" of her, is nifty with her feet at center forward, and gets into good positions, but can be bodied off the ball pretty easily.

So what happened?  Verloo forces the early save, and Doll then hits the post about 6 minutes in.  Those were really Stanford's best shots of the opening half, and most of the Pac-12 network didn't see them; the earlier women's game between ASU and Colorado went into overtime and was finally decided by a goal for the Devils in the 110th minute, with about 50 seconds left on the clock.

After Doll's shot, UCLA started to work the counter; as I mentioned before, most of Stanford's width is provided by the outside backs working up the field.  Bywaters streaked down the left side and launched from a narrow angle to a fine save by Emily Oliver, then the Bruins got a couple of more good looks, but nothing as dangerous until late in the half.  The Cardinal midfield again got caught out of shape, and Bywaters broke free down the left before cutting inside and forcing another Oliver save.

Stanford, meanwhile, couldn't seem to penetrate the Bruins' backline.  Very little of the play came through the center of the field; it was up one sideline or the other, but rarely threatening, except for one nice throughball to Chi Ubogagu that found her free on the left for a shot she sent high.

First half was tight and taut.  Second half got a little more woolly.

One of the primary problems with not getting a lot of offense through the midfield is that the backline is put under more pressure by opposition forwards who don't seem to feel a lot of need to help out their own midfield.  After a couple of nice early chance for LaBonta in the second half, Garciamendez cut a pass off about 35 yards out, and tried to play a controlled ball, but got double-teamed and dispossessed, leading to a scramble in the center of the box as the defense tried to scramble back.  A shot from up top deflected off of Quon's leg, and arced across the face of goal directly to the foot of the Bruins' Taylor Smith, who calmly pushed it back to the far post past a sprawling Oliver.  1-0 Bruins.

To be honest, I thought that was the way it was going to end.  Stanford had shown little offensive spark, and seemed to be on their heels.  Bywaters got down the left again, and cut inside before hitting a shot that went right to Oliver.  A through ball was right on a Bruins' foot, but Quon slid across and dispossessed her at the last second.  Two Stanford corners yielded little, then UCLA got a swing at a half volley off their corner and put it on frame, but without much pace, for Oliver to gather.

Then came the major shift - Annie Case came in at left full, and Quon moved to attacking center mid.  The possession seemed to tilt in Stanford's favor, although Bywaters got free for one more run off a badly taken Stanford free kick, which sprang her down the right side and led to a spectacular diving save by Oliver.  But Quon's pace and skill through the middle drew the defense, as well as several fouls, and the ball was spending a lot of time in the Bruins' defensive third.  Stanford was drawing a lot of throw-ins, and UCLA's lack of touch at outside back was evident.

But it took a moment of individual brilliance to open up the game.  Chi got free in the middle of a nice set of flicks, running at the UCLA back four.  With Quon on her left and Sydney Payne on her right, I was calling for a layoff, as three of the four defenders went to Chi and the ball.  But Ubogagu, from about 24 yards out just outside the left post, took the ball across to her left foot and hooked a shot just past a Bruin foot to the far post.  The keeper, assuming her defender had closed the far post shot, got caught leaning to the near-post and couldn't scramble back in time.  1-1 with just more than 13 minutes left.

Then UCLA's lack of touch at the back bit them again.  A long crossing ball went out of bounds over the head of their left back, then another ball forward was booted out by a center back straight over the sideline, without much of an attempt to hook it up the field.  Liedle, moved to right back with Case at left, threw in to Verloo who dropped it back to Laura.  A first-time cross found Chi, who headed to an open Quon about 12 yards out.  Her initial touch was pushed wide back out to Chi, and the Bruin defenders took a fatal step toward the ball, leaving Quon in the same spot, about 10 yards out.  She settled and punched the ball to the far post with no defender between her and the goalmouth, and beat the keeper easily.  2-1 Stanford.

And then Oliver came up brobdingnagian again.  UCLA's Chelsea Cline put a nice backheel move on Garciamendez, and got free for a shot dead-center from 21 yards out.  Oliver sprawled to her right and pushed the ball wide.  Eight minutes left.

The Cardinal then, having found a weakness at the left of the Bruin defense, played keep the ball in UCLA's end, consistently pushing the ball into that corner, winning throw-ins, free kicks and possession, taking 5-6 minutes of the clock with the ball only leaving the Bruins' end once or twice.  There were a couple of late Bruin forays forward, but nothing really got through, and fittingly, Quon and then Nogueira hit clearances up the right sideline to run the clock out.

Wow.

More in a second.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Game report:

Well, Stanford played a tale of an opening 60 minutes and a final 30.  The difference was moving Rachel Quon to attacking center midfield from her right back spot after Stanford conceded a bad goal early in the second half.

The first half was back and forth; Stanford got forward, but UCLA's counterattack down the left side through the ultra-fast Zakiya Bywaters was problematic throughout.  Especially because Quon was moving forward to be an offensive option and would get caught up the field. 

