Ucla is a damn good team. Skilled, fast ,clutch...hats off to them. This tournament run is epic . Two recent ncaa champs. Two number one seeds. They were clearly better than uva, and not just at kicking pk's . I think the final will be tough...both teams have stellar defenses, though fsu's looks more vulnerable to me. Predict ucla wins 1-0 in OT. I do hope we avoid a national final being decided by pk's regardless of which way it goes.
I noticed this as well. Shocking that those lapses didn't lead to a few goals for the Cavs. Interesting : UCLA played a nice little possession game in the latter part of tonight's match-- very composed and focused. Since offense isn't their "specialty", UCLA may look play the possession and wait for right moment to throw that sucker punch at FSU? FSU's back line wasn't the most solid tonight. With a little patience, UCLA can get past FSU's defense. However, I will concede that FSU may have had an "off night". Also, I agree with your earlier comments about Cromwell. Getting to the Final in your first season is pretty nifty. It took Swanson 14 seasons with UVA just to get to the Final 4.
Killion is gonna be a great pro and prolly on the NT next cycle. She does all the little things but doesnt even get an All American nod.
IT seems as if UCLA deserves to be favored Sunday. One of us is going to get our first NC. I just hope FSU shows up with their best!
Congrats to UCLA. Uva was so close to winning yet so far away. Even though I was rooting for Uva I think the better team has won. UCLA really had more chances and overall played better. Both semis were highly entertaining and I can't for the final.
I don't know if it was Rowland or fatigued UVA players telegraphing their PK direction, but the end result is that Rowland looks awfully good at reading PKs.
How many matches had they played up until last night? I'm not a numbers gurl by any stretch but that's pretty impressive right there.
"I think the better team prevailed. UVa had lots of possession, but almost no good scoring chances. Their one goal was on a big defensive mess-up that UCLA wasn't really even helped into by UVa. As the game wore on, it became clearer and clearer that UCLA was stronger. Maybe the pressure got to UVa, but having seen the UCLA-North Carolina game, I think UCLA's strong defense and its defenders' ability to hold the ball and move it around under pressure were what did it." cpthomas, Yesterday at 11:03 PM I would agree with cpthomas. UVA played a great game, but in the final analysis, they ran out of gas against an incredibly fit and fast UCLA team that showed as much nuance and variety as I have seen from a college team in 110 minutes! The UCLA v UVA game felt a lot like a Final, rather than a semi. IMO the game last night ranks with the 2009 UNC victory over Stanford at College Station as the most exciting and well played soccer I've seen in the College Cup! Both UCLA and FSU will need to play out-of-their-heads soccer for the Final on Sunday not to feel like a bit of an anti-climax after the show last night! Well done by both teams! Both games were really exciting! It was IMO an interesting choice by the officials to allow players from both FSU and VT to follow their inclination to turn that match into something of a brawl? However, when so many pundits felt there would be no scoring, it was an exciting 3-2 match with the equalizer rocketing off the crossbar in the final minutes! With that kind of scoring and a general melee of uncalled fouls both on and off the ball, one could hardly ask for more excitement! It was a well played (if very chippy) game by both teams! VT continues to surprise me by being more effective as a counter-punching offensive team than I expect-- they seem on the ropes, then Bang! they are in the back of your net. Is it rope-a-dope? This was really exciting soccer from all four teams! Thanks to all involved for making this an Outstanding College Cup to remember!
My bad, they have surrendered 8 goals all season ( .32 gpg) while scoring 50 ( 2.00). It is still pretty impressive. They have played 25 games, five of them against ACC teams with the early loss to UNC the only loss. No team has scored more than one goal against them this season, including UNC, who they played twice. They have recorded 17 shutouts and have allowed one goal in the tournament (UVA) FSU is no slouch either. They have played 26 games now and surrendered 15 goals (.56 gpg) while scoring 59 (2.19 gpg). They have 15 shutouts, but two teams scored more than one goal in a game against them and they have given up 3 goals in the tournament ( BC and Ole Miss) Whatever happens, the record of the National champion allowing under .8 gpg will stand for another year, and it promises to be a low scoring affair. The big question is whether the ACC will finally get it's second school as a national champion ( ND won in the Big East) and join the PAC12 and WCC with more than one school winning, or whether the PAC12 will be the first conference to have three different winners. Either way, we have a new winner and the monkey is off somebody's back.
