Final Score: Stanford 1, Portland 0

Press, the eventual goal-scorer, was terrific. I'm scared to think of what she and Verloo can do together up front.

And agreed... we should definitely arrange a home-and-home with Stanford!

The game last night was only the third game I got to see all season. It looked to me like the Pilots ran into a better team, it was a dissapointing loss, but I feel Stanford deserved to win the game.

To be honest, when I saw them play NAU and Texas, I was not really excited about their National Championship chances for this season. But for a young team, they did pretty well making it this far and I certainly am proud to be a fan of this team.

Just got back from Stanford. It was a little deja vu as I thought Stanford did to us what we usually do to most other teams shots, pressure and more shots. Along with our chance in the beginning of the first half Megan also had the keeper beat in the first half when she shot a ball inches wide of the far post.

Stanford answered all of my questions about their team last night. The threats of O'Hara, Press and Taylor with their spectacular in speed in the attack and counter attack. Of the three I thought Press was the most dangerous. The amount of separation from her defender she was able to achieve in the first three steps was unlike anything I have seen at any level. Noyola was a factor early but generall a dissapointment. Our pilots were brilliantly fast with their feet and last second tackles to save one on one opportunities. The Stanford back line was exceptional and never looked disorganized except for the secquence following Sophie's header off the bar. Jury is still out on Maker. she was not impressive but did not need to be.

Kelsey was focused and playing as well as usual in the big games. Just one save short of a shut out. I was really hoping for OT and PKs and for Stanford to slow down from fatigue but they never did. Honestly, it was the best game of college soccer I have ever seen. I was proud to wear my purple even AFTER the game.

Stanford's seating capacity is an embarassment for the university. The campus is so large it seems like it is surrounded by national forests on all sides. They have so much room it is sick. Their band was cute. The bandleader was dressed as Santa. Once of the Stanford fans told me they had been banned from many stadiums for misconduct which made me like them all the more. They were having a great time in contrast to the fans who only made noise after the goal. Surprising lack of wit or soccer savy in the comments I heard. Maybe their fans are just starting to grow up with the program.

Well the future looks bright I hope we are bringing in some reall fast players. It looks as though technical, tactical and well coached only won't get it done going forward. We will need a well coached tremendously technical, tactical AND fast team to get past the quarters in the years to come.

A word on the Stanford band. They have even been banned from their own stadium because of--shall we say--tasteless attempts at humor. They range between cleverly obnoxious and truly disgusting.

Their best prank was in the 1972 Rose Bowl halftime show. They were playing Ohio State and, in honor of their opponents, the band spelled out

OHIO
STATE

on the field. As the network TV director got lulled into boredom halfway through the song, the A, the E, and the second O left the formation, the I dropped down into the lower word, and the first T morphed into an H. For a good thirty seconds NBC beamed that formation nationwide. Needless to say, the networks haven't broadcast their halftime shows since.

Auto Pilot wrote:... in contrast to the fans who only made noise after the goal. Surprising lack of wit or soccer savy in the comments I heard. Maybe their fans are just starting to grow up with the program.

The main quote heard over the open internet TV mic seemed to be, "C'mon ref!" They seemed to yell it every time we won a tackle.

Not as cool as both the Grambling as Southen bands spelling out "Obama" during the battle of the bands. Yes, I watched the Bayou Classic.

I watched the Stanford video feed. It was shakey & jerky at times, and I found it hard to follow the ball, especially when the camera moved in the wrong direction. I did think that I saw the tree that someone who was there in person mentioned. And I noticed some shadowed areas on the field. It looked like the lighting on the field was a bit uneven.

I was glad to see Kristen Kelly playing a bit more. I thought she showed some spark on both sides of the ball. And Kassi played her never-give-up style, and unfortunately was tested many times by the Stanford forwards.

Near the end of the game our players must have been pretty tired. There was little passing, primarily just kicking it away to get some relief from the relentless Stanford attack.

I thought we were lucky the Stanford didn’t score more frequently. It appeared they had shots on an open net numerous times and just blew the shot. These were in addition to the ones that Kelsey stopped or deflected. The extreme angle of the camera near the corner may have skewed the view, but it appeared to me that their forwards had several uncontested shots that went astray.

Stanford won the majority of the headers. Our goal kicks were consistently short (which seemed to be the case in the last several games), and with Stanford winning most of the headers, they were often right back down in front of our net. The speed of the team was mentioned elsewhere. It certainly was evident. They were able to turn the corner several times, and outrun us to the lead kicks at other times.

Last year there were some posts regarding the WNT after they lost to Brazil. The comments focused on the difference between the fast, quick Brazilian players versus the larger, slower, more technically proficient Americans. The suggestion was that it might be wise to recruit FAST athletes rather than just the technically proficient young soccer players. The thought was that you can teach a FAST player soccer skills, but you can’t make a soccer player run any faster. It looks like Stanford has been recruiting along that mind set. They have talented players and they have SPEED. (Yes, I am well aware that our two talented speed merchants were not on the field.)

So now begins the oh-so-long wait for next fall when our favorite team takes center stage once again. Along the way we’ll look forward to the official signing of our 2009 class, our spring training scrimmages, the release of the 2009 schedule, and the endless conjecturing on who will play where and how they will do. We all agree that we should have a very strong & talented team next year.

Will there be any age group events that we would be affected by next year? U23 seems like the only one that could affect us. Is Sophie likely to have any CNT commitments next year?

mattywizz wrote:Not as cool as both the Grambling as Southen bands spelling out "Obama" during the battle of the bands. Yes, I watched the Bayou Classic.

I would have watched that halftime show, too. I'll put in perspective for you: When I played in the Oregon Alumni Band this year, we spelled out OREGON on the field before the Washington game. We spent about half of a four-hour pregame rehearsal on that and getting into a block for the anthem and halftime. And we weren't even moving--just standing and playing.

I have no idea how schools like Grambling and Southern pull off halftime shows like that.

UPWomenSoccerRookie wrote:Last year there were some posts regarding the WNT after they lost to Brazil. The comments focused on the difference between the fast, quick Brazilian players versus the larger, slower, more technically proficient Americans. The suggestion was that it might be wise to recruit FAST athletes rather than just the technically proficient young soccer players. The thought was that you can teach a FAST player soccer skills, but you can’t make a soccer player run any faster. It looks like Stanford has been recruiting along that mind set. They have talented players and they have SPEED. (Yes, I am well aware that our two talented speed merchants were not on the field.)

Yes, I agree that Stanford was FAST. They weren't only fast, they were technically strong. While I think a team needs to have some FAST players on the team, I don't think that a player who's main strength is SPEED can always develop strong soccer skills.

Stanford had the whole package. Heart, big speed, techincal skill and movement. I expect them to take the final.

Portland had yet another outstanding year. I am lucky to be a local fan.

I read the news Saturday ... just made it back to the land of Internet connections today ... sorry to see the Pilots' season has ended. I will say that the team's run this summer and fall has brought major fun and excitement to my daughter and me. We have enjoyed the whole experience from begining to end. Wait till next year!