Accuracy was again a problem - Stanford at one point had 6 shots to UCLA's 7, but UCLA had forced three saves while Stanford had forced only one (a fine one by their keeper against Verloo about 3 minutes into the game).  Basically, every defense is overcommitting to our proven players and leaving space for the reserves or the role players.

We again had problems in the midfield; Nina Watkins plays hard, but gives up pace, especially against the speedy Bruins.  Alex Doll, who started at attacking center mid, works hard, but always seems to be behind the play.  Lo LaBonta, all 5'2" of her, is nifty with her feet at center forward, and gets into good positions, but can be bodied off the ball pretty easily.

So what happened?  Verloo forces the early save, and Doll then hits the post about 6 minutes in.  Those were really Stanford's best shots of the opening half, and most of the Pac-12 network didn't see them; the earlier women's game between ASU and Colorado went into overtime and was finally decided by a goal for the Devils in the 110th minute, with about 50 seconds left on the clock.

After Doll's shot, UCLA started to work the counter; as I mentioned before, most of Stanford's width is provided by the outside backs working up the field.  Bywaters streaked down the left side and launched from a narrow angle to a fine save by Emily Oliver, then the Bruins got a couple of more good looks, but nothing as dangerous until late in the half.  The Cardinal midfield again got caught out of shape, and Bywaters broke free down the left before cutting inside and forcing another Oliver save.

Stanford, meanwhile, couldn't seem to penetrate the Bruins' backline.  Very little of the play came through the center of the field; it was up one sideline or the other, but rarely threatening, except for one nice throughball to Chi Ubogagu that found her free on the left for a shot she sent high.

First half was tight and taut.  Second half got a little more woolly.

One of the primary problems with not getting a lot of offense through the midfield is that the backline is put under more pressure by opposition forwards who don't seem to feel a lot of need to help out their own midfield.  After a couple of nice early chance for LaBonta in the second half, Garciamendez cut a pass off about 35 yards out, and tried to play a controlled ball, but got double-teamed and dispossessed, leading to a scramble in the center of the box as the defense tried to scramble back.  A shot from up top deflected off of Quon's leg, and arced across the face of goal directly to the foot of the Bruins' Taylor Smith, who calmly pushed it back to the far post past a sprawling Oliver.  1-0 Bruins.

To be honest, I thought that was the way it was going to end.  Stanford had shown little offensive spark, and seemed to be on their heels.  Bywaters got down the left again, and cut inside before hitting a shot that went right to Oliver.  A through ball was right on a Bruins' foot, but Quon slid across and dispossessed her at the last second.  Two Stanford corners yielded little, then UCLA got a swing at a half volley off their corner and put it on frame, but without much pace, for Oliver to gather.

Then came the major shift - Annie Case came in at left full, and Quon moved to attacking center mid.  The possession seemed to tilt in Stanford's favor, although Bywaters got free for one more run off a badly taken Stanford free kick, which sprang her down the right side and led to a spectacular diving save by Oliver.  But Quon's pace and skill through the middle drew the defense, as well as several fouls, and the ball was spending a lot of time in the Bruins' defensive third.  Stanford was drawing a lot of throw-ins, and UCLA's lack of touch at outside back was evident.

But it took a moment of individual brilliance to open up the game.  Chi got free in the middle of a nice set of flicks, running at the UCLA back four.  With Quon on her left and Sydney Payne on her right, I was calling for a layoff, as three of the four defenders went to Chi and the ball.  But Ubogagu, from about 24 yards out just outside the left post, took the ball across to her left foot and hooked a shot just past a Bruin foot to the far post.  The keeper, assuming her defender had closed the far post shot, got caught leaning to the near-post and couldn't scramble back in time.  1-1 with just more than 13 minutes left.

Then UCLA's lack of touch at the back bit them again.  A long crossing ball went out of bounds over the head of their left back, then another ball forward was booted out by a center back straight over the sideline, without much of an attempt to hook it up the field.  Liedle, moved to right back with Case at left, threw in to Verloo who dropped it back to Laura.  A first-time cross found Chi, who headed to an open Quon about 12 yards out.  Her initial touch was pushed wide back out to Chi, and the Bruin defenders took a fatal step toward the ball, leaving Quon in the same spot, about 10 yards out.  She settled and punched the ball to the far post with no defender between her and the goalmouth, and beat the keeper easily.  2-1 Stanford.

And then Oliver came up brobdingnagian again.  UCLA's Chelsea Cline put a nice backheel move on Garciamendez, and got free for a shot dead-center from 21 yards out.  Oliver sprawled to her right and pushed the ball wide.  Eight minutes left.

The Cardinal then, having found a weakness at the left of the Bruin defense, played keep the ball in UCLA's end, consistently pushing the ball into that corner, winning throw-ins, free kicks and possession, taking 5-6 minutes of the clock with the ball only leaving the Bruins' end once or twice.  There were a couple of late Bruin forays forward, but nothing really got through, and fittingly, Quon and then Nogueira hit clearances up the right sideline to run the clock out.

