Gorgeous day on the farm, perhaps UCLA was overrated going into the game. I do agree the score doesn't reflect the open play of the game. Stanford was just very clinical in the box and showed poise and skill that I don't see in other games I've been following on tv. This could be Stanford's year. UCLA had some great moments but their forwards were often stranded with no players to pass back to, or cross to. They rarely had multiple chances on a play, whereas Stanford had four or five players in and around the box. I have only been to one other game this year, Duke against a mediocre opponent, but both Stanford and UCLA were much faster and more skilled than Duke (although not an apples to apples comparison, I"ll admit). The stadium was sold out and I can't imagine a more wonderful environment than that anywhere in the country. Stanford should be able to out-recruit anyone.
Stanford 4 – 1 UCLA On a beautiful afternoon down at the Farm, the Card put on a clinical 1st-half to defeat the visitors from Westwood. UCLA were the aggressors in the 1st five minutes, with Emily making a fantastic save in the 1st minute. Then in the 8th minute, UCLA were clumsy with the ball in the back, & Chioma got the ball back, took her customary three touches and scored the 1st goal. Ten minutes later, UCLA didn’t close down Chioma inside the PA, & she made them pay with her brace. Not too bad for someone who wanted to go to Westwood. [link] Thirty seconds later, UCLA struck back for a goal of their own. Very disappointing how wowow’s current best defender ever lost the joust, and how wowow’s future best defender ever was nowhere near for support. Ten minutes later, LT did her cutback routine, this time she got free, and her left-foot curler sailed over the GK’s head to the far netting. Good guys up 3-1. Two minutes later, Chi should have had her hat-trick when she was at the far post staring at a wide-open goal, but the sliding tap-in rolled wide. Rat was right, she’s just like Press, in the sense that she needs to control the ball before shooting. If she can score with half-chances, she’ll become very good. In the 40th minute, the hard-working Marjani got free on the left, got to the endline, and squared a pass to the spot, a sliding Shelby missed the ball, but this time, no one interefered with Z’s shot to make it a 4-1 game for the good guys. 4-1 at HT. Clear-cut scoring opportunities 5-2. H2 was a ho-hum affair where the home team were not as aggressive as H1. UCLA had the majority of possession, but the clear-cut scoring opportunities for H2 was Stanford 1-0. The only clear-cut scoring opportunity was Natalie’s 83rd-minute strike that their GK made a fine save of. UCLA are a good team, their team speed with the 4-2-3-1 unsetled the back. But their youth and inexperience showed in the back, and they are mediocre at best up front. Four of their back five are frosh, and they will get better. I tip them to win the Pac next year. Rat was honored before KO by his former players. Distinguished luminaries such as WB, Hoover, and cardinalfan were also in attendance. Hey cardinalfan, how do you like Rat’s subsitution patterns? The Card take their act to Tempe next Friday, scheduled to be televised at 1900 on FSC. The Card have only won twice in Tempe the last 14 years or so, it’s not an easy place to play in.
yes- good to see old friends and a half of great soccer on a beautiful day. regarding subs- only three get meaningful minutes it appears from most box scores i read. and will he be willing to trust even them when the games get tough in november? history says no, but maybe more so than previously. still a lot of talent on that bench not used- especially the younger classes. and they could be improving with minutes played now and be ready to contribute when we play the games that really count in the tournament. another undefeated season is simply amazing however and I sure hope the Cardinal can finish it off this time. plan to be in georgia to watch if they make it!
Cachundo & Et Al, It was an absolute pleasure to be back on the Farm watching the 2011 edition of the Card and catching up with old friends. The soccer was sublime and quality of play superb (I was very impressed by the speed of play on both sides) .....this year's team is not missing a beat and carrying on the tradition beautifully.
A glorious day I have followed the card for almost seven seasons. I believe I am safe in saying that Sunday's first half highlights were better than the highlights from any other first half in those 7 seasons. The first 5 minutes were worrying. How could the CARD not know that they would be facing a very athletic opponent who would come out aggressively? I have seen Oregon State playing and they may well try to press our central defense early as well. And of course we can expect this as the team goes further into the post season. Hope the team plays the video of those minutes over and over so we never see such a start again! Setting aside this brief blemish, it was a glorious day for the Card.
Although I understand the sentiment, from a sports psychology point of view, this would not be a good thing to do. What they should do is find the best minutes of the game and show them over and over, emphasizing that "This is the way to play." Telling athletes what they should not do most frequently is counter-productive.
