Starting lineup for Zags next Saturday night?

Never too early to speculate on the Pilots next game. And make no mistake, every WCC game is huge. Win the conference outright and we're seeded automatically. (Correct me if I get any of this wrong, any of you with better knowledge of the NCAA tourney than me).

If we do not win the conference title, we would need an at large berth. And would probably have at least 4 or 5 total losses. (We have 3 already). That puts us at the mercy of the NCAA - not a position I would like us to be in. We want to control our own destiny. That gives you the best shot at home games in the playoffs and an air of confidence regardless of where you play.

With Stephanie starting at left back against the Ducks, that left Michele Scifo as the odd player out. (Not a bad sub - Michele Scifo)!

With a good bit of practice coming this week, I would assume Sophie will start at "center-forward" next Saturday. (That's what the phantom called her position against the Ducks in an earlier post. I am guessing we were playing a 4-3-3 at that time. Is that correct phantom)?

So, should that be the case, what will the starting lineup be in the first really big game this season at Merlo on Saturday? Who will sit that started against Oregon?

Regardless, we're going to have a much more potent offensive attack, led by Woz and Sophie, with a back line anchored by one of the most gifted and soccer-smart players in the country at any level (Steph). And our bench is growing deeper and more experienced.

After 11 games, the freshmen that have played regularly are no longer rookies. They're battle-tested and ready for Primetime.

Let the roller-coaster ride begin...

If I had to guess I'd say the starting line up for show time appears to be:

Davis; Tsao, Michaelson, Cronkrite, Lopez; Reed, Winters, Woznuk, Budge; Schmidt, Enyeart.

Assumes the Schmidt idea stays, and last night it worked wonderfully.

My one concern is right defense. I'm just not comfortable with Tsao there. She made a couple of dubious plays last night that put UP under pressure in needless ways. Seems like Garrett prefers her to Scifo but I don't see it.

FANatic,

just because we win the conference , doesn't mean we are guaranteed a seed. The NCAA is much more Byzantine than that. It just means we are guaranteed a spot in the tournament. Beyond that, it doesn't guarantee much of anything.

There are 16 seeds in the 64 team field, everyone else is allegedly unseeded, though the distribution of games in the past seems to indicate otherwise.


We have also fallen victim to the 300 mile (now 350 mile) rule. It apparently trumps all seeding to save travel money.

I've also seen years when the conference champ gets a lower seed than a team they beat.

The 350 mile rule is so shortsighted. Send teams to Omaha where 200 people come to watch; or, send them to Portland where we can sell out 4,900 tickets in 5 minutes.

Heck, Mt. Tabor SC sold 1,000 tickets for the Gonzaga game and Laurelhurst SC sold out 500 for the Santa Clara game.

Surely the economics of higher tickets sales out to factor in?

Surely the economics of higher tickets sales out to factor in?

Nah.

The NCAA isn't that smart.

Besides, The BCS schools would never go for it. They like things as they are now.
How do you think Penn State and Notre Dame would like it if they had to come to little UP every year?

Hey FANatic.....I didn't pay attention to the formations Garrett had the team in last night. Once the kickoff starts, its difficult to follow what formation the girls are in. Our style of play is sorta nebulous when it comes to formations...particularly on the offensive side. Our forwards and midfielders are difficult to track. They meld into each other. Kinda freestyle upfront. All I can say about Sophie is she spent a lot of time up front... and in the middle of the box...hence my description of center-forward.

I have the same feelings about the starting lineup....its going to be nebulous and change week to week. Health, Rest, Game Situations and Player-Opposition matchups is going to dictate who starts. The one thing we can predict for sure this season is anyone who's available and ready...will have an opportunity to play. PT won't be a rare commodity. Everyone on the team will get their fair share. After the starting 11...we simply don't have the numbers on the bench.

Which brings me back to the Ducks. How many players is a team allowed to have on its roster? The Ducks had so many players suited up. The Pilot bench was so visibly scant compare to theirs. Is it UP or the NCAA that limits the number of players you can have? Is there a scholarship limit per sport?

One more thing to note about the Duck game. They were very emotionally invested in trying to win the game last night. It was obviously a significant game for them. I mean...their players on the bench STOOD UP for the whole game...trying to encourage their teammates on the pitch to keep playing hard. I didn't see any of them sit down for a minute! I thought they would sit after the first goal....welll...maybe after the second one....third one???....fourth??? That's why I was surprised Tara ripped into them afterwards about their efforts. She may be more familiar with her team's mindset or perceived lack of effort....but I think the Pilots had more to do with that than anything else. Our world-class caliber of play ripped their hearts ripped out.

