Not the questions I asked. There is an SCU site. I saw a post. Don't they want to talk to you either? Go away , I'm celebrating UP's three medalists and the Golden Boot winner.
All White Kit's preview of Santa Clara is now up on their site: http://www.allwhitekit.com/?p=10266#more-10266
I think for the forseeable future that is mainly what Portland fans will have to cheer about, the exploits of players who used to play for the Pilots.
Something SCU hasn't been able to do in a very long time. UP fans love their players. Here's the gold winner. Want me to share ours with you on the SCU thread? Two more...
Yep, Megan Rapinoe and Christine Sinclair both had great Olympics. But if you want to talk about the current roster...well, AWK listed all of the players missing time for U20 WC. Portland State, yes. Pilots, no. http://www.allwhitekit.com/?p=10281#more-10281
It is refreshing to have Bronco fans focusing on this season, instead of endlessly touting what happened back in, say, 2005 or boasting what great players their program used to be able to recruit, like a Sinclair or a Rapinoe, which is far from the case today and only emphasizes how far down the toilet the drop has been. It's all about the present with Santa Clara.
My Prediction 1. SCU 2. Portland 3. BYU 4. Pepperdine 5. St. Marys 6. San Diego 7. LMU 8. San Francisco 9. Gonzaga
Wow, that got ugly. Defending in front of the goal was just horrendous in the 2nd half. Stanford just had too much space and time. I thought Weatherholt and Tostanowski looked like good additions.
I couldn't believe it. Stanford always scores the second half, so I was ready for some heartbreak in H2, but the Broncos are going to have to do better. They definitely didn't have the sharp look they had in the spring. They actually seemed a little slow and winded. I'm hoping it was nerves because they looked pretty good in H1. Not their best, but OK. The saddest part is that few will remember Olivia Klei's stunningly gorgeous goal - the first ever on Pac-12 network, and the first this season against the champs - because of the awful second half score The new GK looked good in the first half, but given Stanford's history of bringing it after halftime, why not put in Molly Mettler? She had a clean sheet against Stanford in spring - at least her experience might have helped her deal more calmly with all the scrabble-goals off the set pieces. That's one tough freshman GK if she isn't permanently scarred from starting her college career against the national champs. I'm really hoping for a better result against Cal. I wish that game wasn't the next one...
Old fashioned shellacking! Most discouraging is that this season starts just like last season ended...mass confusion on back line...we have 2 excellent midfielders playing defender( neither one wants to) and a freshman keeper...maybe it's time for coach to recruit actual defenders like Stanford does. Weatherholt looked to my eye to be the best player on the pitch...I recognize irony of defensive mid being best player when defense gives up 6 goals but she showed touch, creativity, awareness, toughness and fight just as coach advertised. Tostanoski showed a great foot but seemed to lose command (confiidence?) of her box after Noquirea bull rushed header goal to start second half which combined with change to diagonal attacking runs led to too much time and space in box...Julie will be able to neutralize Noquirea headers when she returns but confusion needs to be fixed...not a good sign when central defenders are arguing! Huerta looked good for Mexico this morning in addition to scoring their goal...she will be back by labor day
Is it wrong for me to hope that Mexico is knocked out in the first round so Huerta can come back sooner? I was happy they got the third berth, but it sure would be nice to see some Huerta around here...
Hooray Broncos! Back in the game with a win against Cal. Wish we'd been able to go... Now if only the Earthquakes will win this weekend. Or at least play without anyone else getting suspended...
A good win for the Broncos. Sarah Jackson made a very skillful play for the lone goal, dribbling around two defenders and then calmly slotting it home. Love to see more of that. 9 saves for Tostanowski, who played the entire game with some sort of cast on.
Hopefully Tostanoski's cast explains all the fumbles...I was wondering about that...doesn't explains the erratic kicks...Broncos came out in 3-5-2 and seemed to play well first 20 minutes and then just hung on last half...outshot 16-3...ugly win but we will take it...just goes to show the Julie Johnston effect
They put the cast on the keepers left hand not long before the game. It immobilizes her wrist and thumb. I don't know how any keeper could play like that. When she drop kicks, she drops the ball with her left hand. It looks like she had a lot of issues with the drop. She was out practicing punts today.
Thanks for the info Pumpkin...I should have realized cast might cause punt problems...interesting that coach still went with Tostanoski when shes having problems catching and kicking...she showed fortitude to withstand the siege she endured in second half. Also curious that Spiedel appeared to be in doghouse after Stanford game. The Portlandpilots site streamed Portlands victory last nite in HD...reports of Pilots demise seem greatly exaggerated as they looked quite good playing typical Portland one touch for periods of game...we will have to play much better to beat them.
Broncos vs. Boston University Broncos looking closer to the team they were in the spring. Whew! Back line was much more settled. One goal by Huerta - I think she could have scored at least three more but was unlucky. She beat her defender and the GK, and somehow powered down her rocket foot to gently encourage the ball into goal. Broncos win 1 - 0! Friday's game will be tougher.
Yes, when the Broncos play teams outside the top 150, the back line looks pretty good. Probably a coincidence, no? Presuming they get Johnston back, SCU will be a much tougher opponent from now on. But they need some kind of spark, their play so far has not been that impressive. Not that they are alone in the WCC in that regard. So this weekend should be a good test. UNC Greensboro beat Wake Forest and San Diego State is undefeated inc. a win over Pepperdine.
SDSU got scored on for the first time on Sunday. A couple of weeks ago, outshot Pepperdine 16-3. But Stanford should soften them up a bit Friday evening. I'm glad I won't be at the game ... what do I do when my alma maters play each other? (B.A. SCU 1968, M.S. SDSU 1997) Go Brontecs? Go Azcos? It should be a good one ...
I thought the NCAA ruled against mascots named for native American tribes. Wait 'till the fighting Sioux hear about this....