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WSoc over Florida by PKs in OT - Printable Version

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WSoc over Florida by PKs in OT - scorecard - 11-28-2014

Live stream works, in case anyone is interested in watching live:

http://pac-12.com/videos/stanford-university

I'll leave the commentary to Viking_Guy, but bad day overall for UCLA = great day for us!

Re: WSoc 2-2 with Florida under 10 mins left - Class_of_75 - 11-28-2014

UCLA lost to Virginia. Go Card!

Re: WSoc 2-2 with Florida under 10 mins left - Viking_Guy - 11-28-2014

2-2 going to PKs.

This referee has apparently decided there is no such thing as a foul on a defender within 30 yards of her own goalline.  The majority of those calls favored the Gators, but Stanford had its share as well.

I hate shootouts, especially when Stanford outshot Florida something like 20-10.

VG


Re: WSoc 2-2 with Florida under 10 mins left - Viking_Guy - 11-28-2014

Jane Campbell saves the first two PKs, then converts the final one after Chi missed to lead Stanford to the College Cup, 2-2 (4-3 PKs).

More in a second.

VG


Re: WSoc over Florida by PKs in OT - BobK - 11-28-2014

A fantastic day in the world of Stanford sports. 
Congrats to the women's soccer team.

Re: WSoc over Florida by PKs in OT - BostonCard - 11-28-2014

(11-28-2014, 10:45 PM)BobK link Wrote:A fantastic day in the world of Stanford sports. 
Congrats to the women's soccer team.

Would have been, but for the wbb game. 😠.  Oh well, can't win them all.

BC

Re: WSoc 2-2 with Florida under 10 mins left - Viking_Guy - 11-28-2014

First off, let me reiterate: this lead official was not going to call a PK in the run of play, or even a defensive foul in a dangerous position, unless someone left a limb on the field.  Lots of contact both ways by defenders let go, while some really ticky-tack fouls were called on offensive players.

There is a school of thought that referees should "let the players decide the game," and not call many fouls as the playoffs get deeper.  The problem with that is, by not calling fouls, the referee is deciding the game in a different direction.

That nearly played out today.  Stanford was a MUCH more skilled team than the Gators.  Florida was a MUCH bigger team than Stanford, and showed little hesitancy about using their superior size to plow over, through and around Cardinal players.

The game started off brilliantly, as Chi worked some of her left-footed magic, cutting across the top of the box from right to left, then curling in toward the endline, getting around 2-3 Florida defenders before firing a ball far post for Taylor Uhl to neatly tuck home from about 5 yards out.  1-0 Stanford, less than 4 minutes into the game.

But the Cardinal promptly gave the goal right back.  One of the few fouls called in the defensive half led to a Gator free kick from about 35-40 yards out, far enough away that Campbell didn't even set up a wall in front of the ball.  In a weakness that was to show up again, Florida got a lot of big bodies on smaller defenders in the Stanford penalty area, and as the ball was flighted in, one of those defenders (hard to make out who in the web stream) rose up and got just enough of the ball to deflect it into their own goal, leaving Jane no chance at a save.

That was the score at halftime, leading to the absurd sight of Stanford being tied 1-1 not having given up an official shot to the Gators.  Stanford had dominated the run of play, and had several chances to score a second, but seemed content to hold the ball and make Florida chase.

The opening portion of the second half was more of the same.  Stanford gave away its first corner kick, but dominated the run of play for the first 10-12 minutes.

Did I mention how physical the play was?  A few examples:  first half, a bouncing ball forces Campbell to come out and slide to grab it.  As she grabs it, Florida's Savannah Jordan slides directly into her body - no contact with the ball, and late.  In EVERY league I've ever played, that's a yellow card.  Nope.  Barely a foul.  In the second half, Uhl gets through and is chopped down, but is whistled for being offsides.  Hannah Farr, pressing up on one of the Gators' towering midfielders, gets an elbow swung directly into her face.  No foul.  Farr, not to be outdone, comes in with a flying body block on a bounding ball to the same player about 30 seconds later.  No foul.

All of that physical play was either in the midfield or in a team's defensive half.  A few times, however, an offensive player was trying to get through or around a defender trying to shield the ball.  Very little contact would result in a foul.

Florida had a run of possession about 15 minutes into the second half that led to a dangerous sequence in front of Campbell, with the ball pinballing around at the post about 4 yards out before Jane could pounce and grab it through about 6 bodies, 3 from each side.

Shortly after, another foray forward by Chi, who was tormenting the Gators down the left side all night.  She beats her player toward the endline, about 6 yards off the left post, and gets scythed down from behind as she lines up a shot.  No foul.  Corner kick.  The interesting thing was, it didn't look like the defender touched the ball; Chi was touching it onto her left foot to shoot as the defender plowed into her legs, and the ball trickled over the end line.

