OSU Beavers

It's game day, so here's a thread on the afternoon foes from Corvallis. The Beavers have a 4-1-1 record, with the tie coming against Santa Clara and the loss against Florida State. They are 2-0 on the road. Coach Linus Rhode said: "Portland is a great team. One thing that we aren’t looking at is their results from this year. They are going to be at home and they are going to be strong." The Beavers have balanced scoring with Jenna Richardson and Haley Shaw among the threats the Pilots D must contend with.

Teams (and fans) will be contending with mid-90s heat at midday. Heat plus a two-overtime game for the Pilots on Friday could mean more substitutions than usual in the Pilots' tight rotation.

Oregon One Portland zero

Long ball up the middle again

One one

Halftime

Tied

Overtime

Game Portland
2-1

Was nice to see this win watching from air conditioning at home. Seemed like the booting downfield in the 2nd half was not yielding any results. It was nice to see some controlled play to move the ball. Game winner was a nice assist and great goal for Dani. She worked so hard on both ends of the field. Good thing they did not have to go the full 110 like Friday with a tough match coming up on Thursday.

That was a very even game and OSU will certainly be disappointed. Both teams had some decent stretches but the Pilots seemed to have more of the play as the second half wound down.

Purple Haze was right about the subs. There were lots of them. Pilots even brought four on at once.

Good win for Pilots who showed grit to play through another overtime game. It was very very hot at Merlo today. Some of the players were visibly exhausted by the end of the game which is no suprise. So conclusions about some of what we saw in the second half probably need to be tempered by acknowledging the conditions.

Winner was two minutes into OT. Great turn and run on the goal line from Micaela C who threded a great ball across the six yard line. Fox in the Box pounced - game over.

Nichole Downing played in goal. Steady - not a huge amount to do. Came for the ball on the OSU goal and could not get to it through a scrum of players. Back four for most of the game was Michelle c, Cloee, Kassi and MichelleO. MO continued her remarkable practice of playing numerous positions - this time it was left d. MO played 202 minutes this weekend - every minute and she was running full speed at the end. She was solid and polished as usual and Cloee was a rock. Sarah Bridges sat out for medical reasons. Hopes to be cleared to play Thursday.

Hailee played holding mid - steady not spectacular. Combo of her at holding and Cloee at the back is better than most of what we've seen. Ellen Parker played attacking mid again and is showing real promise. She does lots of simple things - at least she makes them look simple - that keep the game flowing and create positive momentum for UP. Taylor was heroic out wide - and Amanda F started out left but went off with an apparetn injury after about 25 minutes. Emily Sippel came in for her. Emily is improving with playing time.

Micaela and Dani up front. Dani scored a beaut from 20+ yards to tie the game. Her first touch on the ball is possibly the best of anyone on the team and she is playing well. She will never be very fast but she is a leader on the field. Micaela is quick - and is starting to see more of the field and make more passes. The assist for the winning goal was superb play, and a great finish from Dani. Earlier in the game Dani had set up a great chance for Micaele to win the game but her shot was blocked.

Micaela and Taylor ran a lot this weekend and were running on empty by the end.

Cameo appearances from Emma Nelson and Lorielle "McKassi" at the back, and by Kaila Camelli and Rebekah Curle.

The've played better this weekend. Still looking for the best lineup and need to take more of the chances they create.

Best XI might be: DeYoung (possibly Dees); Cruz, Olivier, Colohan, Bridges; Brooke, Kreminski, Parker, Sippel or Frisbie; Foxhoven, Capelle.

I thought that the first 30 minutes of the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second were the worst I've seen from the midfield this year. No one showing for the ball leading to poor passes right to the defense. We were beaten to every ball. Had a hard time stringing more than one pass together --- even getting one pass completed was tough at times. Defense was pretty solid throughout. The OSU goal was a fluke; if Nichole stays on the line it's an easy catch. There were, however, a couple of decent looks for the OSU attackers that they squandered. We might not be so lucky against Stanford and USC.

Later in the second half things seemed to come together a little better. Foxhoven is in fine form this year, and it's a good thing! No one else seems to trust herself to take a shot. Capelle's play on the game-winner was brilliant. She beat three along the goal line before crossing from just outside the near post.

The last twenty minutes were the best offense sequence to date. Several changes came into play.

Garrett will have to decide what his best combination will be for Thursday.

It should be interesting.

Psychotic wrote:The last twenty minutes were the best offense sequence to date. Several changes came into play.

Garrett will have to decide what his best combination will be for Thursday.

It should be interesting.

I'm not sure how much the last 20 minutes tell us about lineup, although I'll agree that the Pilots seemed to take over at the end if regulation time and into overtime. My observation is that notwithstanding that the Pilots played 110 minutes on Friday and the Beavers played 90, the Pilots had more in reserve at the end of the game and were taking it to the Beavers more and more. Great fitness, great determination, and great HEART!

GO PILOTS!

I would be interested in seeing the OSU goal on video replay if it is available. While watching on the video feed, they did not have a replay of that goal. The video work is very nice this year with the multiple cameras and good camera work.

