Wyoming

Fun game.
Frisbee started and starred at forward.
Sippel came in at the end of the game and made some of the best passes off the game.
I'm glad that Downing got experience and Dees got rest.
It is hard to believe that there is a better freshman class in the country.

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland senior Amanda Frisbie scored two goals and added an assist as the No. 14 Pilots rolled to a convincing 4-2 win over the Wyoming Cowgirls on wet and windy evening at Merlo Field on Friday. Senior Micaela Capelle added a goal and an assist to help the Pilots win their fourth straight match and improve to 7-1-1 on the season.

Portland's first goal came from freshman defender Madi Hall, who was making her first career start at center back. On a free kick sent in by Frisbie, Evans finished with a header after Danica Evans had re-directed the ball in her direction. The goal in the 18th minute was the first of Hall's career and it gave the Pilots an early lead.

Frisbie then gave the Pilots a little breathing room when she finished on a shot from about 20 yards out in the 21st minute. After receiving a pass from Capelle, Frisbie took a couple of touches, created some space and buried her second goal of the year into the left corner of the net.

The Cowgirls responded though on an impressive strike by Sara Paul. On a mishandled ball, Paul was able to send a perfectly placed shot over Portland keeper Nichole Downing and inside the left post. There wasn't a whole lot Downing could do as Paul notched her second goal of the year.

The game would remain 2-1 until Frisbie drilled a world-class strike inside the left post on a free kick from just outside the 18 yard box. The native of McKinney, Texas, bent it around the wall and into the net as Wyoming goalkeeper Alex Boehn could only watch as Portland pulled ahead 3-1 in the 63rd minute.

Wyoming then took advantage of the wet conditions as a low, skipping ball was sent into the area by Liz O'Reilly on a free kick in the 65th minute. The ball made it all the way through to Alison Clark, he pushed it in to make it a 3-2 game.

Capelle then came through for the Pilots, who held a sizeable 18-4 overall advantage in shots. On a well-place ball sent in by freshman Allison Wetherington, Capelle finished from the center of the 18 for her fifth goal of the season. Four of Capelle's goals have come during the past three games.

Portland held possession for long stretches of the game as the Pilots were able to create several dangerous chances. 10 of Portland's shots came during the first half, while the Pilots held Wyoming (3-6-1) to just one shot during the game's first 45 minutes.

The Pilots next head to Seattle, Wash., for their final non-conference game of the season. Washington will host Portland at Husky Soccer Stadium at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Kind of surprised by the lack of chatter about the game last night. For the most part, the team played pretty well in some tough conditions at times. The two goals they gave up were more due to momentary errors than to exceptional play by the Cowgirls. It was great to see Amanda back in the attacking end of the field and her superiority showed itself on several occasions. Both of her goals were classical and clinical. I hope her team mates took note of how to finish.

Pretty good crowd for the conditions. Sounds like they could be worse in Seattle tomorrow. The Huskies played an overtime draw in Corvallis last night with only four shots on goal out of their 20 shots. The Pilots should be the superior team in both skill and conditioning from what I saw of the Huskies earlier on TV.

ejjqb wrote:Kind of surprised by the lack of chatter about the game last night.

Well, it wasn't like it was so cold our teeth were chattering, but I'd say most of us were soaked when we headed to the T-Room (to dry out?) then home to bed without posting on PN.

Note: The Oregonian has continually had a post-game synopsis after a few calls and emails to remind them of sports on the Bluff.....I'll be curious to see if there's anything in this Monday's LAST Monday home delivery paper.  (The O goes to W, F, Sa, Su home delivery starting this coming Wednesday). I've already been reading the online version....it seems fine to me, and they promise even better coverage in the future.

The replay is available on the UP website.

Apparently I need to buy rain pants.

As far as the game goes, not too shabby. Credit to Garrett for tweaking the formation.

Evans is a tremendous player, but she mistakes the game for a monologue rather than a dialogue. The cast around her is more than capable, she needs to pick her head up and work with them. Once she decides to play with them, her goals can come in buckets.

Hall looked a little green, but I thought she did well. It's too bad we don't have a time machine to give her minutes against Nevada and Missouri.

Frisbie scored two goals in 70 minutes as a forward. That speaks for itself.

Agreed on Evans, she needs to share the ball

Playing forward had nothing to do with Frisbee's second goal. She would have taken the shot even if she was playing defense.

Looked to me like Evans shared the ball with Hall on the first goal

Fun game to watch. I too am impressed with the strong freshman class. Evans will figure it out. Also, DeGrood looked confident & solid in the center of the field. Her ball handling is much improved this year.

That said about DeGrood, I hope Kurle's able to play at UW on Sunday.

