Irvine

Pilotpadre was updating the Chatbox during the game until his phone battery gave out. Hopefully he will give us his analysis of the game here when he gets the chance. He did say that Cloee was hurt early in the game and came out for the balance. He also said that it was the nastiest opponent he has seen in quite some time.

Are we just ignoring the fact that the team lost to UC Irvine? Or does no one have anything to say?

I think everyone got caught up in the national team game

RipCityPilot -

We're losing.
If we were winning there would be plenty of posts.

It's hard to have much of anything to say about the game when no one was there (at least no one posted anything), no one saw it on TV or streaming, no one heard it - there weren't even any stats being posted. I have no feel for what happened.

FFA



Just what I was thinking. I didn't see the game and was not even able to follow play-by-play. I've no idea what happened beyond the stats. Disappointing to lose another game. Worrying that Cloee went off after 20-odd minutes.



Pilots will have an average season unless some of the players are able to step up to the next level. Still waiting to see who can raise their game to make up for the loss of Keelin, Sophie, Elli, Jess and Kendall.



Cloee, MO, Dani are still top players in IMO. Micalea has improved this year: she is seeing more options for passing and making some of those passes, which makes her a stronger all-around player.



Others are getting more time and are showing signs of maturity as players but none of them have risen to the level of those who are gone. So the team is not as strong.

fan from afar wrote:It's hard to have much of anything to say about the game when no one was there (at least no one posted anything), no one saw it on TV or streaming, no one heard it - there weren't even any stats being posted. I have no feel for what happened.

Actually if you went on the UC Irvine website that had did have play by play stats. They actually have a pretty nice website.

The pilots one score was a PK. The shots on goal as well as shots in total were pretty even betwen the two sides. Most of our shots were by Dani. There goalie just hapened to have more saves and they converted on thier opportunities. Tough Loss!

One observation of the box score showed that Malloy Leahy played...I was beginning to think they were going to redshirt her this year.
The Pilot style of play in past years has always (IMHO) been possession and this team can't seem to do that yet...long balls by the opposition put us on immediate defense, so gaining possession has been tough. Maybe we have to start using the long ball and have our forwards get to it quickly so we are at the correct end of the pitch.
It would be an EXTREME shame if Dani was denied a trip to the playoffs.

The few posts on the forum these days seem to be coming to the realization that this season may not result in an NCAA tourney bid. It is realistic that this team finishes 4th in the WCC, maybe even with 10 losses. While it seems a bit early to write off the conference schedule, the question should be asked. What is the direction of this program now? Only 2500 were at the USC game. A lot of attention was given to the former players in town this past week, and deservedly so. Are the glory days over? Six players graduate at season's end and it seems a bit of a stretch to imagine that next year's team will return to the possession style of play that was the hallmark of past teams. This year's team seems unable to do it. A national ranking next year does not seem likely at this point unless there is a huge change.

Yes there has been a lot of attention paid to former women Pilots this week. Below is a bio of a another former pilot who is doing quit well down in Eugene. As you can see, she has made major contributions as UO's recruiting coordinator. She certainly has some impressive credentials......

"Lauren Hanson is in her third season with the University of Oregon women’s soccer program as associate head coach. Hanson assists in player development, specifically with the defense, while serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

Hanson has made an immediate impact on UO’s recruiting efforts, landing several high-profile prospects since arriving on campus in 2009. She was instrumental in signing Kelsey Foo, Shanelle Simien and Abby Steele as part of the 2011 class, with all three boasting experience with junior U.S. National Teams. Southern California and Colorado are two areas of emphasis on the recruiting trail for Hanson. She nabbed 2011 newcomers Bri Pugh and Reilley Moore from the Denver and Colorado Springs areas respectively. And Simien, an elite player from Lakewood, Calif., was invited to the National ODP Invitational Camp three consecutive years and served as a member of the U14 and U18 USA National Team pool.

Prior to UO, Hanson spent nine seasons as both a player and coach with the University of Portland women’s soccer program. Hanson spent the five seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater, where she won NCAA National Championships as both a player (2002) and a coach (2005) with the Pilots.

Hanson was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Assistant Coach of the Year in 2006. She was part of the coaching staff that led the Pilots to a 23-0-2 record en route to winning the 2005 championship. The Pilots reached at least the third round of the playoffs in each of her seasons as an assistant.

During the summer of 2006, Hanson worked as an assistant coach with the 91 girls regional team in the Olympic Development Program. She also assisted at the U-14 girls National Team camp that year. She served on the coaching staff for the 92 girls regional squad in both 2007 and 2008.

Hanson, who has her A coaching license, has worked extensively with club teams in the Portland area. As a member of the FC Portland coaching staff, she assisted the U-16 girls Maroon team to both the 2005 and 2006 state championship, and then to the regional finals. Hanson was the head coach of the girls U-14 FC Portland Sage team. She also mentored the FC Portland Purple team at the U-15 and U-16 levels, leading the squad to the state cup final as U-16s.

