Stanford University 2012 [R]

How come not a word about Chioma Ubogagu's 89th minute goal against Canada? The game saver! She scored yesterday against China, too... Come on, Stanford!

 

I have a question about the Stanford Nike Invitational in September. Does anyone know why they started (last year, I think) scheduling the Sunday games at two different venues - one at Stanford and one at Santa Clara?

It was so nice to be able to go to Stanford on Friday and Sunday and watch four matches - two Stanford matches and two Santa Clara matches. Starting with last year, they schedule Sunday's Stanford match at noon at Stanford and the Santa Clara match at 1:00 pm at Santa Clara. We are big Santa Clara fans, but enjoy watching Stanford as well. So now, we have to make a choice between the two - whereas in past years, we could see both matches because both were held at Stanford.

Any insight into why they started doing this?

 

I don't know, but I can make a suggestion. Based on some work I did last year on game attendance, attendance is being lost at tournaments where both games are at the same site. In other words, the total attendance is more when there are two single games at different sites (both home/away games) than when there are two games at a single site (one home-away and the other neutral-neutral). If there is a charge for attendance -- as is the case at both Stanford and Santa Clara -- this means money is being lost.

For fans like you, this is a loss. But for college women's soccer overall, I believe this is a gain. Of course, there could be another reason.

 

Interesting. Maybe we should be happy they aren't doing the same thing on Friday!

I guess we could also try and pick up the Sunday Stanford game streamed online and then record it for later viewing. Not quite the same as being there, but ....

Thanks for the helpful response!

 

One other thing occurs to me - if they are scheduling the games at two different venues as a money-maker (and I don't begrudge them that - they need all the help they can get), why not provide enough time between the games to travel between the two venues - so people like us could pay for two tickets for each attendee? We'd be happy to do that (we already have season tix for Santa Clara, so it wouldn't be much more).

 

I don't know the reason, but I don't think it is gate receipts. These are two different stadiums on two different campuses. I doubt Stanford or Santa Clara make much money at these games that happen before school begins. So the cost of staffing a whole different facility would more than offset the extra revenue, I would think.

Maybe the time of return flights for the east coast teams?

 

After visiting Nirvana last December, I had been waiting for the new season with great anticipation, even though Cachundo tempered my expectations a tad. On hindsight, I'm glad I read his post before heading to the field tonight to watch the exhibition match against Fresno State; had I not, I would have been completely blindsided.

First the good news. No one need worry about central defense after this year. Garciamendez's heir has arrived and her name is Theuer. Another good sign: Quon, Garciamendez and Nogueira looked sharp and ready to lead the team with their superior skills and vision.

Now the bad news: Cachundo's concerns seem to be well founded. The team was ok flowing from the backline to the low midfield; beyond that, trying to understand a play was like trying to make sense out of a bowl of spaghetti. Rosen was the only offensive player who understood transitions and showed decent off-ball movement, but the lack of a cohesive, technical playmaking style disappointed me greatly. Also, where are Oliver, Romine, LaBonta and Hing? It's bad enough having to play without Ubogagu.

Suddenly, the game next week against Santa Clara looks more than a little scary. Ratcliffe may have to overcoach games until the team finds its footing.

 

Romine is listed as "RS", which made me look to the bench and sure enough....Kendall is on the sideline in a boot. injured. and RS clearly indicates she is redshirting. sad. Marjani was also on the bench. She was not suited up either. I assume she was also injured, however, I have no idea to what extent, but surely when she gets back (along with Ubogagu) that front line that wowow is concerned with will improve tremendously as I was having the same concerns yesterday. BUT... it's early. AND holy wow....THEUR is incredible! I'm already a fan. She's a baby and already she's composed, intelligent and her touch was incredibly sharp. Looking forward to more! Also, I really try to refrain from being negative so early, but Doll did not impress me at all. Ratcliffe seems to really like her, so I'm just going to be patient with her development I guess. (or maybe i'm just missing Noyola)

 

No arguments here. If he rolls out the starting lineup that he put on the field Friday, SCU will eat this team up.

Theuer looked solid on the back line. More than anything I think with experience she will be able to fill the void that will be left by Alina when she graduates. Theuer seems to have the rare combination of size and athleticism that will enable her to do the job.

To me, Doll looked improved. She looked more confident and contributed more than I've ever seen her do in the past. She had a rough freshman year but with continued effort, I think she might just be a big story in 2012.

Freshman Bettinger seemed to get better as the game went on. She started out a little shaky but started getting into the flow of the game before she was subbed out and seemed more confident in the second half. I think she might be a really effective center mid on this team as she continues to grow into the role.

It looks to me like the strikers, in Chi's absence, are TBD. I'm sure Verloo has her spot locked up but other than that it's going to be a battle to see who can deliver the goods and secure a spot.

