WOW Clemson beats Miami in OT. Gotta Feel bad for Miami considering Clemson won it on a corner that was incorrectly given. Clemson just misses a shot and the referee awarded a corner then Clemson scores on it.
Louisville beat Pittsburgh 2-0 last night. Louisville controlled the game and are way more athletic than Pittsburgh. That being said Pittsburgh looked a lot more organized and were able to move the ball a lot better than they could in the first part of the season. only other ACC game this weekend is Duke vs Syracuse this afternoon. Should be an easy win for the blue devils
And it was! 4-0 win for the Blue Devils, with 4 different scorers (Racioppi, Nabet, McCoy, McGuirre with a beauty)
UVA, Boston College and Duke all stumbled last night in conference play. BC suffering their first loss of the season on their first true road game (they hadn't played a match outside the state of MA yet!?!). Not a bad result for Duke, but considering the stats (they outshot NCSU 20-3!) they have to be disappointed. Virginia Tech 1 - UVA 0 Wake Forest 2 - Boston College 1 (OT) NC State 1 - Duke 1 Notre Dame couldn't keep up the momentum from last week's win, getting blown out 4-0 at home against FSU. They didn't even get a shot off in the second half against the Seminoles. We're only into the third week of conference play, but the top of the table looks mighty different from what many had expected so far. The game to watch this weekend is UNC vs. Louisville on Saturday, currently the top two teams in conference play.
Did you watch the last 20 mins of the UVA game? That game had no business being continued post the flash flood/lightning delay. Embarrassing for the ACC imo. That was a 70 minute game
I didn't see it. UVA still would have lost even if they had called the game since it was over the 70 minute mark though, right? I heard the BC vs. WFU game was a fun one to watch. Apparently BC subs like crazy according to the box score. 15 subs in one game?
I'm surprised that UVA lost to Va.Tech. I should look it again, but at first glance it looked like the UVA keeper fell asleep on a Va. Tech corner, which resulted in the game's only goal. The ball was an inward swinger deep into the box and Ivory, the UVA keeper, failed to punch it out, standing on her line instead, and the ball was headed in for the game winner. A lightening delay and hour of heavy rain turned most of the field into a lake and made it virtually unplayable when play resumed at the 17' minute or so mark. The field conditions were terrible for both teams of course but IMO worked more to the disadvantage of UVA, as it was nearly impossible to move the ball forward on the ground--it was almost comical--and Va.Tech kept clearing out the ball and hung on for the win. NC State managed to score the equalizer against Duke despite being a player down. A Wolfpack player was sent off at the 63' minute mark. Duke scored after that but NC State tied it and managed to hold off the Blue Devils despite being heavily outshot. Wake Forest and BC was an up-and-down the field game in the last 15 minutes of regulation with the score knotted at 1, and then WF won it in OT. The Demon Deacons are a very solid team and I was surprised they lost at home to ND last Sunday.
It's not a bad result for Duke considering it's two ranked teams, but State played with 10 players for the last 45+ minutes including overtime and managed to score an equalizer. You're not always going to win against 10 players if all the 10 have to do is defend, but Duke had a lead and let it get away. The shot count is a little misleading too. They weren't great chances. Duke doesn't have the speed they used to have to get in behind (Dorsey, Payne etc) so they were largely restricted to shooting weakly at the keeper from 25 yards. (In fairness, they did get in one time, which led to the red card) State's German midfielder Ricci Walkling is an amazing player btw. You just can't get the ball off her. Duke tried pressing her with multiple players, and she just turns/dribbles out of trouble every time. After that, you could hear the Dutch Genius (tm) shouting 'Drop!' on the ESPN+ feed every time she got the ball. Wake Forest is much improved this year. The big difference IMO is they've added some ball-winners and general defending/toughness to a team which had a tendency over the years to play pretty soccer but lacked in those departments. ND looked petrified in the opening ten minutes vs FSU. Pinned deeper and deeper. You could see that result coming almost immediately.
Just call the game. Why risk injuring players? That was another example of what is wrong with the College game. its just too easy with the current sub rules and refereeing standards to sit deep, launch the ball downfield and neutralize teams that actually want to play passing based soccer. it becomes a bravery, set piece contest and that is not enjoyable for me as a neutral. Currently, with College as the development ground for our NWSL/ National team talent is very obvious why we are being rapidly caught or even passed. Setting the tempo and pace of games is skill we dont have to develop and trying to solve every problem by being more athletic will not work.
Agree on all counts except i would say the decision to continue was not comical. It was dangerous. If you remove UVAs ability to pass and move, they are an ordinary team.
Carolina92, I don't think BC subs like crazy. I watched the game and they had 4 subs, played 15 people total. Pretty much on par for what they have done for the season. I think what may have hurt them was playing a true away game. They had only played either at home, or down Commonwealth Ave at Boston University and Northeastern. May have helped them to go undefeated before last night but didn't help prepare them for ACC road battles.
As if NWSL is any good. Majority of the league is horrible to watch. Players in the NWSL are better of course, but I much rather watch the top college teams in ACC/Pac-12 play as they actually play soccer. Not to mention NWSL is stupidity mismanaged and keep making dumb decisions that makes NCAA look tolerable
As a Duke fan, it's rather disappointing. when you lead with under ten mins remaining, and your UP a man, how in the hell do you give up the lead!! Smdh. This team, soooo frustrating. I won't be surprised if they aren't seeded in the ncaa tourney. That's the way their heading.
Yeah it's one thing when a team gets a player sent off in a tie game, then hangs on for a tie. A very different thing when you get the lead but then allow the 10-man team to equalize.
Here's a table that shows Chris Henderson's, my simulation's, and the ACC coaches' pre-season rankings. CH's and the coaches', I believe, are rankings of the teams. That's as distinguished from my simulation's, which are of where the teams will end up in the regular season standings taking into account their actual conference schedules (since they don't play a full round robin).
Can anyone tell me anything about Clemson this year? I looked at their roster and noticed they have five players 5'9 or taller, not including keepers, that is unusual. Thanks in advance.
from my PoV they are a classic team built to play non soccer in a tough conference. Vs the better teams they will sit deep and use Staab to launch balls long hoping for a knock down or set piece. Speckmaiaier has some pace and is a tireless worker. The teams who cannot match UNC,Duke, UVA, FSU for recruiting seem to be going this route (apart from Wake Forest who play some really good "on the ground" soccer). They look to make the game a physical battle and are recruiting with that in mind.
ACC in the RPI this week.... #3 UNC #5 Florida State #12 NC State #15 Wake Forest #17 Virginia #21 Boston College #27 Duke #28 Virginia Tech #33 Notre Dame #40 Louisville #60 Clemson #117 Pittsburgh #175 Miami #217 Syracuse
Duke and ND are both playing below the level of talent they have. I think both have a big win in them.