College Cup 2012

Graham Hays gets things rolling. Read his article, which features Anson. It's pretty entertaining.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/college-sports/8692405/ncaa-women-college-soccer-north-carolina-feeling-pressure-facing-stanford-semifinals

I had no idea he was at such a recruiting disadvantage.

Yes, I'm sure if it only takes the Stanford staff 5 minutes to finish their recruiting, it probably takes UNC all of 6. Quite a burden on a coach.

ESPN is blacking out the online stream of the Stanford - UNC game. You will only be able to watch it if you get ESPNU.

PurpleGeezer wrote:I had no idea he was at such a recruiting disadvantage.

Well, Stanford's has a recruiting disadvantage in another sense: their academic admissions standards. Anson may lose to Stanford on head-to-head recruiting, but he has a bigger recruiting pool.

eProf wrote:

PurpleGeezer wrote:I had no idea he was at such a recruiting disadvantage.

Well, Stanford's has a recruiting disadvantage in another sense: their academic admissions standards. Anson may lose to Stanford on head-to-head recruiting, but he has a bigger recruiting pool.

Freedom of information requests for schools that receive California state subsidized scholarships show that Stanford athletes get in with C averages. I know this is contrary to the perception that you need superior grades.


This probably doesn't include soccer players, but I'll bet exceptional athletes get preference.

And I'll point out that the APR numbers for soccer players is well below the norm for non-athletes.

UP's on the other hand, is well above the norm for non-athletes. In fact, UP has had a perfect 1000 apr every year of Garret's tenure. There aren't many schools that can claim that, including Stanford.

Weren't the semis on TV last year? Are they not this year? I'm confused.

About 65 degrees in San Diego now. Interesting that it is currently foggy and borderline rainy (though it's not supposed to actually rain during the game) in San Diego. Still much more comfortable than the cold and uncertainty of the other places it could have been held. I remember feeling so bad watching the quarters at Notre Dame a couple years ago when it was basically covered in snow.

I'll also mention it seems embarrassing empty right now, in terms of attendance. Hopefully Sunday is better.

Penn state punches their ticket to the finals.

With PSU leading in the last minute on a goal by Maya Hays, FSU ties it up. Then Nairn gets the winner at 62" of regulation.

We may not see all of the second game. ESPNU is showing depaul-Auburn with 7:00 left (22 minutes real time.)

Pretty exciting conclusion to the first game. Penn State looked dead at the end of the second half. Then in the first minute of the OT the FSU defense leaves a PSU girl wide open in front of the goal and pays for it.

What an absolutely terrible looking pitch for a national championship, no matter how much it's been raining. And the football markings are still so evident. These ladies deserve better.

Yeah I wish those football markings were gone. I wonder what they use for football marking. I know the spray paint used for youth soccer fields is only visible for 2, maybe 3 cuttings. They could have switched to that for a little while in preparation.

The pitch is a huge improvement from last year. The men played their last match on an almost unplayable pitch there last year.

The king is dead.

Four beautiful words, A_Fan! Beautiful to me, at least.

A_Fan wrote:The king is dead.

Stanford has still never beaten UNC.

We are in the San Diego area for meetings and actually extended our return time back when we booked our flights..."just in case"

In addition to the abovementioned problems, pitch, markings, crowd size, etc.
the local coverage has been almost completely lacking. The morning TV sports mentioned that several high school football (not futbol) games were relocated because the stadium wasn't available. Didn't even say, "Because... ."

Whether the NCAA or the host school is a fault, someone needs to do a much better and more thoughtful job in scheduling and promoting the Women's College Cup. The sport and the players deserve more. IMHO.

To follow up on your last comment - I went to the College Cup Soccer website (www.collegecupsoccer.com) which unfortunately is just the Men's College Cup website and makes no mention of the Womens' side of things.

edit: It appears that site was actually created by the host site in Alabama where the Mens' cup will be next week.

I'll be disappointed if UNC wins another one on Sunday. Some many teams have had chances to knock them off in their run. I think it is unhealthy for the sport to have one team pick up so much hardware on a regular basis.

The tide is gradually changing though. In the 80's and 90's UNC pcked up 15 titles while only 3 other programs won it during that period (George Mason, FL, and ND). Lots of programs made runner up during that period that we don't hear much from anymore (George Mason twice, Colorado Col twice, Uconn 3 times, and Umass and NC St once.

In the 2000's UNC picked up 5 titles along with UP getting 2, SCU, ND, and USC getting one a piece. Runner ups were the the usual suspects: ULCA 3 times, ND twice, and UNC, SCU, Uconn, FSU, and Stanford all 1.

Go PSU! I've watched several of their games on-line and wasn't that impressed but they seem to find a way to win. Really surprized they beat FSU so we'll see if their luck continues.

OldePilot wrote:
the local coverage has been almost completely lacking. The morning TV sports mentioned that several high school football (not futbol) games were relocated because the stadium wasn't available. Didn't even say, "Because... ."

Whether the NCAA or the host school is a fault, someone needs to do a much better and more thoughtful job in scheduling and promoting the Women's College Cup. The sport and the players deserve more. IMHO.

UP always does a first rate job of promoting special events that come through Portland.
I am sure that if UP ever gets the College Cup UP will get the word out and be a first class host.

UP did host the first ever College Cup at a designated site. (1993?)

Field was perfect, stadium was sold out. Weather was grand.

The only downer was we lost the first semi.

PurpleGeezer wrote:UP did host the first ever College Cup at a designated site. (1993?)

Field was perfect, stadium was sold out. Weather was grand.

The only downer was we lost the first semi.

I'll check back through my "notes," but 1993 sounds about right; I think Tiffeny was a senior. Yes, it was a great atmosphere; no doubt it would be even better today.

I imagine the decision makers look for warmer, dryer areas, but if they're not going to promote the match in these non-soccer cities, who will even know about the games?

gnarly wrote:I'll be disappointed if UNC wins another one on Sunday.

Go PSU! I've watched several of their games on-line and wasn't that impressed but they seem to find a way to win. Really surprized they beat FSU so we'll see if their luck continues.

Gotta admit I was a big UNC fan Friday against Stanford......afterall, UP had beaten UNC this year and it was just time for Stanford to go.

In the final.....it's all PSU, baby. I like to kids on the team, and I have to admit, I now root for ALL the student/athletes at PSU!

Hmmm, that wasn't even close....but the pitch looked nice in the sunshine.

Congratulations to UNC....they earned it!

I went there, since I live down here anyhow. Very disappointed not to see the Pilots or Aztecs in it, but it was great fun overall. Just an aggravating final. 4-1 is never fun to watch, regardless of team.