Megan At Center Back

Didn't see Friday night's match. Was surprised to hear that Megan started at center back, which I am guessing she played for 90 minutes.

Apparently she teamed with MO for the majority of the match, then with sub KK.

Megan is only 5'2", the shortist listed player on our roster. I know that Cloee and Kassi were in street clothes.

Would like to hear opinions on why Garrett might have put her there, and why she seemingly played all 90 minutes there.

And BTW - how did you all that saw the game think she did?

(I also thought it was a great opportunity to start Kendall at left MF, and Elli at left outside back. That is an exciting thought, pairing those two on the left side.)

I thought Meghan had a solid game there. She is short for the position, but it didn't seem to hurt any. She did have a scary moment or two but recovered well.

I REALLY like Elli as an outside defender. As someone else said, she worked very well with her outside mids, especially in the first half.

Because of her height I was worried about Megan in the middle at the outset, but she surprised me with a very steady game and lots of sturdy, clutch stops and clears. I'm not sure that she is a long-term solution there, but I thought she did well in her first matchup.

Meagan's there because the normal center mids are hurt or recovering. That wasn't exactly her first shot in the middle. She played there against the u23's and demolished Stanford's Christen Press when they Matched up.

watch about 2/3 of the way through this video as she walks over the top of Press.

http://www.portlandpilots.com/custompages/Videos/09wsocusawpromo.mov

I thought she played a very smart game last night. At the end of the game, the first comment out of one wag near me was "that should keep the Sweeney detractors quiet this week"

Sweeney also played a full 90 minutes against Miami, turning in a strong showing in a shutout. Coach Smith is obviously pleased with her performance and trusts her in the lineup. I see nothing to worry about when she is in the middle or on the wing. She has speed and experience and is a battler. I've paid attention to her passing and ball distribution since others have raised questions in this forum and rate both as well done.

purple haze wrote:Sweeney also played a full 90 minutes against Miami, turning in a strong showing in a shutout. Coach Smith is obviously pleased with her performance and trusts her in the lineup. I see nothing to worry about when she is in the middle or on the wing. She has speed and experience and is a battler. I've paid attention to her passing and ball distribution since others have raised questions in this forum and rate both as well done.

I agree, PH - I actually think she passes better from this position than from the outside. She was solid again today.