87' 3-1 USC regain in own 1/3, outlet pass to Molen facing away at circle right, flick across her body up mid-right for Katie Johnson chasing 1-v-1 on LCB #16 Mayi Kith -- USC always has 2-v-2 breakaway threats because WVU must commit both fullbacks up in the attack. Johnson wins race to arc top mid-right with Foster semi-stranded at 7m, one-touch soft right instep chip skims off her fingertips, scrapes along roof into center back high. FT 3-1. This idea of 2-in-the-back doesn't work for Germany or USA, either ...
Fun game to watch. WV was definitely open to sending their backs forward. 11 feasted down the left side all day. USC's right back had work the whole game... with a few seemingly lackadaisical efforts from her mids in coverage. WV just couldn't make them pay. USC seemed content to send long balls and cede central possession most of the game. I haven't watched them much, not sure how frequently they do that. Obviously paid dividends with those last two goals.
Gritty win for USC over the talented Canadian national team. The Trojans got a great game from the keeper, were clinical when they had scoring opportunities, and were tough-minded in the face of a lot of speed and pressure from the opponent for most of the game. Just a gutsy performance by USC. They were also lucky not to have given up 1 or more goals in the first half, when twice, off of corner kicks, the ball was deflected to a WVA player in the box, but neither could control it well enough to punch it in. WVA had a few other opportunities in last 20 minutes of 1H, when they dominated. After WVA tied the game fairly late on an excellent strike by Lawrence, one figured that they had all the momentum. But then a player for USC made what surely was the play of the tournament: She ran down a deep ball on the left flank, flicked it down the touchline, outfought the WVA defender to the ball and slotted it to Johnson in the box, who put the ball past the WVA keeper and into the net for the game-winning goal. That was an absolutely amazing play--and from there USC held on defensively and got a third goal to seal the national championship. Exciting game.
West Virginia is stupid. They didn't have to send everyone forward in this game to ensure they would yield more scoring chances. They could have played this one straight up, and still get more chances, as they had a significant athletic advantage. They scored their goal off of a set piece against UNC, and they still would have generated more set pieces than USC, even without needing to sending everyone forward. The most likely way they would lose this game, was to take the high risk - high reward approach. If they just go low-to-mid risk - mid reward, they have > 80% chance of winning. USC is better at scoring goals when they get in the open field with Katie Johnston, Alex Anthony, Leah Pruit, etc. This played right into their hands (I mean their feet). And West Virginia got BURNED by it, and they are paying dearly for this strategy. West Virginia will never come this close to winning another National Title in women's soccer in our lifetimes. This was their only chance.
They will continue to be a factor in the Big 12, and win some conference titles (Big 12 is somewhat weak). But they are not going to sustain themselves as a Top 4 program for much longer. They can stay a Top 15 program (like they've been before the Buchanan-Lawrence era), but this was it. They had to win it this year. Penn State (USA U-20 defense), UCLA (Pugh, Sanchez, Fleming), Florida State (Megan Connolly, Deyna). These are your National Title type of teams over the next few years. Stanford, UNC, Virginia, Duke, and Notre Dame are also going to have a say in it. Florida is losing a ton of their talent, and they will still be a factor in the SEC, but aren't going to win it all. Penn State vs. UCLA next year in the College Cup (probably the Final), or the Semifinal (depending on brackets). But Florida State has Deyna and Connolly.
Why is it their only chance? Imagine what infractions haven't been caught over the years or won't surface in the future. Maybe WVU is taking the same approach while putting together its next roster. http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/artic...ons-cites-west-virginia-recruiting-violations
We are def on the same wave length! The eight teams you mentioned (not UF) are the 8 I have in my "way to early prediction" elite eight next year
It appeared to me that WVU completely outplayed USC in mid-later parts of the first half and much of the second half. WVU outshot USC. USC took 5 shots and scored 3. Having said that, I was rooting for USC and glad they won.
Yep, and WVU could have outplayed them without taking the gamble they did. They were winning balls all over the field and pressuring USC into making bad passes. They were doing nearly all of it without needing help from their outside backs. In fact, the only goal WVU scored was one in which they didn't need any help from their outside backs.
You folks are some of the same ones who would be critical of WVU if they decided to park the bus and just defend and counter. "they have such a great team, why just play for the counter attack" The 2nd USC goal was really from a defensive mistake. The WVU defender won position on the ball and decided to try to spin out and keep it rather than clear it away. And the 3rd USC goal was scored when WVU had to clearly 'go for it' and Buchanon was not playing center back (but it was a nice strike). But regardless of the tactical arguments about playing backs to high, which I don't fully disagree with, to say WVU has no chance to repeat as a Final4 team is pretty ridiculous. They've been a top-20ish team for about 5 years now and what do you think happens in recruiting when you get to a National Championship game? Some of you reading this are the soccer parents who might just think twice before deleting that email from WVU now. I think if anything, their ability to attract high quality players in the US AND from Canada and other countries just increased a bit. I mean Stanford wins most all of the recruiting battles for National Teamers and they've won only once. I believe NONE of the 8 teams just mentioned as favorites for next year were in the Final4 this year, except UNC who was not expected this year! So, go ahead and bet your mortgage on those "sure thing" teams for next year and I'll bet you'll be sleeping on the neighbors coach! Parity in college women's soccer is here to stay.... ps -and posting the 2015 article about WVU text message violations from 2012 and 2013 is totally childish. You might as well mention the UNC ghost classes and that their sanctions are still pending.
WVU are a great example of how you can violate recruiting violations and it doesn't matter as you can compete on the field without many consequences. Fair play to Izzy Brown breaking rules knowing she won't get totally screwed for doing so. In all fairness she's done a heck of a job there even if she does cheat. WVU in a national final is incredible.
