9/9 UP vs. Purdue

Or should the subject really be UP vs PU?

Gametracker here: http://www.cstv.com/gametracker/launch/intro_wsoccer.html?sport=wsoccer&camefrom=540241&startschool=wash&event=537484&school=cs&#

Let's hope it starts on time today.

There is also a 'listen' link on Purdue's website: http://purduesports.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/sched/pur-w-soccer-sched.html

I can't get it to work on my Mac just yet, so I'm not sure if it's a paid service and what the requirements are. It appears that you have to pay to listen to Purdue broadcasts. Yet another reason why UP rocks.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Pilots put the Boilermakers away.

In the 28th minute and only one shot on goal. Hopefully they can pick it up.

Nearly halftime and our last shot was in the 6th minute... something's wonky. Where's that potent offense?

Looks like a physical game. Big 10 style of play? Many fouls. But Pilots seem to be giving some back too.

Yellow Card for Rachael Rapinoe in the 56th minute. Purdue scores in the 57th.

This does not look like a pretty game. We've got a lot of work to do defensively in the future.

Looks like something happened in the 56th with two yellows given out.

the gametracker is being strange again, saying M. Rapinoe was subbed out then later she takes thre shots..? Anyway, if she is really in there, it seems we are looking more aggressive.

Lets hope its wrong about the score

Ouch. UP 0 : 1 Purdue. Maybe I jinxed the Pilots with that little pre-game send up...

Let's hope whatever issues caused this little crash get sorted out by next weekend and for sure by the time we make our way down to UCLA.

Exactly, wonder how much this is going to effect the rankings. Looked like the pilots were peppering the goaling towards the end.

Yah. Disappointing road trip/tournament. Can't expect to win and keep a #1 ranking by playing par soccer against motivated teams eager to prove themselves.

Game report from Portland: http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/wsoccer/release.asp?release_id=4479

Doesn't really say anything that you couldn't gather from the gametracker.

And from Purdue: http://purduesports.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/recaps/090907aaa.html

Apparently the goal came after there was a red card to a Purdue player after she punched Rachael Rapinoe in the face. Rachael took her down first, but that is very not cool.

I went up for the game today, and it was not pretty. When Megan came in she did add a lot of pressure up front. The defense was shaky again today. Purdue's goal was very nice. Rachael left the game hurt, hope she is ok.

Well that was depressing. UP loses to Purdue 0-1 on a second day where it became obvious we have more work to do.

UP gave up another goal to a lob into the box . This time it was on a corner. Lob to the far post, headed back to the near post and headed in poin blank. Not very good coverage by UP.

Once again A team clogged the midfield to slow down UP, this time it worked. They did it by using a 3-5-2 with a very fast sweeper and dropping one of the strikers to midfield. Usually, UP will demolish a 3-5-2, but not today.

No good passing in the middle, and we look slow pushing the ball up the outside, which is what that defense gives you. There wasn't a lot of focus about who to get the ball to. We seem to work better if we pick a taget, but today there wasn't one until Megan came in late . By then, there wasn't enough time to exploit her talent.

The good things are that apparently Rachel wasn't hurt, Megan looked pretty good for the short time she was in, and we're at home next week.


Observations from the weekend.

We got pushed around a bit. We need to get more Physical. the refs are allowing it, and we're getting the short end.

Also, we need to get better in the air, especially in the box.

We're still good enough to get into the playoff., but we need to step it up a bit if we are going to go deep into them.

Lastly, we need all our players back-- it does make a difference.

Thanks for the assessment Geezer!

Two Purdue players...Okoroafo and Stapleton dominated the Gametracker play by play log. They must've have been wonderful players to watch but...yes...also an indication that our defense was porous!!

So what's the missing link? Both games this weekend didn't bode well for the Pilots' future playoff success. It doesn't look like there were any bright spots in a tournament that we should have dominated.

Is it Megan Rapinoe's absence? She can be a bit talismanic for the team and brings a physical presence and dominance in the air to the midfield that we simply don't get from any other midfielder now that Lisa Sari has graduated.

Is it the defense? We should have solid central defenders, but the fullbacks are relatively inexperienced.

The forward line is a bit small, but that didn't seem to hamper us too much last season.

Is the team as a whole just a bit unfocused going out there? Road games are crucial; we might be seeded in the NCAA tournament, but who knows if we'll actually get to play at home?

Help answer these pressing questions, or the dramatic soccer fan in me will start bandying about the word "crisis!"

First things first... it's far too early to panic. Obviously things went haywire in that Purdue game - I mean, they were playing with 10 players for a good chunk of the second half and we still couldn't score. Our players aren't used to playing from behind and probably started trying way too hard to create the equalizer instead of trusting that with patience a goal would come (like they did against Florida State).

And I mean, come on... missing a player like Lopez, who is STARTING for the World Cup team, is huge. Forgive me for saying it, but I've never really felt totally secure with Emily Michaelson at the back. She's a great role player for the team and is solid, but... she's not a three time All-American like Lopez. Lopez just makes such good decisions and makes like so much easier on the rest of the back line. Until we get Lopez back, our defense has the potential to make mistakes and give up cheap goals.

And you can't downplay the loss of Lisa Sari either... she helped out so much on the defensive end. Wozzy is a terrific player, but she's offensive oriented. Ditto with Rapinoe. Winters and Jackman have shown flashes, but it's probably too much to expect a true freshman to be able to handle things in the middle for a Top 5 team. I think Sophie Schmidt will be able to fill that more defensive-minded midfield role when she comes back (here's hoping Canada goes 0-3 and is out after group play!).