The Pilots put sizzle into a hot game at Merlo. If watching from the stands tested our hydration, then the players were dealing with far more. The crowd dwindled as the game wernt on -- due to weather and not the excitement and tension in a very hard-played game in which no one backed down. Players were taking and giving big hits all over the field as the ref let a lot of contact go without comment. So: kudos to the victors for their survival instinct.

I believe we got to see every Pilots healthy field player except for Malloy Leahy (don't think she has seen game action yet this season) as the Pilots dipped deep into their strategic soccer reserves.

Some highlights as I see 'em: Dani is such a class act -- the team would be unarmed without her. Emily Sippel is becoming a force, looking better and craftier and tougher as she gains more experience. Mo Olivier and Cloee are crucial to the back line and I really like Kassi alongside them. Lorielle, the "next generation" Kassi, got to sub in for her sister and did well in crunch time. (I love to see the trust Garrett Smith shows in putting his young players in a match.) M. Cruz is a treat to watch.

The UW keeper was named tourney MVP and Dani was the offensive MVP -- both richly deserved, since both their teams depended on them absolutely. And I'm glad Dani scored the game-winner early in overtime -- by then everyone had been too long in the noonday sun.

Apparently some people didn't read Harry's post. I used to be an athlete (back when Millard Fillmore was president) and I know how hard it is to perform in excessive heat. The heat was the biggest factor in the performances on both sides. That said, I was surprised that GS waited so long to start subbing...it was apparent all over the field...on both teams...except, for some strange reason, Nichole...who stood up far better than Pac 10 all star Colleen Boyd who ran out of gas at 10 minutes of the second half.
GS also made me very happy by putting both McCluskeys in at the same time...I got a picture, but it is blurry...I may post it later anyway.
As for the performances, I agree, as I usually do, with Harry Redknapp's assessment of the players. Dani was voted offensive MVP, but I would have given it to Michelle Olivier...solid performance.
One last comment, although it is for last Friday's game, Cloee wore number 24 instead of 10 and I was very disappointed...number 24 belongs to the ace up Garrett's sleeve for next season...and I don't want that to change.

First, Cloee only changed to 24 late in the game after ripping off 10 during a throw-in and throwing it to the bench--maybe blood on it or something. As rough as it got at times, it easily could have been blood.

I thought the team played so much better than the last time we saw them at Merlo. Especially on Friday when they showed the intensity that was lacking earlier. For me, a key to that was Sippel, Brooke and Capell all starting and Dani at forward. It was close to the old Pilot soccer seeing Sippel and Bridges playing the overlapping game down the left side. That showed that they were finally getting the idea of Pilot soccer. Parker played her best game yet on Friday though today she showed more fatigue than others and that might due to her thinner frame. The Beavers pushed her around a lot more, especially when she tried to hold the ball. I think her best game comes from moving the ball quickly until she gets stronger. One thing that seems strange is Halley's lack of touch compared to last year. Maybe not practicing up front has changed her focus just enough. Once she gets that touch back, she could be a real force because she has the strength to disrupt and she wins a lot of balls in the air.

Today was a drop off from Friday but anyone who has played soccer or football in heat like that would understand and should have expected that, especially after 110 minutes on Friday. It wears you down pretty quickly and I was impressed with the way the gals pushed hard to the end. Capell was so tenacious on that last run along the end line despite playing so many minutes that it was clear that the ladies had come out to win this thing in the OT. Great result.

One more thing. Seeing Kassi and Lorielle playing side by side for awhile in the second half was fun. They really didn't have any drop off as Lorielle held her own, especially for a freshman who hasn't played much at this level.

This was a great win for this team on a very tough day. Neither side was going to get a lot of chances or a lot of possession.

The best part about this game was two things.

The team got to contribute as a whole, not necessarily in the places where they would normally be and did pretty well to a player. That's going to be really important down the road with this small roster. People are going to have to be flexible.

The other thing is that they made more out of their chances, and they had the services to the striker in the box that has been the hallmark of the recent seasons. The last few games that hasn't been very well timed. Sometimes players made runs and no one was in the box in the two previous games.

Now... If we can combine the possession game we have been able to have the two games before that with the finishing we know these players are capable of, we could be back on track.

Also, I think we now all know where Dani should be playing. She shouldn't have to set up the plays and finish them. We need to keep her near goal and get the ball there.

This team is centered around making her a threat. That will eventually open it up for others.

purple passion wrote:As for the performances, I agree, as I usually do, with Harry Redknapp's assessment of the players. Dani was voted offensive MVP, but I would have given it to Michelle Olivier...solid performance.
One last comment, although it is for last Friday's game, Cloee wore number 24 instead of 10 and I was very disappointed...number 24 belongs to the ace up Garrett's sleeve for next season...and I don't want that to change.

I think Cloee is keeping the 10 shirt (even if the 10 is usually worn by the CAM, but anyway...) and the 24 was the spare they had.

At this point Dani has to be the MVP but Olivier should not be overlooked. She's been fantastic at her usual center back spot but also filled in quite nicely elsewhere. It's too bad for Bridges she had to sit out Sunday but fortunately it opened up a spot to put Olivier.