Wow.

More in a second.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Game report:

Well, Stanford played a tale of an opening 60 minutes and a final 30.  The difference was moving Rachel Quon to attacking center midfield from her right back spot after Stanford conceded a bad goal early in the second half.

The first half was back and forth; Stanford got forward, but UCLA's counterattack down the left side through the ultra-fast Zakiya Bywaters was problematic throughout.  Especially because Quon was moving forward to be an offensive option and would get caught up the field. 

Accuracy was again a problem - Stanford at one point had 6 shots to UCLA's 7, but UCLA had forced three saves while Stanford had forced only one (a fine one by their keeper against Verloo about 3 minutes into the game).  Basically, every defense is overcommitting to our proven players and leaving space for the reserves or the role players.

We again had problems in the midfield; Nina Watkins plays hard, but gives up pace, especially against the speedy Bruins.  Alex Doll, who started at attacking center mid, works hard, but always seems to be behind the play.  Lo LaBonta, all 5'2" of her, is nifty with her feet at center forward, and gets into good positions, but can be bodied off the ball pretty easily.

So what happened?  Verloo forces the early save, and Doll then hits the post about 6 minutes in.  Those were really Stanford's best shots of the opening half, and most of the Pac-12 network didn't see them; the earlier women's game between ASU and Colorado went into overtime and was finally decided by a goal for the Devils in the 110th minute, with about 50 seconds left on the clock.

After Doll's shot, UCLA started to work the counter; as I mentioned before, most of Stanford's width is provided by the outside backs working up the field.  Bywaters streaked down the left side and launched from a narrow angle to a fine save by Emily Oliver, then the Bruins got a couple of more good looks, but nothing as dangerous until late in the half.  The Cardinal midfield again got caught out of shape, and Bywaters broke free down the left before cutting inside and forcing another Oliver save.

Stanford, meanwhile, couldn't seem to penetrate the Bruins' backline.  Very little of the play came through the center of the field; it was up one sideline or the other, but rarely threatening, except for one nice throughball to Chi Ubogagu that found her free on the left for a shot she sent high.

First half was tight and taut.  Second half got a little more woolly.

One of the primary problems with not getting a lot of offense through the midfield is that the backline is put under more pressure by opposition forwards who don't seem to feel a lot of need to help out their own midfield.  After a couple of nice early chance for LaBonta in the second half, Garciamendez cut a pass off about 35 yards out, and tried to play a controlled ball, but got double-teamed and dispossessed, leading to a scramble in the center of the box as the defense tried to scramble back.  A shot from up top deflected off of Quon's leg, and arced across the face of goal directly to the foot of the Bruins' Taylor Smith, who calmly pushed it back to the far post past a sprawling Oliver.  1-0 Bruins.

To be honest, I thought that was the way it was going to end.  Stanford had shown little offensive spark, and seemed to be on their heels.  Bywaters got down the left again, and cut inside before hitting a shot that went right to Oliver.  A through ball was right on a Bruins' foot, but Quon slid across and dispossessed her at the last second.  Two Stanford corners yielded little, then UCLA got a swing at a half volley off their corner and put it on frame, but without much pace, for Oliver to gather.

Then came the major shift - Annie Case came in at left full, and Quon moved to attacking center mid.  The possession seemed to tilt in Stanford's favor, although Bywaters got free for one more run off a badly taken Stanford free kick, which sprang her down the right side and led to a spectacular diving save by Oliver.  But Quon's pace and skill through the middle drew the defense, as well as several fouls, and the ball was spending a lot of time in the Bruins' defensive third.  Stanford was drawing a lot of throw-ins, and UCLA's lack of touch at outside back was evident.

But it took a moment of individual brilliance to open up the game.  Chi got free in the middle of a nice set of flicks, running at the UCLA back four.  With Quon on her left and Sydney Payne on her right, I was calling for a layoff, as three of the four defenders went to Chi and the ball.  But Ubogagu, from about 24 yards out just outside the left post, took the ball across to her left foot and hooked a shot just past a Bruin foot to the far post.  The keeper, assuming her defender had closed the far post shot, got caught leaning to the near-post and couldn't scramble back in time.  1-1 with just more than 13 minutes left.

Then UCLA's lack of touch at the back bit them again.  A long crossing ball went out of bounds over the head of their left back, then another ball forward was booted out by a center back straight over the sideline, without much of an attempt to hook it up the field.  Liedle, moved to right back with Case at left, threw in to Verloo who dropped it back to Laura.  A first-time cross found Chi, who headed to an open Quon about 12 yards out.  Her initial touch was pushed wide back out to Chi, and the Bruin defenders took a fatal step toward the ball, leaving Quon in the same spot, about 10 yards out.  She settled and punched the ball to the far post with no defender between her and the goalmouth, and beat the keeper easily.  2-1 Stanford.

And then Oliver came up brobdingnagian again.  UCLA's Chelsea Cline put a nice backheel move on Garciamendez, and got free for a shot dead-center from 21 yards out.  Oliver sprawled to her right and pushed the ball wide.  Eight minutes left.

