Pilots 4, USD 0

Wow. Just wow... i listened on line... what a game! I will be anxious to hear the thoughts of those in attendance... it sounded like a complete thrashing of the #11 Toreros...

A big win on national television to improve our playoff resume!!!

In the seventh minute Michelle Enyeart took the ball at midfield, dribbled around everybody and scored. The game was never in doubt after that.

While I missed almost the whole game I did see that enyeart goal and it was simply beautiful. She took on one defender and absolutely schooled her then put the ball in the perfect place on goal. It was great.

That was about as dominant a victory as I've seen from a Pilot squad - against this level of opposition no less. This was the first time I have gotten to see Schmidt play; I was very impressed with her physical style of play and the composure with which she received passes. The crowd was a little more sparse than I had hoped, especially the student section. Hopefully with the sellout Sunday we can really make some noise.

i watched the game at home on Fox Soccer. it was a good game to watch. the pilots dominated the entire game. harryb is right, after enyeart's goal the pilots never looked back.

on a sidenote, there were 3 shots that deflected off the goalpost tonight, 2 for us and 1 for USD.

Wow. Just wow... i listened on line... what a game! I will be anxious to hear the thoughts of those in attendance... it sounded like a complete thrashing of the #11 Toreros...

I was a complete thrashing.


I'll have to say that Enyeart's goal was pretty amazing. she got the ball beyond midfield, beat two players, split two defenders at the edge of the box, then juked another defender and beat the keeper. It can go on a highlight reel with the supergoals by Maradonna and Messi.

Somebody has to get that on youtube so I can see it again.

Even before the first goal, there wasn't much doubt as to the outcome. We were beating them to all the balls in the midfield, and the main concern was setting up the next scoring chance. . Great games by the entire team, starters and those that came in off the bench. there was no time when I thought they got the better of the run of play--total dominance, best game they played all year that I saw.

Some impressions:

Keelin Winters looks very comfortable in the middle. Now All her tentativeness is gone. She's just dominant. A worthy successor to Sari and Barr.

Lopez is playing like the game is in slow motion. She sees stuff before anyone else, is totally impervious to any pressure, and does more at walking pace that everyone else at full speed.

Ellie Reed is looking better. She's finally getting the idea she doesn't have to do it all, and she'll get the ball back if she dishes it.


For those of you wondering if Sophie is quick enough to play up top----Any other questions?

She was great at taking pressure and dishing, holding the ball to allow othersfrward, she was beating her defender with physical pressence--exactly what we needed. Oh yeah-- she's a pretty good target, too.

No question, though--Angie holds the whole middle together. I hope we get playoff games,because I'm not tired of watching her.

The opposing coach was pretty pissed after the game, yelling at his players that they weren't getting off the field fast enough.

coach--- that was more or less the problem you should have addressed During the game..


well, with the Santa Clara loss, we can lose a game and still get the conference bid. Maybe Gonzaga still has achance for a bid--we need that.

In addition to Santa Clara's loss to Gonzaga, Wake Forest beat Florida State tonight 3-2
That probably adversely affects our RPI, but I think it helps us in getting one of the seeded spots in the tournament.

I'm not sure if the Santa clara loss will be good or bad for our RPI. Santa Clara's went down, but Gonzaga's just went up.

Assuming we beat SCU, I think it is a wash... it is the OOC opponents who can really effect the RPI now.

i was at the game as well, an for the most part i was very pleased with what i saw. the girls are coming together since steph an soph have returned. buuuuut, i am still a bit concerned with the lapses on the d line. san diego had a couple of legitimate chances to be tied with the girls in the first half, including a shot that hit the post.
i know i probably sound negative, but im just trying to be realistic. i recognize eli's gift an potential, but she tries to do too much by herself an seems reluctant to dish the ball off to players who have space.
i am looking forward to the game sunday with santa clara. oh, by the way, if any of you haven't noticed, as much as i love angie, i think i am falling in love with keelin just as much!!!

The UP defense does extend itself a bit, but I think they covered up pretty well.

By pushing forward so much, you are bound to give up a couple of tries.
The SD total, however was 4 shots with 1 on frame, 1 at the pipe and two duds.

pretty good tradeoff for keeping the ball in their end all night and a Lopez goal, I'd say.

Kelsey looked a bit bored out there, really

I agree that Elli may be doing too much herself . . .I wonder what she brings to the pitch that Chandoke would not?

San Diego is a nationally ranked team; they earned that stature so it's no surprise that they had some offensive ability. They were fast upfront and created some space and pressure and a couple of chances in the first half. They hit the post on one shot, but that was it for the game and they were nowhere on offense in the second half - even when Portland had everyone off the bench.

