[OCcardinal]

Went to the Cal State Fullerton match yesterday. First one without Elise Evans due to the U20 World Cup.  Ton of shots for Stanford but only one went in (an incredible shot from Kitahata just a few minutes into the game).  Fullerton has an incredible goalkeeper, but it was still frustrating that we could only score one goal in that game.  It was a weird substitution pattern as Jasmine Aikey played the first 58 minutes at Center Back and then sat out the rest of the game (even though it was still close at 1-0).  It was pretty hot and she was running up to take all of the corner kicks so she might have just been gassed.  I didn't notice any injury, but hopefully she is okay.

The defense was good even without Evans (and late in the game, without Aikey).  Fullerton had averaged 4 goals a game so far, but Stanford didn't allow them any shots on goal (though Fullerton had some opportunities). Ella Emri (the #20-ranked recruit in the class of 2024) looked especially good at Center Back in her 48 minutes.  I was really impressed with how calm she was after Aikey left the game.  She had no problem chasing down players, making tackles, and finding space.  Had an efficiency that was similar to Girma and Evans.  It bodes very well for the program going forward.  Frankly I'd rather see her get Aikey's minutes at Center Back and move Aikey up.  Aikey's the best finisher we have and can create plays that no one else can.  We saw it on only one play in the game where she didn't actually take the corner, but received a short pass.  She immediately drove around the defender and made a great cross that should have been a goal.  I'm sure Ratcliff sees all this.  It might be he just wants to get Aikey touches at CB so he can use her there for the USC game.  He may also want to develop his other players up top.  Two 1-0 games so far is a little nerve-wracking though for the #2 team in the country. (As a comparison, Stanford beat University of San Francisco 1-0, but Cal beat them 6-1.)

[OCcardinal]

Went to the Cal State Fullerton match yesterday. First one without Elise Evans due to the U20 World Cup.  Ton of shots for Stanford but only one went in (an incredible shot from Kitahata just a few minutes into the game).  Fullerton has an incredible goalkeeper, but it was still frustrating that we could only score one goal in that game.  It was a weird substitution pattern as Jasmine Aikey played the first 58 minutes at Center Back and then sat out the rest of the game (even though it was still close at 1-0).  It was pretty hot and she was running up to take all of the corner kicks so she might have just been gassed.  I didn't notice any injury, but hopefully she is okay.

The defense was good even without Evans (and late in the game, without Aikey).  Fullerton had averaged 4 goals a game so far, but Stanford didn't allow them any shots on goal (though Fullerton had some opportunities). Ella Emri (the #20-ranked recruit in the class of 2024) looked especially good at Center Back in her 48 minutes.  I was really impressed with how calm she was after Aikey left the game.  She had no problem chasing down players, making tackles, and finding space.  Had an efficiency that was similar to Girma and Evans.  It bodes very well for the program going forward.  Frankly I'd rather see her get Aikey's minutes at Center Back and move Aikey up.  Aikey's the best finisher we have and can create plays that no one else can.  We saw it on only one play in the game where she didn't actually take the corner, but received a short pass.  She immediately drove around the defender and made a great cross that should have been a goal.  I'm sure Ratcliff sees all this.  It might be he just wants to get Aikey touches at CB so he can use her there for the USC game.  He may also want to develop his other players up top.  Two 1-0 games so far is a little nerve-wracking though for the #2 team in the country. (As a comparison, Stanford beat University of San Francisco 1-0, but Cal beat them 6-1.)