from the SF Chronicle: No. 1 Stanford soccer women beat No. 3 UCLA, 4-1 from the SJ Mercury-News: Stanford makes most of quick start from the Stanford Daily: SoCal schools prove to be no match from gostanford.com: Chioma Ubogagu Named Stanford/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week and My Stanford Story: Mariah Nogueira Vote for Teresa Noyola: Finalist for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
from the Daily: Ratcliffe reflects on win 200 and Ubogagu named Pac-12 Player of the Week from pac-12.org: Alina Garciamendez: Lending a Hand and Ali Riley: Soccer’s International Pioneer
from the examiner.com: Scottsdale native Marjani Hing-Glover helps No. 1 Stanford win at Arizona State from statepress.com: Soccer dropped by top-ranked Stanford from the Daily: Card keeps rolling Pac-12 competition
Stanford dominated Utah on another beautiful night at the Farm. The Utes couldn't use their size advantage against a Cardinal side that played with professional composure and style. Stanford's high press yielded quick results and a very nice team goal. In fact, the first three goals were high quality strikes. The first one started with a perfect through ball from CU to TN, who ran at goal and instead of taking the obvious shot, selflessly found a wide open LT in the far post: a Barsa goal. The second one began when MN placed a perfect pass to CU, who made an incredible half volley with her back to the goal: a delicacy from my choice for future best ever forward. And the the third one began with a cross from CU and culminated on LT's head, who was crashing the box with her signature style: demolition derby. The fourth one was a garbage finish, but seeing NW score her first goal: priceless. LT and CU are peaking. Their individual and joint decisions tonight were the best I have seen this year. Key to their success was MHG, the unsung hero of the night as the third attacking musketeer. MHG moves off the ball better than any other forward and though she does miss many a sitter, her ability to cross and finish is second to none on this year's edition. I think coach PR's decision to start her was a tactical highlight of the night. Green lights to everyone EXCEPT KR. It's time for me to eat some crow: KR will NOT become the best central defender ever: AG will remain queen of the hill. Earlier in the season, I thought KR's inconsistency was transitory and expected her to improve as the rust of having to sit out a whole season wore off. But obviously she has some serious structural issues and tonight her mistakes were too many and too serious. I don't see an obvious solution, but coach PR needs to find an alternative and act soon. Coach PR's subbing in 2H gve the subbies plenty of minutes and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them compete with high energy and sustained offensive commitment. I was particularly pleased with NW and TM, imo two underutilized assets. I look forward to seeing the other Pac-12 newbie on Sunday. The Cardinal needs to take care of business and continue to play one game at a time.
Hey Wowow, I'm starting to really appreciate your coverage every week. I've got a got a question as well. What is a "barsa goal" ? Having been a footie fan for years that term is new to me. Do you mean "Barca goal" meaning - like something Messi would do?
also of note--- does anyone know why Ratcliffe decided to start Levin on left and Qwon on right this game? At first, I was pretty excited to see if Levin could be the future USWNT left back (because clearly Krieger has the right on lock), but it was clear that she does not have the same impact on the left. not even close. She was much more hesitant with AND without the ball (wasn't making her awesome runs) got to the attacking third, turned in and passed square, or tried to dribble a little but made safer passes when it was obvious she was not comfortable with penetrating. She repeatedly turned in to her obvious dominant right foot. Once Ratcliffe switched her to her more natural right back position, she was instantly a threat. Strange choice for me. Marjani, on the other hand, is the perfect choice to round out the front three. I've been waiting for this all along. But the craziest thing about this game is Ratcliffe played 11 subs for about the last 20 minutes against the fourth place team in the pac 12 and were still controlling the game. The biggest difference is their lack of productive play in the final third as the subs made some strange choices for passes, runs and clearly lacked the finishing power. But, the rest of their possession play was still really impressive. But, I'd say...even their subs could form another team and be in the top four of the Pac 12. haha Incredible!
Stanford beat Colorado without putting the pedal to the metal. The Buffaloes presented a 4-4-2 formation and tried to control the middle third with numbers and pressure. Colorado's initial press disrupted the Cardinal's backline but the Buffs soon ran out of gas. MHG's initial strike, a left-footed laser beam from 20 yards out, broke Colorado's back. After that, two LT signature finishes and a SP garbage goal sealed the deal. Same-old same-old with the ever-present green light recipients: LT crashing the box and scoring twice with deadly accuracy, CU making creative plays in the final third, MHG effectively supporting the killer duo with constant movement, TN pulling the strings and running the show with zen-like serenity and technical wizardry, CL running up and down the right lane with unlimited energy, AG doing her one-man cleanup act, EO showing up bigtime when needed, yada yada yada. But yellow lights to others are a cause for concern down the stretch. RQ wasn't herself and struggled all day. MN was slow and unusually late to the ball, and her uneven passing caused many possession turnovers. KZ got stinker-of-the-day award. I would have red-lighted her if I hadn't had my Sunday afternoon shaken-not-stirred refreshment a few minutes ago. KR and MT were barely competent in the back, and did nothing to allay my concern over the problem in that position. Except for AC, the subbies contributed very unevenly. From my notepad: NG's speed is the greatest waste of ... speed. AD is this year's freshman bust. The twins' torpedo their high energy and committed workrate with technical and tactical mishaps. MT tries hard but... no. I hope the team takes care of business in the Oregon games, but coach PR needs to seal the obvious cracks in the structure. I look forward to seeing the team back home in two weeks, when the Cardinal will close its regular season against the loveable gummy bears from the Easy Bay... the weenies.
