09-16-2018, 09:41 PM
The injury to Hiatt really turned the game, in my opinion. Prior to that, Stanford had been on the front foot consistently after the opening 15 minutes. It didn't look like an elbow to me; looked like she jumped up as Sam went over her to head the ball away, and the top of her head crashed into Hiatt's face. But it again brought up the importance of "the spine" - that's two starters missing from the center of the pitch for Stanford, and it showed. Goad, Briede, whoever they plugged in there, Stanford's midfield was not the same after Hiatt went out. Girma, OTOH, was spectacular - numerous complete stones, cut-offs, and tip-aways of the Bronco forwards. They only scored because of a PK resulting from a freakishly lucky throughball tip. Very few other chances really tested Jahansouz.
Thought the PK was a bit soft, but Kiki shouldn't have put herself in that position. And the non-called foul against Macario in OT in the box was at least as worthy; felt like the referee was doing the "things in the box will not be called the same way as outside" metric. And the level of acceptable contact varied widely throughout the match, both ways.
Jahansouz has a great initial save on the PK, and IMO was really let down by her defenders. The player who finally poked the ball in had come in UNMARKED on the backpost, while (it looked like DiBiasi, but it could've been another MF) sat outside her by a good three yards and didn't attack the ball.
The Cardinal had many more good chances - the header off the line by a Bronco defender on an open net, along with more than a few spectacular saves by the Santa Clara keeper. But Stanford also kept hitting the ball right at her on good looks. Sophia Smith converted one breakaway, but couldn't slot home another. DiBiasi I believe tried to flick home a volley when she was wide open on the backpost in the first half, and hit it right into the keeper's chest, rather than laying out for a header as the ball came down.
The other reason we miss Xiao - she's one of the few players on the team not afraid to take a long shot. WAY too many instances of trying to hit a perfectly weighted and placed throughball up the middle, rather than (A) shooting from distance, or (B) working wide and then across. Stanford got way too vertical for large portions of the match. When it works, as with Smith's goal and breakaway chance, it's spectacular - but it doesn't work often enough. Would've much rather seen balls wide to the corners to pull the defense out and set up the cross.
And we're going to have to figure out that playing the ball back to Macario after she's passed it out of the three defenders guarding her is not the best way forward.
Ah well. I think they're still the best team in the country, but they really miss Tierna and Michelle.
VG
Thought the PK was a bit soft, but Kiki shouldn't have put herself in that position. And the non-called foul against Macario in OT in the box was at least as worthy; felt like the referee was doing the "things in the box will not be called the same way as outside" metric. And the level of acceptable contact varied widely throughout the match, both ways.
Jahansouz has a great initial save on the PK, and IMO was really let down by her defenders. The player who finally poked the ball in had come in UNMARKED on the backpost, while (it looked like DiBiasi, but it could've been another MF) sat outside her by a good three yards and didn't attack the ball.
The Cardinal had many more good chances - the header off the line by a Bronco defender on an open net, along with more than a few spectacular saves by the Santa Clara keeper. But Stanford also kept hitting the ball right at her on good looks. Sophia Smith converted one breakaway, but couldn't slot home another. DiBiasi I believe tried to flick home a volley when she was wide open on the backpost in the first half, and hit it right into the keeper's chest, rather than laying out for a header as the ball came down.
The other reason we miss Xiao - she's one of the few players on the team not afraid to take a long shot. WAY too many instances of trying to hit a perfectly weighted and placed throughball up the middle, rather than (A) shooting from distance, or (B) working wide and then across. Stanford got way too vertical for large portions of the match. When it works, as with Smith's goal and breakaway chance, it's spectacular - but it doesn't work often enough. Would've much rather seen balls wide to the corners to pull the defense out and set up the cross.
And we're going to have to figure out that playing the ball back to Macario after she's passed it out of the three defenders guarding her is not the best way forward.
Ah well. I think they're still the best team in the country, but they really miss Tierna and Michelle.
VG