University of Virginia -- The 2019 Thread

Discussion in 'Women's College' started by Val1, Jun 23, 2019.

  1. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Huge. Petersen is the most unique player in the ACC. There is no one who can do what she does, her defense has gotten better this season, and she seems to have picked up another gear in terms of pace.

    We have now lost 3 defenders: Lizzy Sieracky for the season. Claire Constant for at least the past two games. And now Petersen. At one point Sunday we had Ashlynn Serepca and Alexa Spaanstra playing as outside DBs. Now Serepca has always been listed on the team roster as a D/F (as she was when she was recruited) and she has logged maybe 90 minutes over the past two years as a RB, but that is not a lineup that is going to stand up to the FSUs and UNCs of the world.

    Constant did participate in warmups, but afterwards her ankle was iced and then in a boot. Apparently she wasn't moving that well, either, but she is certainly in a fitness race for Friday.

    Injuries suck.
     
  2. Tom81

    Tom81 Member+

    Jan 25, 2008
    Amen! Injuries suck!
     
  3. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Full Hoos Place Write up: https://hoosplace.com/content.php?inc=2019110502


    I Can Give You 4 Minutes!


    It was looking dire for Virginia with 12 minutes left in the game and the Cavaliers holding onto a 1 – 0 lead versus Duke. Senior defender Phoebe McClernon came off with what I can only suspect was a knock. We were already missing sophomore Claire Constant, and in the game senior Courtney Petersen had limped off the field, unable to put any weight on her left foot. Our two outside backs were now Ashlynn Serepca and Alexa Spaanstra. You read that correctly. A pair of strikers were trying to contain a Duke team that would outshoot us on the night.

    IMG_20191103_190505412.jpg

    It was a strange sight seeing McClernon walk off the field. She had successfully won a goal kick on our end line, and she hadn’t fallen as if from injury. The referee was almost escorting her off the field, like she was a high schooler who had received a card and it was mandatory that she be subbed. She didn’t look hurt, but six minutes later, as Virginia was struggling to maintain the lead, I could hear her shout to assistant coach, Jaime Frias, as she raced to be subbed in: “I can give you four minutes!”

    She would give the team two and a half minutes, helping a team that was, to be frank, playing scared and largely just booting the ball in trying to wind down the clock. This was the first time all season that the team has looked so ragged and utterly without composure. We’re in the post season now, and the stakes are obviously higher, especially for a team that knows it is positioned to make a serious run at the national championship.

    This is a bad time to pick up injuries, obviously, and I’m going to hope that McClernon just got a kick that I wasn’t able to see. Constant, though, is in a race for fitness ahead of Friday’s semi-final match vs Florida State. Claire seemingly twisted her right ankle against Boston College a week ago. She did warm up pre-game, but she was moving gingerly and immediately afterwards her foot was iced and then placed in a boot. She’s missed four games now and it has negatively affected her development. We need her back.

    Because Petersen’s injury could be catastrophic. As she came off the field, she was unable to put any weight on her foot and she missed most of the second half until she came out an sat in a chair, away from the rest of the team, with a boot on her left foot. Petersen is perhaps the most unique player in the ACC this season: no one else can do what she does with a ball. She can cross the ball from the middle of the field (which I have always felt is the most direction for a cross to come from), or, if the defender bites, she can explode to the baseline and cross from there. Her accuracy is phenomenal, and as I’ve written before, she seems to have picked up an additional gear this season. Losing Petersen robs us of width on the left, and for the past three years, Virginia has been a left-side dominant ball club, precisely because of Courtney Petersen. Changing team shape because of a coaching decision is one thing; it’s another thing altogether when your shape is changed by injury.

    Every team must deal with injuries, but hopefully Bill Simmons’ Ewing Theory may apply here. It seems to have applicability for Duke, who have had severe injuries of their own to contend with. Duke was without standout freshman Sophie Jones, but Lily Nabat looked much more in control as the driving force in midfield and she played faster than Jones seems able to. Duke was more dangerous without Jones. Maybe the Cavaliers will be more focused without Petersen.

    Yeah, it is a slim hope, but I am grasping at straws here.

    IMG_20191103_190317060_HDR.jpg

    As for the game itself? Duke possessed most of the ball for the first eight minutes or so, but it wasn’t good possession. The Cavaliers pinned the Blue Devils in their half for much of it, and while Nabat and Ella Stevens were able to control the ball, Virginia’s midfield was able to deny them space. I was sitting in front of a trio of Duke fans who weren’t familiar with the Virginia team, but as the game wore on, they were increasingly awed by Tarryn Torres who made nary a poor turn on the ball all night and played the entire game. If there is an unsung hero on this team, it must surely be Torres whose game has grown by leaps and bounds. She was always the hardest worker on the team, but as a left wing and then a left midfielder, she was more peripheral to Virginia’s game plan. Playing the center this year has showcased her game. I wrote at the beginning of the year that next season, the team would be Spaanstra’s. I was wrong. Spaanstra is a wonderfully gifted technician, but next year the team will be Torres’.