The Cardinal then, having found a weakness at the left of the Bruin defense, played keep the ball in UCLA's end, consistently pushing the ball into that corner, winning throw-ins, free kicks and possession, taking 5-6 minutes of the clock with the ball only leaving the Bruins' end once or twice.  There were a couple of late Bruin forays forward, but nothing really got through, and fittingly, Quon and then Nogueira hit clearances up the right sideline to run the clock out.

Wow.

More in a second.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Game report:

Well, Stanford played a tale of an opening 60 minutes and a final 30.  The difference was moving Rachel Quon to attacking center midfield from her right back spot after Stanford conceded a bad goal early in the second half.

The first half was back and forth; Stanford got forward, but UCLA's counterattack down the left side through the ultra-fast Zakiya Bywaters was problematic throughout.  Especially because Quon was moving forward to be an offensive option and would get caught up the field. 

Accuracy was again a problem - Stanford at one point had 6 shots to UCLA's 7, but UCLA had forced three saves while Stanford had forced only one (a fine one by their keeper against Verloo about 3 minutes into the game).  Basically, every defense is overcommitting to our proven players and leaving space for the reserves or the role players.

We again had problems in the midfield; Nina Watkins plays hard, but gives up pace, especially against the speedy Bruins.  Alex Doll, who started at attacking center mid, works hard, but always seems to be behind the play.  Lo LaBonta, all 5'2" of her, is nifty with her feet at center forward, and gets into good positions, but can be bodied off the ball pretty easily.

So what happened?  Verloo forces the early save, and Doll then hits the post about 6 minutes in.  Those were really Stanford's best shots of the opening half, and most of the Pac-12 network didn't see them; the earlier women's game between ASU and Colorado went into overtime and was finally decided by a goal for the Devils in the 110th minute, with about 50 seconds left on the clock.

After Doll's shot, UCLA started to work the counter; as I mentioned before, most of Stanford's width is provided by the outside backs working up the field.  Bywaters streaked down the left side and launched from a narrow angle to a fine save by Emily Oliver, then the Bruins got a couple of more good looks, but nothing as dangerous until late in the half.  The Cardinal midfield again got caught out of shape, and Bywaters broke free down the left before cutting inside and forcing another Oliver save.

Stanford, meanwhile, couldn't seem to penetrate the Bruins' backline.  Very little of the play came through the center of the field; it was up one sideline or the other, but rarely threatening, except for one nice throughball to Chi Ubogagu that found her free on the left for a shot she sent high.

First half was tight and taut.  Second half got a little more woolly.

One of the primary problems with not getting a lot of offense through the midfield is that the backline is put under more pressure by opposition forwards who don't seem to feel a lot of need to help out their own midfield.  After a couple of nice early chance for LaBonta in the second half, Garciamendez cut a pass off about 35 yards out, and tried to play a controlled ball, but got double-teamed and dispossessed, leading to a scramble in the center of the box as the defense tried to scramble back.  A shot from up top deflected off of Quon's leg, and arced across the face of goal directly to the foot of the Bruins' Taylor Smith, who calmly pushed it back to the far post past a sprawling Oliver.  1-0 Bruins.

To be honest, I thought that was the way it was going to end.  Stanford had shown little offensive spark, and seemed to be on their heels.  Bywaters got down the left again, and cut inside before hitting a shot that went right to Oliver.  A through ball was right on a Bruins' foot, but Quon slid across and dispossessed her at the last second.  Two Stanford corners yielded little, then UCLA got a swing at a half volley off their corner and put it on frame, but without much pace, for Oliver to gather.

Then came the major shift - Annie Case came in at left full, and Quon moved to attacking center mid.  The possession seemed to tilt in Stanford's favor, although Bywaters got free for one more run off a badly taken Stanford free kick, which sprang her down the right side and led to a spectacular diving save by Oliver.  But Quon's pace and skill through the middle drew the defense, as well as several fouls, and the ball was spending a lot of time in the Bruins' defensive third.  Stanford was drawing a lot of throw-ins, and UCLA's lack of touch at outside back was evident.

But it took a moment of individual brilliance to open up the game.  Chi got free in the middle of a nice set of flicks, running at the UCLA back four.  With Quon on her left and Sydney Payne on her right, I was calling for a layoff, as three of the four defenders went to Chi and the ball.  But Ubogagu, from about 24 yards out just outside the left post, took the ball across to her left foot and hooked a shot just past a Bruin foot to the far post.  The keeper, assuming her defender had closed the far post shot, got caught leaning to the near-post and couldn't scramble back in time.  1-1 with just more than 13 minutes left.

