I know that there are some extremely affordable flights from Detroit into Myrtle Beach (3 1/2 hours or so from Chapel Hill) and that AirTran is in Midway as well...not sure about rates. It would be a good way to tie the game and the beach in together.
From an ndsoccernews tweet: "#1 Notre Dame 7, #10 Virginia 5 (exh. - final) ... Henderson: 4G, 1A, hat trick in 2nd period ... details and recap to follow on UND.com" This is the annual exhibition fixture in northern Michigan. The teams played three 30-minute periods.
Re: 2011 Notre Dame vs UVA Any explanation given for this? Anyone on BS attend the game and able to comment on what if any effect the 3 periods had on game? I ask because I've always thought soccer, like hockey, should move to three periods. But 30 minute periods instead of 20 minutes so it would still be a 90 minute game.
Great story. And BTW, are you Tiffany Weimer? Big fan. In fact Tiffany Weimer's autograph is the only one I wanted from all the WPS players as a season ticket holder of the Chicago Red Stars.
Re: 2011 Notre Dame vs UVA That's actually a proposal for the Qatar World Cup to deal with the 115°+ heat.
Re: 2011 Notre Dame vs UVA If they put hockey rinks underneath the pitches in Qatar, that might help too (drifting away from ND, here).
Tough loss to an outstanding Tar Heel team yesterday. This is a good dose of reality for the Irish early in the season. I hope that ND gets another chance with UNC later this year....
We UNC fans hope so too! The teams really did seem evenly matched last night, although many of us (including Anson Dorrance) felt that ND played the better game overall.
Got back last night from the weekend's games in Chapel Hill. First Friday's game: Still the greatest rivalry in college soccer, IMO. This could have gone either way. ND had most of the posession and more chances then UNC. UNC put away theirs. ND did not. That simple. the off-side call on the ND goal was questionable. Even talking to some Duke fans on Sunday who saw the UNC/ND game said that that was a horrible call and ND got robbed. However, no excuse for ND. UNC never quit and won the game. Great crowd at the game. The biggest crowd I have ever seen at fetzer in my 15 years of going to UNC games. Also, did Melissa Henderson lose a LOT of weight? I almost didn't recognize her. I wonder if losing that much weight also causes you to lose strength? Sunday's game: Notre Dame did not show up. They left all their emotions and focus on friday's game and didn't bring anything to the table on Sunday. They did have a couple of nice opportunities, even a wide open goal in the second half. But couldn't put it away. The one goal Notre Dame scored was the stranges goal I've ever seen. Duke's goalie came out to clear the ball, it hits a ND player in the face, she falls down in pain and the ball slowly trickles in goal from the left top of the penalty box before anyone on Dukes' team can clear it. ND has a couple very winable games this weekend against Tulsa and Indiana. However the following weekend they go to Cali to play Stanford and Santa Clara. They must show up for those two games. It's OK to get beat by high ranked teams like UNC and even Duke. But you also have to beat a high ranked team as well. Losing another one or two can reflect on the NCAA seedings at the end. One more thing, Why did Randy Waldrum chose to start a freshman goalkeeper against UNC and again aginst Duke instead of the Junior Maddie Fox?? Just curious.
Yes. She looked, well, like a freshman goalkeeper. I don't want to beat her up too much. I've played goalkeeper all my life. However she did look undecisive a few times, came off her line a little slower then she should have. On one goal, it was either Duke's second or third where she just froze on her line and the defense was waiting for her to come snatch the ball. Her communication and mutual trust with the defense is not there yet, thus mistakes are made. I also thought she had a chance to become a hero and make the save on Courtney Jones winning shot. It was from around 20 yards out and it looked she had plenty of time to move to her right. She chose to make the dive from the spot she was standing at the time the shot was taken and missed getting her hand on a very low shot in the corner. Not an easy save to make, but was doable. Having said all that, you can tell she has the potential to be a very good college keeper. It's just early in the season and just the start of her college career. She's a freshman and it started out a little rough. But if you're going to get your feet wet in big time college soccer, there's no better time then against North Carolina and Duke. She will remember this weekend for the rest of her life and she will learn and get better.
MRAD, looked for you on Sunday but didn't see you. Hope you enjoyed your wknd in CH. ND had a couple of really good (one wide open w/ keeper out) chance vs Duke that they didn't put away. Duke really stepped up their overall game once their CB went out w/ what looked like an ACL injury in the 2nd half. ND didn't respond to that increased effort by Duke -- ND just wasn't quite as energetic or mentally "there" as they were vs UNC.
If she is Waldrum's choice of starter from now on, I have no doubt she will learn and get the experience needed to be a good college goalkeeper. The pace in college, especially the level ND plays is a big jump from High School or Club level. She is a tall goalkeeper which is an advantage.
Good evaluation ND looked flat footed and frankly uninterested during the Duke game. the UNC vs ND game was so emotional I can see them having a let down. As far as the off sides.. LOL you're seriously asking Duke fans if it was offsides or not versus UNC?. I was there Sunday, offsides or not, the biggest problem was the linesman made the call and the UNC defense saw it and stopped. Thought the same thing about Henderson..
Even talking to some Duke fans on Sunday who saw the UNC/ND game said that that was a horrible call and ND got robbed. (MRAD12) I chuckled about this too, South American. I just chalked it up to MRAD12 having a fabulous sense of humor.
Henderson did lose some weight but it's more a question of turning body fat into muscle. Her weight is similar to last year but she is definitely leaner. And stronger. She spent most of the summer in South Bend working out with their strength coach. Why not? If Fox isn't the answer (and she's not) then why not get the frosh the experience that in the long run will pay off with what ND is really after--not an early season win at UNC, but another run at the national championship. And while a junior, it's not like Fox is wildly experienced, especially in those types of pressure situations. Remember back to two years ago when they yanked Lysander in the middle of a game to put Weiss back in--that worked out pretty well, I have a feeling this may as well.
ND will get another chance at a top-5 opponent in nine days vs. Stanford. How do you like their chances?
From what I've seen, they need to fix 2 things: 1. Finish their chances. In soccer there is a thought that if you don't put away your chances, it will come back to haunt you and more then likely your oponent will. I have never seen so many wide open misses from a ND team as I saw last weekend. Tighten up and organize the defense. If the ball is in or or around the box, get it out of there. Their inability to clear the ball lead to both UNC goals on Friday. The freshman keeper needs to take charge and organize the defense and better her timing coming out for the ball. The midfield is solid. Courtney Barg is the best technical midfielder I have seen playing for ND sice Anne Mackinen. If their going to beat Stanford and Santa Clara, IMO these things need to be fixed. But I still feel their chances are good.
Duke posted a highlight clip of the 3 goals they scored against ND. Unfortunately they didn't include the ND goal, as that sounded like one for the blooper reel. Check it out here.
After the last two weekends it's pretty clear that Voigt isn't the answer, at least not yet. In the two games there were three shots on goal. The opening kickoff went in off her hands in the first game. She didn't get any chances in that game to show her skills so one shot and one goal. Fox had 3 saves in the second half, although only one looked challenging. In the second game Voigt missed the first shot again, this one from about 30 yards out with nobody around to interfere that should have been a routine save. She did make one save in the second half on a shot that rebounded off her at least a yard, fortunately no offensive player was charging or she would have given up another goal. Voigt is certainly bigger than Fox and may be good eventually but Waldrum is risking the season using her now.
I didn't get to see the game so I would love to hear some analysis from those who attended or watched online. I was only able to read the ND write up which is always strong on positives but glosses over most mistakes from the team. How did ND look overall? Was it an even match or did one side have more control. How did ND give up the lead at the end to lose the game?