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And they're off! - Printable Version

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And they're off! - Viking_Guy - 08-22-2014

Fall sports season gets officially underway tonight in Chapel Hill, as Stanford takes on the Tar Holes... Heels in a rematch of the 2012 women's soccer national championship match.  Stanford has NEVER beaten UNC women's soccer - Anson Dorrance's teams always seem to out-physical the Cardinal sides.  I remember a 1-0 loss at St. Mary's years back when Stanford was #1 and UNC was #2.  Our most dangerous player was our right back, who kept on killing the Tar Heels bombing down the sideline to overlap.  Dorrance had his team send long balls in deep to her area, and had his forwards come in and hammer her on the slide tackle over and over again to take away her speed.  They got called for three fouls in a row, the last a yellow card, but they'd taken away her legs.

Can you tell I want this one?

Not sure (for the next few minutes) if Stanford's U-20 national team members made it back in time for the game - the U-20s flamed out in the quarterfinals of the U-20 World Cup, losing to North Korea in a penalty kick shootout when all 3 U.S. attackers had their PKs stopped to open the shootout (all of them were crap attempts, btw).  Stephanie Amack started at right back, and incoming frosh Andi Sullivan at holding mid, while Jane Campbell was a back-up keeper.  Amack hit her PK in the shootout, but it was too little, too late.

Yep, it looks like they're back.

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player/_/id/1976904/

Woo-hoo!

VG




Woo-hoo! Stanford 1 UNC 0 (1OT) - Viking_Guy - 08-22-2014

Chi Ubogagu had a couple of good shots, but scored on a bad one, with under a minute left in the first overtime period.  She spun to the endline on the left side, and sent a low roller in toward the near post.  UNC's keeper had it covered and pulled back, thinking the ball was wide... as it rolled past her, just inside the near post and into the back of the net.  Speaking as a goalie, she's going to be living with that one for a while.

Stanford looked good in the second half, not so good in the first.  They're obviously still figuring it out, as Coach R finally changed from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 formation (in part because Andi Sullivan is such a great holding mid when part of a pair).

Player of the game?  GK Jane Campbell, who came up h.u.g.e. on several bad miscues by the midfield and backline.  Outshot 7-1 in the first half, 19-12 overall, and several of those were of the breakaway variety, including one off a Campbell goalkick where a Stanford midfielder headed the ball backward in the vague vicinity of the central defense - directly back into the path of a UNC forward, who walked in and shot from the top of the box at an onrushing Campbell.  Jane got a hand up, parried it down and fell on it before anything bad could happen.  Later in the half, Kendall Romine playing at center back took a boot to the head after a good tackle, and had to leave the field for a few minutes (concussion check, I think).  Sullivan slid into center back, and promptly dove in after a ball too high up the field, leaving UNC with a 2-1 breakaway.  Their U-20 national teamer (and one of the players who missed in the PK shootout) tried to settle and shoot when she had an open net, letting Campbell recover and take the angle, then sprayed the ball high trying to beat her.  Campbell with 9 saves and the shutout.

Sullivan looked good - very composed on the ball and good vision for the most part.  Amack and Campbell both looked much improved from their summer training with the U-20s.  Another freshman, Mariah Lee, had a good chance, settling a ball in the box forward before getting body-checked by a Tar Heel defender, which according to the official was a good challenge.  Um, she got no ball (it was 5 feet away from where she hit Lee), and wasn't running at the ball (it was ahead of the pair as she ran horizontally into Mariah).  But those are the kind of calls that Anson gets, at home and frustratingly often on the road.

In any case, yes, the curse of the Bambinator is over!  (The player I described in the first post, Alisan Pabon, who got hammered into submission by UNC, had a unique running style that was very springy, and was fairly tall and thin.  Earned her the nickname of Bambi by soccer folks early in her career, then she matured into a devastating threat with pace from the right back spot in her later years).

Stanford plays #18 Duke at 10:00 am PT on Sunday.

VG


Re: And they're off! - 81alum - 08-22-2014

Thank you for the report and your usual expert analysis!

Re: And they're off! - washingtonismoney - 08-22-2014

Pretty excited for the men's team as well -- Jordan Morris and Corey Baird are quite the players.

Re: And they're off! - Hank 91 - 08-22-2014

Viking Guy -- Quick question. What can you tell me about the recruiting process for women's soccer? How early do they typically offer their scholarships?

