2013 Season questions.....

The days are almost upon us!  So many questions...

Are Capelle and Parker healthy?

What happened to Vaver?

Starting lineup?  

Is Bindl going to start?

Will any of the freshmen start?

Based on past situations that are similar...Colohan and Leahy to name two...it would be in the best interest of all involved to not discuss Vaver in a speculative forum.

I'll take a crack at starting lineup.   Everyone else can take shots at my strawman lineup.

GK:  Dees (Downing to start on a few of weaker teams when we have two games over a weekend)
Forwards:   Frisbie, Capelle (Hall to sub in before the half and bring in spark off bench)
MF:  Parker, Kurle, Wetherington, Sippel  (LaPrevotte and Jeter first subs on the wings)
D:  Cruz, Bridges, McCluskie, DeGrood  (I wouldn't be surprised if Edenstrom starts later in season and the three of them rotate in and out to give each a break)

That still leaves quality subs to get minutes and keep legs fresh.

I think you mean Danica Evans off the bench, rather than Madison Hall. Danica lead all players in all age groups in scoring goals in the ECNL this last season. It is going to be hard to keep her out of the starting line-up with that kind of production. May require some position changes in order to get her into the line-up.

With the depth of this class, I wouldn't be surprised to see more freshmen in the starting line-up. If not right away, soon. It's  nice to see they can have that kind of flexibility

Here's my crack at starting lineup for Marquette:

GK Dees
Fwds Capelle and Frisbie
Mids LaPrevotte, Kurle, Parker, Cruz
Backs Bindl, Bridges, McCluskie, DeGrood

Cameli, Sippel, Jeter, and Evans first subs...

Can't wait!

I'll do this because it's fun, although I have no idea except that I think we're going to see at least Evans and Wetherington, of the frosh, in the starting lineup:

Capelle -- Evans

Frisbie -- Parker -- Kurle -- Wetherington

LaPrevotte -- Bridges/Bindl -- McCluskie -- Cruz

Dees

Don't know if Cameli's recovered from her knee or not.

This leaves us with lots of bench strength, with or without Cameli.

If Wetherington can play central defender, then I see her there in place of Bridges/Bindl and Sippel at mid.

I don't think we have a clue.

We are forgetting at least Ellie Boone, who every time I have seen. Play makes it look like an adult playing with kids. and the last time I saw Them scrimmaging Parker was held out.

I think the new kids will make major contributions that will help the team to another level. And I think some of last years group will take a step forward, as young players always do.

I expect big things from this team.

I think we all know Evans and Wetherington have the accolades to come in and start.   I think Edenstrom will be the darkhorse of the group and I expect she will get lots of minutes at central D whether she starts or not.   I also will be interesting to see which of last year's Frosh will show that Sophomore maturity that gets them minutes.  Bindl and LaPrevotte are two that others noted could start.

fyi, AWK is posting preseason reviews of the various conferences (a new one everyday).  They have WAC and Big Sky out there now, but will be adding stronger conferences in the coming weeks.

nc-soccer.com also has 2013 year posted now to look at schedule strength and such.   Some teams have exhibition games on the schedule this week.

PurpleGeezer wrote:
We are forgetting at least Ellie Boone, who every time I have seen. Play makes it look like an adult playing with kids.  and the last time I saw Them scrimmaging Parker was held out.

Well, she did play against adults as a kid and fit right in. She was with the Rain last summer.

Not really knowing who's in the XI is one of the fun parts. I love being surprised by the freshmen.

I forgot about Boone and don't know much about most of the others. I'm also interested to see Viera. I agree this will be very exciting.

I like Cruz as a mid, especially with her scoring and assists. She could fill the role Johnson played.

I also like Bindl. She was solid vs the Thorns. She was also coached by M. French who obviously has an eye for talent.

Capelle is going to be on a mission to make up for last year's injury shortened season. Same with Parker. Hope they are both healthy.

I think we might also see big things from Jeter.

