Oregon State Match

It will be really interesting to see what Garrett does with that back line when all healthy. Who plays wide on the left? Kassie? How well will she do coming up into the attack? Does MO come up to holding mid in spurts allowing us to get Keelin to attacking mid? Just interesting to look at possibilities.

Aleppiek wrote:

Discuss amongst yourselves.....

I think we'll have the Beavers defense sayin to themselves...."I'm all faklempt"!!!

....4-0 Pilots

GO PILOTS!!!

Well played Phantom

Links:

UP Free Audio.

Livestats.

Pilot Nation Chatbox. (A great place to discuss the game in real-time with other Pilot Fans... after clicking the link, click on "Log In" in the upper right corner and make sure "Auto Refresh" is checked.)


GO PILOTS! Beat OSU!

Except for the impact of injuries, the line up tonight is of more meaning than the way they came out against SMU, IMHO.

Cloee, Elli and Keelin out of action would be a big freakin' deal.

By my estimations the game should be going on right now and approaching half. There doesn't appear to be anyone in the chat box. Anyone know how it is going?

I don't know if anyone needs the update, but it seems to be 0-0 with about 4 minutes left til half.

GO PILOTS!!! Hopefully we come out strong in the second half (like against SMU)!

Pilots are up 1-0 in the 2nd half... goal from Charney with an assist from both Michelle and Kendra...

Thanks Smiley! I was just about to post a 1-0 update, but I didn't know who scored it; you're clearly more informed than I am.

How about an insurance goal? 2?

VICTORY! I'm assuming a 1-0 victory but I have confirmed victory and that is the important part.

You got it right, Portland 1-0 OSU. A very good crowd tonight, including a big student section.

No Cloee, but Elli started at left back and Keelin was at midfielder (was she ever!).

I have to say, OSU is a good team and was solid in their defensive style. I did think they were a little quick to just knock the ball into touch when they saw the Pilot pressure coming. Against a team that holds onto the ball as well as the Pilots can that can make for a tough night. There were long stretches of the Pilots holding the ball and passing to each other, but OSU was able to keep things reasonably under control in their own end.

We had about 3-4 balls off the post in the first half and one goal ruled offside. Lots of scoring chances, but as the game went on it seemed as though the shots came from farther out. You let Enyeart run down the side of the penalty area and get off a shot/cross one too many times, though, and someone is going to collect the ball and knock it in. That's what it looked like behind the opposite goal, to me.

As I mentioned earlier, Winters was at her usual position and had a huge night winning tons of balls. I'd give her a game ball.

Pilots dominated the attacks/game, had some good chances...but just couldn't finish them tonight.

Agree with you PPT....Kudos to OSU! I liked their effort and style. Much, much improved team. Linus and staff have really done a great job. They move the ball really well. Nice switches. They are well coached and have validated their Top 20 ranking in my mind. The Beavers will do well this season. Despite the low score, it was an entertaining match.

GO PILOTS!!!

OK, Show of hands.

Who wants Charney to stop shooting, now?

Geezaldinho wrote:OK, Show of hands.

Who wants Charney to stop shooting, now?

Pretty high percentage tonight.

It was a good crowd, 4,238.

And, to answer the question of the day, yes, Sophie did play attacking mid and Michelle did play forward. For defensive reasons, I like this better. It gives Sophie more of a defensive presence. I also like what this did for our right side offensive play -- Michelle and Kendra had a field day in the right side attacking third of the field.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:And, to answer the question of the day, yes, Sophie did play attacking mid and Michelle did play forward. For defensive reasons, I like this better. It gives Sophie more of a defensive presence. I also like what this did for our right side offensive play -- Michelle and Kendra had a field day in the right side attacking third of the field.

Actually, I thought both sides had a field day. In the first half, Kendall and Elli were also combining very well, and several of those early shots were set up from the left. It's nice to have a more balanced attack than we have had.

Keelin was a rock in the middle, and I don't think Olivier lost a a single challenge all night. It was a really pretty spectacular performance by her.

Geezaldinho wrote:

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:And, to answer the question of the day, yes, Sophie did play attacking mid and Michelle did play forward. For defensive reasons, I like this better. It gives Sophie more of a defensive presence. I also like what this did for our right side offensive play -- Michelle and Kendra had a field day in the right side attacking third of the field.

Actually, I thought both sides had a field day. In the first half, Kendall and Elli were also combining very well, and several of those early shots were set up from the left. It's nice to have a more balanced attack than we have had.

Keelin was a rock in the middle, and I don't think Olivier lost a a single challenge all night. It was a really pretty spectacular performance by her.

As for the outside backs, Tsao made a few good runs and bent a shot just outside the post.

Add Sophie to Keelin and the center backs and the Pilots have the middle of the field locked down. I love it.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

Pretty high percentage tonight.

It was a good crowd, 4,238.

It is pretty impressive

Also impressive is that the four home games have had an attendance of 15,868, which averages to 3,967.

If this keeps up we could be on our way to a new NCAA record.

We could hit 50K or more.

Pilots started well and played with poise, control, and a great offensive flow. Totally dominated for about 25 minutes but goals did not come. OSU GK made several excellent saves. Some times stats are deceptive: no chance shot from outside the box floats harmlessly to GK and it's a SOG and a save. More of a "catch" than a "save". Kelsey really only had "catches" even if some were hit hard. OSU GK saved a bunch of goals, blocking shots with legs, arms and anything she could get in the way and diving to push balls round and onto the post. Most if not all of her 6 saves could have been goals.

