Big Ten 2012

Discussion in 'Women's College' started by bmoline, Aug 2, 2012.

  1. bigsoccerdad

    bigsoccerdad Member

    Dec 30, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Getting this fourth hand, but heard the players just quit soccer as did the others listed. Early competition for WI as been somewhat light based on their stats. Notre Dame has gotten their organization back together since their lost to Wisconsin.
     
  2. cpthomas

    cpthomas BigSoccer Supporter

    Portland Thorns
    United States
    Jan 10, 2008
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Minnesota v SDSU game will be one of the really interesting ones.
     
  3. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was moving this weekend, so I'm way behind on scores.

    Thursday 8/30
    Cal St. Northridge 1 Michigan 0
    Minnesota 7 Bowling Green 0

    Friday 8/31
    Indiana 0 UC Santa Barbara 0
    Iowa 3 Iowa State 1
    Baylor 3 Nebraska 0
    Marquette 2 Northwestern 0
    Penn State 2 West Virginia 1
    Purdue 2 Tennessee Martin 0
    UCLA 2 Wisconsin 0

    Sunday 9/2
    Pepperdine 5 Indiana 0
    Iowa 3 Valparaiso 1
    Long Beach State 2 Michigan 1
    Michigan State 2 Akron 1
    Minnesota 1 Western Kentucky 0
    Nebraska 2 Cincinnati 1
    Northwestern 2 Colorado 2
    Ohio State 2 Syracuse 0
    Penn State 3 Pittsburgh 0
    Purdue 4 Evansville 0
    Wisconsin 4 Loyola Marymount 2

    Monday 9/3
    Illinois 3 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1

    Tough weekend for Michigan. These were the two best teams on a rather weak non-conference schedule, and the Wolverines lost both. They'll need a very good Big Ten season to return to the NCAA Tournament. Iowa remains perfect on the season against their soft non-league slate. Indiana's offense went dormant on the west coast, as they were shut out in both games. Ohio State continues to rebound after a very tough opening weekend. Two more wins for Penn State, including an always difficult game at West Virginia. Wisconsin showed fairly well against UCLA before exploding for four goals at Loyola Marymount. Minnesota is looking more and more like they could be an NCAA calibur team this season...seven goals is impressive, even if Bowling Green isn't a top-tier opponent.
     
  4. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  5. bigsoccerdad

    bigsoccerdad Member

    Dec 30, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    IOWA
    [​IMG]
    08/17/12 vs. Eastern Illinois Iowa City, Iowa W, 5-0
    08/19/12 vs. North Dakota Iowa City, Iowa W, 3-0
    08/24/12 vs. Loyola Chicago Iowa City, Iowa W, 4-0
    08/26/12 at Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, Iowa W, 3-0
    08/31/12 at Iowa State Ames, Iowa W, 3-1
    09/02/12 vs. Valparaiso Iowa City, Iowa W, 3-1



    Since I'm out of Chicago and track the teams in upper midwest, I'll comment on the teams around here...Iowa's early record is being overlooked since they didn't put any meat on their preseason schedule. Interesting strategy. They could be a surprise in the Big Ten ranks once conference games start and first game against Illinois for a true look. Illinois should be back in full force by then with coach and key player back on the pitch. Wis's play by play against UCLA did show the team was on the defense during the match up, but Wis just missed out on putting two into net, so that game was good showing for them. Their true strength will show when they meet up with Penn State so that will be a good one to watch. Looks like they filled their assistant coach with Carmelin Moscato from Canadian Olympic team so expect to see more Canadian nationals on their team. Minnesota looks like a consistent team this year with the new coach. They have just a good core team and a controlled quality roster. Most considered previous coach kind of all over the board and recruiting so insular as mentioned earlier. You don't see many players from Chicago area on their roster, but if arms were stretched out, I'm sure many would head to U of Minnesota so we'll watch that in future.
     
  6. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Same exact strategy Iowa used last season, when they went undefeated in their non-conference schedule. Although they had a solid league campaign, they missed the NCAA Tournament with a 13-4-3 record because of that weak non-conference schedule. They'll need some of their non-conference opponents this season to fare well in their conferences to have a stronger RPI this season.
     
