Oregon/Washington Games

I was glad to see Micaela passing the ball in that situation as well as her great pass to Jess for her goal.

Regarding the level of the Pilots' scoring, they are giving up more goals too.

But, I don't think you can compare years without comparing relative strengths of schedule. This year's schedule is significantly stronger than last year's as of 12 games. The Pilots' 2009 strength of schedule at this point was 0.620 -- ((Element 2 x 2) + Element 3)/3 -- whereas this year it's .632. For average strength of schedule purposes, that's pretty significant. An educated guess says it means we've played teams that on average ranked about 15 positions higher than last year.

Looking at things another way, disregarding the Stanford game with its poor first half, there has not been a second half the Pilots have gone into this year in which I wasn't confident the Pilots would win.

I agree with Decrink. (Even though I am a Sushi lover)
The Pilot passing around at 25 yards out is outstanding indeed. The opposing defenses appear to be keen to that Pilot talent and usually have multiple layers of defensive players to block any Pilot goal opportunities. Sure looks nice and is fun to watch but it won't win games. It will be interesting to see what happens to that when Sophie is away. She is pretty much the main target person on those 25 yard out passing demos that mostly don't end up with a on-goal opportunity. I'm not sure if we are yet to see a scorer who will have the ability to step it up for the big games ahead. Last year we had Rapinoe who would sacrifice her entire life existence to move the ball into a threatening position. The ball usually made it to Danni (standing in the correct space) who would then put it away. (hence so many goals last year) This year, the goal feeder is missing..... That's OK though, we cant have a superstar every year. Superstars come and go. We do have a few very promising freshmen in the mix. Hopefully we will see Kendall back and the return of Kendra? That might help re-equate the offense. --Trenchcoat

PS- I just clicked on the matchtracker for the US vs China game and guess who scored? Rapinoe!

Well...count me as another one who has some of the same thoughts as decrink. The only thing I'd really disagree with is that I don't think the Pilots are going to have problems with the conference schedule. I'm more concerned with these issues being a problem in the playoffs.

Someone at work yesterday was asking me how the Pilots were doing this season. I loved talking about the 10-1 record (11-1 now). But, I mentioned that I still wasn't entirely sure what kind of team we have this year. Halfway through the regular season I'm still not certain. Fun to watch, brilliant at times but I've also noticed some of the things that others have already mentioned that are a little troubling. Glad to know it wasn't just me.

Good discussion all around.

But as I posted a few weeks ago - how spoiled are we as fans? 11-1, 4-1 against ranked opponents, ranked #3 in the country, only loss to #1 ranked team...

I think it's true we may be winning a bit uglier this year than in years past, but we're still winning. A lot. And against some of the best teams in the country.

Are we a national title contender on the level of Stanford, North Carolina, and Boston College? Perhaps not. But are we a Top 5 team in the country? Yes. And that's not too shabby.

I expect challenges in WCC play, especially with Sophie out, but I also expect another conference title, that's for sure, and 7-0-0 for the fifth year in a row is not a remote possibility.

I don't think the coaches know what they have either. They haven't seemed to be able to create much chemistry and confidence with the continually changing lineups, but they are getting a lot of playing time and experience for the youngsters. Pepperdine, San Diego and obviously Santa Clara may all be formidable, so league may be tougher than we think.

Wally is right, in that there doesn't seem to be a "feeder" yet this year. Everyone knows Dani can finish, 40 some goals in her first 2 years tells us that, and I agree with Harry, that she is actually a better player overall this year, so it is a bit baffling to only be playing half a game. It seems like Micaela has the ability to be a creator / feeder all around player like Enyeart someday...hopefully that will come sooner rather than later. It would be fun to see her and Foxhoven together more, as they haven't been teamed up much on top. Also, is Hailee hurt again or is that a rotation position as well. It was great to see us score in the early part of the game for a change, but not so great to see us give up a goal right back. Ellie and Jess are simply rocks this year. We will surely miss Sophie during this league play as well.

We also might be a bit spoiled and might have short memories. Sinc was one of a kind and won't be seen again. Hard to compare anyone there, so maybe those dreams should cease...but looking back, in 2002 we lost 4 and tied 3, in 2003 we lost 3 and tied 2, in 2004 we lost 4 and 2005 we tied 2. This year seems to be similar, doesn't it?

