UP vs Wisconsin

UP and Wisconsin tied 1-1 on beautiful sunny afternoon at Merlo.

I liked the way the Pilots pushed the ball and the pace in the last 30 minutes of regulation and in both overtime periods. Wisconsin scored first on a penalty kick (the only scores this weekend against UP were on PKs), and the Pilots came back in the 85th minute on a nice one-on-one shot by Ricardo Carrillo from about 6 yards after a very good pass from Michael Escobar down the right side.

UP and Washington share the plaque for winning the Nike Portland Invitational with identical 1-0-1 records, and Central Catholic’s Steven Evans won the most valuable offensive player award.
Not a big crowd or noisy crowd, but it was nice lazy day in the sun.

Oh, I guess I could have just waited for UP Athletics to put out their description of the game:

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland’s Ricardo Carrillo scored the equalizer with just five minutes remaining in regulation and the Pilots would go on to earn a 1-1 draw with the Wisconsin Badgers to conclude the 2012 Nike Invitational on Sunday afternoon at Merlo Field. The Pilots (2-1-1) shared the tournament’s team championship with Washington, who played CSU Bakersfield to a 0-0 tie earlier in the day.

Portland junior forward Steven Evans scored both Portland goals during a 2-1 win over Bakersfield on Friday to earn the Invitational’s Offensive MVP award. Defender Kory Kindle of CSU Bakersfield was named the defensive MVP.

Carrillo’s equalizer came after the Badgers converted a PK in the 76th minute. Sophomore midfielder Michael Escobar sent a perfect pass ahead to Carrillo near the right sideline. From there, Carrillo beat one defender to set up a one-v-one opportunity with the Wisconsin (1-1-1) goalkeeper. The senior forward then calmly finished between Chase Rau’s legs to tie the score at 1-1.

During the first overtime, senior midfielder Colin Anderson had Portland’s best look, but his bouncing shot from the top of the box was denied by a Wisconsin defender.

And in the second extra stanza, Evans drilled a shot from left of the left post, but this time Rau was there to make the save.

The Pilots finished with a sizable 21-9 advantage in shots, while junior goalkeeper Justin Baarts had three saves on the day. Evans led the way with seven shots.

Portland had a handful of dangerous opportunities during the first half, with the first coming from freshman Jaime Velasco barely a minute into the game. His shot from the right side of the 18-yard box hit the right post.

Thomas Iwasaki then had a shot saved in the 24th minute, and Evans’ attempt on the rebound was wide left. Escobar then crushed a shot 10 minutes before halftime, but Rau was able to punch it over the crossbar.

The Badgers had a shot hit the crossbar in the 66th minute before being awarded a penalty kick nine minutes later when the referee ruled that the Pilots had committed a foul inside the 18. Chris Prince was able to convert the PK to give Wisconsin the 1-0 lead.

The bigger faster stronger and rougher nature of the men' s game sometimes strikes me when I have seen a number of women's games without seeing a men's game. The game is so close at Merlo and so athletic, nice to watch on a late summer day when adequately protected from the sun.

Few observations:
1. Thanks Richard Carrillo for showing us how to do it at light speed on a break away with defenders in full chase and still have sufficient skill and aplomb to place the ball perfectly to the charging goalie's left. He made it look easier than it arguably might be.

2. I thought subs Hugo Rhoads and Michael Escobar showed well and had positive affects on the game--of course so did many others. Rhoads hit his left footed cross in the waining moments of overtime which just missed connecting with another Pilot to a wide open right side of the goal. A game of inches . . .

3.Immediately before the penalty was called in our box the ref gave the ball to Wisconsin to throw in on a ball that had clearly deflected off a Wisconsin player--who nonetheless picked it up as though it actually had not happened. But for that missed but obvious blown call . . .no tie, perhaps. The little things sometimes make a difference.

4.Maybe those with more soccer acumen can say whether Jaime's Velsco's take down in the box late in the game deserved to be ignored when the Wisconsin flop in the box minutes earlier resulted in a penalty kick. I do not know, for sure. I, for one, am looking forward to that young man busting out--too bad on the near miss after beating the goalie to the ball in the opening moments.

5. Hope that this is not the last year we see Steve Evans--he can play a little.

6. Velasco's near miss in the opening moments was shortly followed by someone, can't remember who, blasting a ball wide of a fairly open net inside the box. A little less pace and that one would have found net, no tie, perhaps.

7. Anyone else see that you cannot access the Wisconsin game video without a password--must of been some really good, informative soccer to keep us fans from another look or just another bureaucratic snafu.

Pilots outplayed Wisconsin but this fan enjoyed the game nonetheless.

Finally, on YouTube, Carrillo's goal. Too bad it doesn't really show the nice pass from Escobar....oh well, we're getting a lot more than we got just a couple of years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzKfuW2jP_g&feature=youtu.be