St. Mary's & San Francisco

SoreKnees wrote:Both teams seem to have held good teams to low scores, so I wonder if they play pack-the-box defense.

Anyone have any info about these teams?

From Kai Edwards, head coach of the St. Mary's women's team (on smcgaels.com):

We do a good job at doing the little things right. Noelle and Larson have done a very good job at leading the young bucks in the back. Kruez has stepped up in her center back role, but one our biggest strengths is, instead of flat out defending those teams, we’re trying to attack them, keep possession, and go for the win. By doing that, it allows us to keep them away from our goal for longer periods of time. Minus a couple games, we have not just sat there and absorbed the teams, and if we have, it wasn’t on purpose.

Here is St Mary's record so far:

Date Match Opp. Record Result
8/21/2009 at. Pacific 9-4-2 W 1-0
8/28/2009 at. Denver 11-5-1 L 1-2
8/30/2009 vs. #Colorado 8-7-0 L 1-8
9/4/2009 vs. #Texas 7-7-2 W 2-1
9/6/2009 vs. Texas A&M 10-5-1 L 1-2
9/11/2009 vs. SMU 5-9-1 W 3-2
9/13/2009 vs. Portland St. 8-6-2 W 2-1
9/18/2009 vs. California 8-5-1 L 1-4
9/20/2009 vs. UNLV 5-6-5 W 1-0
9/24/2009 vs. Nevada 5-11-0 W 4-2
9/27/2009 vs. Stanford 15-0-0 L 0-1
9/30/2009 vs. Fresno St. 5-10-0 W 2-1
10/2/2009 at. UC Davis 6-7-1 W 2-1
10/11/2009 at. *San Francisco 4-3-5 L 1-2
10/16/2009 vs. *San Diego 8-5-2 W 2-1
10/18/2009 vs. *Santa Clara 10-5-1 L 1-2

From the stats, it looked like SMC was not totally overmatched in their game against Stanford:

• score: 1-0 Stanford
• shots (on goal): 17(6)-9(3) Stanford
• Corners: 6-2 Stanford

Stanford scored in the 59th minute, and earned a red card in the 74th.

Would "Kruez" be Carolyn Kreuz misspelled? Kendall's teammate and good friend of many years, on the twice-champion Lincoln team. It kind of rings a bell that she went to St Marys.

dwm wrote:Would "Kruez" be Carolyn Kreuz misspelled? Kendall's teammate and good friend of many years, on the twice-champion Lincoln team. It kind of rings a bell that she went to St Marys.

Indeed it would be, or so the power of the internet tells me.

St. Mary's has "young bucks in the back"? Better get them a chromosome test, coach. The weather looks wet and icky tonight so I hope the soccer will be good nonetheless.

Bucks, Does - whatever - bring 'em on!!

purple haze wrote:The weather looks wet and icky tonight so I hope the soccer will be good nonetheless.

Weather, what weather? I just want a win!

It never rains in Merlo Field.

Or am I thinking of somewhere else?

Final score: UP 5 - 1 SMC.

Nice win over a good Gael team.

Yes, another good performance with lots of good finishing. The Pilots had 22 shots and they were getting them in bunches. There were plenty of times they could have had one or two more but the ball was deflected or cleared.

I would say Sophie's ~25-30 yard rocket is probably my favorite this year. It literally came right after a Gael tried a long-range shot that went straight to Kelsey. It's almost as if Sophie was saying, "No, no, no--here's how you launch one."

I never really paid attention to the tactics and strategy when I was in school. I've only really been studying the game since I started watching again last year. Each time I try to pick out at least one thing I notice about the game. If I'm wrong here, just put up a "you're doing it wrong" image. I won't take offense.

With that, tonight one player who stood out to me was Kendall. From what I saw she is very good at getting deep down her side, then still putting in a good cross even with--in most cases--more than one defender closing in on her. She's really a key part of the attack.

Kind of along those lines: I just read about a term the Italians have for an attacking position called the trequartista (three-quarter), who plays on the edge of the penalty area. It sounds a lot like what Kendall does. BTW, if anyone's wondering, she was legitimately tripped to draw the penalty early in the 2d half.

I'll echo the kudos for Kendall--outstanding game. She had some nice moves, showed better speed than I realized she had (or was SMC just slow?), and played with tons of energy, passion and confidence. As mentioned above, she also did a good job with crosses. She also continues to improve in communication/combinations with her teammates, particularly with Elli and Sophie.

There are certain players throughout Pilot history that brought a sense of anticipation/excitement whenever they have the ball at their feet--Enyeart and Millbrett come to mind. Kendall showed some of that tonight.

I also continue to be pleased with the solid defensive work of Kristen Kelly.

I suppose others noticed this as well, but the Pilots played 22 players tonight (all but Cloee, who is presumably still recovering). The 11 in at the end of the game were the 11 who did not start.

eProf wrote: I also continue to be pleased with the solid defensive work of Kristen Kelly.

I suppose others noticed this as well, but the Pilots played 22 players tonight (all but Cloee, who is presumably still recovering). The 11 in at the end of the game were the 11 who did not start.

I forgot about her, but yes, we are not as deep at center back right now and Kelly is really helping out with her good work back there. I love how deep this team is.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

eProf wrote: I also continue to be pleased with the solid defensive work of Kristen Kelly.

