Pilots v Syracuse (Sunday)

http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/w-soccer/recaps/090410aaa.html

"Junior captain Kate Deines (Issaquah, Wash.) led the Huskies (3-1) to a huge victory in their 2010 home opener by scoring three of the teams four goals in the 4-0 win over Syracuse (1-2-2) Friday night at Husky Soccer Stadium."

Subject to all the cliches ("take one game at a time", etc.) it looks like it will be another week (Rutgers and Penn State at Merlo) before Pilots face a real challenge. I'm fine with that because I look at the college season as a whole: early games are the time to get the rhythm and flow back, to work on timing, and to give freshmen the chance to adjust to the faster pace and higher rigor of D1.

Pilots then have a tough spell before conference games that will require them to step up to a higher level of performance: Rutgers, Penn State, Texas A&M, Cal, Stanford, Oregon and Washington. We'll have a much better sense of what this team is capable of after that run! If you ordered those opponents differently that could be a title winning playoff sequence!

Then conference. Key phase for execution: no mistakes. Win 'em all to lock in post-season.

Then playoffs and building to a crescendo after the gradual build up of the season.

So tomorrow in Seattle Syracuse have to be respected but I'm looking forward to another chance to see how this 2010 team is building: and, in particular, more looks at Ellen P, Sarah B, Michelle C, Amanda F and Micaela C. Not that I don't love seeing the more established players remind us of their skills - but it's fascinating to see which of the new faces can figure it out and make an impact.

I watched the first half of the Syracuse game. They should be no problem for the Pilots, but then again, neither should have Portland state been a problem. I also hope to see more of the freshmen. It's probably good to have the tougher of the weekend games first like this.

FFA -- Not even a small residual of loyalty to the Orange? Isn't that your neck of the woods?

a small residue of loyalty, yes - small being the operative word. We live 30 minutes from Syracuse. I really was hoping they would do well against Washington, but they are not at that level.

I actually had the same dilemma last year on my trip out here. U of Ill is my alma mater, but - I am a Pilot women's soccer fan, through and through.

Now, SU basketball (and, soon, football) - that's another story.

I"ve been a Syracuse Lacrosse fan since the Jim Brown years...

I've been a fan of Syracuse since it was the birthplace of Archimedes.

Wrong Syracuse, PH - unless you mean Archie Medes.

Jim Brown was something else - Maybe the best football player of all time, and almost cetainly the best lacrosse player.

On my way over to the game - I feel a deluge of goals coming.

Pilots win 3-1. GT says that Frisbie gets her first Pilot goal.

I'll eagerly await the full report from those on the scene (as I head to Merlo to watch the men).

Frisbie did not score a goal. GameTracker just can't be counted on for accuracy.

In order: Sophie got the tying goal in the first half. Taylor got the winning goal early in the second half. And Micaela, (who else?), scored the cushion goal a short while later.

Yeah, Frisbie was not even on the field for that goal. The UW announcer got it wrong and later corected it.

The weather was decent, the crowd was small at UW. Some faithful Syracuse fans did their best to root on the Orange and did have something to shout about early.

Kendall J. was wearing running shoes and did not play. Kristin Kelly got the start with Michelle O. resting the first half -- Kristin played well all game. Sophie, Keeling Jess and Elli were huge -- simply excellent. Taylor Brooker made life miserable for Syracuse left defender No. 2 with her moves.

And yet ... who would have thought that Syracuse would take a 1-0 lead on its first shot? It happened. The Pilots couldn't stop a free kick from outside the box and went down a goal. Was the wall in the wrong place? Was it just a graat shot? I don't know. The Pilots did bounce back to tie it, and should have been ahead handily, but the first half ended tied. At halftime the team sat and watched Garrett Smith using forceful arm gestures. The mood looked deadly serious.

The Pilots came on strong in the second half, even with 2 freshman at forward and another, Sarah B., at left mid. As usual they wore down the other team in the second 45. Michaela looked full of energy and buried a breakaway shot into the corner. She is a bright light.

Pilots missed on other breakaways of the type that Christine Sinclair used to put away with her killer instinct. (Yeah she was one of a kind.)

Syracuse did not fold and even banged a shot off the crossbar after the Pilots were up 3-1.

So no real goal-scoring explosion yet, despite another dominationg performance in shots on goal, but another good result -- a win.

Thanks for the update, Purple. I've been waiting impatiently today to find out what the Pilots played like and how Syracuse managed to score so quickly. I'd like it much better if the shots-on-goal were converted into goals, but I think that's how most Pilot fans feel.

The box score said Kendra played...how were her movements? Any stiffness or lack of mobility?

I don't think she played..

it wasn't consistent with the rest of the PBP.

Kendra did not play: but she ran with the team in warm ups and he kicked a ball around too. She was wearing a brace on her knee but she is clearly on the road to recovery. Yeah! I will be thrilled to see her lay again.

Kendall was there but was inactive today: hope she can be back soon.

Erin played the 90 minutes as keeper: not sure what happened on the goal. Free kick outside the box; wall was lined up; good shot past the wall and in at the near post. Wall moved or was not in the right place. Erin had a couple of mad moments but is getting netter and more confident with each game. Not an easy role for FR; she has little to do for large stretches of the game. I like her.