Do you all think the 4-3-3 (adding Frisbie up front without moving Capelle or Evans) was meant to add another formation to make the Pilots offense harder to scout / predict, or reacting to something about the Wyoming team?

No disrespect to the Wyoming team, but I think the Pilots could have beaten that team no matter the roster  or formation.

I think it was a way to get some people on the pitch that might not have fit so well in the 4-4-2 as they do ina 4-3-3 and I think Garrett is availing himself of a luxury he hasn't had in a couple years, which is to get fresh folks in each of the two weekend games.

It's a win-win for coach and team.

While it is fun to watch the freshmen running around, we have only played two serious teams - Wake Forest and Stanford. And in both matches our lack of experience on the field exposed us in the second half. All the while, for the first time in several years, we have a deep bench with a lot of experience. I am worried we will not go far in the playoffs, nor match up against more physical and experienced teams, if our bench is not used. Players like Sippel, Bridges, Bindl, and others are not playing much or consistently. Now Kurle sits although DeGrood looks good. But prior to Kurle not playing, DeGrood just sat. Doesn't make sense how we are preparing for a deep run. The frosh have talent but are frosh who will make mistakes due to lack of experience.

It seems to me that the bench has been used more so far this season than in all of the past several years. These freshmen are mature beyond their years, they will be well seasoned come playoff time.

justabystander wrote:While it is fun to watch the freshmen running around, we have only played two serious teams - Wake Forest and Stanford. And in both matches our lack of experience on the field exposed us in the second half.

Marquette's a pretty serious team. That makes three--so far. There will be a few more in the WCC season, so not to worry.

justabystander wrote:All the while, for the first time in several years, we have a deep bench with a lot of experience. I am worried we will not go far in the playoffs, nor match up against more physical and experienced teams, if our bench is not used. Players like Sippel, Bridges, Bindl, and others are not playing much or consistently.

Some of the players who've been coming off the bench are pretty good and I don't think they'll be sitting so much as we get to the business end of the season. Some got a lot of minutes last year because the squad was so small (#18strong) and they were one of the only options at their position. Of course, in the end, you earn your spot out there and if someone's better they're going to get more of the minutes.

justabystander wrote: Now Kurle sits although DeGrood looks good. But prior to Kurle not playing, DeGrood just sat. Doesn't make sense how we are preparing for a deep run.

Resting your DM, who does a ton of work in Portland's system, is preparing for a deep run. Kurle doesn't need to play 180 minutes against the two opponents this weekend. Nobody does, really. They need to be healthy and able to go in November, when the games really count.

justabystander wrote:The frosh have talent but are frosh who will make mistakes due to lack of experience.

And that's why they play against opponents like the one from last night. I don't want to be too harsh on some WCC teams, but let's put is this way: there will be a few other chances for them in conference games to learn and make mistakes with a margin for error.

the frosh are not beyond their years - just very good players. Garrett seems enamored with them which is fine. The key is whether he can realize when they need to be pulled (that goes for any player) for a rest or a change in lineup. Watching WF and then Stanford on video it seems he missed the opportunity.

I suspect that GS is less concerned with winning these early non-conference games than we are. Not that he isn't competitive.
I suspect that he sees these games as a way to try different starting line ups, rotations, match ups and strategies that I can't begin to guess at.
I suspect the chance to rest some players and give others needed experience plays into his choices.

Some of the freshman might be better than some people sitting on the bench.
I was noticing last night that the roster lists 8 forwards.
Frisbee might be the best of those forwards, but she also might be the best player on our back line.
It is reasonable to think that if Frisbee and Dees were playing D
last night that we may have had a shut out.

"It is reasonable to think that if Frisbee and Dees were playing D
last night that we may have had a shut out."

Pilots only have 3 shut outs this season. Shut outs are the exception, not the rule. Considering it was a sloppy, wet, and very windy night, I don't think that's as reasonable as we might think.

Kronked wrote:"It is reasonable to think that if Frisbee and Dees were playing D
last night that we may have had a shut out."

Pilots only have 3 shut outs this season. Shut outs are the exception, not the rule. Considering it was a sloppy, wet, and very windy night, I don't think that's as reasonable as we might think.

Um... Four shutouts in 10 games an three games where they have given up one goal, including the tie against the #1 RPI team right now.

It was wet, sloppy, and windier today.
Amanda and Dees played in the back. It's not an unreasonable concept.

Three of Portland's eleven showed signs of wear and/or distraction against Wyoming. Having been an athlete, I know that all it takes is a verbal boost from a teammate to get out of a funk, but it looked like other Pilots had their own assignments to take care of. Both scores against Portland came immediately after a relaxation on the defense. I prefer not to name names, but I know it will get mentioned at the video review session and I hope that one time is sufficient to learn from it.
Having said all of that, a win is a win is a win. Move on.