StrangeVol
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Lady Vols Soccer advances to 2nd rnd of NCAA
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StrangeVol
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StrangeVol
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StrangeVol
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We caught a break when Washington State took down the #2 seed in our half of the bracket, defeating UCF 1 - nil. If we get past Washington State we then meet Florida in the quarter finals.
I know, I know, is there any sport we play where we don't run into Florida somewhere? Seems like they follow us around at times. :crazy:
I know, I know, is there any sport we play where we don't run into Florida somewhere? Seems like they follow us around at times. :crazy:
armchair
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Shaw has become weirdly injury-prone the last half the season. There were three games in which she got some sort of odd injury fairly early and missed most of the first half. She suffered a leg injury in one game, sat out the rest of the first half and then came back and was fine in the 2nd half. Got a bee sting and missed most of the first half against missouri, and I forget the other one. A concussion is more serious, of course, but she may only miss the one contest--fingers crossed.
We can beat Washington State without her, though it won't be as easy, obviously. We'll have to play better than we did against a pretty talented Murray State team. Murray State's three forwards scored 25 goals this year--and one could see why last night. They have a lot of speed and athleticism up front--really, all over the field, and they made it difficult for us in stretches. But we did not play well in the attacking half: The Vols were too impatient and sloppy once we got on their side of the field--a lot of bad first touches (by Bialczak in particular), not enough movement and not enough creativity. I watched UVA play an outmatched St. Francis last night, and UVA was so much better at keeping the ball in the attacking half of the field than we were. Now, UVA only managed to score two goals themselves, and Murray St. seems better than St Francis; still, we have to be better at breaking down a defense. It is never easy--hard, in fact--but you can't give the ball away consistently after two/three passes. We didn't really create many quality chances--but Marcano and Gilroy came through and that's what counts.
Marcano is talented and a more than capable replacement for Shaw. She doesn't have Shaw's size or talent for finding teammates with passes, and hasn't played much center forward (Pensky has moved her around a lot over three years--too much, IMO), but she can score if she can find a bit of room and, say, only one defender to beat. We need to use her on the counter, let her make runs to space and get her the ball, as we did last night. She needs to keep her head up when playing, look for open teammates if she is under pressure, and not always try to bull rush through three defenders. Hold up play and look for help; that was our problem frequently last night--not holding up play when it would have bee wise to do so. I think Bialczak has to play better, too--there are games in which she seems poorly positioned and just runs around a lot. One weakness in our attack is that we don't get much good combination play around the box by our midfielders--some, but not enough. Without Shaw, we will need to better combination work.
Washington State was 10-6-5 or somesuch this year. That's not a terribly impressive record, but their /tough/ Pac12 schedule means they are battle tested. They are used to playing good teams. I believe they beat UCLA this year. But this is a game we can definitely win. Washington State's win over Central Florida was a bit lucky in the same way that Vandy was incredibly lucky to beat us in the SEC tourney. Central Florida was the better team--but couldn't manage to score and, worse, one of their defenders headed the ball into their own net (own goal) to give Washington State its winning margin. We got a break with that outcome and need to take advantage of it in (hated) Gainesville.
We can beat Washington State without her, though it won't be as easy, obviously. We'll have to play better than we did against a pretty talented Murray State team. Murray State's three forwards scored 25 goals this year--and one could see why last night. They have a lot of speed and athleticism up front--really, all over the field, and they made it difficult for us in stretches. But we did not play well in the attacking half: The Vols were too impatient and sloppy once we got on their side of the field--a lot of bad first touches (by Bialczak in particular), not enough movement and not enough creativity. I watched UVA play an outmatched St. Francis last night, and UVA was so much better at keeping the ball in the attacking half of the field than we were. Now, UVA only managed to score two goals themselves, and Murray St. seems better than St Francis; still, we have to be better at breaking down a defense. It is never easy--hard, in fact--but you can't give the ball away consistently after two/three passes. We didn't really create many quality chances--but Marcano and Gilroy came through and that's what counts.
Marcano is talented and a more than capable replacement for Shaw. She doesn't have Shaw's size or talent for finding teammates with passes, and hasn't played much center forward (Pensky has moved her around a lot over three years--too much, IMO), but she can score if she can find a bit of room and, say, only one defender to beat. We need to use her on the counter, let her make runs to space and get her the ball, as we did last night. She needs to keep her head up when playing, look for open teammates if she is under pressure, and not always try to bull rush through three defenders. Hold up play and look for help; that was our problem frequently last night--not holding up play when it would have bee wise to do so. I think Bialczak has to play better, too--there are games in which she seems poorly positioned and just runs around a lot. One weakness in our attack is that we don't get much good combination play around the box by our midfielders--some, but not enough. Without Shaw, we will need to better combination work.
Washington State was 10-6-5 or somesuch this year. That's not a terribly impressive record, but their /tough/ Pac12 schedule means they are battle tested. They are used to playing good teams. I believe they beat UCLA this year. But this is a game we can definitely win. Washington State's win over Central Florida was a bit lucky in the same way that Vandy was incredibly lucky to beat us in the SEC tourney. Central Florida was the better team--but couldn't manage to score and, worse, one of their defenders headed the ball into their own net (own goal) to give Washington State its winning margin. We got a break with that outcome and need to take advantage of it in (hated) Gainesville.
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armchair
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I made a mistake: If Shaw misses the Wa. State game, she'd probably miss the next game, too, as it is only two days later. It is possible that her concussion was minor and she could play--not likely, but we'll see. It rather sux that we have to go to Gainesville--feels like a psychological burden that we don't need, since the Vols can't beat florida in anything, basically. I'd rather play North Carolina or Stanford than florida, but first things first, right. We actually did beat florida in the SEC Tourney three years ago, in penalty kicks! So anything is possible.
StrangeVol
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Been waiting for your usual stellar analysis. I agree with everything you said. I do want to point out that your favorite player, Maya Neal, had a great game. She was aggressive coming forward and made several very solid defensive plays, and her passes were mostly right where they needed to be. I also thought the Franks sisters played well. Not spectacular but solid.
After the Shaw injury I thought our possession game was quite good, but lacked purpose. We could move carefully into the attacking third but then it's almost as if we couldn't remember what to do. We surely missed Bunny.
In the second period it seems as if we remembered that we had other players that could score and our attacks became more purposeful. Lo and behold...we scored and then 4 minutes later scored again. All's well that ends well so on we go. We do need Bunny back but if we don't have her some others have to step up.
After the Shaw injury I thought our possession game was quite good, but lacked purpose. We could move carefully into the attacking third but then it's almost as if we couldn't remember what to do. We surely missed Bunny.
In the second period it seems as if we remembered that we had other players that could score and our attacks became more purposeful. Lo and behold...we scored and then 4 minutes later scored again. All's well that ends well so on we go. We do need Bunny back but if we don't have her some others have to step up.
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armchair
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Anybody heard anything on Shaw? I don't expect that athletic department to say anything: owing to privacy concerns, which have gotten rather silly in many cases, injuries are now the equivalent of a state secret. I don't think we heard a word on Gouner's knee injury--apparently a sprain--that kept her out of the lineup for a few games. We'll probably have to wait until Friday and see.
StrangeVol
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armchair
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