Jess, Cloee, Kristen K, and Elli were back four first half: MO for Cloee in second. All did well defensively. Elli and Jess got forward to good effect although Jess was a little errant in some of her passes, which was a surprise.

Keelin and Sophie were huge up the middle as usual. Ellen P came on for SS for the final 20 mins or so. Taylor and Michelle C started wide: Sarah B had time in both halves and Sara J had a spell late in the game. The FR mids are still finding their way: no problems, just not making a difference yet. Taylor had a good game; lots of running and tackling and effort. She took her goal with superb calm; ball across the box missed by one forward who stretched but could not reach it: came all the way to TB who just drilled it in.

Dani and Hallie started up front. Micaela got lots of time and Amanda F saw some time too. First goal was a good cross from Hallie, superb layoff from Dani, setting up Sophie for a tap in finish. Last year, I think it was or maybe the prior year, there was some talk of Dani being a selfish player. I want to lay that thought to rest. This season Dani has scored 1 goal in 6 games, which is way less than she be hoping for. Today she got the ball in a place where some goalscorers would always take a shot, but made a perfect one touch pass that set up a team mate for a clear chance on goal. She is a great finisher who is not seeing any chances this season, and today was looking for the ball but not getting the right service from midfield.

The emerging story this season is the play of Capelle: took the third goal well and was lively and threatening all the time she was on the field. Much more of this and it will be time to change the starting line up: and I'd play Micaela and Dani together.

As far as I could tell, Kendra was not suited up, unfortunately. The way Taylor was eating up her defender and spitting her out, I am really wondering where Kendra will play if (WHEN) she gets back to full speed. Taylor has looked super to me these last two games. I maybe see attacker in Kendra's future.

I thought Syracuse looked much better than Friday - much more intense and organized. They had a couple of dangerous moments in the first half. I later confirmed that with some Syracuse parents - they were off their game Friday.

With the exception of Michaela, I didn't think the frosh did much today. Ellen was not as effective as Friday. Dees had a few shaky moments and had one very good save. I have no idea what happened on their goal. It seemed like a shot that should have been blocked by the wall, but we really had no angle to see it.

Wisconsin looked very good against UW in the first half and led 1-0 at half. I think UW was giving Wis. a lot more space than we did, and they used it well.
One thing Pilot teams always do is close quickly on the ball - teams that look good against other teams look terrible against us because they don't have time with the ball.

UW was coming on stronger late in the half. I am wondering how that game came out (we left at half).

Wadhington and Wisconsin tied 1-1.

From the UW website: "No. 4 Portland was declared the tournament champions with a perfect 2-0 record. UW finished second at 1-0-1, Wisconsin was third at 0-1-1 and Syracuse finished fourth at 0-0-2.
Husky junior captain Kate Deines (Issaquah, Wash.) was named the tournament Offensive MVP after scoring three goals in the first game vs. Syracuse on Friday. Elli Reed from Portland was named the Defensive MVP for helping her defense allow just one goal all weekend."

A couple of comments to add about the game:

Syracuse played a pretty rough brand of soccer. I think the ref for the Wisconsin game would have called a bunch more fouls and issued a couple more yellow cards to Syracuse. It made the game pretty choppy and ugly. At one point, Dani walked half way up the field and talked quietly to the ref for a minute. I wonder if she was saying something to him about what was going on. Given what the ref did not call later in the game, I thought his foul call that led to the Syracuse goal was pretty chippy.

Kristin Kelly's playing the whole game, with MO out for the first half and Cloee out for the second, says something. I'm not sure what: that Garrett wants to be sure she has game time under her belt in case of an injury later in the season; that he sees a need to get some rest for MO and Cloee; that he's prepping for what the lineup might be when Sophie goes for World Cup qualifying?

Capelle is looking better and better. She brings some chaos into the opponents' defensive third of the field.

Elli Reed is having a phenomenal year. When Elli and Sarah Bridges are in together, Elli overlaps more than when it's Elli and Kendall. Sarah seems more reluctant to take the ball deep and around the corner, bouncing it back for Elli to overlap with and take in most of the time. Elli repeatedly shredded the defenses of both Wisconsin and Syracuse.

I could repeat what other posters have said about some of the other players, but will leave it at that.

UPSF

Good thinking on Kristen Kelly: could be all of the baove possibly. But it was nice to see her get a full game in.

It looked to me like she had a solid game. I didn't realize how tall she is until I saw her in person - a real asset for a central defender.

Kristen seems to me to be a bit of an unsung heroine that last few years. She has looked really good whenever and wherever she has been needed, but she's never made the first XI. She played some at outside mid two years ago when the three amigas were at the World Cup and was probably the most effective of our fill-ins. She has played all of the positions across the back and even holding mid once in a while, and she hasn't made many mistakes.

I never worry when I see her coming into the game. She's just a solid player!

I agree with you 100% SoreKnees, Kristen is really a supersub.

Good call, SoreKnees. Kristin filled in at midfield 2 seasons back ... with her arm in a cast, no less. I thought that performance in the post-season would have earned her more playing time. Veteran experience like hers is so important as the season goes on.

I'd like to echo what others have said about Kristen's solid play. She did not get a lot of playing time during her first two years. Last year, she played a fair amount, and I was very impressed. Very solid defender.