Then UCLA's lack of touch at the back bit them again.  A long crossing ball went out of bounds over the head of their left back, then another ball forward was booted out by a center back straight over the sideline, without much of an attempt to hook it up the field.  Liedle, moved to right back with Case at left, threw in to Verloo who dropped it back to Laura.  A first-time cross found Chi, who headed to an open Quon about 12 yards out.  Her initial touch was pushed wide back out to Chi, and the Bruin defenders took a fatal step toward the ball, leaving Quon in the same spot, about 10 yards out.  She settled and punched the ball to the far post with no defender between her and the goalmouth, and beat the keeper easily.  2-1 Stanford.

And then Oliver came up brobdingnagian again.  UCLA's Chelsea Cline put a nice backheel move on Garciamendez, and got free for a shot dead-center from 21 yards out.  Oliver sprawled to her right and pushed the ball wide.  Eight minutes left.

The Cardinal then, having found a weakness at the left of the Bruin defense, played keep the ball in UCLA's end, consistently pushing the ball into that corner, winning throw-ins, free kicks and possession, taking 5-6 minutes of the clock with the ball only leaving the Bruins' end once or twice.  There were a couple of late Bruin forays forward, but nothing really got through, and fittingly, Quon and then Nogueira hit clearances up the right sideline to run the clock out.

Wow.

More in a second.

VG

[washingtonismoney]

The formation we're playing is way too aspirational. If you can't control the ball, you shouldn't be playing the 4-3-3ish type shape we're playing.

(Or perhaps it was a really disorganized 4-4-2, but if so...very poor coaching.)

[washingtonismoney]

The formation we're playing is way too aspirational. If you can't control the ball, you shouldn't be playing the 4-3-3ish type shape we're playing.

(Or perhaps it was a really disorganized 4-4-2, but if so...very poor coaching.)

[washingtonismoney]

The formation we're playing is way too aspirational. If you can't control the ball, you shouldn't be playing the 4-3-3ish type shape we're playing.

(Or perhaps it was a really disorganized 4-4-2, but if so...very poor coaching.)

[washingtonismoney]

The formation we're playing is way too aspirational. If you can't control the ball, you shouldn't be playing the 4-3-3ish type shape we're playing.

(Or perhaps it was a really disorganized 4-4-2, but if so...very poor coaching.)

[Viking_Guy]

WiM, Chi is definitely a force.  That goal was a very heady play, bringing the ball left before cutting the shot back around the defender to the right post. 

I wonder if Quon should be moved into the attacking center more normally.  She's fast and skilled enough to go at opponents, and I think outside backs are a little easier to replace than attacking center mids.  She's sort of taken on the role that Cami Levin played last year, moving into midfield to provide a spark. But I think she needs to do it positionally, rather than just flowing up the field from the right back spot; the counterattacks behind her are a little too dangerous, especially if Maya Theuer and Kendall Romine are giving way to Maddy Thompson (not sure what the reason is, injury, uncertainty, poor play - but Thompson played a solid if not great game tonight; good position awareness but not great covering speed).

Gameball shared for me between Quon and Oliver.  Quon for her defensive work as well as the game-winning goal; the breakaway she stuffed midway through the second half would've given the Bruins a nearly insurmountable 2-goal lead.  And Oliver for several spectacular saves to keep Stanford in the game, and to preserve the victory in the last minutes.

UCLA looks like a lot of UCLA teams - very fast, very athletic, but not a lot of players with touch - Bywaters and Sam Mewis yes, but late in the game, with their backline under pressure and needing a goal, they really didn't appear to know what to do.  Part of that is I don't think they've trailed very often this season, only having given up 6 goals prior to tonight and coming in 15-0-2.

Make that 15-1-2.

I think that's 41 straight conference wins.  A fourth straight conference title.

And I'm still not satisfied.  Beat da Bares next weekend in Berkeley!

VG

[Viking_Guy]

WiM, Chi is definitely a force.  That goal was a very heady play, bringing the ball left before cutting the shot back around the defender to the right post. 

I wonder if Quon should be moved into the attacking center more normally.  She's fast and skilled enough to go at opponents, and I think outside backs are a little easier to replace than attacking center mids.  She's sort of taken on the role that Cami Levin played last year, moving into midfield to provide a spark. But I think she needs to do it positionally, rather than just flowing up the field from the right back spot; the counterattacks behind her are a little too dangerous, especially if Maya Theuer and Kendall Romine are giving way to Maddy Thompson (not sure what the reason is, injury, uncertainty, poor play - but Thompson played a solid if not great game tonight; good position awareness but not great covering speed).

Gameball shared for me between Quon and Oliver.  Quon for her defensive work as well as the game-winning goal; the breakaway she stuffed midway through the second half would've given the Bruins a nearly insurmountable 2-goal lead.  And Oliver for several spectacular saves to keep Stanford in the game, and to preserve the victory in the last minutes.

UCLA looks like a lot of UCLA teams - very fast, very athletic, but not a lot of players with touch - Bywaters and Sam Mewis yes, but late in the game, with their backline under pressure and needing a goal, they really didn't appear to know what to do.  Part of that is I don't think they've trailed very often this season, only having given up 6 goals prior to tonight and coming in 15-0-2.

