USC

Better performance today, I thought. The team played 4-3-3 throughout and looked pretty comfortable in it. Both goals were lovely moves starting with one of the outside forwards getting to the goal line and passing the ball back into the box for the other outside forward pinching in.

A few too many wayward passes in the midfield and defense, but the team is definitely looking better than in the first few matches. Also, two goals today with Dani not involved in either. There haven't been many scores that didn't involve her this year, so maybe this is a sign of growing confidence among the other forward players.

I missed seeing the game so it's great news to learn the Pilots took it to USC for a 2-1 win. SoreKnees' comments about getting more players in on the scoring is right on. I don't see a UP game story posted yet; the USC site says Capelle had 2 assists, with Parker scoring, and Frisbie tallying a goal and an assist. These players and others must become scoring threats in every game so the other teams can't just focus on stopping Foxhoven. Bravo, Pilots!

Capelle did indeed figure in both goals. The second goal was all on her. She made a brilliant run into the penalty area, drew the defense and the keeper, then laid it off for Frisbie to tap in. For me it was good to see a couple of well-crafted goals with more of the team involved.

And...I got a Pilot flag signed by a couple players you may remember. You couldn't have it for all the Pliny in the world.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

And...I got a Pilot flag signed by a couple players you may remember. You couldn't have it for all the Pliny in the world.

......not that there is all that much Pliny in town right now anyway......

A little surprise.

The on demand replay is already up so you can see the game again.

Also at halftime, besides Megan and Sophie, was a halftime interview with Angie.

http://origin.stretchinternet.com:1935/ondemand/_definst_/mp4:up/up-28820.mp4/playlist.m3u8

Don't be fooled by the OSU score banner at the start.

Just finished watching the replay. Angela Harrison does a great job on the color commentary. She is spot on with her analysis.

So many of the questions about players still not completely settled. But one thing I'd like to propose for the rest of the season: Garrett, please settle the back four right now.

Cruz, Colohan, Olivier, Bridges. Done. No more moving people around. Build from this foundation.

4-4-2. 4-5-1. 4-3-3. Keep looking. Fair enough. Sippel, Parker, Brooke, Frisbie, Kreminski, Kurle. Move 'em, try 'em. Whatever.

Foxhoven has to play. Capelle too. Just don't take a great central defender (Cloee) and fart around with her any more.

Some pics from the game

http://www.sportspagemagazine.com/content/sr/c-sr/gal-c-sr/ncaa-womens-soccer-portland-2-usc-1.shtml?48866#0

Harry Redknapp wrote:So many of the questions about players still not completely settled. But one thing I'd like to propose for the rest of the season: Garrett, please settle the back four right now.

Cruz, Colohan, Olivier, Bridges. Done. No more moving people around. Build from this foundation.

4-4-2. 4-5-1. 4-3-3. Keep looking. Fair enough. Sippel, Parker, Brooke, Frisbie, Kreminski, Kurle. Move 'em, try 'em. Whatever.

Foxhoven has to play. Capelle too. Just don't take a great central defender (Cloee) and fart around with her any more.

If only...

your back line hasn't been capable of playing together for most of the season. Cloee was out for WSU, UCSD, Seattle (she did come in off the Bench late when a player got hurt), and was playing hurt during FSU and BU, where she didn't play the whole game. She was sitting out practices I went to.
Cruz could only go 45 against BU. Bridges was not cleared to play for the two previous games for medical reasons. Mo has had to go outside when others were hurt. Bridges may still be more valuable playing in front of MO if Kassi can go.

Beyond that, I think Garrett is trying to get some experience on the field, and trying to get Kassi's speed and fire helps the team when her back isn't too bad. the back line of MO, Cloee, Kassi, and Cruz did pretty well for two games, even if we lost to Stanford.
Kreminski was installed as a holding mid mainly because there were so few healthy bodies around. I think she's doing well enough there to allow Cloee to step to the back.

There have been some creative back lines, but I don't think it was on Garrett's whims or anything.
I just don't think Garrett has had a lot of choice on the back line for a good part of the season.

Trivia ? - When was the last time pilots scored on a corner & no I don't know the answer

Thanks for the photos, they were very good.

I like Cloee at mid with Halley coming in where needed as a super sub.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but after yesterday's game, the USC players were looking very dejected. Walking by as they warmed down, you could have heard a pin drop. There's good reason (apart from whatever they might have been anticipating from Ali K):

They now are 3-6 and their non-conference season is over. That leaves them only their Pac 12 conference games. You've got to figure they're probably going to lose to Stanford and UCLA. If that's right, then they will need to go at least 7-2 against the remainder of the conference even to have a chance to be considered for an at large selection for the NCAA Tournament. That would give them a 10-10 season record. Otherwise, they're out of the Tournament due to the rule that a team must have at least a .500 record in order to get an at large selection.

