FSU - USC College Cup final

USC came from behind in the second half to knock UCLA out of the College Cup.


Lauren Chaney scored a goal in the first half, But USC's Amy Rodriguez answered with two tallies at 67 and 74 minutes.

The run of play went mostly UCLA's way in the first stanza, but in the second half, USC's defense tightened up and the shots and corners evened out.

That sets up an interesting final. arguably the best defense in the country with USC, vs the best offense in Florida State. It'll be on ESPN on Sunday, At 11:00 AM, I think

Jillian Ellis IS Susan Lucci IN All My College Cups. Only on ESPNLifetime.

Maybe this will demonstrate to recruits how little development and progress occurs at UCLA.

Jillian would be happy with that characterization if she made Lucci's money

Oh Yah! Gotta love it! Goodbye Bruins!

Good for A-Rod! What an UCLA assassin she was tonight!

I believe the game against the Pilots took a lot out of UCLA emotionally and mentally. Factor in the Trojan's nothing to lose....but everything to gain effort...the Bruins were primed for an upset! Maybe they looked passed their cross-town rivals too. They had beaten USC 2-0 in October. This must be sweet revenge for them.

Jillian Ellis IS Susan Lucci IN All My College Cups. Only on ESPNLifetime.

Ninja...I never laughed so hard! You've got my vote for the quote of the year!

so.. When was the last time there were no #1 seeds in the final?

Another thought on USC...is their coach Ali Khosroshahin. This is his first year at the helm...replacing Jim Millinder (who's contract USC decided not to renew). Looks like their athletic director made the right move. That's quite the feat for Coach K take his Trojans all the way to the finals.

well, OK.

but Ali did it with all Milinder's kids.

A fair argument that they jumped a year too early.

That might be true Geezer. We'll never know. His biggest coup was signing Amy Rodriguez (another player from the Laguna Hills Eclipse Club)... who was the 2005 Gatorade National Player of the Year as well as National Player of the Year by Parade Magazine, EA Sports and NSCAA. But since 96, Millinder's teams have underachieved and never got past the second round.

I remember thinking before USC made their coaching shift that Millinder must have been a great recruiter (I remember several years in a row with USC having top recruiting groups), but must have been a lousy coach, since they always seemed to under-perform. With Coach Ali's past record, when he came in I thought, "Whoaa, this may be trouble." I also know that most (not all) of those who were in LA for the UCLA/USC games thought USC looked significantly the better opponent. Plus, let's not forget that UCLA was at home 'til the Final Four, whereas USC had to go to Missouri for rounds 1/2 and West Virginia for the quarters (due to USC's inadequate home field -- a disgrace to USC athletics!). UCLA coach Ellis has had a great recruiting advantage, but does she really have what it takes to take a team all the way?

An aside: Seeing one of my favorites, Shannon, on the UCLA bench, I wonder how long it will be before she's a head coach. I remember overhearing a conversation (in the old days) between Garrett and a UP administrator in which Garrett was "asking" the other person to help him get funds in order to pay Shannon as an assistant coach. Too bad she's not here!

GUPhantom,

There are lots of teams that never got past the second round since '96. I'm puzzled by what "Underachieved" means.

there's a pretty good argument to be made that USC has never supported the team in the fashion necessary to make it a contender, and yet Millinder was able to recruit players like ARod.

Everyone knew she could be a player that could help USC reach the top level of play. there are those who called her the type of impact player that Christine was here. (Ok maybe Christine is overstating, but certainly as good as Cheney). In spite of his success in recruiting her, and in spite of USC having decent records over several years, they let him go.

Maybe if they had given him the recruiting budget they are apparently giving Ali, maybe if they had built decent facilities for the team to practice and play in, That recruiting buildup could have happened faster.

Khosroshahin didn't just wave a magic wand and make a bad program good, he took a very good program and made the last step (at least so far). Perhaps Millinder could have done the same thing with those kids. Like you say, we'll never really know, but the way Millinder got treated I think was kind of shabby.