I thought you had some credibility until that post collegewhispers. Read my ps above. Lets go after the team that just made it to the National Final game. You think texting kids too early is why WVU is so good? Most of those violations were of contacts that are now allowed for Juniors and no one really knows how many were made by women's soccer coaches at WVU. Bush league post.
Hey it's an incredible achievement to make a national final and fair play to them. You have to wonder though if they got some of the current team through foul recruiting though. I'm not doubting the staffs ability to coach they have done an unreal job to get the team that far, just saying they cut some Corners to get there
West Virginia has/had a fantastic team--probably THE most athletic team I've seen. It took some grit and some talent and definitely some luck for USC to beat them. But I confess I don't like teams that are loaded with foreign players: It's mercenary. It's no accident that the two programs/coaches who seem to make recruiting foreign players a focal point of their programs have had extremely strong teams in recent years. I know that a number of teams have one or two foreign-born players--but I'm bothered by coaches who load their roster with them. They're like the high school coaches we've all observed, if you've been around sports much, who are always bringing in ringers from outside their school district. It's not that I don't like foreign-born players--I know a lot of men's team have a lot of them--but I don't think it would be a bad thing if the NCAA limited the number permitted on teams. Problem is, almost every coach has to recruit foreign players now if you seriously want to compete for the national title. Certainly, the usual half-dozen powerhouse programs can compete without them--but it's getting harder; just look at UNC's record against FSU in recent years. Maybe I'm making too much of it, but for me there's a big difference between having one or two and having 7 or 8. I think WVA has nine. That's a lot--and certainly nobody in the Big 12 could touch them.
Well, I may need to take my foot out of my mouth. I had assumed that WVA and FSU, with their recruitment of foreign players, were outlier programs--and to a certain extent they are. But I just checked the rosters of both oklahoma and kansas women's soccer programs--to see if other Big12 teams had foreign players, and I was surprised to see that the do. In fact, OU had 5 foreign-born players on its roster this past year, and Kansas four. I didn't think that would be true--but then again they've been competing against WVA for, what, 5 years now, and so surely they've seen the need. I think it's more work, trouble and expense to recruit foreign players, and my assumption was that a lot of coaches would not want to do it necessarily---but maybe that assumption is wrong. It may be more the norm than I had realized, though in SEC, to name one other major conference, I think there are very few foreign-born players. As I say, I know it's common with men's programs, and with major tennis programs as well. But OU and Kansas also prove my point: Once one program starts recruiting foreign players, and having success doing so, everybody else pretty much has to do it to be competitive.
They will always win recruiting battles in almost every non-revenue sport, because they are an Ivy League school.
EDIT: I typed out my answer before reading your 2nd post. I totally disagree and I'm not even a fan of WVU. If you have the smarts to find student-athletes abroad, I say you go after them. Heck, foreign students are always coming to USA colleges for the education, why not on a sports scholarship? Why would the NCAA get involved in restricting foreign students (what a mess that would be)? Who gets an unfair advantage? If anything, you need to invest more money when scouting in foreign countries (in a non-revenue sport, which is very hard). Also, many really good foreign players can make money playing in overseas professional leagues. If anything, those foreign players are potentially giving up potential earnings possibilities (think L. Horan), or they are not considered the best in respective countries, or they are simply taking advantage of a chance at a free education. Finally, there are no guarantees that you can mesh the philosophies of foreign players to your team. So, there is risk involved by giving scholarships to these players. Again, since ALL schools are allowed to recruit from abroad, what unfair advantage is there for WVU?
I'm going to include the first paragraph of that article for perspective, because I think this post can be misleading. I would venture to say that almost all schools have made some small infractions, out of ignorance, which they were not caught doing. I just don't like the idea of going on a WVU witch hunt, and I'm not even a fan of the school.
Recruiting foreign athletes is fair game. FSU's coaching staff knew they had to do this to compete against UNC in their conference. They have been more successful than UNC in winning % over the past few years. WVU has always done this from what I can recall with Canadian players, but this was their first National Championship type of team. The only problem is, they didn't win the National Championship. Nebraska may have been the pioneers at bringing in several Canadian players. Going all the way back to the 90's, with players like Brittany Timko (Karina LeBlanc played there as well). NC State had Charmaine Hooper in the 80's. But I don't believe they had as many Canadian players as Nebraska did in the 90's and 2000's.
And its a good thing no college coaches talk to potential transfers at other schools, use their National team and Regional camp connections to recruit players, make promises and deals with club coaches to get access to good recruits and take money from kids through ID camps and clinics they have no intention of recruiting. Since EVERYONE is operating above the ethical line and no rules are ever broken, I think WVU should be celebrated for the kind of quality roster they've created at the school/location/conference they have on offer. And if someone wants to argue that we should start restricting student visas and limiting access to US Higher Education to "foreigners", I'm sure you'll find some takers. The ironic thing of course is that the NCAA would lobby for and get an exception to the rule! And lets not ignore the biggest irony in this conversation. What school is the #1 school in the US for enrolling International Students??? Drum roll please...... The University of Southern California http://www.wsj.com/articles/international-students-stream-into-u-s-colleges-1427248801
As a tax payer I might have a problem with a state school giving scholarships to foreign players cause they might help the team. Just sayin.
It's better then the one-year, American basketball player on a full scholarship who wins your school 30 games but only goes to classes in the Fall semester and then goes pro.
Universities can offer foreign students an international student scholarship and doesn't count towards their athletic scholarships numbers.
You should look closely at the mission statement of your local state school. You're not going to find anything about restricting opportunity to US citizens. Virtually all universities around the world accept international students, and these students have the same rights and opportunities as any other student.