SCU @ Pilots - 11/02/2008

Agreed...Jessica should make the All WCC First Team this year!

GO PILOTS!!!

Let's hear from the players:

Megan's postgame interview

Rachael's interview

just finished watching the match... i am not convinced that a penalty kick should of been called... i am also not convinced that megan rapinoe or korie nicholson deserved yellow cards... the goals by rapinoe and enyeart were top class...

http://flickr.com/photos/41639453@N00/sets/72157608613633453/ 91 photos in set...

Boaz Herzog" article for tomorrow is up.
Oregonlive

And he Trib put together a pretty disjointed piece.
Tribune

Classic.

It looks like you had a very busy day.....

Wonderful game yesterday in so many ways.

Trounced the old rivals 4-0 in the usual physical battle against Santa Clara, who lacked nothing in commitment and aggression.
Fabulous goal from Megan R.
Feisty performance all around.

I like the switch of Megan R to left midfield; Charney to attacking mid; and Sara to right. Brings out the best in Charney who has skills in opening up tight spots and retains possession well. Sara on the right allows more chances for Jessica to come forward (3 assists yesterday). Wide left opens up all kinds of possibilities for Megan R to run at the defense. And I like the defensive balance of Megan and Megan on one side, and Sara and Jessica on the other side better than the previous line ups.

Sophie and Megan R are playing huge right now. Michelle O is very tidy at holding mid, and Kassi and Korie will cause us some nervous moments but will not lack for physical commitment!

Anxious moment yesterday after sloppy pass back to Kelsey (from Korie) that ended up with Kelsey on the ground for several minutes. Hailee's heart had to be working overtime until KD was up and moving.

After the non-amigas line up had put the Pilots up 2-0, we got a glimpse of how good this team could be if we had the amigas for the rest of the season. A good team got even better when Michelle E, Keelin and Elli were out there. For the rest of this year we will not see them again (unless you are in San Diego next weekend) but we have so much to look forward to next season. We'll miss Megan R, and Korie. But the add back of the amigas, another year of experience for the team which is almost all freshmen and sophs, and the arrival of Cloee C and the incoming freshmen will be an overall step up.

Fingers crossed for a win in San Diego and two home games the following weekend.

MJ, I agree completely on the switch of Burk and M Rapinoe. Megan's vertical range Sunday was remarkable. She was literally all over the field, from goal line to goal line. I think this is one of her true strengths and one that she was never able to unleash when boxed in the middle between the forwards and the holding mid.

Charney is still a frosh, but her skill set looks ideally suited to the attacking mid slot. She didn't seem to take advantage of the space on the outside the way that Megan and Elli do. Her quick foot skills and crisp short passes will serve her well in the middle. Her short career reminds me a bit of Angie Woznuk, who never became the star we knew she could be until she got in the attacking mid position. It will be fun to watch Charney grow into that role over the next 3 years!

I am excited after seeing the game yesterday and watching my recording of the game. The team looks great! However, I am a little concerned with our speed with Sarah as an outside mid and Charney as the attacking mid. The defenders were able to beat them to the ball on a number of occasions and it also seemed that they had to resort to passing the ball back too much as defenders were right on them. I think that is why we saw Megan all over the field. She was doing it all by playing attacking and outside mid positions. Danielle also looked a step behind on the attack. I feel that speed is going to be increasingly important as we head into playoffs and play teams with their faster defenders. Otherwise, just a great game defensively, beautiful assists, amazing finishes, and a wonderful tribute to the seniors with a special moment of having Rachel come into the game.

Wow... very good point, UPreveler. I hadn't really thought about it, but you are correct - Michelle and Elli can dominate games with their speed (Michelle's goal yesterday was all speed), and without the the team does sometimes seem a bit behind in the sprint bursts. However, I think they are well-conditioned enough that they maintain the speed they do have throughout the game. Definitely something to keep an eye on though.

But really... now's not the time to nitpick. What a great win yesterday!

Agreed Stonehouse. Enjoy this victory as it was one of the best all around games they have played. They seem to be on the road to peaking at the right time. Only time will tell, but they have surprised me all season playing beyond their years against very good teams.

Would anyone happen to have a copy of this game they could send to me? The video feed was unavailable and I'd like to see the game whose match report got me a little choked up.

ninjapizza wrote:Would anyone happen to have a copy of this game they could send to me? The video feed was unavailable and I'd like to see the game whose match report got me a little choked up.

+1 i have it on dvr but i do not have any way to get it on dvd...

Thanks ohh-yeah for the great photo of the Three Amigas. It's a classic.

Ninja ESPNU (channel 614 direct tve in my region socal) will re rebroadcasting the game at 11:00 am (pacific coast time) so if you know someone who gets the ESPNU channel you have another shot at watching or getting a recording of the game. I don't have a recorder on my box or I would make one for you. Good luck. It was a game truly worth watching if you can manage it.