09-30-2018, 11:22 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-30-2018, 11:36 PM by Viking_Guy.)
A couple of comments.
(1) Hiatt makes all the difference in the world. When she came on in the first half, Stanford started stringing together more passes, and looked much more composed. But then, Ratcliffe decided to sub off most of the starters at the same time, and that's where Stanford almost came apart in the latter stages of the first half. McAlpine's strategy, of starting in a defensive posture, then bringing in his best offensive players against a tired and then sub-laden Stanford lineup, nearly paid off.
More generally, I think a lot of the season's outcome is going to depend on keeping the starters healthy, including Hiatt (VERY glad it was just a broken nose, and not post-concussive symptoms, btw.) When the bench came in, Stanford broke down - less coverage of defense, less awareness of where passes should go, all the signs of non-starters on the pitch. They may be skilled, but they definitely were not used to playing as a unit.
Hiatt getting healthy and her form back may determine how far this team can go. Goad, Breide, and others can play the spot, but they are not nearly the two-way player that Hiatt is - they are much more tilted toward offense. And the connection between backline and forwards was much more tenuous when Hiatt was out. What it felt like was that she feels comfortable changing the point of attack from her spot, while our other midfielders often only seem to do that by going all the way back to Cook, Girma, and Jahansouz. And then we play around with the ball a while in the back, trying to draw the other team forward.
(2) Girma again with a superlative game. A few times she got turned, but that's against several of the best attackers in the country in Pruitt, Demelo et al.
(3) That said, again the key to beating Stanford appears to be pressure the backline, crowd your own box, and look for the counter after a long period of Stanford possession. Several times Stanford's midfield got caught way forward on a turnover and left the backline exposed. And the backline's pushing the ball around the back actoss the face of their own goal is eventually going to bite them in the butt.
(4) Don't look now, but it feels like the road trip to Spokane is going to be the toughest game left, as part of a season-ending three straight on the road - UW, WSU, and C.al. The Cougs are 10-0-0, albeit against a much weaker schedule. But they've been tough at home for the last few seasons, and they did beat UCLA on the road 1-0.
(5) Lastly, and this is just my observation as a keeper - Jahansouz NEVER punts the ball. In today's game, several times she threw the ball to Cook or Girma sideways from her own goalmouth as they were standing just ahead of the endline rather than punch it up the field with her foot. Maybe a concession that we're not that great in the air, but it just feels like completely abandoning a tool that could spring a Stanford counterattack if the other team is deep in our half. Her distribution pattern only rarely is leading to anything other than Stanford trying to build a slow attack out of the backline, and several times today she or Cook booted the ball away awkwardly as the Toejams were pressing the closer outlet options.
A very solid win. Great turn (and physical win) of the ball by Haley, then a deftly weighted ball right into Smith's run, and a good quick finish off as she was being bodied off-balance by Sophia.
(1) Hiatt makes all the difference in the world. When she came on in the first half, Stanford started stringing together more passes, and looked much more composed. But then, Ratcliffe decided to sub off most of the starters at the same time, and that's where Stanford almost came apart in the latter stages of the first half. McAlpine's strategy, of starting in a defensive posture, then bringing in his best offensive players against a tired and then sub-laden Stanford lineup, nearly paid off.
More generally, I think a lot of the season's outcome is going to depend on keeping the starters healthy, including Hiatt (VERY glad it was just a broken nose, and not post-concussive symptoms, btw.) When the bench came in, Stanford broke down - less coverage of defense, less awareness of where passes should go, all the signs of non-starters on the pitch. They may be skilled, but they definitely were not used to playing as a unit.
Hiatt getting healthy and her form back may determine how far this team can go. Goad, Breide, and others can play the spot, but they are not nearly the two-way player that Hiatt is - they are much more tilted toward offense. And the connection between backline and forwards was much more tenuous when Hiatt was out. What it felt like was that she feels comfortable changing the point of attack from her spot, while our other midfielders often only seem to do that by going all the way back to Cook, Girma, and Jahansouz. And then we play around with the ball a while in the back, trying to draw the other team forward.
(2) Girma again with a superlative game. A few times she got turned, but that's against several of the best attackers in the country in Pruitt, Demelo et al.
(3) That said, again the key to beating Stanford appears to be pressure the backline, crowd your own box, and look for the counter after a long period of Stanford possession. Several times Stanford's midfield got caught way forward on a turnover and left the backline exposed. And the backline's pushing the ball around the back actoss the face of their own goal is eventually going to bite them in the butt.
(4) Don't look now, but it feels like the road trip to Spokane is going to be the toughest game left, as part of a season-ending three straight on the road - UW, WSU, and C.al. The Cougs are 10-0-0, albeit against a much weaker schedule. But they've been tough at home for the last few seasons, and they did beat UCLA on the road 1-0.
(5) Lastly, and this is just my observation as a keeper - Jahansouz NEVER punts the ball. In today's game, several times she threw the ball to Cook or Girma sideways from her own goalmouth as they were standing just ahead of the endline rather than punch it up the field with her foot. Maybe a concession that we're not that great in the air, but it just feels like completely abandoning a tool that could spring a Stanford counterattack if the other team is deep in our half. Her distribution pattern only rarely is leading to anything other than Stanford trying to build a slow attack out of the backline, and several times today she or Cook booted the ball away awkwardly as the Toejams were pressing the closer outlet options.
A very solid win. Great turn (and physical win) of the ball by Haley, then a deftly weighted ball right into Smith's run, and a good quick finish off as she was being bodied off-balance by Sophia.