10-10-2014, 03:22 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-10-2014, 03:35 PM by Viking_Guy.)
81A--
You two have covered most of what I would write.
The first goal, I'm not sure if it was fatigue, or what, but one of the weaknesses of the system/formation Stanford plays is "wide in the midfield." Because we play with three midfielders, they often cluster near the center of the pitch. When the Bruins' right back, Ally Courtnall, came down the sideline, our left back Stephanie Amack was caught - she had a player tucking in behind her (in her zone), and Courtnall coming forward. Ideally, a forward would be tracking, but in watching the replay, you can see Chi standing at the center line in the background. Courtnall cut inside, wrong-footing Amack, and none of the midfielders gave her any cover, letting Courtnall come all the way to the 18 before taking a far-too-open shot that gave Campbell no chance.
And as oldalum says, the second goal was a turnover. Can't remember if it was Doll or LaBonta (edit: oldalum may be right, Farr was on the pitch for Doll at that point), and both of them were often guilty of this last night, but she tried to hit a short possession pass horizontally to Andi Sullivan, who didn't step toward it quickly enough and got knocked aside and to the ground easily by a Bruins midfielder - left her and three others rushing at our backline, which was out of position, and couldn't adjust quickly enough. Looked an awful lot like the goal in the Utah game, where LaBonta stepped forward and missed a bouncing ball, letting it run in behind her to an unmarked Ute player.
The Stanford goal was a beautiful volley by LaBonta, abetted by a breakdown by the Bruin defense. They left an unmarked Cardinal player on the front post on a corner kick, and Rowland came out to try to punch the ball away, only succeeding in clearing it to the top of the box and taking herself out of the play. Lo took the shot quickly enough that Rowland was just beginning to recover to her line.
Yep, the Bruins are just plain faster - both Courtnall and Dydasco were getting around Amack and Liedle with ease (not to mention Romine and Bauer, when they had to step out). And Stanford's speed is all concentrated in their frontline, with Chi, Walker-Hartshorn and I hope eventually Mariah Lee - I would love to see that lineup together, but Lee generally only sees the field when Chi or Ryan sub out.
The kind of game you see is what results - Stanford often has to bypass the middle and take "Route 1" - the long ball over the top, hoping that Ryan or Chi can get on the end of it. Because they are outgunned in the midfield, and, if pressed, will immediately pass back or wide, stopping most counterattacks fairly quickly. They are still really missing the Mariah Nogueira/Kirsty Zurmuhlen type of big player who can take the physical challenge of someone like Sam Mewis, who was knocking Doll, LaBonta and Sullivan off the ball with ease. She may have been the one who stripped Sullivan in the buildup to the game-winning goal (although I think she may have received that ball later in the sequence before threading it through to Annie Alvarado on the right.)
More generally, at times like this our women's soccer side feels like our women's basketball side - we concentrate on technical skill and passing perfection so much that we run into trouble against teams that play physically and/or fast pressure. Stanford would try to play in tight spaces and make perfect through ball passes and end up turning the ball over for a quick counterattack down the wings.
I also think Stanford SHOULD have played the subs more last night - one of UCLA's few weaknesses has been an unwillingness to play reserves, and yet our subs got fewer minutes than theirs did last night. And I think that definitely played a role in the space opening up for their two goals - the afore-mentioned Chi lingering at midfield on the first goal, and very slow recovery by Stanford after the giveaway on the second. The only other thing I would've liked to have seen was the ball wider in the attacking third - Chi and Ryan spent a lot of time running at Dahlkemper and Oyster, and I don't believe they ever got through. And LaBonta kept trying to hit the perfectly weighted through ball in the center, rather than taking the ball wide for a cross.
Again, though, the Bruins are the best team in the country. We could beat them, but I stand with the Pac-12 announcers from last night (although the one UCLA alum was a bit hard to take with her fawning over their play) - I hope these two teams don't play again until the College Cup.
My $.02,
VG
You two have covered most of what I would write.
The first goal, I'm not sure if it was fatigue, or what, but one of the weaknesses of the system/formation Stanford plays is "wide in the midfield." Because we play with three midfielders, they often cluster near the center of the pitch. When the Bruins' right back, Ally Courtnall, came down the sideline, our left back Stephanie Amack was caught - she had a player tucking in behind her (in her zone), and Courtnall coming forward. Ideally, a forward would be tracking, but in watching the replay, you can see Chi standing at the center line in the background. Courtnall cut inside, wrong-footing Amack, and none of the midfielders gave her any cover, letting Courtnall come all the way to the 18 before taking a far-too-open shot that gave Campbell no chance.
And as oldalum says, the second goal was a turnover. Can't remember if it was Doll or LaBonta (edit: oldalum may be right, Farr was on the pitch for Doll at that point), and both of them were often guilty of this last night, but she tried to hit a short possession pass horizontally to Andi Sullivan, who didn't step toward it quickly enough and got knocked aside and to the ground easily by a Bruins midfielder - left her and three others rushing at our backline, which was out of position, and couldn't adjust quickly enough. Looked an awful lot like the goal in the Utah game, where LaBonta stepped forward and missed a bouncing ball, letting it run in behind her to an unmarked Ute player.
The Stanford goal was a beautiful volley by LaBonta, abetted by a breakdown by the Bruin defense. They left an unmarked Cardinal player on the front post on a corner kick, and Rowland came out to try to punch the ball away, only succeeding in clearing it to the top of the box and taking herself out of the play. Lo took the shot quickly enough that Rowland was just beginning to recover to her line.
Yep, the Bruins are just plain faster - both Courtnall and Dydasco were getting around Amack and Liedle with ease (not to mention Romine and Bauer, when they had to step out). And Stanford's speed is all concentrated in their frontline, with Chi, Walker-Hartshorn and I hope eventually Mariah Lee - I would love to see that lineup together, but Lee generally only sees the field when Chi or Ryan sub out.
The kind of game you see is what results - Stanford often has to bypass the middle and take "Route 1" - the long ball over the top, hoping that Ryan or Chi can get on the end of it. Because they are outgunned in the midfield, and, if pressed, will immediately pass back or wide, stopping most counterattacks fairly quickly. They are still really missing the Mariah Nogueira/Kirsty Zurmuhlen type of big player who can take the physical challenge of someone like Sam Mewis, who was knocking Doll, LaBonta and Sullivan off the ball with ease. She may have been the one who stripped Sullivan in the buildup to the game-winning goal (although I think she may have received that ball later in the sequence before threading it through to Annie Alvarado on the right.)
More generally, at times like this our women's soccer side feels like our women's basketball side - we concentrate on technical skill and passing perfection so much that we run into trouble against teams that play physically and/or fast pressure. Stanford would try to play in tight spaces and make perfect through ball passes and end up turning the ball over for a quick counterattack down the wings.
I also think Stanford SHOULD have played the subs more last night - one of UCLA's few weaknesses has been an unwillingness to play reserves, and yet our subs got fewer minutes than theirs did last night. And I think that definitely played a role in the space opening up for their two goals - the afore-mentioned Chi lingering at midfield on the first goal, and very slow recovery by Stanford after the giveaway on the second. The only other thing I would've liked to have seen was the ball wider in the attacking third - Chi and Ryan spent a lot of time running at Dahlkemper and Oyster, and I don't believe they ever got through. And LaBonta kept trying to hit the perfectly weighted through ball in the center, rather than taking the ball wide for a cross.
Again, though, the Bruins are the best team in the country. We could beat them, but I stand with the Pac-12 announcers from last night (although the one UCLA alum was a bit hard to take with her fawning over their play) - I hope these two teams don't play again until the College Cup.
My $.02,
VG