    Ten minutes into the second half, Virginia scored the decisive goal. Sydney Zandi, who lost her starting spot in midfield when she was slowed at the beginning of the season with a back injury, seems to have embraced her role as first-sub-off-the-bench, much like Betsy Brandon did last year. Zandi chipped a cheeky pass to Meg McCool, who turned, played the ball off the volley, and fired the shot past Duke keeper, Brooke Heinsohn. McCool is riding the wave of the best form of her collegiate career and has scored 14 goals on the season. Five of them have been game winners. She can turn in either direction and shoot with both feet. Rebecca Jarrett, who had several runs, the likes of which must cause opposing coaches to shiver, is the potential game changer on the team. But is becoming more and more obvious that it is McCool that holds to the keys to Cavalier expectations.

    In the two games that we have played against Duke, they have proven that they are the team out there that can counter us most effectively. Their finishing against us has been lackluster. Keeper Laurel Ivory only had to make two saves this game as Duke pushed at least two quality chances wide. Ivory’s reputation may precede her: if the attacking team knows there is a good keeper awaiting them, they're under pressure to make “the perfect shot.” It is, after all, always a good thing when the defending team can put the pressure on the attacking team.


    Next Up: It’s grudge-match time this Friday as Virginia gets Florida State for the second year in a row in the semi-final round. Last year the FSU juggernaut was just gathering steam as the Seminoles handled the Cavaliers pretty easily. We’ll see if Virginia can exact revenge this time around.
     
  4. 6peternorth9

    6peternorth9 Member

    Nov 15, 2012
    Club:
    Southampton FC
    Maybe UVA is better off not winning the game against FSU to rest up for the big dance?
     
  5. Tom81

    Tom81 Member+

    Jan 25, 2008
    Win or lose, I think UVA has a 1 seed locked up.
     
  6. 6peternorth9

    6peternorth9 Member

    Nov 15, 2012
    Club:
    Southampton FC
    They should, but I’m not sure they will if they lose. I’d assume the final will be FSU-UNC if UVA loses, and those two teams would likely get a 1 seed. if Arkansas win the SEC, I’d think they have to be a 1 seed deservedly or not.
     
  7. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Well, should UVa not beat FSU, that is certainly how we will spin it. Getting back to fuller strength would be the proverbial tin lining in the cloud. Our men's basketball team lost in the semifinals of the ACC tournament (coincidentally also to Florida State) and then proceeded to win it all. But given the HUGE advantage that being a #1 seed provides, I'm not going to go easily down that path. A loss will suck.
     
  8. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Virginia v Duke highlights:

     
  9. devad

    devad Member

    Nov 18, 2012
    You know they beat the undefeated ACC champion 2-0 right? The ACC arrogance is hilarious. I live in SC and Clemson thinks they are such a top program when we've (USC) accomplished twice what they have.
     
  10. Crazyhorse

    Crazyhorse Member

    Dec 29, 2007
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe it is regional, but in the panhandle of Florida SEC, SEC, SEC chants seem to drown out everything else....
     
  11. Enzo the Prince

    Sep 9, 2007
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    There's a little more to the ACC than Clemson.
     
  12. Tom81

    Tom81 Member+

    Jan 25, 2008
    Now you know how ACC football fans feel.
    I feel your pain.
    Unlike in the oblong football, a loss does not take you out of Natty contention.
    Being a top team like UNC, you always get the other team's best effort.
    Games like the 2-0 win by Arky are legit to be sure. That said, be careful not to draw too many conclusions from one game.
    Similar to football, the SEC champ in the other football is guaranteed a spot in the BCS. The second best team (Alabama/LSU loser or if UGA wins the CG the other team) have a good chance of getting into the BCS.
    In Soccer the ACC champ will absolutely get a 1 seed unless it's NCSt.
    UVA and UNC both have a good chance (not a guarantee) of 1 seeds. FSU could get one if they win the ACCT.
    Now if Arky wins the SECT, then they may claim a #1 seed.
    It really is the mirror image of the other football.
     
  13. devad

    devad Member

    Nov 18, 2012
    I wasn't meaning to imply that I think Arkansas is better than UNC. But there was a flippant statement about Arkansas not being deserving. Some teams RPI doesn't reflect their results. That isn't the case this year with Arkansas. And I watched the match. It wasn't a lucky win. Arkansas, on the day, outplayed them. We get it all the time. Just because we are USC and not one of the blue bloods, doesn't mean we aren't deserving.