Hanson was a four-year starter for the Pilots at center back. She was a Hermann Trophy nominee in her senior season, a year she capped by winning a national title. She was named to Soccer America’s 11-player MVP team as a senior, while also earning first team NSCAA and Soccer Buzz All-American accolades that year. Hanson, who was a three-time All-West Coast Conference pick, was the WCC Defender of the Year in 2002.

She was also a first team Soccer Buzz All-American and a NSCAA second team pick as a junior in 2001.

Following a stellar career at UP, Hanson was selected ninth overall in the 2003 WUSA Draft by the New York Power. She also played at the highest level competitively as a member of the U.S. National Team (2001-02). She was with the U.S. U-21 National Team from 1999-00 and participated in the full-team camp in 2000. She played on the U-18 National Team (1998), in the U-16 National Team pool (1996) and on the Far West Region Team (1995-98).

Hanson, formerly Lauren Orlandos, graduated from Portland in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary. She is married to Travis Hanson and the couple have a son, Cole."

At the time of Lauren's departure, there was some discussion in this forum about her being the key to recruiting and some expressed concern about a drop-off in this area. With her here, it seemed that each year had some incoming player or players with national team exposure. Now it appears that she has taken that tremendous skill to Oregon to the detriment of the Pilots. I'm not sure of any national team players coming in since her departure, with the possible exception of Cloee. I think it's fair to say that the drop in quality of play could be directly tied to the loss of Lauren. Garrett needs to find a solution to this short-coming as we cannot rely on those diamonds in the rough to save this program, especially when the person who found many of them and then worked on developing them is no longer here.

Maybe Garrett has to just polish up the crystal ball to recruit players who won't get hurt. Good luck with that. We have national team players on the team now, if it weren't for injuries. I recall when we went to the College Cup with ONE YNT player (Frenchie).


Cloee was captain of the silver medal u17 team, had to redshirt a year with a stress fracture in her hip and has had leg problems since. If you note, her time this year has been very limited. Our sophomore co-captain played 22 minutes Friday.

Michelle Cruz was on Jill's national teams playing both as a forward, then as a defender. She was scheduled for more camps when she got hurt this Spring.

Emily was a U17 YNT player when she committed and before she got 2 ACL's. She is just now starting to go full tilt after more than a two year layoff.

Kendall is a YNT player when she isn't on the sidelines hurt.


Besides that,

Olivier was a top recruit and is finally getting her game together after struggling with heart issues.

We know about Kassies two back surgeries and continuing pain. She didn't make the California trip.

Bridges sat out two games while her health was evaluated.

Leahy just got her first game Friday after sitting all year.

Amanda and Dani both have had compression syndrome surgeries.

That doesn't even include the several players with "minor" injuries ( hamstrings, etc) they are dealing with.


We need to get through this weekend and try to heal during the two week layoff before BYU and the conference season.

In the past, key players were always gone to National Team duty or injured. A player was always available to step in and fill the void. Injury was never an excuse in the past and it should not be one now. The coaches would agree with that. Is it not their job to maintain the program from year to year? It seems as though it was in the past. Here is a simple example, Keelin was the starting holding mid for 4 years. Arguably, one of the most important positions in a possession based offense. What was done to groom a replacement and/or recruit one? Answer, apparently nothing from what we have seen this year. Did it come as a surprise that Keelin would graduate? And who plays holding mid next year?

In the past, Up has gone to the NCAA semis with 13 field players suited up due to injuries. That's what we had when we played UNC to four overtimes in the semifinal in 1998. Up is a small school. We have small rosters. Get used to it. We don't use that as an excuse, but people calling for certain lineups composed of players that are hurt, or people saying we didn't recruit national team players have just totally lost touch with reality. The talent is there, it's just on the bench. We have more national team players rostered than at any time in the 1990's, and more that most of the years in this millennium.

If you want to root for a team that can roster 35 players, pick Florida, UNC, or some other state school that can offer in state tuition to out of state recruits. That's not us. We will always have 22-24 players until the NCAA allows more scholarships. Some years that won't be enough.

The big difference I remember between most of our years and the 2 championship years is that those 2 years had no injuries to key starters.
2005 was particularly injury free.

As to starting Keelin for 4 years being some sort of coaching error, that's ridiculous. At UP the best players play, and they always have, and they usually play full games. Lisa Sari started 4 years before Keelin in the same spot and set the record for minutes played by a field player and I don't recall that anyone thought that was a mistake. Before her it was Betsey Barr. It was the same before her and before that player.

Sometimes we have been fortunate and players turned out to have injury free careers. Sometimes it doesnt work out. It's the same with every program. Santa Clara Just had an injury period which we benefitted from, but I don't see that as a coaching mistake by Jerry Smith.

We even benefited by a spate of injuries to UNC in 2002 that helped us on our way to the first championship. So even those teams with seemingly endless replacements have seasons where injuries just get to be too much.


And as to Lauren Hansen being some sort of magic bullet -- great player, undoubtedly a great recruiter and coach for us, but Oregon hasn't gotten appreciably better in her three years there, and in fact OSU has surpassed them in recruiting and record.

Geezer, I think some people just haven't ever supported a team that is less than dominant. They see this adversity and don't know what to make of it so they panic and think it's all going to come crashing down. I want to see wins, sure, but I'm also not worried.