  7. GopherBob

    GopherBob Member

    Jun 6, 2003
    Minneapolis
    I'm really trying to watch the Minnesota/San Diego State game but the Aztecs are playing the ugliest brand of soccer I've seen in my entire life. Does anybody actually attend their games?
     
  8. GopherBob

    GopherBob Member

    Jun 6, 2003
    Minneapolis
    Heh, Cat Parkhill let in another garbage goal in OT, her specialty, so SDSU wins 1-0.

    Gophers dominated possession but SDSU's strategy was to tackle Minnesota forwards outside the box whenever they were in scoring position. Paid off since the Gophers couldn't put any free kick on frame.

    Minnesota dominated possession, shots, corners, shots on goals. SDSU lead in fouls and offsides.

    When is college soccer going to get away from the sudden death style of OT? So 1990s, why even play OT during the regular season?
     
  9. GopherBob

    GopherBob Member

    Jun 6, 2003
    Minneapolis
    !

    Loving Coach Golan. Gophers completely dominated that match, could have put home 2 or 3 goals, but the experience will pay off down the road. I hope SDSU has a terrible season here on out, for soccer's sake...our RPI would benefit with their success.
     
  10. GopherBob

    GopherBob Member

    Jun 6, 2003
    Minneapolis
    Minnesota defeated DePaul 3-0 today behind a hat trick from Taylor Uhl. Gophers outshot the Demons 24-4.

    I didn't see it, but nice to see Minnesota putting away lesser teams this year, a definite problem last year. On to the Big Ten season!

     
  11. bigsoccerdad

    bigsoccerdad Member

    Dec 30, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Penn State's loss to BYU must sting alittle, but their U20 World Cup players (they have at least two) should be back on the pitch for their next and first big ten game vs. Wis. Wis snuck it out against Illinois State in double overtime.. Illinois State is a surprise in their conference.
     
  12. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wouldn't say that necessarily. They won the Missouri Valley regular season and tournament last season before Milwaukee knocked them out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Illinois played them to a 1-1 tie in Normal in what was a pretty even game in terms of possession and scoring chances. Their defense has been a bit up-and-down the last couple of seasons, but they're a very dangerous team offensively with sophomore Rachel Tejada.
     
  13. GopherBob

    GopherBob Member

    Jun 6, 2003
    Minneapolis
  14. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Friday 9/14

    Nebraska 2 Northwestern 0

    Saturday 9/15

    Michigan 3 Indiana 0

    Sunday 9/16

    Illinois 2 Iowa 1
    Michigan State 2 Purdue 1 OT
    Ohio State 2 Minnesota 1 OT
    Penn State 2 Wisconsin 1
    Nebraska 1 Northern Colorado 1

    A bunch of good matchups on Sunday, with all league games decided by one goal, and two of them in OT. Probably not a coincidence that the home team won all four of those games. The only road winner in the Big Ten's opening weekend was a bit of a surprise, as Nebraska got the win in Evanston over a Northwestern team that had a pretty good non-conference season.

    No blog last week, as I was out of town in a wedding. More updates to come this week.
     
  15. cpthomas

    cpthomas BigSoccer Supporter

    Portland Thorns
    United States
    Jan 10, 2008
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    According to Massey, home field advantage amounts to about one-third to one-half a goal for most teams. (It varies from team to team. For example, for BYU it's about .6 goals, likely due to altitude.)

    Or, to put it differently, according to my calculations, a home team plays as though its NCAA Adjusted RPI rating is 0.008 higher than the actual rating and an away team plays as though its ARPI were 0.008 poorer. (When I adjusted ARPIs by those amounts on a game by game basis, teams' results become independent of game location.)
     