I suppose others noticed this as well, but the Pilots played 22 players tonight (all but Cloee, who is presumably still recovering). The 11 in at the end of the game were the 11 who did not start.

I forgot about her, but yes, we are not as deep at center back right now and Kelly is really helping out with her good work back there. I love how deep this team is.

Kelly is playing really well right now. Michelle O and Kassi both had some good minutes in the back, as did Molly Klier at the back and outside. Sweeney played well, too. I think we will perhaps be stronger in the back at the end of the season than we have been for most of the year. Let's hope the improvement continues.

Up front, I don't think anybody can touch us right now when we have our starters in. The speed is too quick and passing is too crisp for most teams to hang with. Even the reserves are outplaying everybody in conference so far.

You get the feeling they could score every time they get in the box. Today even that wasn't necessary, as Sophie demonstrated.

Did anybody else think of Justi B on Sophie's goal. I'm seem to remember Justi making a lot of goals from that same area.

Pilots were impressive last night in so many ways. It's sometimes hard to know how much is good Pilots or weak opposition, but St. Mary's held Stanford to 1-0 and has an RPI around 50 so they're not too bad. And the Pilots just dominated them completely and played much of the second half with back up players, ending (as has been noted) with 11 players on the field who did not start.

My favorite moment of the game was Kendra's goal because it featured wonderful combination between Jessica and Kendra and you could see it unfold so well.

Upfront Danielle and Michelle are combining so well. DF has always been a clinical scorer but her game has expanded this year and she is more effective coming deeper and laying the ball off to a teammate. Her penalty was the clinical finsher; her assist to Michelle E was a very well played cushion layoff in the box that compleely opened it up for ME to finish. Enyeart is just fast: and the rest of her game flows from there. She puts pressure ont he defense and opens up the field for her team. The GK made two big blocks on one on ones yesterday when ME was through.

Sophie and Keelin are rocks in the middle: both have the great quality of doing all of the basics very well. They make it look much more simple than it really is and create space and time for the team on offense and knock down anything moves on defense. UP's Ken-Ken threat out wide is very real too. Kendall and Kendra are both fast and both play d with a passion. Kendall is still learning what the D1 game is about but picking it up fast; and Kendra is back to the form that made her a top 25 prospect out of high school. She covers more ground at pace than any player on the team. She took her goal very well and had a magnificent power header scrambled off the line in the second half by a defender who was in the right place but knew nothing about the ball that hit her until it bounced down in front of her.

As Garrett observed last night after the game, Jessica and Elli have some speed too! Both are tough on d and can come forward with alacrity. Megan and Kristen have done very very well in center d and UP has lost nothing in htese conference games with those two in the middle.

Kelsey was solid and mostly untroubled in her 45 minutes.

Gradual introduction of 11 other players in second half, which is great because: a. the others get to play; and b. the starters get to rest up for Sunday and don't have to play two hard games in one weekend, both off which should help come playoff time.

Nice to see Michelle O get in 45 minutes. She is another who makes the basic stuff look routine, and who takes the center d up another level when she is in there. Her time at holdiong mid also shows off her passing skills which are better than most who play center d.

Hallie K has been fun to watch. Great athlete coming in last year; and you can see her learning how to play at top level as she gets more and more time.

I also like to look of Molly Klier and Brooke taylor. BT brings lots of energy and commitment, and MK looks very solid at the back and comfortable on the ball.

Shout out too for Charney who is always sharp on the ball in the middle of the park and settles the team down, is open for the asy pass, and keeps the rythym ticking.

This team is fun to watch.

Thanks for the updates, everyone. I'm anxious to see Cloe's return, but, obviously it would be a mistake to rush that. I agree that our defense might be better than in years past by the end of the season. Overall, I think we're in good shape. My only concern about this team is that without a top 5 calibur team on the schedule during the regular season, we really have no idea how well our midfield will compete against other top clubs like Stanford, UNC, UCLA, Notre Dame, etc. The performance of the mid-field was definitely key in our national championship seasons...

Random question:

Who is our most improved player this year?

athleticjames wrote:
Who is our most improved player this year?

Several candidates, but I'll go with Kelly for now. She doesn't create a big scene around her, but just plays a very steady and efficient central defense.

Harry Redknapp wrote: UP's Ken-Ken threat out wide is very real too. Kendall and Kendra are both fast and both play d with a passion.

I like the "Ken-Ken" coinage. I think it will stick.

onetouchfutbol wrote: My only concern about this team is that without a top 5 calibur team on the schedule during the regular season, we really have no idea how well our midfield will compete against other top clubs like Stanford, UNC, UCLA, Notre Dame, etc. The performance of the mid-field was definitely key in our national championship seasons...?

That's the concern

It was a concern for me after the A&M game when the whole team looked to be a step slow. It is no longer. They have really stepped up their game and their competitive nature is showing through. Listening to Kendra's interview after the game it was apparent that giving up a single goal was a real disappointment to them. This team can compete with anyone and if there is a better midfield in the collegiate ranks right now I'd be amazed.

I'm more concerned about the middle of the defense in the playoffs. I am very impressed with the job that Kristen and Megan have done in the past few weeks. But can't help feeling that they'll need Michelle O and Cloee back and healthy if we're going to see them take on Stanford and UNC successfully.

I really do not mean to speak ill of Kristen and Megan but the level of competition is going to step up dramatically in a few weeks time.