Stanford was for the most part on the front foot, but as they pressed forward, more space was opening up between their defensive line and the midfield.  Florida started to find some space for their midfielders to run at the defense, and got a player through wide right, whom Liedle took with a tough slide tackle from behind to clear the ball away.  Again, could've easily been called a foul and a PK, but the ref had established the rules of the game at that point, and at least she was consistent.

Stanford got another sequence of corner kicks, and on the third, Andi Sullivan found Kendall Romine on the back post, and the senior nodded in a header to give the Cardinal a 2-1 lead with a little less than 16 minutes remaining.  But they again gave it right back.  A long ball flighted in from the left wasn't called or collected by Campbell, and Liedle, working backwards under pressure, headed away for a corner kick.  The corner came near post, and out of a jumble of big bodies, Florida's Havana Solaun basically bundled the ball in with her body.  How Stanford was unable to clear what was a fairly low driven ball to the front post was unclear.  I wished for a replay, because the webstream didn't allow you to back up, and I was wondering whether she had some blockers in front of her on Stanford defenders.  But in any case, 2-2 with just under 12 minutes remaining.

more...

Re: WSoc over Florida by PKs in OT - Viking_Guy - 11-28-2014

Over those 12 minutes Stanford got a couple of good looks - the best with just over a minute left, Megan Turner turning a header just wide from the center of the box about 10 yards out.

Overtime, and Chi on the right post sent a ball just outside the far post with her less deadly right foot, followed by trying to track back on defense, and getting whistled for a foul just past the half line, and getting a yellow card for dissent, it looked like.  I completely sympathized with her; she probably did commit a foul, but there had been several more egregious ones committed on her without a call.

Out of the ensuing run of play, Florida got a great chance, on a ball into Jordan, who flicked a header toward the right post that a diving Campbell picked out of the air on a big bounce.  But it was on target, and I was concerned that another free kick or set piece opportunity for the Gators might go in, given their size advantage.

The second overtime had one good chance each way, Chi sending a bullet high from a narrow angle on the left, and a heart-stopping shank by Romine on a bouncing ball about 35 yards out that nearly fell to Jordan, but was cleared away by a charging Campbell.

PKs, with Florida shooting first, and Campbell guessed correctly, either just nudging or at least being in a position to do so a shot into the left post and out.  Kendall Romine tucked her ball neatly just inside that same post, and then Campbell dove and pushed the Gators' second attempt wide of the right post.  Lo LaBonta followed Romine's example, hitting the ball with pace but fairly far inside the left post, getting it under the Florida keeper Taylor Burke.  2-0 Stanford.

Florida made their third shot, catching Jane guessing the wrong way, then Chi followed by hitting a really mediocre left footed shot that got up off the ground and right into a prime zone for a save - about 2 feet high and well inside the right post.  Burke, having guessed correctly, had an easy parry away.  And the next Gator caught Jane leaning the wrong way again.  But Haley Rosen followed the example of Lo and Kendall, placing the ball low into the left corner and past Burke before she could get down to the ground.

Campbell had one more save attempt, but got caught leaning the wrong way again; I think Florida picked up her pattern of diving toward the side they were looking at, and crossed her up.

But then she stepped up to the spot herself, gave a nice stutter step run-up that caught Burke leaning right, and hit a simple ball back to the left that was well inside the post but well out of the reach of Burke.  And Stanford was through.

Deservedly so.  Stanford outshot the Gators 20-9, 10-4 in shots on goal, and probably would've been well ahead in a game whistled in a somewhat normal manner through 2-3 penalty kicks.

That said, expect more of the same from semifinal opponent Florida State, a tough physical and athletically gifted team, but with more skill than the Gators, especially through their Icelandic connection, MF Brynjarsdottir and F Thorvaldsdottir.

In other somewhat good news, UCLA got eliminated by Virginia, 2-1.  Their great defense gave up a goal off a pinballing deflection in the first half, then another as they started to try to push forward by Virginia's senior national teamer Morgan Brian.  They got one back almost immediately, but they couldn't find another in the last 15 minutes, and lost their first game of the season to be eliminated.  Like it because UCLA is out of the competition for another NCAA championship, but wish it hadn't been at the hands of an ACC team.

VG

refereeing - oldalum - 11-29-2014

The center ref was very frustrating. I think your point about favoring defenders in their part of the field is correct and she seemed consistent in that respect, but it is not consistent to call an identical action a foul if committed by an offensive player and not if by a defensive player. I don't understand the rationale for that, and I don't understand why, in such a low-scoring sport, the defense should be favored in such a way. I looked her up and she is a NWSL center ref. I suppose the NCAA should be commended for importing high-level refs for important NCAA matches, but I wonder if the style of refereeing and play in the NWSL is different from the NCAA; if so then I think it would be better to just use the best college refs.

It is also possible that the Pac-12 teams and refs favor the clean, skilled game that we enjoy watching, while the SEC and perhaps other leagues encourage more physical play. Or maybe that's just how Florida plays, I simply don't know.