  16. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  17. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Friday 9/21

    Illinois 1 Ohio State 0
    Iowa 1 Indiana 0
    Michigan 1 Minnesota 0
    Penn State 4 Northwestern 1
    Purdue 2 Nebraska 1 2ot
    Wisconsin 1 Michigan State 0

    Updated Standings

    Illinois 2-0-0 6pts
    Michigan 2-0-0 6pts
    Penn State 2-0-0 6pts
    Iowa 1-1-0 3pts
    Michigan State 1-1-0 3pts
    Nebraska 1-1-0 3pts
    Ohio State 1-1-0 3pts
    Purdue 1-1-0 3pts
    Wisconsin 1-1-0 3pts
    Indiana 0-2-0 0pts
    Minnesota 0-2-0 0pts
    Northwestern 0-2-0 0pts

    Minnesota faces close to a must-win at home on Sunday vs. Michigan State to avoid an 0-3 start in the conference. I'll be calling the Illinois-Penn State game on Sunday, which should be a pretty good one. The Michigan-Wisconsin game should also be very interesting. That was a big win for the Wolverines last night in Minneapolis.
     
  18. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sunday 9/23

    Penn State 4 Illinois 0
    Michigan 3 Wisconsin 0
    Nebraska 2 Indiana 1
    Iowa 3 Purdue 2
    Minnesota 1 Michigan State 0
    Ohio State 2 Northwestern 0

    Updated Standings

    Michigan 3-0-0 9pts
    Penn State 3-0-0 9pts
    Illinois 2-1-0 6pts
    Iowa 2-1-0 6pts
    Nebraska 2-1-0 6pts
    Ohio State 2-1-0 6pts
    Michigan State 1-2-0 3pts
    Minnesota 1-2-0 3pts
    Purdue 1-2-0 3pts
    Wisconsin 1-2-0 3pts
    Indiana 0-3-0 0pts
    Northwestern 0-3-0 0pts

    Well, the Illinois-Penn State game was a blowout midway through the first half. Looks to me like there's a big gap this season between Penn State and everyone else. Time will tell. Thought the Michigan-Wisconsin game would be a good one, but the Wolverines capped off a great weekend with a 3-0 win. Minnesota won a game they absolutely had to have at home.

    What stood out to everyone else?
     
  19. GopherBob

    GopherBob Member

    Jun 6, 2003
    Minneapolis
    I've been out of the loop the last couple of weeks, but outside of Michigan's 3-0 record, things look about as expected.

    I thought Nebraska would be worse than they are, but their two wins are against IU and Northwestern.

    Minnesota/Wisconsin on Thursday is huge beyond the usual rivalry implications. Both teams are talented but going into a 1-3 hole is pretty bad (and the Gophers face the Lions in State College on Sunday.)
     
  20. bigsoccerdad

    bigsoccerdad Member

    Dec 30, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Still waiting to see what Illinois is made of and seems like they are just getting their barings after getting over the U20 world cup distraction this year. . i think they have a lot more to show. Ohio State still has something to prove. Wisconsin got handed it by Michigan. Northwestern can only get stronger in the future with Moynihan at the helm. Prediction: Penn State and Michigan fighting for first and second, then this Big 10 conference placemennt for the tournamentt is up for grab between IL, MN, NE, IO, OH, WI, PUR.
     
  21. midwestfan

    midwestfan Member

    Dec 31, 2011
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Just finishing watching the Penn State Ohio State game. Score is 3-0 to PS. It's a much closer game than the score indicates with OS having more of the possesion but not getting the job done in front of net. I was not paying attention to the first half much so don't know how it was so this is my impression of the second half. PS is much more decisive with the ball, a little better at moving the ball around to create space, better finishing, and a little quicker to react in front of goal. They just seem more dangerous when they have the ball. It's the little things that make the difference, and PS does those little things better than OS.
    an entertaining game to watch though.
     
  22. GopherBob

    GopherBob Member

    Jun 6, 2003
    Minneapolis
    Well that was a blast. Gophers were looking down and out down 2-0 to Wisconsin with 22 minutes left, but stormed back to win 3-2 in regulation!

    Cara Walls was giving Minnesota fits in the first half, beating the offside trap for several breakaways. She scored the first goal on a nice shot in the 22nd minute after Paige Adams found her open on the right side after a scramble in the box.

    Minnesota started the second half flat with Taylor Uhl on the bench I'm pretty sure they were saving her strength for the final 30 minutes since she spent the entire first half sprinting, but could have been a slight injury.