Re: And they're off! - Viking_Guy - 08-23-2014

Hank--

I think the recruiting process is somewhat akin to the way basketball is trending - club teams matter MUCH more than high school sides, and relationships between club coaches and college staffs seem to pipeline players.  So you often see several players from the same club side going to the same college.

Right now, we have verbals from four 2016 players, two from the De Anza Force in the South Bay, one from the perennial nation club championship contender San Diego Surf (home side of same cohort defenders Laura Liedle and Maya Theuer and new freshman MF Kyra Carusa), and one of the best keepers in the class, Lauren Rood.  Again, Stanford is one of the few sides that regularly loses players who've committed to door #1.  But at the very top, decommitment seems somewhat more common than in women's b-ball, for example.  I think a lot of that is concern about playing time, especially for early commits who see additions in the classes before them who will be hard to supplant on the field.  For example, we have a top-ten keeper in this year's freshman class, Alison Jahansouz.  We also have one in next year's class, Penelope Edmonds.  That would make four classes in a row with top-10 keepers (with Campbell being the #1 keeper recruit last year).  It will be interesting to see if Edmonds sticks when LOI time comes, given Campbell ensconced in front of her and Rood right behind.

The best recruiting site I've found is topdrawersoccer.com.  Here's Stanford's team page:
http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-soccer-details/women/stanford/clgid-267/tab-commitments

The best forums page I've found is:
http://forums.bigsoccer.com/forums/womens-college.66/

Of course, YMMV, and it is an open forum, so you have to wade carefully.  But it also seems to gather quite a few parents, who would definitely be much better to comment on the process than I.  There are also definite cadres of fans who either root for or against certain traditionally powerful teams - UNC, Portland, Santa Clara and Stanford being favorite idols/targets.

VG


Re: And they're off! - Viking_Guy - 08-23-2014

A couple more randoms on the actual game:

UNC is replacing EIGHT starters who graduated, left the program or are out with season-ending injuries.  So take the win, good as it was, with a grain of salt.

Campbell played well, but also benefitted from some of that inexperience - in the first half, most of the shots were directly at her.  The Tar Heels had more good chances in regulation time, and shot high a lot from those chances.  But Stanford definitely had the better of them in overtime - with both Chi and Taylor Uhl sending low shots that just skipped by the far post from the left side, before Chi netted the winner.

New formation is definitely a work in progress, but looked like this (keeper's perspective, so left side listed first)
Striker - Uhl
Attacking mids - Ubogagu, LaBonta, Walker-Hartshorn (lots of switching, though)
Holding mids - Doll, Sullivan
D - Amack, Romine, Bauer, Liedle
GK - Campbell

Primary issue seemed to be a disconnect between the two midfield lines - possible residue of the old 4-3-3, when both Walker-Harshorn and Chi played dedicated forward slots.  Lo LaBonta did her normal mix of the impossible and the improvident, but one big area needing improvement is coming back to the ball - lots of easy dispossession of MFs and Fs by marking defenders stepping around them to take away the pass.  And because of the disconnect, there is room wide against the holding mids.  A lot of the Tar Heels' most dangerous chances were plays into the corner where the offensive player would have a single fullback marking her, while the two holding mids played more zone at the top of the area.  Amack and Liedle both got burned by quick endline moves, and no one was close in behind to back them up.

Again, a side in progress.  The game against Duke will also be interesting, and then the next one is up in Portland, one of the toughest venues in the country.  Nothing like testing yourself early :).

VG


Re: And they're off! - Hank 91 - 08-23-2014

(08-23-2014, 12:02 AM)Viking_Guy link Wrote:Hank--

I think the recruiting process is somewhat akin to the way basketball is trending - club teams matter MUCH more than high school sides, and relationships between club coaches and college staffs seem to pipeline players.  So you often see several players from the same club side going to the same college.

Right now, we have verbals from four 2016 players, two from the De Anza Force in the South Bay, one from the perennial nation club championship contender San Diego Surf (home side of same cohort defenders Laura Liedle and Maya Theuer and new freshman MF Kyra Carusa), and one of the best keepers in the class, Lauren Rood.  Again, Stanford is one of the few sides that regularly loses players who've committed to door #1.  But at the very top, decommitment seems somewhat more common than in women's b-ball, for example.  I think a lot of that is concern about playing time, especially for early commits who see additions in the classes before them who will be hard to supplant on the field.  For example, we have a top-ten keeper in this year's freshman class, Alison Jahansouz.  We also have one in next year's class, Penelope Edmonds.  That would make four classes in a row with top-10 keepers (with Campbell being the #1 keeper recruit last year).  It will be interesting to see if Edmonds sticks when LOI time comes, given Campbell ensconced in front of her and Rood right behind.

