9/9 UP vs. Purdue

So what's the missing link? Both games this weekend didn't bode well for the Pilots' future playoff success. It doesn't look like there were any bright spots in a tournament that we should have dominated.

Is it Megan Rapinoe's absence? She can be a bit talismanic for the team and brings a physical presence and dominance in the air to the midfield that we simply don't get from any other midfielder now that Lisa Sari has graduated.

Is it the defense? We should have solid central defenders, but the fullbacks are relatively inexperienced.

The forward line is a bit small, but that didn't seem to hamper us too much last season.

Is the team as a whole just a bit unfocused going out there? Road games are crucial; we might be seeded in the NCAA tournament, but who knows if we'll actually get to play at home?

Help answer these pressing questions, or the dramatic soccer fan in me will start bandying about the word "crisis!"

First things first... it's far too early to panic. Obviously things went haywire in that Purdue game - I mean, they were playing with 10 players for a good chunk of the second half and we still couldn't score. Our players aren't used to playing from behind and probably started trying way too hard to create the equalizer instead of trusting that with patience a goal would come (like they did against Florida State).

And I mean, come on... missing a player like Lopez, who is STARTING for the World Cup team, is huge. Forgive me for saying it, but I've never really felt totally secure with Emily Michaelson at the back. She's a great role player for the team and is solid, but... she's not a three time All-American like Lopez. Lopez just makes such good decisions and makes like so much easier on the rest of the back line. Until we get Lopez back, our defense has the potential to make mistakes and give up cheap goals.

And you can't downplay the loss of Lisa Sari either... she helped out so much on the defensive end. Wozzy is a terrific player, but she's offensive oriented. Ditto with Rapinoe. Winters and Jackman have shown flashes, but it's probably too much to expect a true freshman to be able to handle things in the middle for a Top 5 team. I think Sophie Schmidt will be able to fill that more defensive-minded midfield role when she comes back (here's hoping Canada goes 0-3 and is out after group play!).

And maybe it's just me, but I think people are overlooking the loss of Sweeney. She was so solid all year long last year... none of the replacements we have used so far have matched her defensive abilities or her great runs getting involved in the attack.

As for Megan Rapinoe... it's great to have her back, and ninjapizza is totally right about her physical presence and dominance in the air... she just doesn't back down from anyone and plays with an edge that no one else on the team quite has. Just having that mental toughness and attitude out on the pitch helps, not to mention her amazing skill.

So I would say that yes, missing all those players has hurt us. A fully healthy Megan Rapinoe will make a big big difference solving any offensive woes. Getting Lopez back will stabilize the back line. Getting Schmidt back will bring toughness and defensive help to the middle. And if/when we get Sweeney back, we'll have our second best marking back out there.

I know it's easy to freak out after a weekend like that, but remember... it's a young team that is missing some of its best players, and on top of that they had the additional pressure of being ranked No. 1. Yeah, it sucks and they will have to do some work at practice to figure out what's up, but I'm not worried about our skill or our status as one of the best teams in the country.

Pretty good points, Stonehouse, though I've always been an Emily Michaelson fan. :-)

That being said, I do miss seeing a more physical team--and Kelsy Hollenbeck knocking heads a few years not so long ago. It seems that 2005 was the one year Portland decided enough with being known as only a finesse team.

And I mean, come on... missing a player like Lopez, who is STARTING for the World Cup team, is huge. Forgive me for saying it, but I've never really felt totally secure with Emily Michaelson at the back. She's a great role player for the team and is solid, but... she's not a three time All-American like Lopez. Lopez just makes such good decisions and makes like so much easier on the rest of the back line. Until we get Lopez back, our defense has the potential to make mistakes and give up cheap goals.

I'm missing what you are trying to say, Stoney, other than we need Lopez.
If the worst knock you can come up with about Emily is that she's not a Three time All American, well...

You can't pin either of those goals on Emily this weekend, and she and Kelli were the best players we had in the air and at marking the opponents best striker.

I think it's more a team thing. Players were making the wrong choices on passes or making them just as the window of opportunity was closing. Sometimes they just made weak passes when a strong lead pass was called for. Sometimes they insisted in dribbling into double teams and pinning themselves on the sidelines, then not backing out but rather trying to bull trough the double team.

UP is always at it's best when they control possession and tempo. Our patient offense is the best defense. It wears out the other team and prevents others from having scoring opportunities. Fla. St. was an example of a team that was worn out chasing UP players and the ball.

It seems this weekend UP forgot that.

I remember the 2003 team had similar problems. They simplified the schemes (particularly the defense) until the newer players fit in better. Maybe something like that has to happen this year.

Geezer, I will bow down to your first-hand knowledge of what happened at the games this weekend.

When I was talking about Michaelson... I think that she wasn't really in top form last year and would sometimes make costly mistakes (the UNC game last year is a good example of that). So I'm wondering if some of that is lingering. But I've also seen her be dominant back at the back (like she was in the game against Oregon State and Jodie Taylor last week). So I don't mean to say that she's not a good player... she is. She's terrific.