Preseason is a work in progress. Ratcliffe will do what he always does: use these non-league games to figure out what he's got and solidify things as he goes. The losses of Cami, T, and LT are big holes to fill but the class of 2013 has been the strong point on this team since they were freshmen. They have tons of experience and last I checked, they're all still healthy and playing. That's a big plus. Leadership of that caliber can hold things together while the rest of the team gels.

 

Romine already redshirted during her freshman year. I believe that denotation you're seeing on the roster is just an indication that she is a redshirt sophomore just like Verloo is a redshirt junior. The RS only indicates that the player did at one time redshirt and that because of that their class year is not the same as their athletic year.

Romine is currently injured but I don't think she's out for the year.

 

Is Rosen playing this season? Any insight on what she might bring to the midfield?

 

A sellout crowd watched Stanford start its run to defend the national title by wiping out a slow and unfit Santa Clara side in a tale of two halves. In a nutshell: 1H was really, really bad and 2H was really, really good. Hard to tell if the 2H blitzkrieg reflected Stanford's scary physical superiority or a dismal performance by the once mythical Bronco team. Probably a bit of both.

1H was so bad that I almost choked on my Haagen Dasz ice cream bar. The lack of fluidity in the second third of the field shocked me and I was disappointed with the horrific breakdowns by the two outside backs that led to Santa Clara's goal. By halftime, I was scratching my head in utter confusion. 2H was a completely different story. Ratcliffe must have read the starters the riot act during the break, because the team shot out of the gate and never looked back. A couple of minutes into the half, Nogueira snatched the game out of the hands of the sleepy visiting side with one of her vicious headers off a set piece, and normality ensued. As I noted after last week's exhibition match, Nogueira, Quon (game's MVP by far, even accounting for her unusually sloppy defending in Santa Clara's goal) and Garciamendez look really good. The three of them scored and played almost flawlessly, as they emerged undisputed leaders of this squad.

Tactically, this is certainly a different team. It relies on wing-based offensive plays and unadulterated speed at the top. This should change when Ubogagu returns. Her crafty game and superior vision will bring back an O'Hara-Tayloresque texture and complexity to the frontline. Resolving the Levin-Noyola absence is going to be much harder. Quon may become Levin's heir as the team's energizer bunny, winning balls in the back and creating plays with incessant vertical and diagonal mobility. Replacing Noyola, though, may be Ratcliffe's greatest challenge. The team depended greatly on Noyola's uncanny ability to unlock defenses with her mobile creativity and exquisite touch, but unlike Ubogagu (Taylor's heir) and Quon (Levin's heir), Bettinger is light years away from being Noyola's heir. As a result, the team relies on Quon's wing play to generate plays. Against Santa Clara, Leidle also showed promise as a playmaking fullback, and Nogueira eventually settled on both outside backs as her main outlets to the front. It's what worked, so hey, you gotta go with it, but it's definitely different. The team showed that it can be terrifyingly efficient and deep enough to go a long way this season, but I have to admit that I miss the nuanced and creative combination plays that gave Stanford its unique reputation in the college game and created a devoted fan base.

Green lights to Quon (for her brilliant movement on and off the ball, despite her gaffe on the Bronco goal), Garciamendez (for her composure on the ball), Liedle (for a very good debut, despite her gaffe on the Bronco goal), Romine (for not giving balls away!!), Nogueira (for her hardnose), and (surprisingly) Griffen (for her brace).

Yellow lights to most of the rest of the team, including all subbies.

Red lights to Bettinger (for a very poor debut, played like a deer in headlights) and Dickerson (for the giveaway that almost gave Santa Clara a free equalizer).

I left Cagan Stadium with four questions in my mind: Why didn't Theuer start? Why didn't Rosen start? Why didn't Oliver play? Why didn't LaBonta play? For different tactical reasons, I don't this team can succeed if Theuer, Rosen, Oliver and LaBonta are out of the starting mix.

 

Thanks wowow. I was also wondering why those players didn't see the field. I'm especially looking forward to Theuer's starting debut. Thanks for the update.

 

It was mentioned by Stanford in one of their pre-match releases that Oliver was injured. Didn't sound like she'd miss a ton of time though.

 

You would think so but I have some insight into this. Apparently he just calmly told them they were playing well and that in time the goals would come.

Based on how they shot out of the gate in the second half, you'd think he ripped them a new one, but nope.

Big fan of Leidle's play. That kid's gonna be a stud. Bettinger's not all the way there yet but you can see the potential.

 

I noticed that the Assistant Ref for the Santa Clara game was Veronica Perez. Could that be the Veronica Perez who went to the University of Washington and plays for the Mexico National Team?