I'm going to go the other way. If Dani had score the number of goals as Capelle, you would all be raving about her being an amazing player like both years before. Capelle is a freshman and may not be a star yet, but how many goals has she scored?
The expectations that have been placed on Dani, and every other player, mainly coming from this board, is completely unfair. You people need to realize that you have the privilege to watch and support one of the top teams in the country, with some of the best women's college soccer players in the country.
We have all become very spoiled. The excitement and support on this board has been terrific over the year, but at times it has become negative banter and critique, coming mainly from people who have never laced up boots and know nothing about actually playing soccer.
This team is young, but still ranked in the top 5 with one loss. Be excited about them. Support them with all that you can. But I think we would all benefit from stepping back for a moment and realize what this is all about.
End of rant.

If the players ever read any of these posts, I'll bet they laugh their asses off. It seems every year someone wants to start something about selfish play or bad team chemistry.

Last year the miscreant was Dani, who ended up with what, 26 goals?
here's what was said then-

Re: up vs. illinios
by bluffer on Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:08 pm

UPSOCCERROOKIE, are we watching the same game (s). The last thing the Pilots need is more selfishness on Danielle's part. If Danielle wants to learn about real "Teamwork" then maybe she can start emulating Sophie, Michelle, Kendra or some of the freshmen, i.e., Kendall or Halley. They seem to be more interested in helping the "Team" score than on personal accolades. It's been 6 games now and I don't think Danielle has once passed to Kendra when she was wide open calling for the ball on the right flank. I quit keeping track of the number of times when it went to double digits. She also has a general failure to combine with Michelle or
Sophie in any kind of attacking situation. It is disheartening to sit in the stands and see a perfect attacking situation stopped so she can pass the ball back to the defense instead of playing a simple through ball to a team mate.

Remember, this was a year when UP lead the NCAA in scoring and had the best defense in the NCAA.

Now people are praising her for being unselfish. Maybe she has to get back to being selfish

before that it was Elli Reed. She didn't know how to pass and wouldn't look at Lopez, remember?. before that it was someone else. Sinclair was both too selfish and not selfish enough in the championship year when she scored 39 goals, and Woznuk and Rapinoe were never going to learn to play together
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Just sit back and enjoy this team. The seniors on this edition of the Pilots have the best winning percentage of any senior class in the NCAA (you can look it up). We are 11-1 regularly starting 4 freshmen. It is going to take a while, but Friday's four goal outpouring by 4 different players tells me they play together pretty well. Three of those goals were from some nifty close-in passing with the feeder being at the end line and the scorer facing the goal. That strikes me as something we weren't doing so well this year with the freshmen yet, and might be what precipitated the "getting yelled at" quote. Some people call that teaching Pilot soccer. Garrett has alway preached getting into position for the high percentage shot. feeding a player facing the goal is as high percentage as they get.

If they are selfish, they are masking it well. They have 26 goals on 26 assists, as opposed to our opponents who have 9 goals on 3 assists. They are taking nearly 3 times as many shots and shots on goal as their opponents, and a 20-2 second half advantage in goals tells me they work harder and play together better than anybody.

Enjoy watching the team grow. They are already very good and will get better as they learn how to play Pilot soccer together.

I remember that silly post that Danielle was a selfish player - truly silly. But, I don't think there has been much besides that post, at least that I remember, about the team being selfish. They definitely are not a selfish team - all you have to do is watch a game and see all the passing. Do they occasionally not see the open pass, well of course. That's part of the game.

At this point, I would agree with other posters that we are definitely a top 5 team - one that COULD, MAYBE win the College Cup. Someone also made the excellent point that you can't always have the superstar finisher. My point all along has been that if we HAD that dangerous 1 v 1 finisher, this team would be unbeatable with all the other parts we have. So, we have to hope that we can scrounge up a goal or two each game to keep winning. Winning or not, it truly is a great, fun team to watch play soccer.

If this group does have a failing (it's hard to say that with a 11-1 record, and the record Geezer mentioned over the past few years), it certainly isn't being selfish. It is that we don't seem to be able to play Pilot-type possession soccer against good teams on the road. Consider road losses to UCLA, Stanford and TAMU over the past few years. It's not the losses so much as the way we lost that may cause trouble for the future. We just seemed like a different team in those games - no possession, playing defense all the time, clearing the ball from our end with long balls (pet peeve) to the other team so they could come right back at us. I have absolutely no idea why that happened, since I didn't see any of those games, but it has happened consistently in (I think) every road game against a top team. Hopefully, the team will get that figured out. Maybe the occasional 4-3-3 is part of that solution. It MIGHT also be we need the attitude that "here we are, in your place, and we're going to take you down in front of your own people!" I really don't know if that's the case - just thinking out loud.