Which brings me back to the Ducks. How many players is a team allowed to have on its roster?

You can have any number of players. It's scholarships that are limited. You are allotted 15 scholarships in women's soccer, and you can split up the money among as many players as you want--or can talk players into accepting.

The Ducks list 26 or 27 players on their roster. Are you sure some of those people standing by the bench weren't their players fron 1980 and 1981?

It was a special night to honor those teams. Apparently, they won a couple league championships--then the team was disbanded.

Thanks for the input Geezer. Its good to have you around as a resource for all the administrative details and what nots. Most of us would succumb trying to understand and interpret the NCAA's rules, regulations and codes. Can you say IRS?

I'm pretty sure all the "young ladies" standing across the field on the Ducks sidelines were from the current 2007 team. It was a marked contrast numberwise compared to Pilot's bench just beside them.

Where we at currently? We have 22 listed on our roster...(but minus 4 more or less)...2 Rapinoes, Sweeney and Nicholson, right? Before Lopez and Schmidt returned from the WC, our lowest number of available players was 16. Whew!

Anyway...the 80-81 team members came out from the main stands to gather for their recognition at halftime. Lets just they were easier to pick out from the current team members.

Lets just they were easier to pick out from the current team members.

yeah, well, we're all getting um... "recognizable"

UP started the season with 22 on the roster but:

Megan is out for the season
Rachel is out for the season
Katie Brown quit
Megan Sweeney is out indefinitely
Korie Nicholson has shin splints

So we have 17 players if everyone else is fit, now that Stephanie Lopez and Sophie Schmidt are back, and assuming that Korie N is still not able to play.

Good job that we had a strong recruiting class: Reed, Winters, Tsao, Jackman, Kelly, DeYoung ... with Schmidt as a redshirt freshman. This class could be the core of the team for the next four years.

Go Pilots!

Great detail on last post, MJ. Good, thorough summary and inclusion of K. Brown on list of players on original 2007 roster now either gone for season or out injured indefinitely.

Also appreciate geezer and phamtom's thoughts and insight on your posts in this topic and others.

And thanks everyone else for your feedback on my recent topics. I didn't grow up with soccer and I sometimes can't go to as many games as I would like, so this forum has been a revelation to me.

Thanks again and keep it up!!!

I was at the game Friday night too and noticed a couple of things. The whole team played with more confidence with Stephanie on the field. They seemed to be more sure of themselves, more like a team. The second thing was the move of Sophie to forward. This opens up the options for the coaching staff. They now have multiple players who are experienced at playing forward or mid (Enyeart, Budge, Schmidt). They all bring different skill sets and abiliities. Scifo can be described as the super sub having played well at forward, mid and defender in her career. It's great having her at the ready to fill in wherever the staff sees a need. Not starting might be frustrating for her, but for the team it is a big plus.

The Pilots traditionally have not had the big rosters that other teams have. It is a plus most years. How do you keep 27 people happy with their playing time? This has been an exceptional year with all the injuries and people who might not be getting much playing time now having to step up and play. Look at Janelle Jacka with 2 goals and playing confidently out there.

I wasn't at the game at UO, but the big thing I heard was that when Sophie was up front, things calmed down a bit. She can receive the ball very well, can distrubute it well, and can keep the ball in the offensive third by using her defensive skills (which is an underrated ability for a striker... if she can keep pressure on the defense and not allow them to clear it away easily, that's huge). Imagine her like a point guard, directing the offense. That's what Rachael Rapinoe was doing before she got injured, and what the team was lacking before Sophie came in and proved she could do it.

I'm sure there will be some growing pains in getting used to a new position, but it sounds to me like the team has found someone who not only has the skill to finish but the ability to calm everyone down and direct the attack. I'm soooo excited for this team now - with Lopez back to anchor the defense and with Sophie helping out on offense, whatever lingering doubts I had have been replaced by optimism. College Cup here we come!!!

Also, it must be mentioned that the excellent play of Keelin Winters has allowed the coaches to experiment with Sophie. Without Keelin stepping up, Sophie would probably have to go into the middle. But with Keelin assuming that role so well, the team has some flexibilty. Got to give kudos to the freshmen but also the coaches for bringing in such talented players.

GO PILOTS!!!

You're absolutely right about Winters. Her strong showing at the holding MF, aka the Sari/Barr position, has allowed coaches to look elsewhere for a spot for Schmidt. Maybe the world cup absences will turn out to be a blessing in the long haul, because it gave others a chance to get minutes. If Schmidt had been here from day one I'm guessing that we'd never have have seen Winters get the minutes to show she could do the job; because Jackman started out in that role and Winters was sub in the first couple of games but played her way into the starting role.

