10-26-2018, 05:43 PM
Watched the game last night. UW offered a glimpse of how to counteract most of what Stanford does.
They played with three high players pressuring the Stanford backline, but left space between those and the back seven, allowing Hiatt to gather the ball, turn and move forward, but denying her any targets for a quick ball forward. A compromise that led to denying the Cardinal easy movement of the ball around the back and not exposing your backline by bringing forward more pressure. Yes, Sam Hiatt, Boissiere and DiBiasi had acres of room when they gathered the ball, but Stanford couldn't hold the ball forever.
It also resulted in a more closely fought game than many in the Pac-12 season; the unfortunate bounce for the Huskies that led to the PK (though the ball was on its way through to Macario when it hit the UW defender's hand) and Catarina's wonder strike above obscure the fact that shots and shots on goal were relatively even. The Huskies didn't have many truly amazing chances, but Jahansouz did have a lot more (and a lot more dicey) work than normal.
Good news was good minutes from Macario and Haley, as well as Xiao, who will all definitely be needed on Sunday. Because absent them, our attack is, while skilled, neither quick nor fast. Civana Kuhlman and Abby Greubel are both very good players, but they don't appear to be attackers who DEMAND the opponent's attention and draw multiple defenders.
VG
They played with three high players pressuring the Stanford backline, but left space between those and the back seven, allowing Hiatt to gather the ball, turn and move forward, but denying her any targets for a quick ball forward. A compromise that led to denying the Cardinal easy movement of the ball around the back and not exposing your backline by bringing forward more pressure. Yes, Sam Hiatt, Boissiere and DiBiasi had acres of room when they gathered the ball, but Stanford couldn't hold the ball forever.
It also resulted in a more closely fought game than many in the Pac-12 season; the unfortunate bounce for the Huskies that led to the PK (though the ball was on its way through to Macario when it hit the UW defender's hand) and Catarina's wonder strike above obscure the fact that shots and shots on goal were relatively even. The Huskies didn't have many truly amazing chances, but Jahansouz did have a lot more (and a lot more dicey) work than normal.
Good news was good minutes from Macario and Haley, as well as Xiao, who will all definitely be needed on Sunday. Because absent them, our attack is, while skilled, neither quick nor fast. Civana Kuhlman and Abby Greubel are both very good players, but they don't appear to be attackers who DEMAND the opponent's attention and draw multiple defenders.
VG