The Pilots played well. They always start the season slowly because of the style of soccer they play. Unlike teams like the US national team - goodbye Greg Ryan - who play a physical "hit it upfield and hope Abby Wambach can knock you over" style, UP plays with pace and patience, with skill and possession, and lot of one- and two-touch play. In the early games they are still looking for the timing and understanding to make this flow consistently. This year that process was made more challenging by the major injuries to Rapinoes and minor injuries to others - plus the WC absence of Schmidt and Lopez.

Last night we saw a team more on it's game. The defense is set: Tsao, Michaleson, Kronkrite, Lopez. Tsao has settled down and played almost error free inthe last couple of games I've seen: the other three are seniors and know exactly what they are doing. Watching the evolution of Emily Michaelson from a scared freshman to a commanding senior has been a joy.

Winters has played herself into the hodling midfield spot: she wins lots of tackles and headers and does the simple stuff conssitently. Woznuk is an All American star - nuff said. Budge has started all but 2 or 3 games in 4 years on good teams and runs and tackles and shoots and crosses and ....; Reed is fast, skillful, has some Woznuk moments and some exasperating freshman moments. Schmidt is strong, skillful, aggressive, a great target, and has played 6 games as a forward in the past 10 years - so the great news is she's still improving. Enyeart has pace and skill and lots assists (so she's unselfish) and a great eye for goal. Chandhoke scores 4 goals on Sunday and her reward is to sit onthe bench for an hour last night - and there's no argument aboutit after watching Enyeart and Schmidt.

We've got two keepers and some very solid players on the bench.

Bring on Sunday and the rest of the season!

Oh man... that game was just an absolute thrashing. Enyeart dominated that game - easily could have had two more goals. I loved when she caught the USD defense napping and stole that pass back to the goalie - brought back memories of Christine. Unfortunately she was just unlucky with the bounce on her shot. She had another breakaway that just missed as well, and also could have had an assist when she sent a cross in to Sophie who had an open goal but headed it over the bar. There was no one on San Diego that could match her speed.

And how about Lopez? Check out this stat from the game recap: "The Pilots are now 5-0 in matches that Lopez has started with an 18-1 scoring edge and four shutouts." Hmm... think getting her back hasn't made a huge difference?

But really the story was the midfield... Woznuk and Winters just abused them inside. To me, it seemed like San Diego made the critical error of giving the Pilots space and allowing us to play our game. This was the first time in a long time I've seen a game where the other team didn't try to get physical with us or pack the box or slow it down... it was a treat, really, to watch the Pilots do what they do best. There were hardly any fouls too, which was a change from the way other teams often play us.

I'm sure USD went into it thinking that they could hang with us and be able to play their style too, but really it became clear in the first five minutes that UP was just far and away the superior team. It was almost painful to watch us put on a clinic like that to the No. 11 team in the country - the San Diego coach was absolutely livid on the sideline, and apparantly anyone who was walking anywhere near the USD locker room at halftime heard a long string of profanities... you could even hear him from outside. When that happens, you know you're doing something right, right?

I think Elli is improving for sure... one thing I noticed that might explain why she holds on to the ball longer than might seem normal - a lot of times she gets down the field so quickly when people send her the through balls that no one is home for her to cross it to. So that forcers her wait and allows an extra defender to come over sometimes. That happened at least once yesterday... I'm sure she would have sent it into the box if there were someone to pass it to.

Got to be honest... after a performance like that, it's hard not to think about November. Goooooo Pilots!

I am almost speechless after witnessing last night's game. (I said almost. You're not going to get off that easily)! It was the most completely dominating Pilot performance I've seen since the 2005 national championship team steamrollered their way to the title.

Complete and almost absolute dominance in ALL areas of play. There are never any guarantees, but as of now there is no question in my mind that these Pilots are a very legitimate national championship contender. We simply had the look of a championship team last night.

I could go into individual accolades. However, I don't want to be writing this post all day. I could go on and on. But the posters before me have done an excellent job of explaining what happened last night.

In general, I thought we were much faster and quicker than they were. Perhaps they had an off night. No matter. I don't recall a Pilot game where our defense was in the middle of the field for most of the match. kinda scratchin' my head over that...

Just wanted to add: The way the Pilots thoroughly dominated the Toreros Thursday night was a perfect example of the signature that appears at the bottom of my every post..."Champions NEVER lift their foot off an opponent's throat...". Thursday's win was the essence of what I mean by that statement.

It may not be an original statement, but it sums up what I have come to believe after watching sports since I was about six years old.