Portland State Pre-Season Game

Just for fun and educational value, here is a way to evaluate Portland State as an opponent in this coming Saturday's pre-season game. The data are from the nc-soccer Schedule Strength (Historic) webpage which you can find here: https://www.nc-soccer.com/wsoccer/2013/strength. To get a good sense of the likely strength of teams we will be playing during the regular season, use that page. So, here's your chance to familiarize yourselves with it.

The following numbers are based on the 2007 through 2011 seasons. (Hopefully, nc-soccer will update the pages soon to include 2012.)

Portland State University

Average RPI Rank: 196

Average Rank in Terms of Value of Contribution to Opponents' Strength of Schedule: 181

Strength of Schedule Contribution Rank/RPI Rank Difference: +15 places (A + means PSU does better for its opponents' strength of schedule than its RPI rank would merit.)

Standard Deviation Rank: 52 (This is a measure of where PSU ranks in terms of the reliability of its Strength of Schedule contribution. There are multiple teams at each rank level. This is right about the middle, so PSU's Strength of Schedule contribution reliability rank is average, neither high nor low.

Strength Rank: 2011, 165; 2010, 200; 2009, 99; 2008, 238; 2007, 204. (This represents PSU's rank as a contributor to its opponents' Strengths of Schedule. The variability is reflected in the Standard Deviation Rank.)

So, as an opponent, PSU isn't very good and its contribution to its opponents' Strengths of Schedule isn't very good, but it does more for its opponents' Strengths of Schedule than its RPI-measured strength merits.

As we go through the season, for fun I'll try to remember to post upcoming opponents' numbers so you can get a sense of the opponents' historic strength as measured by the RPI and also of what they are likely to do for the Pilots' Strength of Schedule.

Become familiar with the nc-soccer website! Use the Information drop down menu to navigate to its different pages. If you're an avid fan who likes data, this is the place to go.

PS -- The game is at Merlo at 7:00 pm. I believe there is an admission charge of $5.

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

GO PILOTS

I was surprised by some of the players we didn't see last night.   Probably we have some players with injuries they are just resting before the regular season starts.   I was pleasantly surprised by Viera in the outsideback position.   MQ will be a good first test for us.

I think we may have seen everyone who was healthy. It was fun to see the new players as well as the veterans. The bench is going to be a bigger help this year than it has been in a while.

Marquette lost 5-1 to unranked Wisconsin on Thursday.

I think we saw everyone who was healthy, too. I thought everyone who played looked good. There were some really great passing sequences.

I did stream parts of the match while also streaming the Thorns and switching between the Timbers and Seattle Seahawks game on cable. Talk about ADHD...  
Could someone summarize who stood out from the freshmen and returing players?

Everyone who played showed something positive, including the freshmen. My guess is the three that started (Evans, Vierra, and Boon) will continue to see a lot of playing time, and others may as well.  Danica Evans looks like she could be a major scorer.  Amanda at center back was a surprise for most (not all, apparently) of us, and whether it was just an experiment or a real plan remains to be seen for those of us who don't otherwise know.  I thought Micaela looked strong, even though she didn't score.  Her shots were solid. It's difficult to get a confident assessment based on just a preseason game -- we will face tougher defenses than PSU's.

jc,
Thanks for the update.
I will need to get my first live viewing this Friday against Marquette. Am looking forward to and psyched for it!

as guests of the Reign!!!!! What a hoot........there were SEVEN Pilot women on the pitch. Clive must have been soooo proud!!!

estplnr wrote:as guests of the Reign!!!!! What a hoot........there were SEVEN Pilot women on the pitch. Clive must have been soooo proud!!!

Yes, UW Coach Lesle Galimore, who is one of the Reign commentators, made a point of talking about this in the streamed broadcast. She was very complimentary of the Pilots program notwithstanding the rivalry.