Santa Clara

Actually being in great condition has long been a hallmark of Clive's and now Garrett's teams. It has over the years been one of the ways to separate the good teams from the run of the mill teams. At tournament time it is quite evident that the teams that go far not only have talented players, but they are in excellent condition.

Just a few observations from that last two games. The lineup finally seems to be set except for the forward position. The Pilots have three great forwards but for me Enyeart has to be on the field first and it's a toss up who joins her. Both Chandhoke and Schmidt bring different skills to the game but the key is to have Enyeart out there with her speed.

As to Chandhoke and Schmidt, I do think that Chandhoke brings a lot to the game and during the Santa Clara game really seemed to be taking more of an active role instead of waiting for the game to come to her. I wonder if she read one of the prior posts. Schmidt on the other hand brings the ability to receive the ball with her back to the goal while holding off a defender and then dishing off a pass. In essence she has taken over the role that Rachel Rapinoe was filling but is even better and I think is much more of a team player.

As to leadership I think Cronkite is not given enough credit. I see her taking charge on defense, directing players, and playing really solid defense. In the middle is Woznuk, skilled, smart and leading by the way she plays. I do have one question in her play though. Especially during the second half of the Santa Clara game I saw a number of times when Woznuk had the ball in the middle, Enyeart just on side ready to make a run, calling for the ball and motioning with her hand where she wanted the pass, then Woznuk looking directly at her and turning away to pass the ball across the field to Budge. Am I missing something? Are the coaches missing something?

The other's I would like to mention are Winters and Taso. Great additions to the team, playing some really solid soccer and both will be hard to keep out of the starting lineup.

Now, let's hope they continue their winning ways against LMU and Pepperdine and bring home the WCC Conference title.

Go Pilots!

Well, it was a clean sweep this week for Portland players on the Team of the Week lists.

Michelle Enyeart made the Soccer Buzz list for Oct 30. CONGRATS MICHELLE!!!

It sure makes a difference when the games are on National TV. Folks from around the country get to see what special players we really have!

Seems like there should be a defensive award though--We shut down two of the best teams in the country-Santa Clara with no shots on goal, and the only praise those players get is from us.

GO Pilots!!

Honestly, if anyone was watching that San Diego game and saw Michelle's first goal, they'll realize that there is a very, very, very small number of players who can do what she did on that play. I'm glad to see her starting to get some kudos... she was playing awesome early in the year (was leading the country in assists for a time) yet it seemed like she wasn't getting much credit. Great to see her name back on the national scene and not just here on Pilot Nation!

I think we can start referring to that as THE GOAL.

Seriously... it deserves a moniker. "The Goal" works for me... kind of like "The Catch" and "The Drive".

I wonder if anyone has that game on DVR or taped or something like that... would be great to get it up on YouTube!

I saw "THE GOAL" live and about 30 feet or so in front of me. The greatest goal I can ever remember seeing live. Although Christine probably had a few of them!

I can't wait to see it again. And again. And again. And again.

I think Sophie adds an element of playing under control and being able to hold it and dish off as others around her are breaking for the open field that is really needed in the forward line. Plus, she can control most of the throw ins and many of the air balls that come into her area. These are things the forward line needed seriously before she arrived back from Canada. You could see the need for it early in the season, but the need was really clear at UCLA and USC. Credit to my wife, she made the call on the way to the Oregon game -- she though Garrett should put Sophie up front.

Regarding Angie's distribution of the ball not always to Michelle, she needs to spread it around and make the defense guard the entire field. I'm sure that is the game plan. That means the defenders can't crowd Enyeart's part of the field and gives her the ability to out-sprint opponents in the open field. It's part of a style of play that Christine referred to when she said, "Teams think they'll double up on Sinclair. But if you do, there's Rapinoe, Woznuk, Budge -- they'll kill you for it." The fact that these others also were scoring threats helped open up Christine, just as her play opened them up.

UPSFanatic - I agree that putting Sophie up front has made a huge difference in our ability to score goals from a variety of players. I remember when we were having difficulty finishing earlier in the season. That all changed since Sophie has been up top and also since Ms. Calm/Brilliant arrived back on campus (yes I mean Steph)! Those two changed the entire dynamic of the team. They have opened up and inspired Angie's game to new heights because she now has a couple players more on her level. Angie was playing well before, but since the WC ladies returned, her game has noticeably gone up a few notches.