Make that 15-1-2.

I think that's 41 straight conference wins.  A fourth straight conference title.

And I'm still not satisfied.  Beat da Bares next weekend in Berkeley!

VG

[Viking_Guy]

WiM, Chi is definitely a force.  That goal was a very heady play, bringing the ball left before cutting the shot back around the defender to the right post. 

I wonder if Quon should be moved into the attacking center more normally.  She's fast and skilled enough to go at opponents, and I think outside backs are a little easier to replace than attacking center mids.  She's sort of taken on the role that Cami Levin played last year, moving into midfield to provide a spark. But I think she needs to do it positionally, rather than just flowing up the field from the right back spot; the counterattacks behind her are a little too dangerous, especially if Maya Theuer and Kendall Romine are giving way to Maddy Thompson (not sure what the reason is, injury, uncertainty, poor play - but Thompson played a solid if not great game tonight; good position awareness but not great covering speed).

Gameball shared for me between Quon and Oliver.  Quon for her defensive work as well as the game-winning goal; the breakaway she stuffed midway through the second half would've given the Bruins a nearly insurmountable 2-goal lead.  And Oliver for several spectacular saves to keep Stanford in the game, and to preserve the victory in the last minutes.

UCLA looks like a lot of UCLA teams - very fast, very athletic, but not a lot of players with touch - Bywaters and Sam Mewis yes, but late in the game, with their backline under pressure and needing a goal, they really didn't appear to know what to do.  Part of that is I don't think they've trailed very often this season, only having given up 6 goals prior to tonight and coming in 15-0-2.

Make that 15-1-2.

I think that's 41 straight conference wins.  A fourth straight conference title.

And I'm still not satisfied.  Beat da Bares next weekend in Berkeley!

VG

[Viking_Guy]

WiM, Chi is definitely a force.  That goal was a very heady play, bringing the ball left before cutting the shot back around the defender to the right post. 

I wonder if Quon should be moved into the attacking center more normally.  She's fast and skilled enough to go at opponents, and I think outside backs are a little easier to replace than attacking center mids.  She's sort of taken on the role that Cami Levin played last year, moving into midfield to provide a spark. But I think she needs to do it positionally, rather than just flowing up the field from the right back spot; the counterattacks behind her are a little too dangerous, especially if Maya Theuer and Kendall Romine are giving way to Maddy Thompson (not sure what the reason is, injury, uncertainty, poor play - but Thompson played a solid if not great game tonight; good position awareness but not great covering speed).

Gameball shared for me between Quon and Oliver.  Quon for her defensive work as well as the game-winning goal; the breakaway she stuffed midway through the second half would've given the Bruins a nearly insurmountable 2-goal lead.  And Oliver for several spectacular saves to keep Stanford in the game, and to preserve the victory in the last minutes.

UCLA looks like a lot of UCLA teams - very fast, very athletic, but not a lot of players with touch - Bywaters and Sam Mewis yes, but late in the game, with their backline under pressure and needing a goal, they really didn't appear to know what to do.  Part of that is I don't think they've trailed very often this season, only having given up 6 goals prior to tonight and coming in 15-0-2.

Make that 15-1-2.

I think that's 41 straight conference wins.  A fourth straight conference title.

And I'm still not satisfied.  Beat da Bares next weekend in Berkeley!

VG

[washingtonismoney]

UCLA looks like a lot of UCLA teams - very fast, very athletic, but not a lot of players with touch - Bywaters and Sam Mewis yes, but late in the game, with their backline under pressure and needing a goal, they really didn't appear to know what to do. 

Very naive team, and probably poorly coached as youth (and I doubt UCLA's coach has done much to help.)

Their only offensive idea was dribbling in a straight line. Some very smart defense Stanford played, funneling them into the right place. Hard for me to believe they're really the #2 team in the nation.

[washingtonismoney]

UCLA looks like a lot of UCLA teams - very fast, very athletic, but not a lot of players with touch - Bywaters and Sam Mewis yes, but late in the game, with their backline under pressure and needing a goal, they really didn't appear to know what to do. 

Very naive team, and probably poorly coached as youth (and I doubt UCLA's coach has done much to help.)

Their only offensive idea was dribbling in a straight line. Some very smart defense Stanford played, funneling them into the right place. Hard for me to believe they're really the #2 team in the nation.

[washingtonismoney]

UCLA looks like a lot of UCLA teams - very fast, very athletic, but not a lot of players with touch - Bywaters and Sam Mewis yes, but late in the game, with their backline under pressure and needing a goal, they really didn't appear to know what to do. 

Very naive team, and probably poorly coached as youth (and I doubt UCLA's coach has done much to help.)

Their only offensive idea was dribbling in a straight line. Some very smart defense Stanford played, funneling them into the right place. Hard for me to believe they're really the #2 team in the nation.

[washingtonismoney]

UCLA looks like a lot of UCLA teams - very fast, very athletic, but not a lot of players with touch - Bywaters and Sam Mewis yes, but late in the game, with their backline under pressure and needing a goal, they really didn't appear to know what to do. 