But a goal did not come and OSU got into the game a little more; and, I think the Pilots got a little anxious and pushed a little harder and lost some of the patience and composure that we see when they are at their best. And the crowd grew a little frustrated.

Telling for me that Garrett, after the game, was calm and easy on the team. Pointed out that it seemd like OSU had moe than one keeper, that UP had good shots, and that they just didn't go in. In his talk to players he was clearly not giving them a hard time and seemed satisfied with performance.

UP used only 12 players all game.

Kelsey was, as I said earlier, mostly untroubled.

Jess and Elli played outside defence and had strong games, got forward plenty to good effect; although in the first half there were several occasions where Elli did not get the ball after she had surged forward. Michelle O was very strong at the back. Megan S played in the middle again and gave total commitment as always.

Keelin was a rock at holding mid and had a battle with her opposite number. Kendra was huge again covering lots and lots of space. She put the ball in mid first half but was ruled out for offisdes: we could not see it from our vantage point but it seemed like there were a lot of OSU players back. Kendall played 30 minutes wide left to good effect, although not quite as strongly as in earlier games. Might have been reflection of OSU pressure. She had a second spell later in the game playing up front for Dani, and had one screamer of a left foot shot very well saved by GK.

Michele, Sophie and Dani all played well - although Dani would love to have a chance from second half back when she made space so well but curled a left foot shot slightly high and wide when the goal was at her mercy from about 15 yards. Thought she played unselfishly, passing well and making opportunities for her team mates.

I have to say I am not a fan of the switch of Sophie and Michelle E. I like Sophie's ability as a target up front and think that UP missed that last night especially in the second half when they struggled to hold possession some times. I think Michelle's pace is even more telling from slightly deeper positions.

Charney was the one sub and played for about 60 minutes. She scored the goal very well; and I was OK with her taking some shots from outside the box.

It would have been easier on the nerves if the margin of victory was greater than 1 but a good win all the same.

Great to have UO and OSU building strong programs.

I think I saw our partner for the playoff grouping last night. Surprise!! IMHO...The Beavers were the best team I've seen at Merlo this season. Will keep an eye on UW, UO and Gonzaga....but...I think OSU has a good chance to get in if they continue to maintain that level of performance through the rest of their Pac-10 schedule. They had a good feel and flow for each other out there. Nice possession runs. Also used the whole field as needed. I thought they executed well.

GO PILOTS!!!

GUPhantom wrote:I think I saw our partner for the playoff grouping last night. Surprise!! IMHO...The Beavers were the best team I've seen at Merlo this season. Will keep an eye on UW, UO and Gonzaga....but...I think OSU has a good chance to get in if they continue to maintain that level of performance through the rest of their Pac-10 schedule. They had a good feel and flow for each other out there. Nice possession runs. Also used the whole field as needed. I thought they executed well.

GO PILOTS!!!

Hate to be a killjoy.

OSU will only be a first/second round tournament partner if they aren't themselves seeded. That's the perverse part of the travel rule. They have to be good, but not too good.

Oh, I'm all for Charney scoring the way she did. That was a real laser from distance, what 5 feet. She didn't have a shot from distance that was on goal that I recall so, No, I don't want her taking shots from distance unless the shot is driven and on goal. Anything else is a waste of the team's efforts and too easy for the keeper to save. The one time I thought she was right in taking an outside shot was the rebound on the corner that came to her. She had time and space and the shot was driven, just not on goal. As for the switch of Michelle and Sophie, it's probably going to be the best move for the team if they want to compete with the North Carolina's, UCLA's, Stanford's and other top teams. The goal against OSU was created because Michelle had the speed to turn the corner and slot a ball across the goal mouth. With Sophie and Keelin in the middle the Pilots should have almost total control but I think Sophie was under utilized last night. I would like to see the ball go through her more because she is such a great distributer and able to join the attack. What the Pilots really need is either Kassie or Cloee to return and shore up the defensive middle so Meagan can return to outside back where she is so good. My only other change would be to try and work Kendall in at forward with Michelle. Although she isn't as technical as Danielle at this point, she is faster, more willing to play defense and more team oriented offensively, so that will probably be her future position.

Bear in mind that OSU is blessed with a conference line up that includes Stanford, UCLA, and Cal; not to mention USC, UO, UW; and we haven't seen WSU yet. They will have to do very well to win enough of those games to get a seed IMHO.

They were good last night but were only a few bounces and a sharper finish or two away from a 4-0 defeat.

Bluffer,

Sorry to let facts intrude upon the discussion but per the UP website Charney's goal was "lower left corner, 12 yds". 36 feet - 5 feet, who's counting right? And several of her team mates missed chances from thast distance last night. In a 1-0 game I'm going to be pretty happy with the scorer of the only goal.

As for Danielle, you've already made it very clear you think she is selfish and does not pass enough. I watched the game with that in mind last night and saw exactly the opposite. I thought she palyed very much in the team mode; with Sophie in midfield, Danielle was often the forward with back to goal dropping to provide an outlet for the midfield to play the ball up to and laying it off for supporting runners. Guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

Do agree that Kendall can make a contribution up front. Also agree that it would be a good thing overall if Cloee was back, and hope that Kassi can be healthy enough to play at level she was last year. If one of them plays it will be interesting to see if Megan or Elli plays at the back, or if Elli goes back to midfield. Time will tell.