Heard that Romagnolo is allowing the assistant coaches to coach these spring games while she evaluates and observes. Smart approach. Hope she is observing the paucity of scoring. Now, I wouldn't expect an offensive explosion (or any goals, for that matter) against a professional team like the Red Stars. But I would expect some flippin' goals against the likes of Marquette, Michigan and Western Michigan, etc. I know defenses win championships, but you can't win if you can't score.
I'll have more on the game later today. But the Irish held their own at the beginning and had a couple of chances. But you can see that they aren't playing cohesive yet and many passes were missed. I agree, they need power forwards. ND was noted for forward power over the years and I remember the likes of Amy Warner, Kerri Hanks, Melissa Henderson, Melissa Tancredi, Jen Strieffer. The kids did not play poorly last night. They had their chances including a goal on an off-side call that you could question. However, it was clear that there was a difference between the pro players and the still in college kids. The pros moved the ball around with precision, better touch, much more quickness and most of all confidence. But I do see positives with ND future. More later.
For a number of reasons, spring games usually don't result in a lot of goals regardless of opponents.
I guess she also used it to evaluate her coaches and as a result is headed in a new direction with respect to her first assistant coach. Would like to see who is the coach she plans to bring in to be her new assistant.
In the game against the Red Stars the other day, I noticed the Irish pressing a lot more. Chicago had to do a lot of passing around to get the ball up field. In fact for a while ND had them pressed in their own half in the beginning. Sammy Scofield was injured so they didn't have their experienced central defender but I thought the D held their own for a while until the Red Stars moved Julie Johnston into midfield with speedster Bywaters and tall Haley Brock up front with former "Domer" Adriana Leon, then defending became much more of a problem for the Irish. I thought Bohaboy did a good job up front but more forward firepower is needed (with speed) and ability to take the man on like Melissa Henderson used to do. Morgan Andrews has the skill to hold and distribute the ball with great precision and will one day become a star. However, her movements need to become quicker, IMO. She was dispossessed of the ball by the quicker pros a couple of times trying to make turns. I think this will come with experience in college and the under-USWNT games. Conditioning will be of essence with the Irish moving forward especially if the new coach wants to press more, which to me seems ala, North Carolina. Cari Rocarro got a yellow card in the game. She may need to work on keeping her cool, but I love her work rate and feistiness. I though overall it was a good game for the Irish to experience playing a professional team that moves the ball much quicker then they will see in college. They had to defend against big forwards, fast midfielders and midfielders that can whip the ball from one side to the other on a dime and go at defenders who are used to defending the likes of Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach so I think although the score doesn't indicate it, it was a win-win for both teams and the Irish got valuable game-time and experience moving forward to the next ACC season. One more thing, In the NWSL thread I mentioned that it was good to see former Notre Dame National Champion Adriana Leon score the other day. Not that I like seeing ND scored upon, and it is an exhibition game after all but I am very fond of former Notre Dame players going back almost 20 years, when I watched Shannon Boxx and Kate Sobrero play on the old field and former NCAA National Champions hold a special place in my heart because I have been to the College Cups where these Championships were won and experienced the joy. To all former ND players in the NWSL pro league, I keep an eye on, no matter what team they are on and wish all of them luck because they brought me many memories at old Alumni field and the new stadium over the years and especially the National Champions that are playing in the new pro league.
I see that Theresa is a on a recruiting trip to California. Glad to see her get involved quickly in recruiting. She is now the face of ND soccer so she has to be up front and visible to potential recruits. One more thing. Normally I don't post what players, parents, coaches tell me in private. But in this case, I feel it is OK. I asked a former player of Theresa Romagnolo's who is now a professional player, playing in the NWSL a couple of weeks ago to tell me a little about her. She told me that she loved Theresa Romagnolo as a coach and person. I asked her about recruiting and the player's answer was, - well, she recruited me, so... This comes from a player with a National Championship ring at Stanford. Hopefully good things to come for Irish fans.
I know this doesn't mean much, but I saw both Theresa and Dawn working hard all weekend at the ECNL event in San Diego. Seemed like 10 minutes never passed without somebody approaching her to congratulate her and wish her luck. She seems to be well respected amongst her peers
C'mon, ND website - can you replace the old picture of Theresa in Stanford gear? Surely she's actually worn some ND gear by now!
According to tweet today, ND will televise the final spring scrimmage against the Mexican U20 NT live at 5:00 PM (ET) on Friday April 25 on WatchND, and will also show live the men's game that starts at 7:30 PM (ET).
I got to watch the internet broadcast. Quality was so/so for me, but free is an excellent price! Spanish-language announcers was a nice touch, but I don't speak Spanish so I watched it without the sound. Field looked pretty beat up, but it's South Bend in April (i.e., could've been snow on the field not long ago). First time I've seen the spring edition of the team. My fear was that the new coach would change a lot, but she hasn't done so. Still in 4-3-3. Despite all the talk of high-pressure, no sign of it. Consistent with the talk of attempting to win the ball back, the team was willing to take chances to create turn-overs. With lots of returning players, pretty much the same as we saw in the fall. More direct in attacking third than past editions, but no hint they'll find the back of the net any more frequently. Overall impression: a very good team that will have real problems scoring goals in the run of play. Will likely be dangerous on set pieces, though. My projection for fall: the sky's the limit, if they can find a 20-goal scorer; it appears, though, that the scoring will distribute evenly with nobody at or above 10 goals and, so, 5th place in the ACC looks likely. I'll be happy to be wrong.
New article on recent injury to fellow ND alum Brittany Bock, "Bock’s ‘fresh start’ takes another unfortunate turn": http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140430/sports/140439793/#
Wait to you see the incoming frosh strikers. We may have found some offense in the class of 2014. They arrive in camp on August 5.
To quote the headline at the ND website, "Romagnolo finalizes women's soccer coaching staff; Dawn Greathouse retained, former Fullerton associate head coach Diego Bocanegra comes aboard for 2014." http://www.und.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/050514aaa.html
I hope the new coach gets some top class facilities at ND for the team. I would love to see them have one of the best setups in D1.
Get? What do you think they're working with now? Purpose built stadium with player's lounge, equipment room and locker room with video capability to show first half clips at halftime of games. Three training fields within three minute walk outside locker room. A dedicated S&C coach who monitors in pracitce performance with the Catapult GPS system and HR monitoring in real time as well as evaluates all data post game and works with staff to individualize training for players during the week. World class S&C room. Indoor facility could use work but I'm guessing once they build the new one for football that Loftus gets an overhaul. What else do they need in your opinion to make the facilities top class?