Congrats to Stanford and also to Wake for making it to the final. Happy New Year to everyone and may your 2017 be filled with joy and maize and blue!
Heard a lot of this nonsense in the stadium. Unless you want us to dismiss this as Deacon whining, please be specific. Who and for what should 2 Stanford players be sent? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Interesting that they went to the video replay today to determine if Stanford scored in the second half. Even more interesting that they ruled that it wasn't a goal. If his hips are over the line and the WF defender is laying across his midsection, how could the ball possibly be on the line? Just asking... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Stanford wins by not losing. It is not very pretty but it works as long as you can go 3 for 3 in PK's over the last two final fours. Outside last 15 minutes of the first half Stanford is the better team. Both of their CB, Nana-Sikam and Hillard-Arce (what with the hyphenated names?) have a chance to be regular MLS starters not clear if Wake has anyone. Bakero and anyone else around them was completely dominated. Harkes is a good player but reminds me a lot of Eric Bird from UVA - very good at college level but not quick or big enough to be effective at next level. Hayes doesn't quite seem to have the same vision but is more athletic. On the other hand Skundrich has size and a great engine. He's also very good at making late, Lampard like runs in some games I've watched. Baird and Langsdorf were two mids playing forward. Stanford is very physical and took what the ref allowed (which was too much). Wake tried to match it in second half but ended up taking more cheap shots which often happens when non-physical players try to play more physical. Timing on their tackles is very impressive. They don't just knock the ball away, but instead out-right take the ball. Beason was very good at stripping guys when defending 1 v 1 on flanks then controlling it. Stanford's defense was much too good for Wake to really threaten. On the other hand their offense during the run of play mostly depends on turnovers and wake was too good on the ball to make that happen. So 0-0 you get albeit with a better game that UNC as Wake tried to play. Second year in a row best team (though not as dominant as last years team) in final four and a team with a top 4 RPI was forced travel across country to win on road to get to final four and eventually win. Also third time in 3 years, and 6th of last 7 that ACC comes up short when tournament not played in the East of the Mississippi. The tournament selection and seeding format is a complete joke.
That shoulder charge right into the chest of the Wake player belonged in a different code of football. And for the record, I could not give a shit less about either of these teams.
IMO, the angle is a bit deceiving. 1) I'm not sure his hips are completely over the line and 2) I think the ball is below his hips. Certainly wasn't conclusive form the many replays I saw. Also there were no red cards in from my point of view. Skundrich should have got a yellow for his charge into the keeper - though in fairness if the keeper does the same to the forward 95% of the time its not called either even though I think it should. Similarly Hilliard-Arse could have been given a yellow for going very hard into a 50-50 where he was actually fouled (he got the ball before the UNC player) but lowered his shoulder and ran over the UNC player. But that was it. Stanford was a more physical team, but they weren't late or dirty.
Tough to read through the bias in some of these posts, so I will communicate my unbiased opinion. Stanford was absolutely dreadful. They never tried to play and were more interested in kicking their opponents than they were stringing 3 passes together. Wake is the better team 99/100 times they play. However, I will give credit where credit is due and Stanford is the champion. You don't go to the Final Four to impress with good soccer, you go to lift the trophy. They lifted the trophy, plain and simple. I will disagree about the players in the two teams that met in the final. I didn't see one Stanford player that looks like they have a professional future but there are a couple of Wake players that look like they could become good. I will admit that I saw Stanford play all of 2 games this year - the semi and the final. If that is the best team in college soccer, then our problem is much bigger than we all thought.
Seems the game and play yesterday reflected the condition of the field, i.e., quite poor, uneven, and rough. It is a real shame that these players work so hard all year to make it to this championship game and they play it in a mostly empty stadium on a lousy pitch. Here is a MLS article which lists the MLS team connections for the Stanford and Wake players in action yesterday. http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/...-stanford-edges-wake-forest-college-cup-final
A couple of thoughts: I thought the condition of the field was pretty disgraceful. They would have done a much better job of hosting the tournament at one of the college's fields. I wish they would continue to host the tournament at WakeMed park in Cary, as they usually drew decent crowds there and the pitch was always in good shape. This disrupted Wake more than Standford, but it doesnt factor in much for the game. I just think it's ridiculous to do such a pour job maintaining the field for a final. Stanford did a fantastic job defensively. They were very hard to breakdown, and fought for every ball that was played. Wake had a hard time finding their rhythm due to the fact that Stanford never let up and this is exactly what brought Stanford their success. As someone mentioned above, Stanford's chances come from their opponents mistakes, and that's exactly how they got their best chances of the game. As for the players, I thought Hayes had his worst weekend all year in the final four. He was exposed to the same pressure he's been exposed to all year, and was just too slow any time he tried to spin out of pressure. Dunwell was off in the game against Denver, but was fantastic again in the Stanford game. Harkes was by far the best player on the field all weekend. For Stanford, I think it's ridiculous to claim that they didn't have any MLS players on that team. Nana-Sinkam was amazing, while Hillard-Arce defended well. For a freshman, I thought their left back was very good, although I counted 6 times in a row that he received the ball and lumped it down the line in hopes that someone would run onto it. I saw nothing from Langsdorf this weekend, but I assume with 15 goals this had to be one of his worse weekends. All-in-all, Stanford had a gameplan, and although it wasn't pretty, it was everything they needed to claim a national championship.
In the end...this is what it was about. I agree with your post. In terms of dubbing Stanford, "the best team in college soccer," is tough to do even with their national championship. This is just the structure of sports in America. I have to remind myself, a national championship doesn't mean they are the "best team in X sport." What it means in America, that team is the best team of a tournament. Every sport, maybe not football with its newest structure, is about how a team performs in a tournament. That's it. At least football has a lot riding on the regular season -- even if it comes down to a 4-team playoff. A national championship is amazing, don't get me wrong. I'd love to have a ring. But, in the end, look at the Seattle Sounders. In no way, shape, or form were they the best team in MLS. They were the best team of the MLS Cup playoffs. Stanford did exactly what Seattle did. They had a gameplan and won the tournament.
The first red should have been for the player that absolutely trucked Wake's goalkeeper in the first half. The ball had been played and he was making no effort to play a ball anyway. Refs are supposed to protect the keeper in those situations and this ref didn't even caution the guy. Hilliard-Arce and Beason from Stanford should have been sent off on accumulation of cards, as well as Argudo. Now obviously, if the ref takes control (as he should have) early on in the game, this becomes a completely different affair.
University of Houston listed as "host" institution even though they don't host men's soccer... NCAA is administrative nightmare ...
Field was a nightmare but WakeMeds days of hosting an NCAA Championship seem to have disappeared with Bathroomgate Laws of North Carolina... Go to Santa Barbara ... good field, good crowds, great weather ... plus I don't think they will be hosting dozens of football games after they are awarded the bid ... Disgraceful is an understatement!
D3 is more fun to watch than that rubbish. Gunn should go back home, hopefully Trump will kick him out.
theatric is obviously a hack also, though hilliard arce played well, watch the tape, he sucked and was forced to foul all over the field. that is why us soccer sucks hackers with strength and speed how is that working out for you??
Could not agree more, the US college game is fing dreadful, just dreadful, Stanford did not connect three passes all game. Harkes was best player on the field by a long shot. D3 was better to watch, more pure soccer with less skill, still more fun to watch.
the game reflected the trash coaching that is inflicting their poison on this game. Awful, just awful