Final Score: Stanford 1, Portland 0

Figured I'd start a new thread for post-game thoughts.

Stanford scored with under five minutes to go...

Great effort by the Pilots. To make it this far without 4-5 starters and to take an excellent team like Stanford down to the wire... nothing to hang our heads about.

Three cheers to Megan Rapinoe, Korie Nicholson, and Rachael Rapinoe for all their hard work while wearing the purple.

GO PILOTS!

Nice season Pilots. You ran into an older more experienced Stanford team and battled them well. If the shot off the crossbar goes in, you may have been on to the final four but it wasn't to be. Enjoy your accomplishments and look forward to seeing you back on the pitch in purple next season.

I agree .I listened to the game on the net,that's soccer.

I traditionally take season-ending losses very hard. I am generally in a funk for the rest of the year and upon occasion, mildly insufferable. I'm deciding not to be that this year.

Megan Rapinoe has been hands-down my favorite player since the U-19 World Cup in 2004. I was thrilled she was going to Portland. I'll admit I didn't know what Rachael could do until 2006, but it was a delightful surprise. Their injuries broke my heart two years in a row. I'm not convinced we ever saw Megan at even 70% this season, but I have faith that she'll get there for the WPS.

I'm from the midwest and we don't get to see great soccer very often, let alone favorite teams. (I've driven 1,500 miles round trip to see the USMNT in Chicago. I drove over 1,000 miles round trip in the summer of 2006 to see the USWNT play. Megan was on the bench for that game, but a true class act signing autographs afterwards.) Seeing the Pilots twice in one weekend was something very special for me. Seeing them win both times was maybe just icing on the cake.

So I'm not going to be down this year. I really have nothing to be sad about. I saw my favorite player and my favorite team play and win twice.

Thanks to Megan, Rachael and Korie for their sacrifice and passion for the game. And thanks to the rest of the Pilots for an exciting season.

I can't wait for next year.

Looking forward to Sundays USA Under 20's game with England.Three Pilots representing our country. :)There is a nice picture of them on ussoccer.com.

Way to look on the bright side, Ninja!

Yeah, it's tough to be too disappointed about this results. Honestly, I would have been surprised if we won. But boy was I proud to see us keep on battling, even though it became pretty apparent in the last 15 minutes that Stanford had the edge. Tough luck on that goal, but the way I look at it we were playing on borrowed time after that earlier Stanford goal got called back.

Like I already said... how many teams in the country could have made it to the quarterfinals and nearly the Final Four while missing three (3!) US National Team caliber players as well as two other All-WCC caliber players? I mean really... the depth and guts of this under-manned Pilot team was something to behold. It's disappointing, of course, but it's also pretty awesome they made it as far as they did.

And if you are still feeling down in the dumps, just think about next season. Wow. If everyone is healthy, we could be in store for something very, very special.

Well, the season didn't end the way we wanted, but it was still fun. I hadn't been to see the Pilot soccer teams since I graduated 5 years ago, but I decided one Friday night that I might as well give it a shot. I kept seeing some TA guys in the student section, and when I sat there one day I talked to them.

That worked out pretty well for me. Watching matches with ohhh_yeah and his buddies is some of the most fun I've had at a sporting event. Every one of the Timbers fans I met this season seems really cool, so on the whole I'm pretty satisfied with this season.

Truly a great season for the Pilots. Obviously disappointing to lose tonight but no shame in the performance.

Already looking forward to next season!

Stonehouse wrote:
Like I already said... how many teams in the country could have made it to the quarterfinals and nearly the Final Four while missing three (3!) US National Team caliber players as well as two other All-WCC caliber players? I mean really... the depth and guts of this under-manned Pilot team was something to behold. It's disappointing, of course, but it's also pretty awesome they made it as far as they did.

This short-handed Pilot team ended up scoring 69 goals while conceding 9 to 8 different teams in 22 matches. Pretty amazing when you think about it.

Gonna miss the Rapinoes. They were a great asset to the program and the University.

Yes, it was a really unique season with all the combinations that Garrett experimented with.

We had a very potent offense that regularly scored mutiple goals in games. Our defense was really strong at times during the season, and then just real solid later when Keelin was put on the bench with the other Amigas, and then they left completely come playoff time.

Even with the Amigas coming off the bench in the 2nd half of games during the WCC part of the season, we were much stronger because we had tremendously talented depth. During the playoffs, they left and the team was still very good, yet very, very lean.

We did amazingly well to make it to the quarters for the 3rd straight year. Stanford, however, was just too deep and talented. I thought the last 30 minutes or so they started to really wear us down, and only Kelsey's brilliant goalkeeping for the 2nd straight year in the Quarters kept us from losing 2 or 3 goals to 0. (They did, afterall, outshoot us in the 2nd half 15-4! Usually, we are on the other end of that stat. It reminded me somewhat of the UCLA Quarterfinal game last year in the 2nd half, when they really outshot us, and Kelsey continually saved our bacon until the end.)

It's a testament to Kelsey that she can produce a performance like that when she has only had two or three games all year that call for that level of activity and concentration - this year, UCLA, USC and Stanford.

Lots and lots of practice.

Trenchcoat report-

Back from Stanford -as of Sat AM.

Sorry to disappoint those who were looking forward to my streaking. I was a little concerned about the size of my waistline after eating all of that turkey and trimmings.

Great Pilot crowd on hand. Great to see! Pilot/ Villa drummers helped to show that the Pilot fans are #1 in the USA. I'm pretty sure that Stanford hired their pep band (Drums and horns) to play at the game. They sounded good. I found it interesting that there were picnic tables adjacent to the field that are used for lots of Pre-game activities. Lots of food and many adult beverages flowing. Must not be an issue at Stanford/ California.

The game was sold out. As we walked up, lots of people were looking for tickets. Also noted- there is a very strange tree right next to and almost above the field. It creates a strange shadow on a section of the field. Must be a 800 year old tree that they cant cut down; hmmm. Kettle corn was brought in from off site. Churros were offered by roving vendors. Nice touch. Cotton candy was also offered. I presume the Stanford fans need more stuff like that to help them enjoy the event more. I kept waiting for an espresso cart to roll by. No luck.

Ok, so thats a bit of the evenings atmosphere review.

As for the game, for the most part it's all been said by all of you amazing Pilot Nation folks.

My quick notes-

I believe Rapinoe could have been moved back to center mid. Stanford controlled the center. Rapinoe was the top player on the field and possibly may have made a greater impact in the center of the field. Stanford was fast fast fast! Tall center back was tough! I don't think she lost one header. Great game played by Stanford. Pilot defense made some crushing tackles to thwart some of the fast breakaways. The soccer spirits chose the goalpost for us and the net for them.

Tough loss, great season! Time to digest....

Trenchcoat out....

Great reviews! I have little to add except to note that Stanford's front line is as young as ours. Their key players up front were Press (SO), Noyola (FR), O'Hara (JR), and Taylor (FR), so they'll all be back for at least one more year, plus they add Courtney Verloo. They do lose their two central defenders. Seems like the Pac 10 tide might be moving northward after UCLA/USC have dominated for a few years.

What a game if we could get Stanford on the schedule in the next couple of years!

It would be great to play them at Merlo with a full team. I expect them to go all the way this year.