What you outlined (players dribbing into double teams, making bad decisions, getting away from the posession game, etc.) sounds like a recipe for a stalled offense.

I'll tell you what, though... the last team in the country I would want to be right now is Kansas. I think the Pilots are going to come out spitting fire this Friday!

I'm new to this forum, but since I was at the games in Seattle I just wanted to get my $.02 worth in.

I agree it is way too early to be concerned about how the team is playing in it's first few non-league games. That is why you play these games, to give players time to play together, to try different lineups, work out strategies that will work best for personnel on the team. It's the league games that count. The coaching staff always does a great job of having the team clicking by the time the league games start.

One thing to note about the Purdue game was that the officiating left a lot to be desired. It is not the reason the Pilots lost, but it is the reason Rachel and Ms. Blockton from Purdue got into a scuffle. The officials were very reluctant to blow their whistles in the first half. Like may teams the UP competes against, Purdue tried to knock the team off it's game by playing extremely physically. Normally a certain number of the overly physical plays would result in foul calls. In this game that was not the case. I was in the stands with friends who are UW fans and they were appalled at the poor officiating on their home field. Apparently Rachel decided to give as good as she was receiving and Ms Blockton was not as adept at playing on as the Pilots are. She came up swinging. The officials finally came to realize that they had lost control of the game and thereafter called a foul on almost any bump no matter how incidental in an attempt to regain control.

Looking forward to the games this weekend

Welcome A_Fan!!!

It's always frustrating when the officials lose control like that. Of course it's not the reason UP lost, but when a game is totally inconsistently called it can throw a team out of their rhythm and really interrupt the flow of play. Then that leads to frustration and mistakes... it's kind of a cummulative effect.

Actually, I thought the officials allowed OSU/UP game to get pretty physical, but they called it pretty consistent all game so I guess you can't complain. Still, it's annoying when a less-talented team reverts to bullying to try and compete.

Too early to panic? Have you seen Tottenham fans this season? (Or the directors of Tottenham to be precise.) If anything, I've been sluggish when it comes to panicking!

I kid of course. It's fun to finally get to discuss the Pilots, forgive me when I get a little dramatic.

Just so you guys know, I heard that Rachel Rapinoe tore her ACL. Not good news.

UGH. Here's praying it's not true.

When I was talking about Michaelson... I think that she wasn't really in top form last year and would sometimes make costly mistakes (the UNC game last year is a good example of that). So I'm wondering if some of that is lingering. But I've also seen her be dominant back at the back (like she was in the game against Oregon State and Jodie Taylor last week). So I don't mean to say that she's not a good player... she is. She's terrific.

If you recall (maybe you didn't know), she had pulled stomach muscles at the beginning of last year and was a bit out of shape as a result.

Not so this year. she's the fittest I've seen her. While she is by no means a speed deamon, she's faster than she has been.


Geez, I sure hope that's not true about Rachel.

Ah yes... Geezer, you're on top of things as usual!

Racheal tore her ACL? During the Purdue game? Was she ever down during the game because of the injury? At what point was she hurt? When she was Yellow carded?...Or did it happen during practice this week?

Oh Man?!!? ...I can imagine that it's a very tough thing for her to deal with...especially because its her Senior year! That's heartbreaking!!

Apparently. the Purdue coach was watching a different game than I saw. Here's what Purdue's CSTV site quoted him as saying:

Purdue scored its goal minutes after defensive back Zarinah Blockton received a red card and was ejected from the game for fighting with Portland's leading scorer Rachael Rapinoe. Blockton was thrown to the ground by Rapinoe and retaliated with a strike to the side of head.

The Boilermakers are expected to play without Blockton for Wednesday's and Friday's home matches against Valparaiso and Morehead State.

"Z was coaxed by their player into making an irrational decision," said head coach Rob Klatte. "But even in that bad situation, we have to back down and keep control."

Apparently, Ms. Blockton didn't slam into Rachel from behind every time she touched the ball. as I'm sure Mr. Klatte coached all week.
What really happened is that Rachel is just good at baiting people into irrational action. And Rachel wasn't slammed from behind twice on that particular play (with no call- the play happened near the 18 yd box and the ref was well beyond midfield, too nackered to follow the action) before she turned around and wrestled back, earning her yellow.

Or maybe Mr. Klatte just lost track of who was baiting whom. For sure, he didn't coach backing down before last week's game.

Well, the next time Ms Brockton comes up swinging, she's out for the season and her control issues will achieve resolution.

I'm not sure why he didn't just say he wanted his players to be more physical than Portland whatever the cost. At least then he wouldn't be hiding behind his players.

Go Pilots!

Phantom,

Rachel was yellow carded when the Purdue Player threw the punch (56:38 according to the box score)

she got taken down on the sideline at 64:38 and didn't return. Somebody said she was all right during the UW game that followed, but that may not be correct.