And maybe it's just me, but I think people are overlooking the loss of Sweeney. She was so solid all year long last year... none of the replacements we have used so far have matched her defensive abilities or her great runs getting involved in the attack.

As for Megan Rapinoe... it's great to have her back, and ninjapizza is totally right about her physical presence and dominance in the air... she just doesn't back down from anyone and plays with an edge that no one else on the team quite has. Just having that mental toughness and attitude out on the pitch helps, not to mention her amazing skill.

So I would say that yes, missing all those players has hurt us. A fully healthy Megan Rapinoe will make a big big difference solving any offensive woes. Getting Lopez back will stabilize the back line. Getting Schmidt back will bring toughness and defensive help to the middle. And if/when we get Sweeney back, we'll have our second best marking back out there.

I know it's easy to freak out after a weekend like that, but remember... it's a young team that is missing some of its best players, and on top of that they had the additional pressure of being ranked No. 1. Yeah, it sucks and they will have to do some work at practice to figure out what's up, but I'm not worried about our skill or our status as one of the best teams in the country.

Pretty good points, Stonehouse, though I've always been an Emily Michaelson fan. :-)

That being said, I do miss seeing a more physical team--and Kelsy Hollenbeck knocking heads a few years not so long ago. It seems that 2005 was the one year Portland decided enough with being known as only a finesse team.

And I mean, come on... missing a player like Lopez, who is STARTING for the World Cup team, is huge. Forgive me for saying it, but I've never really felt totally secure with Emily Michaelson at the back. She's a great role player for the team and is solid, but... she's not a three time All-American like Lopez. Lopez just makes such good decisions and makes like so much easier on the rest of the back line. Until we get Lopez back, our defense has the potential to make mistakes and give up cheap goals.

I'm missing what you are trying to say, Stoney, other than we need Lopez.
If the worst knock you can come up with about Emily is that she's not a Three time All American, well...

You can't pin either of those goals on Emily this weekend, and she and Kelli were the best players we had in the air and at marking the opponents best striker.

I think it's more a team thing. Players were making the wrong choices on passes or making them just as the window of opportunity was closing. Sometimes they just made weak passes when a strong lead pass was called for. Sometimes they insisted in dribbling into double teams and pinning themselves on the sidelines, then not backing out but rather trying to bull trough the double team.

UP is always at it's best when they control possession and tempo. Our patient offense is the best defense. It wears out the other team and prevents others from having scoring opportunities. Fla. St. was an example of a team that was worn out chasing UP players and the ball.

It seems this weekend UP forgot that.

I remember the 2003 team had similar problems. They simplified the schemes (particularly the defense) until the newer players fit in better. Maybe something like that has to happen this year.

Geezer, I will bow down to your first-hand knowledge of what happened at the games this weekend.

When I was talking about Michaelson... I think that she wasn't really in top form last year and would sometimes make costly mistakes (the UNC game last year is a good example of that). So I'm wondering if some of that is lingering. But I've also seen her be dominant back at the back (like she was in the game against Oregon State and Jodie Taylor last week). So I don't mean to say that she's not a good player... she is. She's terrific.

What you outlined (players dribbing into double teams, making bad decisions, getting away from the posession game, etc.) sounds like a recipe for a stalled offense.

I'll tell you what, though... the last team in the country I would want to be right now is Kansas. I think the Pilots are going to come out spitting fire this Friday!

I'm new to this forum, but since I was at the games in Seattle I just wanted to get my $.02 worth in.

I agree it is way too early to be concerned about how the team is playing in it's first few non-league games. That is why you play these games, to give players time to play together, to try different lineups, work out strategies that will work best for personnel on the team. It's the league games that count. The coaching staff always does a great job of having the team clicking by the time the league games start.

One thing to note about the Purdue game was that the officiating left a lot to be desired. It is not the reason the Pilots lost, but it is the reason Rachel and Ms. Blockton from Purdue got into a scuffle. The officials were very reluctant to blow their whistles in the first half. Like may teams the UP competes against, Purdue tried to knock the team off it's game by playing extremely physically. Normally a certain number of the overly physical plays would result in foul calls. In this game that was not the case. I was in the stands with friends who are UW fans and they were appalled at the poor officiating on their home field. Apparently Rachel decided to give as good as she was receiving and Ms Blockton was not as adept at playing on as the Pilots are. She came up swinging. The officials finally came to realize that they had lost control of the game and thereafter called a foul on almost any bump no matter how incidental in an attempt to regain control.

Looking forward to the games this weekend

Welcome A_Fan!!!

It's always frustrating when the officials lose control like that. Of course it's not the reason UP lost, but when a game is totally inconsistently called it can throw a team out of their rhythm and really interrupt the flow of play. Then that leads to frustration and mistakes... it's kind of a cummulative effect.

Actually, I thought the officials allowed OSU/UP game to get pretty physical, but they called it pretty consistent all game so I guess you can't complain. Still, it's annoying when a less-talented team reverts to bullying to try and compete.

Too early to panic? Have you seen Tottenham fans this season? (Or the directors of Tottenham to be precise.) If anything, I've been sluggish when it comes to panicking!

I kid of course. It's fun to finally get to discuss the Pilots, forgive me when I get a little dramatic.

Just so you guys know, I heard that Rachel Rapinoe tore her ACL. Not good news.

UGH. Here's praying it's not true.