Having seen only a few underwhelming college games this season, I had limited hopes for last night's NCAA matchups... WOW, what a surprise! Simply great soccer played by all four teams. FSU and VT played a wonderfully controlled but aggressive game from the start. VT showed that it had definitely earned the right to be there and that no one should be surprised that they were able to defeat UVA in the ACC semi. In contrast, UVA and UCLA--clearly aware that single mistake might decide the game--kept their final thirds remarkably sealed in the first half while probing for the other team's weakness. Indeed, the game could have ended 0-0 in regulation had it not been for UVA pouncing on a lone UCLA mistake and the need for UCLA to go on the offensive to recover. It would, in fact, not surprise me if UCLA's game plan had not envisioned the need to grind down UVA in regulation and then take the game in overtime. Great coaching on the part of both teams. Ultimately, though, I think the teams that prevailed deserved to do so. FSU and UCLA appear to have just a bit more depth/breadth/athleticism across all positions, while UVA and VT are still too reliant on individual players (Reeves, Brian/Doniak) to carry the team. I would add that this same issue appears to afflict numerous teams with individually superb players such as Dunn/Ohai, Stengel, Marlborough, and Hayes. As evidence of this depth, who was thinking that Fields and Courtnall would play such pivotal roles in these games? In fact, who are these girls? Courtnall has phenomenal pace and agility; she also has dual citizenship with US/CDA (hope she favors the US!). Fields was outstanding with ball at her feet all night--long before she decided to start scoring goals. Yet I cannot recall hearing any mention of them beforehand. Perhaps it is my ignorance, but my guess is that they are simply emblematic of the many players on each team that you don't hear much about but for whom no opponent can take for granted. Regardless, these were easily two of the best WOSO games I've seen in 2013--at any level. Looking forward to the final.
Exactly, Dunn was healthy last season (but several other UNC players were also injured this year, making her loss one of several, so my comment does not fit UNC nearly as well). The point I was trying to make is that some teams rely on key players to carry them through large parts of a season, which works well until they are pitted against teams that may not have an uber-star player but instead have excellent players in all positions. This not only locks out the star player from receiving/delivering the ball but also means that every opposing player is a threat who must be accounted for--lest they show up at unexpected times as did Fields and Courtnall last night. In general, I would consider UNC to have the best of both worlds: marquee players and strength at most positions--not to mention conditioning and subs that are hard to match.
Final Also, I agree with your earlier comments about Cromwell. Getting to the Final in your first season is pretty nifty. It took Swanson 14 seasons with UVA just to get to the Final 4. [/quote] Three factors will play a role into todays game; -How much leeway will the Ref allow physical play to alter the game - the Defense on UCLA is suspect as witnessed on Friday, however, Rowland serves to ameliorate the infractions committed by AD and MO, ( this weekness has not been exposed most of the season due to Rowlands brillance)- and lastly Florida States Defense will also be challenged outside of their comfort zone by UCLA's unfathomable speed of play. At the end of the day .....two outstanding Coaches will batltle it out as I believe that individual performance per player is crucial, however, the Coaches at the helm dictate and orchestrate the tenor and strategic plan of action.
Anyone else was annoyed by Julie Foudy biased commentary for UCLA-Uva match? Even though I'll be rooting for UCLA please show some objectivism tonight.
Usually she utilizes the forum to compliment the Stanford program but in their abscence she did favor the Bruins excesively, however, she gave due credit to Brian, whose possesion skills were nothing short of brillant.
Oh wow. I have to disagree about Foudy, which odd for me, considering I can't tolerate her international match work. (another reason to bite the bullet and travel to Canada for the WWC ). I thought she was rather fair to all teams that played Friday night and, for the first time, actually provided some decent analysis about the game taking place on the pitch. Both she and Glenn could have done a better job of calling out the ref for deliberately not calling fouls on FSU but whatever. And I have to say that, in the past, when I've listened to her comment on Stanford matches, I didn't think Foudy was biased at all. In fact, one year during a Stanford tournament match, I was like: "oh, wait, this chick did go to Stanford." She was that neutral. Foudy in the college game is nothing like a certain female commentator(from the 90's)--now, talk about biased.
Some people disagree. Alecko Eskandarian @alecko116 Dec Hey Julie Foudy, you are the most biased women's college soccer broadcaster I've ever heard in my life.
It's CHAMPIONSHIP day! Wishing both teams a great day to be filled with memories and safety with no injuries in adverse slippery conditions! BRING IT HOME NOLES!!!!!
That's Alecko's problem, not mine. Sorry that Foudy didn't kiss UVA's behind enough for his liking; I still thought she did well and I'm NOT a fan of JF's, by any stretch.
Hope the Bruins have enough of the "magic spray", I sense a lot of fouling to come, if UCLA's level of possession continues.
It's on! Adidas vs Nike! I cannot root for a team with those stupid diaper Adidas shorts so it's FSU and Nike all the way! Let's just hope for an entertaining game and that's what we should get. ps Cromwell gets the nod on the head shots though... She's much better to look at. Krikorian looks like the Grinch who stole the Final4.
[UCLA-FSU] underway but no stream. 01' 0-0 Richmond shoots, Wys saves. 04' 0-0 Brynjarsdottir shoots, Rowland saves.