I think your judgments are a bit off on the subbies. MT looks like the best answer they have right now in the back. She minimizes her mistakes and delivers accurate passes for the most part. I don't even think she should be a subbie actually. She should start. NG hasn't produced much in the way of points, but her work rate is high and the pace she brings is a threat. (She should have buried that breakway BTW, but even so having speed like that on the field forces opposing D's to play you honestly). AC played a solid, if unspectacular, left back. As for AD, I think she played like a freshman this year. That is to say, she has room to grow. I don't think she's embarrassed herself out there but she's going to need to catch up to the speed of the game at this level. I'm not sure what to make of the twins two years in. They certainly have ability but need to learn to light their competitive fires a bit more to be bigger contributors.
Uncalled for and, quite frankly, a poor assessment of talent on your part wowow. I have no horse in this game, just a fan, but to call out an 18-year old amateur athlete as a bust is petty.
Would be interesting to see how the NT freshman, and not just Stanford's, have performed so far compared to the non-NT ones. AD has played averaged about 25 minutes in 16 games with one assist.
WOWOW is an extremist. If a player does well he falls in love with the player and sends out valentines messages. If a player disappoints, he spits out bile. The Stanford forum was much more enjoyable before he began posting. If WOWOW wants to try to justify his posts he should first go to a parents' tailgate and seek some wise feed-back.
I've been doing that for the past three seasons and highly recommend it. Learned a little bit about the players and a lot about the sport and met a large number of very likeable people. The parents as a group see and know a lot more about what's happening on the field than I do, and their feedback greatly adds to my enjoyment of the games.
Oh, I don't know. I think there's room for all kinds of posts. Makes it more interesting to read! As for attending a tailgate, I suppose that would enlighten a critic as to what the various trials and tribulations individual players are going through that affect their performance one way or the other but doesn't everyone have issues to deal with? The way I see it, you can find fault with everything but you can't argue with this team's and this program's success. One of the most interesting things about watching Stanford this year is that once PR puts in the subs, they still play high-level soccer. In past seasons, there was a notable dropoff. But as his recruiting classes get better and better, the roster has proven to be very deep. They still score goals on other D1 programs and they still allow very few goals. This roster is stocked with excellent players. If someone wants to find fault with any of the players on this squad so be it. But the reality is that the subs on this team would start for just about any other program.
agree 100%! their quality of play with 11 subs is incredible. I love it. what other team can consistently sub so much every game and not cause any worries?
AD Sometimes it takes freshmen a little while to adjust. Could be anything, injury, homesickness, adjusting to school, Stanford's rhythm, friends or playing time. Give her some time and she will work it out. I've seen it before, she will be fine. A 3 Time NSCAA ALL-AMERICAN.....GEEEEEEZ
Wowow's took a raincheck on this one, literally. It's hard to tell from Gametracker, but it appears Stanford had a pretty good grip of the game. The team can celebrate its fantastic conference run tonight and tomorrow, but come Monday it all starts anew. Let's see how the brackets map out, but the Cardinal should get a top seed. I hope the team goes deep into the tournament again and continues to succeed with their unique brand of soccer. Go Stanford!
Many of the other traditional powers seem to be having down years. Let's hope this is THE year for the Cardinal!
Stanford 2 – 0 Cal On a rainy night down at the Farm, the Card score two 1st-half goals less than a minute apart and was enough to defeat the weenies Congratulations to winning the Pac and the auto-bid for the Tournament. The Card couldn’t find their footing early on, turning the ball over and over again to the weenies. T was the recipient of two tactical fouls by #21 eight minutes apart but the inept CR won’t issue a caution. On the 2nd foul, LT lined up for a DFK 30 yards from goal and launched a beautiful Beckhamesque goal, hitting the crossbar and in. The ball had plenty of topspin and singed the bottom of the net, clearly in. While folks in the stands were still celebrating, the Card got the ball back from the ensuing KO. Cami squared a pass to the PA, and Z calmly slotted it in. Just like that, the good guys were up by 2 goals. HT saw a lonnnnng line at the toilets. Hmmmmm ….. sold-out game, cold and rainy night ….. guess what? Plenty of full bladders. Note to Earl – please open the toilets at Sunken Diamond. H2 saw most of the seniors subbed out. The weenies just would not go away and had some quality chances. Overall, quality chances were 7-3, not bad for a slick and rainy field. Some observations – the Card were at their most dangerous when Cami had the ball at her feet, especially when she was in the middle of the field. When T has the ball, the frontliners will all run horizontally, there is no one willing to go vertical and be a deep threat and stretch the field. Stanford has to find a way to utilize Cami in a playmaking role, otherwise it will not be a deep playoff run. Hope the team has been practicing PKs. Just saw the ACC Championship game. It’s one thing to be eliminated by PKs. It’s another thing to eliminate yourself by taking half-assed PKs. Tournament bracket to be announced at approximately 1330 Monday. I expect the Card to be selected as one of the four coveted 1-seeds. First-round game to be probably scheduled on Friday night. I predict a potential 3rd-round game against Santa Clara, should both teams advance that far. I predict a potential 4th-round game against UCLA, should both teams advance that far. Get your tickets early, playoff games will probably sell out.