Stonehouse - like where you're going with your comments about Sophie. I too had my lingering doubts, but after one magical night in the fairy tale kingdom of Eugene, led by world-class players' Lopez, Schmidt and Woznuk, suddenly the College Cup seems most definitely within our reach again.

I thought coming into the season that we had a strong and experienced group of senior leaders, and also what Garrett proclaimed as possibly the best freshman class in program history. I had also heard that the new class of players possessed great versatility. I really thought we had a very real opportunity this season to go very deep into the tourney.

I couldn't know we would lose BOTH Rapinoes, but I was concerned about missing Stephanie and Sophie for a good part of the regular season, as well as preseason camp. But I think you hit the mark, Martin Jol, with your comment about the world cup absences giving others a chance for quality playing time. The growth and exceptional ability that Keelin has shown has really opened up Garrett's options. (And as we all know by now, Garrett is one heckuva coach). And with the team's versatility, it opened a big hole for a monster talent like Sophie to play up top for one game, dominate, and help, along with veteran's Steph and Woz, to begin to lead this team back toward the promised land.

So - back to the original topic: the starting lineup for Saturday night. (I realize this isn't a critical argument - just food for thought and something to look forward to this week).

Martin Jol says: "Davis; Tsao, Michaelson, Cronkrite, Lopez; Reed, Winters, Woznuk, Budge; Schmidt, Enyeart." This lineup has Michele Scifo and Kendra Chandhoke coming off the bench. That's a pretty powerful duo of talent coming at the opponent when legs start to get tired or a match-up isn't working.

GUPhantom has a different take on the starters: "....its going to be nebulous and change week to week. Health, Rest, Game Situations and Player-Opposition matchups is going to dictate who starts."

I tend to agree with MJ. However, the Phantom has shown a great feel for the team and soccer knowledge that has been valuable for me. I would never dismiss his ideas and he makes an interesting and quite plausible scenario.

Feel free to throw out your own ideas. It's all in fun!

I think there are ten definites:

GK: Davis (though more first half/second half platoons are possible)
D: Lopez
D: Cronkrite
D: Michaelson
M: Reed
M: Winters
M: Woznuk
M: Budge
F: Enyeart
F: Schmidt

I think the only debate is whether to play Scifo or Tsao at the right back position. Part of me wants to say that Tsao is more versatile hence more valuable off the bench, but then again, Scifo has played all positions in her career as well. I'm guessing that Tsao might get the nod, but I'm not sure. Also, according to the last report I heard about Sweeney (before the UCLA/USC games) it said she was 2-4 weeks away from coming back. Now, maybe she has missed so much time that they will just redshirt her, but if she is ready to go a week from today... it'll be hard to keep her out of the line-up.

So for me, that right back position is the only one that has a lot of room for different possibilities.

Thanks for bringing up Megan Sweeney, Stonehouse, and the possibility of using a redshirt on her. I would guess that if she isn't up to full speed soon, and fit to play tenaciously, as she did last year, the thought process might be "why blow a year of eligibility now?".

She proved last year that she can handle the position for probably all four years of her eligibility. If we get into the middle of the conference season, and she still can't go, why not bring her back next year as a redshirt sophomore? Martin Jol wrote earlier in this topic: "Good job that we had a strong recruiting class: Reed, Winters, Tsao, Jackman, Kelly, DeYoung ... with Schmidt as a redshirt freshman. This class could be the core of the team for the next four years." If Sweeney is redshirted, she adds yet ANOTHER quality player to that class as she would be a redshirt sophomore, as would Sophie Schmidt.

As far as this year, between Scifo and Tsao, we probably have the position covered adequately.

I think when Sweeney is ready to play, she'll play. UP has already suffered pretty big losses with injuries that I don't think Garrett has the luxury of putting a player on the shelf for next year.

There are three parts to the season.:

The non-conference part that just ended and where we get to see where we stand
The conference season, where we have to prove ourselves. and
the tournament, where it all has to hang out.

Each is more important than the last, and each has a smaller margin for error.

At this point, shelving Sweeney would be an admission that there is no hope for parts two and three. The program has gotten to the point where we expect that the tournament will be the culmination of the season. It's the way the coaching staff has focussed since the middle of the Clive era.

On the other hand, if she's not ready to play she won't play, but it won't really be a choice for Garrett. Ya gotta put your best out there.

Very good point, Purplegeezer. Can't argue with that reasoning.

Let's hope Megan S. makes it back in time to help give the Pilots the best possible shot at a National Championship.

Good to see us score a couple goals to put this one away... outshot them 19-3 last I looked at the scoreboard.