If the program had been heading downhill, if the athletic department had worked in supportive ways to make Millinders tenure there more successfull and he failed, then I could see making the change. But he was 11-5-5 when he got fired, had great recruits comming in, and he had to sell recruits on playing at a place that doesn't even have a decent stadium. ( remind you they had to play in West Virginia for lack of a venue). The way I see it, USC was getting about what it put in to the program.

At least with a guy who had the success he had, they could have given him an extension for a year to do better - set goals - help him get there - then if he doesn't perform, let him go.

I'm trying to imagine this conversation between Clive and joe Etzel in 1999 after the Pilots went 12-7-1 and missed the playoffs-

"Gee Clive, the team was down a bit this year, we got whupped by Santa Clara 8-0, your getting these recruits but you're not going anywhere with them. At least the last few years we were getting to the College Cup. but now we're not even in the playoffs. We're going to head in another direction, why don't you call those folks in Connecticut and see if they still want you?"

I'm not saying Millinder was Clive, I'm not saying ARod is Christine. I'm just saying lets wait 5 years and see if Ali can do it with his own program before we judge whether it was the right move. I think to assume that their success so far this year is due to Ali might be premature. He's pretty good coach, no doubt, but shouldn't he be sharing bonuses with Jim?

Are you saying Ellis needs to go, too? she's not really getting better either, and she gets better support than he did.

Interesting thoughts, Geez. It's most definitely true that USC hasn't given its team decent support. All you have to do is go to their field to see it. I'll have to rethink about Millender.

How can you not like a guy who's playing mates were Pele, Beckenbaur, and Cruyff?

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:
It's most definitely true that USC hasn't given its team decent support. All you have to do is go to their field to see it.

That appears likely to hold true in the near future, according to a poster on Big Soccer. It appears USC already has its priorities for the next several years, and they don't include Women's soccer. A basketball arena now under construction and a Football indoor facility have eaten up all the money. I'm willing to bet the leather seats in the football boxes will be looking a bit shabby by then, which will eat up more money. Too bad, because a facility like the Ducks have would cost pennies compared to those projects.

They could rent time at the nearby Home Depot center, But I'm willing to bet they won't.

from Big Soccer-

Originally Posted by SBfan
USC is already over extended in terms of building athletic facilities. The bb arena isn't finished and the next project is a fb building. A new soccer facility would be 3rd on the list and probably a good 5-7 years away (if they eventually found the support). The other problem is land. USC would have to buy more land from around campus to house the stadim since the currently rent the field they play on now. But regardless of all this, I am hopeful that the administration will show USC team some support provide them a nice facility.

This is a topic that could probably be debated all day long. But, suffice it to say this is typical of the “what have you done for me lately” world of college and professional athletics. I don’t claim I’m qualified enough to say I understand it all…but here’s my perspective.

To me…the question boils down to “how confident” a University’s Administration and/or Athletic Director is….with their Coach’s program. It’s a power struggle. The decisions made at that level….(about where the program should be headed)….many times defies logic. Shabby treatment of coaches happens all the time. Doesn’t matter what the public, media or fans think of the program. We're all at the outside...looking in. If coaches are not given the confidence and support…even successful programs are tweaked at the discretion of an AD.

Granted the cases that I listed (below) may have occurred due to different and unrelated circumstances….but my point is crap often happens behind the scenes in regard’s to a coach’s coming and going. Many times the “official” explanation for a coach’s release is vague and does not make sense. So, who gets to Wag the Dog?

Here’s just a few to think about.

Notre Dame Soccer and Petrucelli
Penn State Soccer and Wilkins
USA Women’s National Team and Ryan
Michigan Football and Lloyd Carr
Notre Dame Football and Willingham
Pilot Basketball with Avina, Chavez, Steele and Holton
Duck Basketball and Kent. There's already (rumors) swirling around on this. Could Coach Few be the guy when the new UO arena goes up?