Very naive team, and probably poorly coached as youth (and I doubt UCLA's coach has done much to help.)

Their only offensive idea was dribbling in a straight line. Some very smart defense Stanford played, funneling them into the right place. Hard for me to believe they're really the #2 team in the nation.

[Viking_Guy]

WiM--

I've called our formation a 4 - 1 - bleh.  Officially a 4-3-3, and Nogueira stays in front of the backline, but Doll and Watkins don't seem to keep their shape very well.  With forwards not tracking back, if one of the outside backs get caught up field the backline doesn't have much defensive help.

I agree, I was thinking 4-4-2.  Bring Chi and Verloo in to the right and left posts.  Put either LaBonta or Quon at attacking center mid in front of Mariah, and have a couple of wide players in the midfield.  As it stands, Verloo and Chi have to come back to get the ball anyway, then try to turn and dribble against a defense from 50 yards out because of the lack of threat from midfield.  I'd really love to see them both crashing through in the box, rather than quite so wide.

Also, defensively we often seem to leave the center of our defense exposed; Nogueira can only cover one midfielder, and often 2 or more players are crashing through that space as the other mids trail the play.

Or a 4-2-3-1, keeping Watkins back with Nogueira but moving Verloo (who is a great hold-up forward) central up top with LaBonta/Quon in behind and Payne (who I thought played well tonight) and Chi on the right and left.

Oh well.  That's just nitpickin', isn't it?

One more regular season game.  Hopefully a #1 overall seed and possibly four home games left in the career of our outstanding seniors.

Happy, but looking for more.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

WiM--

I've called our formation a 4 - 1 - bleh.  Officially a 4-3-3, and Nogueira stays in front of the backline, but Doll and Watkins don't seem to keep their shape very well.  With forwards not tracking back, if one of the outside backs get caught up field the backline doesn't have much defensive help.

I agree, I was thinking 4-4-2.  Bring Chi and Verloo in to the right and left posts.  Put either LaBonta or Quon at attacking center mid in front of Mariah, and have a couple of wide players in the midfield.  As it stands, Verloo and Chi have to come back to get the ball anyway, then try to turn and dribble against a defense from 50 yards out because of the lack of threat from midfield.  I'd really love to see them both crashing through in the box, rather than quite so wide.

Also, defensively we often seem to leave the center of our defense exposed; Nogueira can only cover one midfielder, and often 2 or more players are crashing through that space as the other mids trail the play.

Or a 4-2-3-1, keeping Watkins back with Nogueira but moving Verloo (who is a great hold-up forward) central up top with LaBonta/Quon in behind and Payne (who I thought played well tonight) and Chi on the right and left.

Oh well.  That's just nitpickin', isn't it?

One more regular season game.  Hopefully a #1 overall seed and possibly four home games left in the career of our outstanding seniors.

Happy, but looking for more.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

WiM--

I've called our formation a 4 - 1 - bleh.  Officially a 4-3-3, and Nogueira stays in front of the backline, but Doll and Watkins don't seem to keep their shape very well.  With forwards not tracking back, if one of the outside backs get caught up field the backline doesn't have much defensive help.

I agree, I was thinking 4-4-2.  Bring Chi and Verloo in to the right and left posts.  Put either LaBonta or Quon at attacking center mid in front of Mariah, and have a couple of wide players in the midfield.  As it stands, Verloo and Chi have to come back to get the ball anyway, then try to turn and dribble against a defense from 50 yards out because of the lack of threat from midfield.  I'd really love to see them both crashing through in the box, rather than quite so wide.

Also, defensively we often seem to leave the center of our defense exposed; Nogueira can only cover one midfielder, and often 2 or more players are crashing through that space as the other mids trail the play.

Or a 4-2-3-1, keeping Watkins back with Nogueira but moving Verloo (who is a great hold-up forward) central up top with LaBonta/Quon in behind and Payne (who I thought played well tonight) and Chi on the right and left.

Oh well.  That's just nitpickin', isn't it?

One more regular season game.  Hopefully a #1 overall seed and possibly four home games left in the career of our outstanding seniors.

Happy, but looking for more.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

WiM--

I've called our formation a 4 - 1 - bleh.  Officially a 4-3-3, and Nogueira stays in front of the backline, but Doll and Watkins don't seem to keep their shape very well.  With forwards not tracking back, if one of the outside backs get caught up field the backline doesn't have much defensive help.

I agree, I was thinking 4-4-2.  Bring Chi and Verloo in to the right and left posts.  Put either LaBonta or Quon at attacking center mid in front of Mariah, and have a couple of wide players in the midfield.  As it stands, Verloo and Chi have to come back to get the ball anyway, then try to turn and dribble against a defense from 50 yards out because of the lack of threat from midfield.  I'd really love to see them both crashing through in the box, rather than quite so wide.

Also, defensively we often seem to leave the center of our defense exposed; Nogueira can only cover one midfielder, and often 2 or more players are crashing through that space as the other mids trail the play.

