UNC 2019

Discussion in 'Women's College' started by uncchamps2012, Dec 2, 2018.

  1. babranski

    babranski Member+

    Dec 15, 2012
    Raleigh, NC
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yea I can't answer that question for you, beyond some of the names I mentioned there were others I simply did not recognize. Did not know who the goal keeper was, didn't reconigzea few faces in midfield, etc. I do know Buchanen was back there on defense with Kumagai, and Christensen in midfield. I think those were the only ones I didn't mention otherwise that I am familiar with. I also don't think they subbed for the scrimmage. It was only 60 minutes split in two.
     
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  2. Enzo the Prince

    Sep 9, 2007
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    Marz is an excellent goalkeeper. She has benefitted from several years of high-level goalkeeper coaching at NCFC. Let's hope she finds a way to continue her development without that.

    Bad news about Brooke Bingham's ACL tear.
     
  3. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    Observations about last night's 3-0 win in the season opener against IU in the brand new stadium.....

    Overall, IU was out matched by the Heels, but I was impressed with the Hoosiers effort and the fact that they obviously had been well coached. It appears as though new coach van Bennekom is doing well with a young team. (My personal prediction is that this IU team will end up near the middle of the Big 10, not near the bottom as per poll.)

    I was surprised to see the Heels open with a 3-back defense. (Didn't see that coming following the performance of a solid 4-back formation against the Lyon international all star team.) The initial line up was: Josephson in goal, Goff, Wubbob-Moy, and Bell in the back, then center halfs Otto and Pinto, wing halfbacks Andrzejewski and Fox, and a front line of Jones, Russo, and Gambone for a 3-4-3 (or a 3-2-2-3) formation.

    Based on her performance in the scrimmages, Josephson indeed got the start. Well deserved. Dickey played the second half, but there was not much action for the keepers as IU was limited to a single shot with no save opportunities for the keepers.

    It was immediately apparent that Fox was not feeling well. She simply was not her usual sharp aggressive self and made several mistakes on the right wing. In the second half frosh Julia Dorsey replaced Fox who was done the the evening. Dorsey made fewer runs up field and frequently positioned herself as a fourth back to the point that it looked like we were in a 4-3-3.

    The absolute star of the show was clearly Brianna Pinto. She continued her stellar play from the Lyon scrimmage and dominated her space with quick aggressive defense, great ball control and footwork, wonderful distribution, and scored twice. Her first goal was a routine "getting to the right place at the right time" score of deflecting in a cross from short range. Her second goal was another spectacular score in the mode of her goal against Lyon where she made a decision not to do her usual pass to a forward for the finish, but keep the ball herself and dribble around a couple of defenders before finding a narrow lane to slot her shot in to the lower left corner from just outside the box.

    Taylor Otto was also very impressive. She may not be as flashy as Pinto, but she sure gets the job done. A hard worker with skills, smarts, and size. She's the other half of a great duo in the midfield! Rachel Jones had some very good moments up top, as did Aleigh Gambone.

    I'll have to watch Russo more carefully. She certainly hussled a lot, but somehow never ended up in a spot to score. Perhaps she'll break out soon this season, but I personally think that she would do better at left half rather than center forward. Andrzejewski seemed to be playing pretty well, but after her goal kinda disappeared.

    As to the large number of freshmen that I'd like to see what they can offer, time will tell. Dorsey is a pleasant surprise, bit I'm not yet sure what I am looking at with regard to the others. And I am really looking forward to seeing Tori Hansen play...is she injured? On paper she should have a good chance of playing defense for the Heels. Oh well. Time will tell.

    The Duke-UNC game on Sunday should be a great contest. Duke looks very solid with no real weaknesses. Frosh Sophie Jones looks very good at the 10 slot and they have serious real talent throughout the team and start 8 experienced seniors and juniors.
     
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  4. EHaz

    EHaz Member

    Chelsea
    United States
    Mar 23, 2017
    Soccerhunter is spot on with his observations. Pinto is Pinto. She's a great player and the midfield play runs through her. Should break out this season, which is crazy to say considering the great year she already had last season. I'd also like to add that i was extremely impressed with Maycee Bell. She was a stud on defense. She regularly out-muscled IU attackers and she's fast with those long strides and was always in the right spots. Her and Wubben-Moy make a good pair. Wubben-Moy sometimes struggles with fast players and i think Maycee will help on that front.

    Also honorable mentions to Aleigh Gambone and Isabel Cox. Both had stretches of strong play. Gambone is strong on the ball and Cox was making runs into the IU defense with no fear.

    I thought the passing was a little sloppy. and a few players seemed to lose the ball from routine passes. Maybe it's just early season rust. Duke Should be a good test, although i think UNC is better and deeper. Should be a fun season
     
  5. jbs01

    jbs01 Member

    Oct 8, 2002
    carrboro
    Any report of status of Emily Fox? I don't think she payed at all in second half: sick or injured?
     