Unselfish is a good adjective to describe the Oregon game. I thought Macaela's decision to pass was the correct one. She drew the keeper to her, then hit Cruz who had a better angle.

This team is more aggressive than teams in the past. However, against the high pressure teams, they tend to kick the ball away more without stringing their passes together and don't always counter with the same degree of pressure. I also think that we don't have the speed that we've had in the past. Just having that one player that the opposing team can't match, changes the game.

I also agree with the posters that are a little frustrated when we pass the ball backwards when we could keep the pressure on by continuing to attack.

I actually watched the game a second time online (I don't normally re-watch any live events) and thought I heard the announcer talking at half time - when he didn't know that he was still "live" - say that Kendall (I think he said Kendall and not Kendra) would be back this weekend.

I'm happy with the team - just think if we had Kendall & Kendra for all the games! - and happy that the freshman are getting lots of playing time. They are improving!

Don't know if anyone posted this Graham Hays article on Portland from Sept. 21st:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/columns/story?columnist=hays_graham&id=5598791

It contains this quote from Sophie:
"It's a difficult decision to make, as far as playing here in your last college season and going to play for your country, because that's a huge deal," Schmidt said. "It's a hard situation to be in, but I think this year, we're more equipped than ever for me to just leave and be OK. We have the players who can fill that role."

We should enjoy this program and these girls - it is always a top 5 program and is again this year! It is fun to watch and fun to win. It could always be much worse for sure (see Penn St).

It is always so interesting to me the dynamic of this forum. Sometimes certain people take the high road and call foul on the discussion saying we are nit picky and spoiled. Other times the same people are critiquing the play for poor judgment and such. My point is we are obviously spoiled by a great team that we all believe in. We know what they are capable of, therefore we can be a bit let down when they don't play to their full potential. This is the point of this forum. To discuss, to cheer, to believe.

I believe this is not our best year in that we can do better. We can win this whole thing. I hope it will be this year, but if not I know it will be soon. The fun of it is that new players are always coming and going. We suffer a loss every year that our seniors graduate but we fall in love all over again with the freshman that come in and win our hearts. They will always get better and make us proud. BUT, their is nothing wrong with believing and knowing that they can do better. They are the best team in the NCAA and one day everyone else will know it as we do.

Lets never stop believing and discussing on this forum. That is what it is for!

Golaso - when you say "coming mainly from people who have never laced up boots and know nothing about actually playing soccer" are you speaking of yourself or just lobbing out a speculative and gratuitous insult to anyone who disagrees with you?

I don't know the identity of more than a couple of people on this site but your characterization does not describe me or the people paid to coach the game that I sit with and whose opinions I mention on here from time to time.

certainly not speaking of myself and certainly not an insult. what i am saying, is that very few people on this board have ever played at the level these girls play at. fair? i definitely think so. its the same that can be said for middle-aged men who played high school football and now attend/watch games and feel compelled to add their input/critiques.
if there is offense to be taken by me stating that many people participating on this board have never played serious football, then imagine the offense taken by a player like dani when she gets on reads that people she has never even met are calling her a selfish player.

So, Golaso, do you think the only people who can possibly know the game of soccer are those who have played at a high level? That would leave out a number of very successful coaches.

Pilots 2, Huskies 1 in double-overtime.

Huskies score early on a corner kick. Pilots score tie with about 8 minutes left in regulation (Frisbie's first career goal, from Capelle). Sophie on a PK with a minute+ left in the second OT.

Pilot possession game did not look good for large portions of the game. Good to get the 'W'.

It made Garrett look like a genius when he pulled Cloee for an extra attacker, Amanda Frisbie, with 15 left. Amanda scored about six minutes later on a nice feed from Michaela. (Choee went back in in a hurry.)

Hailey DeYoung had a couple game-saving stops!

WA was very physical, committing about 22 fouls to Portland's 11. WA was awarded 4 yellow cards to Portland's one against Cloee.

We didn't dominate with a lot of short passing but struck it down field more often. It seemed like only about half the team at any given time were going all-out hustling.

That hand ball in the box sure came in handy today and Sophie calmly put it away! What a great send-off for Sophie as she leaves to play with the Canadian National Team!

Thanks for the game pix, ktinpurple. The last photo of Garrett Smith addressing the team is instructive to all of us who ponder and pose questions here: The coach has reasons, goals and instructions for his players that we don't know about. If they play a certain way, it is because they are following his plan to the best of their abilities. I love the spirit of this team. I applaud its level of skill and stamina. I trust that the coach has a vision for the team, for the players as individuals, and for the season.