The best recruiting site I've found is topdrawersoccer.com.  Here's Stanford's team page:
http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-soccer-details/women/stanford/clgid-267/tab-commitments

The best forums page I've found is:
http://forums.bigsoccer.com/forums/womens-college.66/

Of course, YMMV, and it is an open forum, so you have to wade carefully.  But it also seems to gather quite a few parents, who would definitely be much better to comment on the process than I.  There are also definite cadres of fans who either root for or against certain traditionally powerful teams - UNC, Portland, Santa Clara and Stanford being favorite idols/targets.

VG

Thanks, VG. One of my former students is on this track. At age 14 she has started to receive interest from colleges around the country and one scholarship offer, but Stanford is her dream school. (Isn't it everyone's?)

Re: And they're off! - BobK - 08-23-2014

Thanks VC.  You mentioned Theuer but she isn't on the roster.  Anyone know what happened? 

FYI we have 3 2016 Softball recruits. 

Re: And they're off! - fullmetal - 08-24-2014

Wow, a 1-0 overtime game, and the keeper let that ball through?  Yikes...!!  That means that for all of UNC's youth and inexperience, they played Stanford very tightly...oof.

Re: And they're off! - washingtonismoney - 08-24-2014

(08-24-2014, 07:37 AM)garvin link Wrote:Kind of irritating that, with all the repetitive crap on the Pac-12 Network, they didn't televise this.

In Chapel Hill, so the ACC had the rights.

Re: And they're off! - Spiny_Norman - 08-24-2014

Gamecast for Duke match is available on the Duke athletics site.

LaBonta scored in the 57th minute.  Stanford leads 1-0 in the 77th minute.  Stanford with 9 shots (2 on goal).  Duke with 5 shots (none on goal).

Re: And they're off! - 97fan - 08-24-2014

(08-24-2014, 09:49 AM)washingtonismoney link Wrote:[quote author=garvin link=topic=10414.msg95079#msg95079 date=1408891077]
Kind of irritating that, with all the repetitive crap on the Pac-12 Network, they didn't televise this.

In Chapel Hill, so the ACC had the rights.
[/quote]

I watched the replay on ESPN3, and I think they also aired the game live.

Re: And they're off! - BobK - 08-24-2014

Stanford wins 2-0 late goal by Rosen. 

Re: And they're off! - washingtonismoney - 08-24-2014

(08-24-2014, 10:56 AM)BobK link Wrote:Stanford wins 2-0 late goal by Rosen.

ARE YOU WATCHING, SHAW?

Re: And they're off! - Viking_Guy - 08-24-2014

Solid win, and nice to see the scoring spread out.  Amazing to me how Lo can score so many goals on headers, given her size :).

Bob, that's been a question since the roster came out.  Hasn't been any public announcement that I can track down about Theuer's status, and I haven't seen any indications that she was transferring.  I actually wondered about her status last year; she played sparingly, given her elite recruit status, but I thought she would be a primary candidate to replace Kendall Romine next year.

On the TV question - be prepared to be bombarded on ESPN with SEC games, with the launch of the SEC network.  Just noticed that a whole bunch of SEC women's soccer games are being streamed on ESPN3 today. 

Men had a nice exhibition win against St. Mary's 3-1 yesterday, but the key word is exhibition (the Gaels rotated three keepers through the game, each playing about 30 minutes).  First real game is at a solid Creighton side (generally on the edges of the top 25) on Friday.  First home game is against SJSU a week from Saturday, then a really good match against regional rival USCB on Tuesday night September 9.

VG


Re: And they're off! - BobK - 08-24-2014

Thanks VC.  Of special interest to this T&F fan is Sarah Robinson who hasn't played.  Any word on her ?

WIM that was a set post for you but from now on she is Haley R. Lol

If you have Comcast chances are you have the SEC channel.  Channel 824

Re: And they're off! - Hank 91 - 08-25-2014

On DirecTV the SEC Network high on the dial -- 611.