Vols Soccer: 1-0 Win over George Mason

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armchair

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Tennessee improved to 2-0 on the season with a win over George Mason on a hot day in Fairfax, Virginia. There was a sizable contingent of Vol fans at the game in northern Virginia, partly if not mostly because the Vols have got quite a few players from the Richmond/northern Va./Maryland area. And so it was sweet that a player from Arlington, VA, Meghan Flynn, finally put the ball in the next to give the Vols the victory. It was a win Tennessee deserved as we dominated possession and territory, but as has been the case with us in the past--and this is true of a lot of teams that play a sport in which it is inherently difficult to score, we struggled to convert opportunities into goals until Flynn, late in the game, found some space on the left, about 15-18 yards from the G. Mason goal, and whelped the ball into the net--a first-rate strike.

In the first half we had a lot of possession and a lot of corner kicks but only generated one serious scoring chance, late, when a well-hit strike from Khadija Shaw was parried away by the Mason goalie. Scoreless at the half. I think we had 10 corner kicks for the game. That is a LOT--and good teams will find a way to convert at least 10-15 percent of the corners into goals, so the Vols need to be a better job with these set pieces.

The Vols came out with a purpose in the second half, put a lot of pressure on Mason, and had four or five good chances to score in the first 20 minutes but could not capitalize. Center forward Salera Jordan, who is promising, squandered a couple of chances close to goal by failing to shoot the ball. On one occasion she came in alone on the Mason keeper with the ball and, instead of shooting, decided to center the ball to an oncoming Michelle Christie, but a defender got to ball just as Christie did and the chance came to nothing--and Christie almost got hurt. Jordan should have just belted the ball. A very short time later, she beat a defender and had another brief chance to shoot--close to goal--but tried to change directions and beat a second (oncoming) defender and lost the ball. When you are close to net with the ball, shoot the ball--let it fly. Trying to make a perfect play in soccer usually results in a poor play because you keep the ball too long and then, invariably, a defender catches up to you. Let 'er rip when the chance is there.

Not long after that, outside back. D. Marcano had a couple of chances that were blocked, and Shaw had a couple of near misses--one a header, on a beautiful cross to from freshman forward Erin Gilroy, that just went over the crossbar. One hopes that with steady pressure, somebody will convert--and that player was Flynn, who space and time and gave it a rip. Goal.

All in all, it was a solid performance against a Mason team, from the Atlantic 10 conference, that is probably a little better than its 0-2 record would suggest. We had games last year and the year before when we played weaker competition and could not score--the game would end 0-0 ties--so these two road wins to start the season (the first over Navy) are important for our RPI, even if the competition wasn't stellar. You have to win games you should win.

All things considered, this appears to be the best team Pensky has put on the field in the 5/6 years he's been the coach. We've got a lot of quality players on the field, and some decent (though very young) depth. There are issues: We are still a fairly young team--only two seniors; we are not the paciest (speediest) team in the country, and we have players who aren't in their ideal positions, IMO. Soph M.A. Vignola, good player, played attacking midfielder last year, is this year playing left back. She joins fellow attacking midfielder D. Marcano, who was switched to right back last year. Marcano is now probably our most dependable defender--and like all good outside backs she gets in on attacks. That is something Vignola will be very good at too--getting forward. she did that today. Outside back will be a good position for her, if not her most natural position, though she's going to have to contend with some seriously speedy opposing forwards int he weeks ahead, which may be a bit of a problem as Vignola has qualities but is not super-fast. She needs more experience at the position.

The same is true of our two centerbacks, who are also converted offensive players--erstwhile foward/outside back M. Gouner and former forward M. Neal, who is also on our track team. Gouner and Neal worry me a bit: They are good athletes but they lack the instincts and experience that really good centerbacks have. (Neal played centerback most of last year while Gouner is new to the position, I believe.) They make plays, but they both make mistakes, and good teams take advantage of centerbacks who make mistakes. Gouner is fast but good centerback play is really all about reading the game and positioning yourself properly. Her learning curve needs to be short, as centerback is a key position. Neal does a lot of good things but at least three times today kicked the ball directly to a Mason midfielder and suddenly we were under pressure for no good reason.She also misplayed a header that give Mason a corner kick. We were really hurt by centerback Kathryn Culhane's decision not to play her (redshirt) senior year. We need our centerbacks to be good.

The midfield is solid if not spectacular. It is anchored by holding mid Katie Cousins, who played very well today. Cousins is short and, as a result, not all that fast--but she is a smart and tough player, very strong on the ball, and her instincts and positioning are outstanding. She is excellent at winning the ball, keeping the ball, distributing the ball, and setting tempo. She was a starting midfielder for the U.S. Women's U20 National Team, and her extensive national-team training really shows. Her partners, Rylie O'Keefe and Christie, are good at covering the field and winning balls, but both lack scoring punch. O'Keefe in fact produced points and some goals last year, but neither she nor Christie is at all a classic attacking midfielder. I think the three of them only had one shot, collectively, today. Good teams get goals from their mids.

In any case, this team seems solid now and has considerable upside as forwards Jordan, Shaw Gilroy and forward A. Kupritz and others develop more chemistry with the mids. We've got four straight out-of-conference games coming up against teams we should beat. Then comes Bucknell and Va. Tech, which will be more competitive. I think Bucknell won the Patriot League last year and was in the NCAA. Va. Tech is a consistent mid-pack team in the super-strong ACC. Those will be two big games that lead us into the SEC schedule.
 
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#4
#4
thanks AC...2-0...first time since 2012...:pepper:...never thought the Navy game would ever start...good goal keeping D...:rock::rock:...also, many shots taken...just have to adjust the sights on their big toes...:)

GO LADY VOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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