Or a 4-2-3-1, keeping Watkins back with Nogueira but moving Verloo (who is a great hold-up forward) central up top with LaBonta/Quon in behind and Payne (who I thought played well tonight) and Chi on the right and left.

Oh well.  That's just nitpickin', isn't it?

One more regular season game.  Hopefully a #1 overall seed and possibly four home games left in the career of our outstanding seniors.

Happy, but looking for more.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

On UCLA - they've made their living on defense, and to be fair, defenders Dahlkamper and Dydasco are really good.  And their offense does seem to be a straight line through Bywaters a lot of the time - although that's not a bad plan.  The Bruins have had a lot of low-scoring wins - they beat Washington in the 89th minute 1-0.  And they also haven't played a whole lot of quality out of conference - their only two road games out of conference were at UMass and at Fresno State, not the most challenging of schedules.  Their best OOC win is probably Tennessee, who is 14-4-2 but who plays in the SEC, which doesn't seem to have room for more than one football in their minds.  Other than a Florida team in the late 90s, the SEC has pretty much always flamed out in the NCAA tourney.

More interesting to me was their backline's utter lack of contribution to the offense.  Even the long runs forward were sprung by the midfield, for the most part.

I'm just hoping they don't drop the Bruins too far - it would be just like the NCAA to seed them #4 to Stanford's #1, to minimize the chance of two teams from the same conference in the title game.  With previously unbeaten Florida State dropping 2 in the last 2 weeks, I'm thinking Stanford 1 Penn State 2 UCLA 3 FSU 4.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

On UCLA - they've made their living on defense, and to be fair, defenders Dahlkamper and Dydasco are really good.  And their offense does seem to be a straight line through Bywaters a lot of the time - although that's not a bad plan.  The Bruins have had a lot of low-scoring wins - they beat Washington in the 89th minute 1-0.  And they also haven't played a whole lot of quality out of conference - their only two road games out of conference were at UMass and at Fresno State, not the most challenging of schedules.  Their best OOC win is probably Tennessee, who is 14-4-2 but who plays in the SEC, which doesn't seem to have room for more than one football in their minds.  Other than a Florida team in the late 90s, the SEC has pretty much always flamed out in the NCAA tourney.

More interesting to me was their backline's utter lack of contribution to the offense.  Even the long runs forward were sprung by the midfield, for the most part.

I'm just hoping they don't drop the Bruins too far - it would be just like the NCAA to seed them #4 to Stanford's #1, to minimize the chance of two teams from the same conference in the title game.  With previously unbeaten Florida State dropping 2 in the last 2 weeks, I'm thinking Stanford 1 Penn State 2 UCLA 3 FSU 4.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

On UCLA - they've made their living on defense, and to be fair, defenders Dahlkamper and Dydasco are really good.  And their offense does seem to be a straight line through Bywaters a lot of the time - although that's not a bad plan.  The Bruins have had a lot of low-scoring wins - they beat Washington in the 89th minute 1-0.  And they also haven't played a whole lot of quality out of conference - their only two road games out of conference were at UMass and at Fresno State, not the most challenging of schedules.  Their best OOC win is probably Tennessee, who is 14-4-2 but who plays in the SEC, which doesn't seem to have room for more than one football in their minds.  Other than a Florida team in the late 90s, the SEC has pretty much always flamed out in the NCAA tourney.

More interesting to me was their backline's utter lack of contribution to the offense.  Even the long runs forward were sprung by the midfield, for the most part.

I'm just hoping they don't drop the Bruins too far - it would be just like the NCAA to seed them #4 to Stanford's #1, to minimize the chance of two teams from the same conference in the title game.  With previously unbeaten Florida State dropping 2 in the last 2 weeks, I'm thinking Stanford 1 Penn State 2 UCLA 3 FSU 4.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

On UCLA - they've made their living on defense, and to be fair, defenders Dahlkamper and Dydasco are really good.  And their offense does seem to be a straight line through Bywaters a lot of the time - although that's not a bad plan.  The Bruins have had a lot of low-scoring wins - they beat Washington in the 89th minute 1-0.  And they also haven't played a whole lot of quality out of conference - their only two road games out of conference were at UMass and at Fresno State, not the most challenging of schedules.  Their best OOC win is probably Tennessee, who is 14-4-2 but who plays in the SEC, which doesn't seem to have room for more than one football in their minds.  Other than a Florida team in the late 90s, the SEC has pretty much always flamed out in the NCAA tourney.

More interesting to me was their backline's utter lack of contribution to the offense.  Even the long runs forward were sprung by the midfield, for the most part.

I'm just hoping they don't drop the Bruins too far - it would be just like the NCAA to seed them #4 to Stanford's #1, to minimize the chance of two teams from the same conference in the title game.  With previously unbeaten Florida State dropping 2 in the last 2 weeks, I'm thinking Stanford 1 Penn State 2 UCLA 3 FSU 4.

VG