  6. Tom81

    Tom81 Member+

    Jan 25, 2008
    Is she with the U23WNT?
     
  7. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    Random observations on tonight's 2-0 win over Duke.

    Unbelievable crowd! Very engaged to say the least. They announced 4215, but since he stadium supposedly seats 4300 and there were at least 500 fans several rows deep standing behind the stands all around the stadium, (and most all seats were mostly full (except perhaps of the VIP seats next to the new soccer-lacrosse dressing room and office building.)

    I thought that it was a good game. Both teams played reasonably well, but with early season jitters and bloopers. The Heels again played a three back but significantly tweaked the line up since Thursday this time with Russo at left half running with Fox on the right. Holding mid started out with Maggie Pierce who did well. Otto and Pinto played center mids further forward, and wing forwards were Rachel Jones on the left and Andrzejeski on the right. It looked great for UNC for the first 3.5 minutes as Duke was pinned playing defense in their own half until 40.35 on the clock when they made their first foray into UNC terrirtory.

    I was relieved to see Fox playing much better this evening compared to against Indiana. She was essentially up to her old self performing brilliantly.

    Pinto was slowed down compared to her performance last Thursday against Indiana, but still was excellent. I think that Duke put more pressure on her. She took several shots, but both didn't have the space she had last week. We'll see better play from her as the season progresses.

    Andrzejewski had a great first half and final 15 minutes. I've never seen her defend so well as she did in the first half. It was actually exciting to watch. And she was an offensive force all night on the right side. It was a pleasure to see her so motivated!

    Rachel Jones did well for her alotted minutes (still getting pre arranged minutes as she heals). The quality of defense from Duke was better than against Indiana, but Rachel acquitted herself perfectly well with good moves and hustle down into the left corner for a number of crosses.

    Frosh Bell continues to impress. Good defensive mind as she knows when to tackle and she certainly gives ad good as she gets. Wubben-Moy did not have her best game tonight. She had some good moments, but also a number of but technical and tactical mistakes too. A little sloppy, but I am confident that she will return to her excellent defending soon enough. Morgan Goff continues to look good and is getting better. Again, Duke tested the Heels so it was not as dominating as against Indiana, but obviously good enough. (Holding Duke to two shots is darn good for the UNC defense!)

    The freshmen did a great job. Isabel Cox, Aleigh Gabone, and Hallie Klanke stood out for me. All three performed well, as did Maggie Pierce. Wow!

    Overall, this was one of those games where we had a number of great opportunities, but were blocked on about a half dozen shots. (A half step slow shooting...) If a couple of the blocked sots had gotten through, or of Heinsohn hadn't been really excellent it could have easily been 5-0.

    On the other hand, the defense was superb, holding the Dukies to one shot for 89 minutes until a second shot was attempted from about 30 yards out on the right side with less than a minute to go..... But I am worried about the three back defense. Duke actually had a number of dangerous runs and close in opportunities that out defense disrupted at the very last second. (It also helped that the linesmen were good at calling Duke offside a lot. One missed call, and they had a high probability of scoring.) I'd personally feel much more comfortable with a 4-back that we successfully used for the last several years and did well with against Lyon ten days ago. But who can complain with the results!?!

    So off to the west coast. Hope that the Heels have a good outing! (And Emily will be off with the U23s.)
     
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  8. Heeligan2

    Heeligan2 Member

    Jan 27, 2001
    Earthaven, NC
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  9. nocarters

    nocarters Member

    Chelsea
    United States
    Oct 22, 2018
    Georgia
    Good summary SH. One of these days we'll have to meet up there. Not sure if you noticed, but Maggie Pierce was in a boot after the game. Hopefully, it won't be too severe, as she has played great so far.
    Also, the reason Tori Hunter is not playing is not from an injury but from a fitness issue. Looking forward to seeing her play.
    I felt like Duke was never in the game, completely controlled by Carolina. After watching Duke now twice, to me it looks like goals will be tough to come by for them.


     
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  10. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    I see today that Madison Reid decommitted from UNC and will be playing for Clemson next fall. Madison (younger sister of former Duke star, and now NWSL pro Morgan Reid) is a defender from Raleigh who has been committed to UNC since April of 2018.

    I can see why she would have made the switch. Looking at defenders currently on the UNC roster and those also committed, I have assumed that she would be in a back-up role for much of her career -- especially if Anson returns to his favorite 3-back formation. I wish her well.
     
