Match Report

Just got home after 700 mile round trip.

Beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest. Clear blue skies. Sunny and relatively warm in Spokane. Magnificent sunset in our eyes driving home.

Gonzaga has new soccer field that looks great. Rest of the stadium is a work in progress. Temporary bleachers. High class porta-potties.

Small section of Pilot fans including a passel of Janelle Jacka's family who had driven over from Seattle. We were sitting near them and they were understandably very happy that she scored the fourth goal.

At least for this game Garrett's strategy was to start without the three amigas. Kelsey was in goal and had a relatively untroubled afternoon. She made one spectacular diving and arching catch of a cross in the first half.

Defense was Jessica, Korie, Kassi, Megan S. Michelle O played holding mid, Megan R the attcking mid, Charney wide right and Sara wide left. Sophie and Danielle forward.

Pilots knocked the ball around well, dominated possession and won comfortably. By the end of the game everyone on the team had minutes.

First goal was a blast from Megan R that the keeper fumbled into the net: oops!

Sophie scored the second. Free kick 20 yards out. Megan R and Sophie standing in position. Megan runs over the ball and Sophie steps up and bends it round the wall and into the bottom corner: a beaut! After the second goal the Pilots appeared to go into a different mode and played more possession game and lost a slight edge around the box and were looking for the perfect set up instead of looking for the shots in the way they had earlier.

Third goal was a very nice pass from Megan into the box and Sophie hit it first time - placing it firmly out of reach and into the back of the net. Fourth goal was ball bouncing around in the box after a corner and it broke to a relatively unmarked Janelle who popped it home from about 6 yards.

Defense was generally sound with a couple of breaks through by the Zags. Korie and Kassi were in control most of the time. And Kristen (all Ks at center d today!) got some minutes too. Jessica had a good game on the right, Megan S got exposed for pace a couple of times. Emma Nelson looked good out left in the second half but was not tested that much. Elli had a short stint at right back at the end.

Michelle O had a good game. Very comfortable touch and made it look relatively easy. A couple of dodgy passes in the second half. Megan R had a good game, Charney buzzed, and Sara was the only outfield player to play all 90 minutes I think. Nothing spectacular but a solid game. Tackled and challenged and kept the ball flowing.

Sophie was player of the game for me. Great target play and took her goals very well. Danielle had a relatively quiet game.

Keelin and Michelle E came on in the second half but were relatively quiet by their standards. Keelin came on for Megan R, which meant that she and Michelle O were playing the center mids. Not sure if Keelin was supposed to be playing the same role as Megan: she didn't. She was also playing pretty deep, which meant Michelle O dropped even further back. Might have been a strategy to just shut up shop, but seemed to short change the offensive options somewhat.

Have to believe that Pilots will be tested more in games to come but a good win on the road to open WCC play; and the game was won before the U20s were introduced.

Great report MJ. Thanks for all the detail.

Thanks for the report Martin.

There was a stint when Keelin was in and Michelle O came out.

Charney came in for Megan R.

Can you describe the alignment then?

Did Charney play the middle ?

Yes, Geezer. At the end of the game Keelin was in her usual spot and Charney was at the front of the midfield diamond: Janelle was out right and Sara out left. Michelle E and Hallie were up front.

By this time the game was over, the Pilots had been subbing players in and out a lot, and were in cruise and containment mode so it was hard to tell much about how effective anyone was. It is, perhaps, a pointer to next season when Charney could likely play in that position?

Great job Martin. We really needed an eyewitness account of the match.

This may or may not turn out to be true, but it was my gut feeling that Charney was recruited to replace Angie. (That is the attacking mid spot that Megan holds down now.)

When Megan leaves next season, I am expecting Charney to play her final 3 years at the top of the diamond. (If she turns out the way the coaches envisioned.) I could be wrong. I have only seen the first two games this season.

Calling all experts: Does Charney look like she can develop into the long-term playmaker at attacking mid that is crucial to this team's future?

FANatic, I think that Charney looks better suited to that position than she does to playing out wide. She is not especially fast but she has good close control skills and a nice touch. She looks like a strong prospect for that point position - playing behind the two forwards. Next year we'll see.

Charney surely won't win as many headers at attacking mid as Meagan R., but who does? Charney has a hard shot that really should become a more reliable weapon with practice and experience. Her shot can be the frontal assault that is sometimes missing when the Pilots play too much up the wings and around the sidelines. If we know one thing about her, it's that she is not afraid to pull the trigger. I've been impressed with her as a freshman and can only imagine improvement with time. I'll bet she provides more scoring punch yet this season.

Though I feel like its way too early to talk about the 2009 lineup...I think Sophie will eventually be our starting Attacking Mid...with Keelin behind her at Holding Mid. With Megan graduated...that's still a very very solid tandem at the midfield. I think we'll see more of Charney in the wings.

GO PILOTS!!!