Thanks Hooked, good stuff, very interesting. I have not gotten to see the Irish play more than 1 or 2 games this year but the one thing that jumped out at me when I look at the stats on the season is that they struggled to score goals( 36). Lowest goal total in at least 10 years. They did not give up many either(18) so that side of it was very good. But with basically the same offensive team as last year your goals scored are down 20% so that could be some adjusting to the new system or it could be systemic. I guess we will find out.
OK, OK, FSU dominated the Irish 3-1 in the ACCs - ouch. But Virginia won 2-1 in the last minute of play, during a regular season match. Hardly destruction by the Wahoos.
Last year was Coach McAlpine's first at USC and he did a great job. Andrews should fit in well with the style he plays, which rewards good passers and uses the middle of the field. As said in the press release, good for both USC and the PAC-12. http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/012215aaa.html
Hate to see her go but as a film and communications major there is a lot more going on for her in LA than SB
I just saw this. as a long time Irish women's soccer fan, I have to be honest and say I am very disappointed. I was so excited when I heard several years ago that she was coming to Notre Dame and watching Morgan Andrews play, I was impressed because I enjoy tactical, lots of passing soccer. And boy can she pass. Pin-point. She is not very fast but neither were many of the world's greatest midfielders on the men's side. Remember Valderrama? The Columbia international? He rarely left the midfield-circle, but man could he put a ball on a dime to someone running down the field anywhere they wanted it. Also. My question is how will this affect Notre Dame recruiting going forward? I can't help but wonder if a world class player like Morgan Andrews leaving Notre Dame after one year with the new coach in charge will cause, especially gifted recruits with a path to the National Team and their parents, to question Theresa Romagnolo on her recruiting trip, "why did Morgan Andrews leave your program??" There have been players over the years that have left Randy Waldrum's teams for whatever reason before finishing their 4 years, but never such a high profile player like Morgan Andrews. Good luck to her. I will be following her career and see how high she can reach.
You're overrating her just a tad there. If there is one player in this program that they need to cater to that's Cari Roccaro. She's the real star for this team if she goes they don't have any representation at the national team level and they will lose a very key player for their team. And let's not be quick to blame the coach here don't forget Morgan left Boston College hanging to join Notre Dame.
Players that want to go to school there and who fit into the style of play will still come and--unless there's a huge reason they want to attend the school--players that don't fit well into the new system won't come.
Not blaming the coach at all. I don't know the relationship the two had. I have also said as a fan, I'm willing to give the new coach time to bring in her own style players and see what she can do in a few years. But us Notre Dame women soccer fans are used to winning. The wait and see will not last long if the program starts slipping. Rocarro IS a key player for the team. But Rocarro, in my opinion, does not have MA's ball skills. In previous years, a strong midfield was a marquee of Notre Dames' teams. As I said before, I've been watching the Notre Dame women's program since when Shannon Boxx played under Chris Petrucelli and one constant, in my opinion, was that Petrucelli and Waldrum wanted and recruited ball skill midfielders not just ball winners. Holly Monthei, Shannon Boxx, Anne Mackinen, Randi Scheller, Annie Schefter, Jen Buszkowski, Brittany Bock, Lauren Fowlkes, Rose Augustin, Courtney Barg - these are just examples of some of the GREAT Notre Dame midfielders, that had tremendous ball skills. I don't remember a single year in 20 years under Petrucelli or Waldrum where Notre Dame did not have a pin-point passing midfielder, not just a banger/ball-winner. Anyway, Morgan Andrews is gone. We move on. Coach Theresa will build the team in her own way in the next few years. I hope the recruiting keeps strong like it was under previous coaches and the winning ways of ND women's soccer continues as it has been in the last 20 years. ND women play every year for a National Championship. That sight/goal cannot be lost moving forward.
I believed that Morgan Andrews would have been one of those great Notre Dame midfielders of all time.
Getting a great Notre Dame education and degree is always a good reason to go to school there. I believe that is the biggest draw for majority of athletes that come to ND. However...there are players who have aspirations to make the USWNT or other National Team programs some day. Top players around the country and world. I believe that in the past, top recruits came to school in South Bend for several reasons, among them to keep on a track to the National Team programs while getting a great education. Randy Waldrum provided that with his connections, methods and style of play, IMO. These type of players in my opinion were confident that Notre Dame would provide for them the path and exposure needed to achieve these National Team aspirations/goals. I guess I'm worried that MA leaving ND could possibly raise a red flag to some potential recruits and their parents. I want to see top level players from around the country and world continue to come to ND.
Could have been - under the right system (coach?). She clearly took a step back this year and never really looked comfortable in her role.
And... unfortunately folks, you cannot just sweep this under the rug or hope no one notices because she is a high profile player. For example, Jeff Kassouf twittered about her transfer yesterday.
One way to look at ND's future recruiting is that the new coach will be recruiting players with a different mix of skills than the past coach. For example, it is likely that she will not be going head-to-head with Stanford's and Virginia's coaches for specific players. Why? It could be because she simply doesn't want her team to play like those teams. It is also possible that she knows that her track record is nowhere good enough to be successful in those recruiting contests. As she builds a stronger resume of success, she can switch to recruiting players with different skill sets (if she wants). If the administration had hired a highly successful head coach to replace Randy, we might be seeing a different recruiting scenario. But they didn't. Interestingly, when the administration replaced the volleyball coach this season, they hired one one of the most successful college volleyball coaches away from Washington (only coach to have won a NC with men's and women's teams). It may have helped that he is married to a former ND soccer player.
Thanks Hooked003. Makes sense. Your insight is very appreciated. I guess over 20 years I have seen so much success from this program, I'm just a little nervous.