[Viking_Guy]

Chi Ubogagu had a couple of good shots, but scored on a bad one, with under a minute left in the first overtime period.  She spun to the endline on the left side, and sent a low roller in toward the near post.  UNC's keeper had it covered and pulled back, thinking the ball was wide... as it rolled past her, just inside the near post and into the back of the net.  Speaking as a goalie, she's going to be living with that one for a while.

Stanford looked good in the second half, not so good in the first.  They're obviously still figuring it out, as Coach R finally changed from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 formation (in part because Andi Sullivan is such a great holding mid when part of a pair).

Player of the game?  GK Jane Campbell, who came up h.u.g.e. on several bad miscues by the midfield and backline.  Outshot 7-1 in the first half, 19-12 overall, and several of those were of the breakaway variety, including one off a Campbell goalkick where a Stanford midfielder headed the ball backward in the vague vicinity of the central defense - directly back into the path of a UNC forward, who walked in and shot from the top of the box at an onrushing Campbell.  Jane got a hand up, parried it down and fell on it before anything bad could happen.  Later in the half, Kendall Romine playing at center back took a boot to the head after a good tackle, and had to leave the field for a few minutes (concussion check, I think).  Sullivan slid into center back, and promptly dove in after a ball too high up the field, leaving UNC with a 2-1 breakaway.  Their U-20 national teamer (and one of the players who missed in the PK shootout) tried to settle and shoot when she had an open net, letting Campbell recover and take the angle, then sprayed the ball high trying to beat her.  Campbell with 9 saves and the shutout.

Sullivan looked good - very composed on the ball and good vision for the most part.  Amack and Campbell both looked much improved from their summer training with the U-20s.  Another freshman, Mariah Lee, had a good chance, settling a ball in the box forward before getting body-checked by a Tar Heel defender, which according to the official was a good challenge.  Um, she got no ball (it was 5 feet away from where she hit Lee), and wasn't running at the ball (it was ahead of the pair as she ran horizontally into Mariah).  But those are the kind of calls that Anson gets, at home and frustratingly often on the road.

In any case, yes, the curse of the Bambinator is over!  (The player I described in the first post, Alisan Pabon, who got hammered into submission by UNC, had a unique running style that was very springy, and was fairly tall and thin.  Earned her the nickname of Bambi by soccer folks early in her career, then she matured into a devastating threat with pace from the right back spot in her later years).

Stanford plays #18 Duke at 10:00 am PT on Sunday.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Chi Ubogagu had a couple of good shots, but scored on a bad one, with under a minute left in the first overtime period.  She spun to the endline on the left side, and sent a low roller in toward the near post.  UNC's keeper had it covered and pulled back, thinking the ball was wide... as it rolled past her, just inside the near post and into the back of the net.  Speaking as a goalie, she's going to be living with that one for a while.

Stanford looked good in the second half, not so good in the first.  They're obviously still figuring it out, as Coach R finally changed from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 formation (in part because Andi Sullivan is such a great holding mid when part of a pair).

Player of the game?  GK Jane Campbell, who came up h.u.g.e. on several bad miscues by the midfield and backline.  Outshot 7-1 in the first half, 19-12 overall, and several of those were of the breakaway variety, including one off a Campbell goalkick where a Stanford midfielder headed the ball backward in the vague vicinity of the central defense - directly back into the path of a UNC forward, who walked in and shot from the top of the box at an onrushing Campbell.  Jane got a hand up, parried it down and fell on it before anything bad could happen.  Later in the half, Kendall Romine playing at center back took a boot to the head after a good tackle, and had to leave the field for a few minutes (concussion check, I think).  Sullivan slid into center back, and promptly dove in after a ball too high up the field, leaving UNC with a 2-1 breakaway.  Their U-20 national teamer (and one of the players who missed in the PK shootout) tried to settle and shoot when she had an open net, letting Campbell recover and take the angle, then sprayed the ball high trying to beat her.  Campbell with 9 saves and the shutout.

Sullivan looked good - very composed on the ball and good vision for the most part.  Amack and Campbell both looked much improved from their summer training with the U-20s.  Another freshman, Mariah Lee, had a good chance, settling a ball in the box forward before getting body-checked by a Tar Heel defender, which according to the official was a good challenge.  Um, she got no ball (it was 5 feet away from where she hit Lee), and wasn't running at the ball (it was ahead of the pair as she ran horizontally into Mariah).  But those are the kind of calls that Anson gets, at home and frustratingly often on the road.

In any case, yes, the curse of the Bambinator is over!  (The player I described in the first post, Alisan Pabon, who got hammered into submission by UNC, had a unique running style that was very springy, and was fairly tall and thin.  Earned her the nickname of Bambi by soccer folks early in her career, then she matured into a devastating threat with pace from the right back spot in her later years).

Stanford plays #18 Duke at 10:00 am PT on Sunday.

VG