08-23-2014, 12:18 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-23-2014, 12:23 AM by Viking_Guy.)
A couple more randoms on the actual game:
UNC is replacing EIGHT starters who graduated, left the program or are out with season-ending injuries. So take the win, good as it was, with a grain of salt.
Campbell played well, but also benefitted from some of that inexperience - in the first half, most of the shots were directly at her. The Tar Heels had more good chances in regulation time, and shot high a lot from those chances. But Stanford definitely had the better of them in overtime - with both Chi and Taylor Uhl sending low shots that just skipped by the far post from the left side, before Chi netted the winner.
New formation is definitely a work in progress, but looked like this (keeper's perspective, so left side listed first)
Striker - Uhl
Attacking mids - Ubogagu, LaBonta, Walker-Hartshorn (lots of switching, though)
Holding mids - Doll, Sullivan
D - Amack, Romine, Bauer, Liedle
GK - Campbell
Primary issue seemed to be a disconnect between the two midfield lines - possible residue of the old 4-3-3, when both Walker-Harshorn and Chi played dedicated forward slots. Lo LaBonta did her normal mix of the impossible and the improvident, but one big area needing improvement is coming back to the ball - lots of easy dispossession of MFs and Fs by marking defenders stepping around them to take away the pass. And because of the disconnect, there is room wide against the holding mids. A lot of the Tar Heels' most dangerous chances were plays into the corner where the offensive player would have a single fullback marking her, while the two holding mids played more zone at the top of the area. Amack and Liedle both got burned by quick endline moves, and no one was close in behind to back them up.
Again, a side in progress. The game against Duke will also be interesting, and then the next one is up in Portland, one of the toughest venues in the country. Nothing like testing yourself early :).
VG
UNC is replacing EIGHT starters who graduated, left the program or are out with season-ending injuries. So take the win, good as it was, with a grain of salt.
Campbell played well, but also benefitted from some of that inexperience - in the first half, most of the shots were directly at her. The Tar Heels had more good chances in regulation time, and shot high a lot from those chances. But Stanford definitely had the better of them in overtime - with both Chi and Taylor Uhl sending low shots that just skipped by the far post from the left side, before Chi netted the winner.
New formation is definitely a work in progress, but looked like this (keeper's perspective, so left side listed first)
Striker - Uhl
Attacking mids - Ubogagu, LaBonta, Walker-Hartshorn (lots of switching, though)
Holding mids - Doll, Sullivan
D - Amack, Romine, Bauer, Liedle
GK - Campbell
Primary issue seemed to be a disconnect between the two midfield lines - possible residue of the old 4-3-3, when both Walker-Harshorn and Chi played dedicated forward slots. Lo LaBonta did her normal mix of the impossible and the improvident, but one big area needing improvement is coming back to the ball - lots of easy dispossession of MFs and Fs by marking defenders stepping around them to take away the pass. And because of the disconnect, there is room wide against the holding mids. A lot of the Tar Heels' most dangerous chances were plays into the corner where the offensive player would have a single fullback marking her, while the two holding mids played more zone at the top of the area. Amack and Liedle both got burned by quick endline moves, and no one was close in behind to back them up.
Again, a side in progress. The game against Duke will also be interesting, and then the next one is up in Portland, one of the toughest venues in the country. Nothing like testing yourself early :).
VG