    I get the football argument. Think that's a fair analogy.
     
  14. Tom81

    Tom81 Member+

    Jan 25, 2008
    Good luck to UVA!
    Assuming a UNC win, you will have a very different game Sunday.
     
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  15. Crazyhorse

    Crazyhorse Member

    Dec 29, 2007
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Hats off to UVA! Great win for yall, best of luck on Sunday!
     
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  16. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Thank you.

    You are more gracious than I would have been.

    This is a nice subforum here on BS. Happy to have found it.
     
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  17. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Hoos Place writeup here: https://hoosplace.com/content.php?inc=2019110802

    Virginia Women: + / - Florida State

    Last year Florida State ended Virginia's ACC hopes, but this year the Cavaliers returned the favor, defeating the Seminoles 2 - 1 in overtime to advance to the title game vs UNC. The game was ragged as Virginia may have lost another starter, Anna Sumpter, who was felled in the first half. When it mattered, Becca Jarrett "realized she had a left foot," and scored the game winner.

    Florida State 1
    Virginia 2

    Positive

    Symmetry. I like symmetry. Last year the Seminoles defeated the Cavaliers twice en-route to winning the ACC tournament and becoming College Cup winners.

    This year we have defeated Florida State twice. Hopefully this is a good omen.

    Negative

    Injuries suck. We all know this, and we’re all tormented when we can’t roll out our best team for crucial games. Virginia has lost three defenders this year. Lizzy Sieracki has missed the entire year. Courtney Petersen surely will be out for a couple of weeks. Claire Constant is close, but she missed this game and may very well miss the final vs UNC. Alexa Spaanstra played a lot of minutes as our fourth defender.

    What this means is not that we’ve just lost Petersen’s offensive contributions, we’ve also lost Spaanstra’s as well, and they are our two most creative offensive forces. We were really hamstrung for most of the game and Florida State had an easier time bottling up our offense.

    And speaking of hamstrings, Anna Sumpter may have tweaked hers. No word yet on how severe it is, but it will most likely keep her out of Sunday’s final.

    Positive

    Well, this is a negative for the ‘Noles, but goodness they are poor at defending corners this year. Zoe Morse was as wide open as I’ve ever seen an attacker on a corner kick – ACC Defensive Player of the Year (snort) Malia Berkely was nowhere in sight – for Virginia’s first goal.

    Last year Virginia struggled on corners. This year Florida State has been shambolic (an English euphemism for really, really bad.) Anna Sumpter was wide open on two consecutive corners down in Tallahassee when she looped the second to Meg McCool for the game winner. FSU gave up three goals off corners in a game vs Boston College this year. More than one internet wag has suggested that opposing teams just play for corners.

    Positive

    VAR. Video Assisted Review is the soccer term for replay review and VAR came to the rescue for Virginia. Late in the game the ref awarded Alissa Gorzak a red card for a foul on FSU keeper Caroline Jeffers. It was barely a foul and yet Gorzak was carded. In soccer a red card means that the player is ejected from the game, the team has to play a man down, and that player misses the next game. This could have been catastrophic. But to head referee Mark Gorak’s credit, he took his time reviewing the call and reversed the card, not even giving Gorzak a yellow. It was easily the right call and FSU coach Mark Krikorian handled the reversal with grace. Unlike UNC head coach Anson Dorrance who was whinging (another soccer euphemism for being really, really immature) about the lack of VAR on a blown call that nullified a UNC goal. VAR is still in its infancy in soccer and is being rolled out slowly. There are only a handful of times when it can be applied. You would think Dorrance would know this. I’m sure Carolina fans love his calling out refs and league policy, but to this non-Carolinian, he just sounds petulant. And pissy.

    Negative

    The announcers. ESPN put their A team out for both semifinal games: Jenn Hildreth and Angela Hucles in the booth and Cat Whitehill and Lori Lindsey on the sidelines. Hucles and Lindsay are UVa legends, they have both called multiple UVa games this season, and yet both were somewhat shocked at Virginia’s defensiveness, especially in the first half, and their inability to control the ball. All the while Alexa Spaanstra is playing defense and Courtney Petersen is sitting on the sidelines. It was pretty easy analysis as far as a I can tell, and they missed it.

    Positive

    This team does Not. Give. Up. It has now been six games since the dour 3-ties-in-five-games stretch we had midseason. I was as emotional as I’ve been all season following Florida State’s 81st minute equalizer. I thought that was it, the game was over, our #1 seed in the NCAAs was in jeopardy… The sky may very well have been falling. Fortunately, these women are more resilient than I am.