  11. Nacional Tijuana

    Nacional Tijuana St. Louis City

    St. Louis City SC
    May 6, 2003
    San Diego, Calif.
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  12. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    Thanks for the timely post about HAO. I think that it's a great move by all concerned. She'll be great and as a coaching career starter (albeit volunteer at this point) this should be s stepping stone to an eventual head coaching position. (Not saying that it will be UNC when Anson retires. It would bee too soon.)
     
  13. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    Good win at Washington last night without three top players who all are at the U23 Nordic Tournament playing for US and England. According to the box score the game was pretty even, but with UNC getting the advantage in the second half with three critical saves by Claudia Dickey and Seattle native Maddie Shultz getting the winning goal in front of family and friends. Cool.

    Curious if any one saw the game and can report whether Anson played a 4 back defense it looks it may have been that way from the box score based on time played by Bell, Otto, Goff, and Dorsey. If so it will be interesting to see if he continues to play both this season.

    Should be an interesting game at Portland.
     
  14. cpthomas

    cpthomas BigSoccer Supporter

    Portland Thorns
    United States
    Jan 10, 2008
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Game is at UW.
     
  15. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    My bad. I meant "...with Portland." ...but what's to worry... aren't UP and Udub kinda about 7 miles apart like UNC and Duke?
     
  16. Nacional Tijuana

    Nacional Tijuana St. Louis City

    St. Louis City SC
    May 6, 2003
    San Diego, Calif.
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Few hours apart, but at least I knew what you meant. I think they both have annual tourneys, which is great but confusing. Both purple schools.
     
  17. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    Yes, you devine precisely what I was trying to say....(but I was in passing looking to pull on cp's chain a little as a Portland fan. ;-) . I actually have spent time in Seattle and Portland in past decades when I was working in the airline business. A wonderful part of the the country.
     
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  18. jbs01

    jbs01 Member

    Oct 8, 2002
    carrboro
    Does anyone have a Heels' injury report, status, or when likely to be back?
     
  19. UNCway

    UNCway Member

    Jun 13, 2012
    UNC is number 1 in the Coaches' Poll today. (I ignore Top Drawer's rankings unless they suit me) TAAAAARRRR
     
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  20. Number007

    Number007 Member+

    Santos FC
    Brazil
    Aug 29, 2018
    Have they played a good team yet ? Im looking at the schedule now and tbh, they have a real soft one. Maybe this is the year
     
  21. UNCway

    UNCway Member

    Jun 13, 2012
    But as I was saying about the numero uno Tarheels, before being rudely interrupted ... TAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!
     
  22. Carolina92

    Carolina92 Member

    Sep 26, 2008
    As great as that is, the coaches' poll is definitely a little suspect. Memphis got bumped up two spots after LOSING to KANSAS and TCU moved up into the rankings with a loss (albeit to FSU) and a tie against Rice. I think there are enough unbeaten teams with decent resumes at this point in the season (Boston College, Colorado, Notre Dame, etc.) or teams with just one blemish against actually stiff competition to warrant both of those teams dropping out of the poll. However, both Memphis and TCU benefit from playing multiple games against rankings committee members, so maybe that has something to do with them staying in the poll. SMU (on the rankings committee) is also receiving more votes than all of those unbeaten teams too. I mean, Pepperdine is still receiving votes in this poll. That's just a joke.
     
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  23. EHaz

    EHaz Member

    Chelsea
    United States
    Mar 23, 2017
    TDS is a little more accurate in my opinion, but i agree with the top 5 on the coache's poll with UNC being #1. I've watched every game so far, and this UNC team is stacked and the depth is crazy with alot of the freshmen being better than expected and contributing..and they are fast. Duke is a top 10 team still and they were dominated. i think Portland and Washington are both tourney teams. UCLA is the only other team i see challenging UNC in terms of talent. Stanford has had better teams but they are still solid. Virginia starts every year lighting it up with goals then flame out later in the year so i'm not sold on them. USC is good but they aren't better than any of the other teams i mentioned. Penn state has top 5 talent but are poorly coached. I think this is a rebuilding year for FSU but still with enough talent to beat anyone on any given day.
     
  24. PlaySimple

    PlaySimple Member

    Sep 22, 2016
    Chicagoland
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I think that TDS is a questionable source for soccer news but the poll probably is a bit more accurate than the coach's. Coaches tend to rank their opponents too highly, IMHO. It makes their own team look better that way.
    I don't know that I would go so far as to say "rebuilding." There's still plenty of talent remaining from last year's team. The most glaring miss from last year's team, at this point in the season, is probably Natalia Kuikka. If Mark Krikorian solves her departure then the Seminoles will be the force that they were last year.
     
  25. Number007

    Number007 Member+

    Santos FC
    Brazil
    Aug 29, 2018
    Duke is a top 10 team ? Don’t see it myself. They have lost an awful lot in the last 2 years and have not come close to replacing
     

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