But back to soccer…
Do I think Millinder is a good coach? Yes
Do I think he should’ve been given more time? Yes.
Do I think that Khosroshahin is a better coach? No
Do I think the current successes of the Trojan's is based on K's luck or skill? Well. I agree with you here. Timing is everything. I believe he benefited from Millander's work. Khosroshain and USC AD Garrett comes out smelling like a rose. We'll see if their success at this high stakes poker game holds up into the future.
I think the more pertinent question is…Did USC AD Garrett believe in Millander had underachieved? Its pretty obvious that he thought Millinder did.

"We appreciate all that Jim did to advance the women's soccer program during his tenure," said Garrett. "However, at this time, we felt that a change was in the best interest of the program as we continue to strive to go to the next level."

That's the usual AD verbage. The translation?

Thanks for nothing Jim. Nevermind that I didn’t brandish you with all the resources USC is capable of providing to your soccer program. Sure you’ve taken USC to the playoffs 7 times …..but UCLA is garnering more national attention than us today!! I didn’t care before ….but I do now. We haven’t beaten them in 9 years. That’s more important to me today Jim.

Do I personally believe Ellis needs to go too? No.
But I’ll guarantee the UCLA AD will have to ponder it…..especially if USC wins the Cup today!

The same can be said of our own AD and Coach. I think the Rapinoes are the only ones left on the team with a direct connection to Clive on their decision to go to UP. Until Garrett wins a NCAA Championship completely outside of Clive's shadow and can say its his team/his program....how will Larry evaluate and judge his work in the future?

Gee Garrett...you've sustained a winning program for us after Clive... you've made a lot of tournament appearances and finals...but our last crown was in 2005. Connecticut is calling...What have you done for me lately?

The question is hypothetical/rhetorical.

Back to the FSU/USC final....

USC wins.

Well, USC just won it (congratulations)

They get Millinder's class of 2005's 11 recruits back again for another year, so they should have a good season again.

Then we'll get to see if the AD is the genius he appears to be right now, or he just bought time until they will have to actually shell out some dough and support the program to succeed.

we all know by now that ucla will be here the last weekend of august for a rematch. does anyone know if the ncaa champions, usc, will be here as well?
i feel like the pilots try to scheudule home an home's with the best teams in the country, but i am not confidant that usc will be here.

I'd sure like to know, too

We get the return trips, but not always the next year. It took 2 years to get North Carolina here, for instance, and Florida still hasn't come here.

Let's see: Florida owes us. So does USC. Also, we owe Kansas and Yale. I can't remember who came here last year or the year before, so I can't remember if we owe anyone else.

I'd love us to go to New Haven next year. From an RPI perspective, the best way to accumulate RPI points is to play non-West region teams (as Stanford did this year, playing 8 out-of-region games, which probably resulted in it getting its undeserved #1 seed). Playing non-West teams is good because all the other regions are softer than the West, with the Northeast region being the softest. The RPI, however, doesn't fully recognize regional differences in strength, so that a win against a Northeast region team counts almost the same as a win against a West region team even though the West region teams are on average much superior to Northeast teams. Go figure! (More about this later, if I'm being incoherent at this late hour.) Plus, my 95-year old mother lives on Cape Cod, so we'd have a great reason to take a late August or early September trip to the East Coast to visit her (and other family and a number of college friends who live in the area) -- and just, as a sidelight, go to New Haven to see the Pilots play two games! Of course, the Pilots' games would be only secondary ...?

Some other teams that might owe us a trip here are Northern Arizona, Colorado, Wisconsin/Milwaukee and possibly Wake Forest.


We might owe West Virginia a trip, possibly Wisconsin , since I don't see we returned their 2005 trips here. and we may have to return the Kansas and Yale games, but not necessarily in the same year.

Other than that, we'll probably have to get some new pairings.


That takes us back to 2003. I doubt they keep track longer than that.