    Negative

    ACC coaches. They are idiots. All – ACC teams were released yesterday, and to the surprise of no one, they suck. It was just about a clean sweep for the first team: 10 of the 11 players selected to the pre-season team first team were chosen for the final team. Only Meg McCool, the leading scorer in the ACC, nudged out Mariana Speckmaier, who is barely even starting for Clemson. Why even play the season, coaches, if you’re going to stay with the same quartet of Florida State players and the same trio of Tar Heels?

    For the record, that first team would trot out only two defenders, when every coach save Anson Dorrance, plays four in the back. I’m kind of surprised they even deigned to pick a keeper.

    The Hoos did dominate the 2nd team with five selections and hats off especially to Tarryn Torres, who has now been All-ACC at three different positions in her three seasons on Grounds. Joining Torres on the team were Spaanstra, Petersen, Phoebe McClernon and Diana Ordonez. Laurel Ivory made the third team. Somehow Talia Staude did not make the All-Freshman team. But what do the coaches know? That team also features only two defenders.

    Positive

    It’s a win. Virginia is heading to the ACC title game and has probably secured a #1 seed. #1 seeds really matter in soccer as they get to host the first four rounds of the tournament. I think it is an unconscionable
    advantage, but this year, it is to Virginia’s benefit. If only we can get Petersen back in a couple of weeks.

     
  18. Number007

    Number007 Member+

    Santos FC
    Brazil
    Aug 29, 2018
    Very gutsy effort yesterday from the Hoos.

    1. Got RB minutes from Zandi, Serepca and Spaanstra
    2. Shifted McLernon to LB
    3. Dawson played meaningful minutes at CM after Sumpter pulled up lame in the first 2 minutes

    Referee made some strange calls all game, especially the instant red that was then overturned and the indirect FK late.

    For all the Seminoles possession, they created very little, mainly due to their lack of balance. Too many CAM types and no real wide threats. There is no better long passer form the CB position than Berkeley. She set up wide players many times for 1v1s that they were unable to capitalize on.

    First, let me say that i think on the ball Zhao and Castellanos are as technically gifted as it gets. Without runners in front of them, they are limited. McFarland is a hard worker, but FSU dont have that wide player who can open it up for them vs good teams.


    https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/fs...nals-jarrett-krikorian-seminoles-2019-soccer/

    decent write up.
     
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  19. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    That was a good write up. I hadn't even heard of the site. I've always said that BigSoccer is my RSS feed.
     
  20. Carolina92

    Carolina92 Member

    Sep 26, 2008
    Looking at both programs historically, this isn’t true. Both programs have remarkably similar resumes. However, Clemson’s glory days were well over a decade ago while South Carolina has come on strong in more recent years (including a college cup appearance). South Carolina is the hotter program right now, but the Clemson program is certainly more than half the program SC is. Clemson was the best team in SC for years. Before that it was Furman I believe. USC is King for now.
     
  21. Carolina92

    Carolina92 Member

    Sep 26, 2008
    Arkansas came out of nowhere this season to be a top 5 team. I don’t think it’s ACC arrogance to ask who they are and if they’re legit. Everyone who is not in the SEC is asking this question.
     
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  22. cpthomas

    cpthomas BigSoccer Supporter

    Portland Thorns
    United States
    Jan 10, 2008
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree it's not arrogance.

    Arkansas did not, however, come "out of nowhere." The were ranked #20 by the RPI in 2018 and were in 2nd place in the SEC regular season standings. They have been a team on the rise since Colby Hale has been there, to the tune of improving their rank at a rate of about 12 positions per year, which is really good. So although it's understandable that fans from outside the SEC are asking "who they are and if they're legit," I'm betting that coaches of high level teams aren't. I think they knew coming into the season that Arkansas is legit.
     
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  23. Carolina92

    Carolina92 Member

    Sep 26, 2008
    I’d still call it out of nowhere considering they bowed out in the 2nd round of NCAAs last year and were not a seeded team (in arguably their best season until this one). Now they are in contention for a 1 seed. Out of nowhere is not a dis, I'm just saying this is not a program one traditionally thinks of as a national power and their rise to the top this season has been fast (Regardless of how much their RPI has continued to improve year over year). Now they have arrived in a big way and people are taking notice. I doubt Anson Dorrance scheduled that game thinking they'd be a Top 5 opponent. Of all the SEC teams people would have picked at the beginning of the season to be in contention for a 1 seed they would probably have been 5th pick (if that), even amongst SEC coaches.
     
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  24. Crazyhorse

    Crazyhorse Member

    Dec 29, 2007
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    For casual womens soccer fans, I'd say they did.
     
  25. devad

    devad Member

    Nov 18, 2012
    I think the coaches did pick them 5th in the league. The comment was about them not being deserving this year. I can't imagine they won't be a high seed and based on their results this year, they are deserving.
     

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