    Wisconsin capitalized on the Gophers flat start to earn a corner, which deflected to Monica Lam-Feist on the edge of the box and she sent a beautiful shot into the upper right corner for a 2-0 Badger lead.

    With 25 minutes left Taylor Uhl came in off the bench and lit a spark for Minnesota. In the 68th minute Katie Thyken caught Wisco off guard with a quick throw in to Uhl in the corner, who slotted the ball to a streaking Allie Phillips. Phillips calmly finished the ball off the right post and into the goal to cut the lead in half.

    Six minutes later Thyken again found Uhl on a perfect run and she beat Badger GK Gunderson with a great finish to tie the game up. The Gophers dominated the final 15 minutes, knocking on the door several times. The Badgers, however, nearly took the lead with 4 minutes left when Walls put the ball off the post on a counterattack which was followed by Tam Strahota clearing the ball off the line.

    Minnesota won the game in the 87th minute, Marissa Price sent a ball into Taylor Wodnick, who headed it into the net past Gunderson who came out to challenge the service.

    Huge, emotional win for the Gophers who head to State College on Sunday to play Penn State. I won't be able to watch that game so you won't be subject to a lengthy play-by-play post by me afterward!
     
  23. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks for the reports on last night's games. My week has been nuts, so I didn't get to my blog yesterday like I'd hoped. Will have something later today with picks for the remaining games this weekend.

    The OSU-PSU game sounds similar to the Illinois-PSU game last week. Illinois did a pretty good job with possession once they settled down, but they had a hard time in the attacking third. Credit Penn State's defense...at least against Illinois, they did a great job of closing down space quickly. Was particularly impressed with their freshman defender Persson.

    Huge win for the Gophers last night. Meanwhile, could Wisconsin be looking at a season similar to last year? Got off to a pretty good start, then things started to go downhill in league play. They're now 1-3 in the league with a pair of home losses.
     
  24. bmoline

    bmoline Member

    Aug 24, 2008
    Champaign
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  25. SoccerRover

    SoccerRover New Member

    Aug 22, 2011
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I followed the tribe to Bloomington tonight and was surprised with what waited there. Indiana seems to have sorted its back four out, and changed its midfield to add the wide presence that had been clearly missing in earlier games in the season. It seems many of the freshmen that had been getting a run in early season are now firmly on the bench.

    And the older players had it sorted out for MOST but not all of the game against Illinois. If you skip to the end of the movie it has the same ending, but the plot line was different.

    Illinois were listless in warmups (lots of dancing), and a nice combination from Indiana put Candler through in the first minute or so. I mean, totally free into the box with the keeper to beat. She elected to lay it off to a player arriving towards the back post and perhaps more surprised than anyone, the chance was missed. But it set the tone for most of the half, Illinois perhaps having more possession due to Indiana turning it over, but not really going anywhere; and Indiana making some nice combinations, including a shot of the crossbar mid-half. Illinois attack was mostly down the left side, #11 being pacey and clever, but she was defended well other than a couple of cross that slid by in front of the goal. Zeros at the half.

    There was more forward impetus to Illinois to start the 2nd half but at the cost of playing with 3 at the back. Several times they elected to leave Valesquez unmarked (she had been a complete non-factor in the first half.) But if she gets the ball on her left foot inside the box, there's a cannon hidden there. Indiana found her and she the goal, about 10 minutes in.

    With the home advantage and the best of the game, you thought Indiana would finally have something to cheer about. They defended in fours behind the ball and looked to be holding the game. But in one of those "what were you thinking?" moments, the keeper rushed from her line to try to get to a cross a good ten-twelve yards out, was beaten to the ball that was never hers and a looping header into the goal. With about 15 minutes still to play, it still deflated all the good effort the home team had put in. And Illinois smelt blood in the water, like many Big10 teams have at this other Bloomington

    Still Indiana found openings with Candler, Valesquez and Nouansengsy, and a clever standing chip by Valesquez dropped over the keeper and.. bounced off the crossbar. But the home defense now had that frantic rushing feeling instead of calm control and five minutes fro m the end Illinois got the winner, then controlled the tempo and possession to run out the clock

    Four losses by one goal for Indiana to start the Big10 season. This is one that got away
     
    bmoline repped this.

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