Here's another 2013 question:  How difficult is the Pilots' non-conference schedule?  Here's the take of Chris Henderson of AllWhiteKit on the teams with the toughest non-conference schedules:

Top 26 Most Difficult Non-Conference Schedules

1. UCLA
2. Portland
3. Santa Clara
4. North Carolina
5. Wake Forest
6. Florida State
7. Oklahoma
8. Duke
T9. UC Irvine
T9. Virginia
11. Saint Mary’s (CA)
12. Washington
13. Florida
T14. Central Michigan
T14. Pepperdine
T14. Stanford
T17. UConn
T17. Oklahoma State
19. San Diego State
T20. Boston College
T20. Penn State
T20. San Diego
23. Oregon State
T24. Louisville
T24. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
T24. Texas A&M

PS I consider Chris Henderson to know more about Division I women's soccer than anyone else. If you aren't familiar with the AllWhiteKit website, here's a link: http://www.allwhitekit.com/

First day of practice video and pics on school webstie....

It will be about putting the best 11 players, the quickest, fastest, most technically sound ball handlers on the field.  To do that will require some positional changes. The type of players they bring in, allows them the luxury of doing that.  You see primarily midfielders and forwards in their recruiting classes. Players that possess exceptional ball handling skills.  So  converting them to defenders is a common practice.

Don't be surprised to see a much different backline then what you might expect.

My2cents wrote:It will be about putting the best 11 players, the quickest, fastest, most technically sound ball handlers on the field.  To do that will require some positional changes. The type of players they bring in, allows them the luxury of doing that.  You see primarily midfielders and forwards in their recruiting classes. Players that possess exceptional ball handling skills.  So  converting them to defenders is a common practice.

Don't be surprised to see a much different backline then what you might expect.

Like a previous top scorer in the back line?

And what a defender she was!

Any thoughts on lineup for PSU friendly this Friday vs. Marquette?

So Garrett managed to pull a few surprises yesterday with three freshmen starting: Viera at right defense, Boon at right midfield and Evans up front. But the biggest surprise was Frisbie playing center defense: with DeGrood in the first half and Hall in the second.

Given the level of opposition, meaning no disrespect to Portland State, it's hard to come to conclusions for the season but everyone mentioned played well. As did all the others who played including Elmer and Kendrick from the freshman class.

At least we shouldn't have to worry about a full contingent of healthy players on game days this season.

Marquette game will tell us more.

It was said earlier in this thread that a top scorer would play D. Good prediction with Frisbie playing D.

Any conclusions about why some didn't play? Jeter, Cameli, Wetherington, and a few others.

I assume Cameli still recovering from knee injury in the spring.  Are others banged up?

gnarly wrote:I assume Cameli still recovering from knee injury in the spring.  Are others banged up?

I think everybody you didn't see was held out of practice last week. I don't have any information that any of them are serious ( except Kaila, of course).

Should we expect to see Frisbie at center back frequently? Where does that leave Bridges or McCluskie?

It was also mentioned earlier in this thread that Viera could start as a freshman. What attributes does she have that allow her to start vs. Werherington or some of the other freshman? Is it purely on the position she plays?

Must be nice for the coaching staff to have several more options to draw from vs last year. Imagine if K Johnson was still around!

It is hard to know what the coaching staff has in mind with Frisbee, but I don't think they would put her back there if they weren't at least thinking about keeping her there. Bridges played at left outside mid in the PSU game. It is her more natural position and I thought she looked pretty good. I would expect Lorielle to be back in the middle with Frisbee or Haylee when she is healthy.

From what we saw in the PSU game Viera seems to have a good feel for the position. She has speed, is a good passer, is not afraid to mix it up, has good footwork, vision and she can finish on the other end. Having been a big scorer in high school she probably has a good feel for what an opposing offensive player might be thinking.

It sure will be nice as you say for the coaches to have so many more options this year.. Quite a luxury.

A_Fan wrote:It is hard to know what the coaching staff has in mind with Frisbee, but I don't think they would put her back there if they weren't at least thinking about keeping her there.  Bridges played at left outside mid in the PSU game.  It is her more natural position and I thought she looked pretty good.  I would expect Lorielle to be back in the middle with Frisbee or Haylee when she is healthy.

From what we saw in the PSU game Viera seems to have a good feel for the position.  She has speed, is a good passer, is not afraid to mix it up, has good footwork, vision and she can finish on the other end. Having been a big scorer in high school she probably has a good feel for what an opposing offensive player might be thinking.

It sure will be nice as you say for the coaches to have so many more options this year.. Quite a luxury.

I agree that Sarah Bridges did well at left outside mid. When she plays there, she covers as much ground as anyone on the team. I have been told that Viera played left defender on her club team, although I have no direct knowledge of that.