Just my observations:
* While the Pilots have improved, they are susceptible to balls played over the top. SC had a couple of moments where slightly a better placed ball would have led to a 1:1.
* Hailee D played a solid game and looks to be the #1. She was aggressive coming off her line and didn't look indecisive.
* Micaela C's passes that led to the goals were well placed similar to the one played to Dani in the OSU game. On the second goal Dani's pass was the key that put her in position to make the pass to Amanda F. One of my frustrations with Micaela is she holds the ball too long and seems to want to look for the "great" pass or "great" shot. Dani's pass was an easy one and I hope Michaela learns from it. Amanda's arms up reaction to one of those moments was pretty obvious in its meaning.
* Controlling the attacking middle is a work in progress. Ellen scored the first goal, but I'd don't recall her having many touches after that.
* SC had some good talent. I'm a little surprised they are only 3-6. Will be interesting to see how they fair in PAC-12 play.
* Glancing at the SC player's knee that was carried off the field on the way out after her collision with Hallee --- ouch! didn't look good and I was happy the same fate didn't fall on HK.

halley has stepped in and is making the D mid spot her own. her position is a very hard spot to analyze, but one thing is for sure: we play differently when she is in. she is calm on the ball, her passing (most of the time) is very good. what she does superbly is exactly what a d mid is supposed to do.
1. tackle
2. win balls in the air
3. change the point of attack
we need to remember that before this season, she never played there before. she is improving quickly, and cloee needs to be in the back line. without her leadership and confidence in the back, the back 4 aren't nearly as organized and solid. we need to remember that the key to this season now is the WCC. its very simple. we need to win the WCC, and at the very least, the VERY least, place 2nd. yes, they do have the win over FSU, but the losses against the weaker opponents more than cancels that out.
what i'm trying to say is....the team needs to be peaking as we head into the BYU game and move onward.
the only other experiment i would try is this...

forwards: dani and capelle

mids: taylor, ellen, halley, cruz

back 4: bridges, cloee, olivier, nelson

emma has always been an outside back. give her a shot out there this weekend at some point, and let cruz push forward. i only say this because we still need more offense. typically for the pilots, much of the attack comes from the wings, and i like what i have seen of cruz getting forward.

team looked improved against USC

I really appreciated Harry's comments and couldn't agree more on the back line. Cruz, Colohan, Olivier, Bridges. Cruz reminds me of the Jess/Elli years; control the back and then attack forward. I think she does plenty of damage from the back line.

After finally seeing a couple of games, I also agree with Harry. Players health allowing, the back line needs to be Cruz, Olivier, Cloee and Bridges, with Kremenski holding - she looked very solid to me and occasionally adds to the attack. I love the energy Kassie brings to the game, and she delivers WONDERFUL entry passes down the field, but she does get beat sometimes.

I thought Cruz was probably the best Pilot player against Stanford. It looks to me like Parker is being very tentative for an attacking mid - almost all of her passes are to the back or side. I hope she will develop the confidence to get turned when she has space and play some penetrating passes. I like Capell and Fox together. Both goals against USC were the result of Michaela breaking down the defense, like Enyeart used to do, and which we haven't seen much of since Michelle played. Outside mids? It doesn't seem like much is happening there right now. We are really missing Johnson.

The first 10-15 minutes of the second half against Stanford were excellent. We looked like the Pilots of old. So, the potential is there.

Keeper has some good comments. The Pilots have been susceptible to the ball over the top for a few years now, and always seem to have trouble against teams that have pacey forwards. I also agree that Micaela holds on to the ball too long typically. It's easy to get away with this in youth and high-school, but the game moves faster now and I think she'd be far more successful if she played a little more simply at times. The difference between her and Michelle was their sense of directness. When Michelle got the ball, she would run past defenders and to goal. Micaela takes too long to dribble around at times, which allows defenders to cut down her options and eventually take away the ball.
The staple of the Pilot possession game the last few years have been because of Elli and Jess at their outside backs. That position started what seemed like 100% of the attacks the last few years. That being said, I agree that Cruz has to be kept back there, because she is the best person on the field to try and do this. I understand that the Pilots are lacking in attack, but I like her at RB with whoever at RM better than her at RM and whoever at RB.

I think that some commenters are forgetting what was said about a couple of previous Pilots in their first couple of years on the Bluff -- holding the ball too much, not enough speed of play. The ones I'm referring to: Lindsey Huie and Elli Reed. It takes time to learn and improve. If you don't try to take on three defenders at once, you never learn how to do it. One of the good thing about the Pilots' coaching is it has allowed players to do that and learn.

To put it differently, the way to get assists is to force multiple defenders to focus on you -- thus allowing a teammate to be open -- and get the ball to her.

Which Pilot has the most assists this year? Micaela.

UPSF is 100% correct. I was one of those posters who said Elli tried to go 1 v 1 way too often her first couple of years on the team. As we all know she learned how to better deal with those situations and became a key player for the Pilots.

A_Fan got it right. As Al McGuire used to say "the best thing about Freshmen is that they become Sophomores".

Many of our revered and beloved Pilots held on to it a little too long as Frosh... except Christine, of course. She could hang on to it as long as she wanted

Good one OldePilot. I wish I had remembered that Al McGuire quote!

I would put UPSF at 50% right. I remember multiple games during Lindsey's junior and senior years where she continued to hold the ball too long looking to dribble through/around opponents rather than make the easy pass. But that is looking backward, time to move forward.

If we don't win the WCC again this year, I think that maybe...(take a deep breath)...this could be more of a rebuilding year for the Pilots.

I haven't given up on them completely this year, but they see to need more time than the season is long.

With that said, the players are getting valuable playing time this year at differing positions. And we need Kendall back big time - she is a dynamo!

With hopefully a great team work ethic off-season and a monster 2012 recruiting class, unless there are other internal issues that we are unaware of, I think we could be back to our old selves by next August.

There is always hope, right?

And really, haven't we all been just a wee bit spoiled the last eleven years or so?

A wee bit??? Nah, I just thought I had logged onto an Oregon Duck football blog by accident on a couple of occasions.

FANatic wrote:And really, haven't we all been just a wee bit spoiled the last eleven years or so?

Amen, FAN!