Maybe he should have, but apparently coaches in the Pac-12 didn't feel that way. Rebuild a team with 10 new players and come-in tied for 2nd when projected as 10th...not sure how anyone could do better than that. The Utah coach had a strong and notable year as well. CU and Utah, and even Arizona and ASU, are the step-children of the PAC-12. Thankfully some of the players from the non-California teams, including several Buffs, were appropriately acknowledged.
Well hopefully Utah and CU can make a strong showing in the tournament this year. If CU can get past South Carolina, would likely be epic sweet sixteen rematch vs BYU.
South Carolina has lost 1 game and that is to another Number 1 seed (Florida) a team they beat in the regular season. Why is every team a good match up with them?
Yes, I understand that tonight' game was a "Classic" game where ND dominated possession, outshot SIUE 21-3, with shots on goal 8-2, and corner kick advantage 11-1. Two over times and then tied at 4-4 on PKs until ND missed one. As you say "That's soccer!!" (It's always best to win in regulation!)
Does anyone know why Brie Hooks transferred to Seattle? I know she's from Washington, but had she stayed at CU, they'd have an even greater arsenal of weapons.
Buffs 3*, Oklahoma State 1 * two own goals in the first half Rather evenly played. OSU was excellent in transition. Details to come later. Really. I promise.
Looks like the OSU coach got tossed - according to the box score. OSU and Texas Tech, out first round...what a surprise!
In all fairness, both put up a pretty good fight. Watched both games. I'd give a larger edge to Utah over TT (though they had a super close overtime opportunity) just because OSU had a sort of dominant period during the second half. But agree that based on record alone, TT shouldn't have made it (don't know if the committee took their past 5 years of making round 2 into account...).
Eh, Texas Tech's 9-8-2 is eligible, passing the only record-based requirement currently on the books. For all else, they had to out-swim all the other fishies in the same part of the pool. There may yet be reasons their selection was "inconsistent with historical precedent", but "record" isn't one of them. And the committee is forbidden from using previous years' data. Please don't try to dumb down a complex decision into a throw-away half-sentence thought that ascribes stupidity or conspiracy to people you disagree with. Too many people are eager to do that already, and look where it's gotten us ...
I will call it rather evenly played. Stats favored the Buffs, shots 19-15, on goal 12-6, corner kicks 5-1. The Cowgirls had the run of play for maybe 20 minutes early in the second half and frequently looked dangerous, especially in transition, and their defenders were fast. When Emily Bruder's extra gear kicks in, not many defenders can run her down and OSU had a couple who could. Oklahoma State lost a starting defender in warmups, apparently to a torn ACL. They looked dangerous from the beginning, attacking with eight or nine players, and the forwardmost (is that a real word?) four attackers defended vigorously when our back line had the ball. They got players and the ball way too close to our goal for comfort on too many occasions, but our defenders handled the pressure well. We were kicking too many long balls, not a surprise. A long free kick sailed just over the crossbar, it looked like JJ tipped it over but apparently not as there was no corner kick. I noticed that the clock was running backwards. Then we got a throw-in. Danica's flip throws are like accurate long-range artillery, and she dropped one into a melee right in front of the goal and there were just too many orange people and one of them eventually cleared the ball. Repeat about two minutes later, this time Taylor Kornieck and Alex Vidger (I think) raised their heads way up to meet the ball and it looked like one of them headed it in but apparently a Cowgirl was in the middle of that and it was actually her head that did the deed, 1-0 Buffs on an own goal. Now the clock was running in the usual direction but eight minutes seemed to have disappeared, this drew the referee to the table in the middle of everything on the sideline and soon the clock was running backwards again and the lost time was restored. The scoreboard showed us with three shots on goal, then we had two. With nine minutes left in the half, a long free kick arrived at the top of the penalty box, heads rose to greet it, a Cowgirl head successfully did so and propelled it past the goalkeeper and in, 2-0 Buffs on a second own goal. The soccer gods rock. OSU has one of the best goal scorers in the country and we kept her in check very well except once. Eight minutes into the second half she got loose with the ball near the goal and JJ had no chance facing a close-in open shot, 2-1. This energized the Cowgirls who pretty much had the run of play for the next twenty minutes or so, but our defense is rather good at facing a lot of possession and minimizing opportunities for the other team, which they did. OSU had a couple of near-misses and got lots of people into the penalty box and looked dangerous, but the defense held up well. We were playing long kicks to the other team again. Apparently there was a no-call that displeased the OSU bench, the ensuing discussion resulted in two yellow Shut Thy Mouth awards, the head coach didn't and received a red Get Thee Out Of Here award. JJ made a diving save of an open shot. Then the chances started coming to the Buffs. Taylor fed an outstanding pass to Emily whose shot just missed. At midfield, Emily found an open Danica with acres of grass in front of her, but a speedy defender ran her down. How did we not score on that corner kick? Oh, yeah, save of the day. Danica ran with the ball into the box and was pushed from behind over the end line, definitely a "reach out and touch someone" push, no call. In the final minute, with OSU pushing forward, Emily took off from midfield with the ball down the left sideline, Danica was in the middle of the field and there was one defender between them. Emily passed, Danica sidestepped the onrushing goalkeeper and had a tap-in with 12 seconds left and the crowd of 1,200 got to cheer OUR own goal, not an own goal. A good win over a worthy opponent.
Alabama State held our next opponent, South Carolina, to a lone touchdown and extra point, 7-0. The Pac-12 still has five teams in Round 2. Cal lost on penalty kicks to a pretty good Pepperdine team, the Waves have been good for a few years now. Stanford took 25 minutes to lead Houston Baptist 3-0, then maybe let up on the gas pedal a bit to win 4-0. Next up is Santa Clara (Go Broncos !!). USC did all their damage in the first half, 3-1 over Eastern Washington. The WOT (Women of Troy) now host Texas A&M. UCLA scored immediately (almost) and added two in the second half, 3-0 over Seattle. Next up is some outfit that husks corn. And Utah had to go to overtime to defeat Texas Tech 1-0, earning them a shot at third seed Florida State.
After 28 minutes at South Carolina, score 0-0, shots on goal 2-2. Watching it requires a subscription to the SEC network which I don't have. Best bet is http://www.gamecocksonline.com/game...ol=scar&sport=wsoccer&camefrom=&startschool=&
Halftime 0-0, shots on goal 4-3 USC (the fighting fowl USC, not the condom USC), JJ made two saves in five seconds.
Too bad she didn't score because she is a completely classy person. As is Danica. Both are great people. Morgan too. Good luck to them in life. I'm sure they will do just fine.
Thanks to all! The marvelous discussion really added to the enjoyment of the season! Best wishes and Happy Holidays!