A few reasons. Market size: Rochester is the 98th largest city in US per 2010 census. Youth Sports: These suck up kid's time and family time. We now getting into the meat of spring sports in schools. Club & recreational soccer, lacrosse (boys & girls), and baseball in the area are just starting up. Competition for paying customers from other pro teams now playing: our men's USL PRO soccer team, the Rhinos - the pro Lacrosse team (Rattlers) and our long standing AAA baseball team (Red Wings). The economy. The game coming up on May 22 when Abby Wambach comes back to Rochester should draw a good crowd. I understand that the Flash's management said they were going to get on the phone and call youth coaches in the area because the email reach out did not bear fruit.
Sports Radio 950 AM ESPN - is the radio home of the Western New York Flash. http://www.sportsradio950espn.com/ LB...
The local paper said the game was on the radio (950AM ESPN Radio), but it wasn't on. The USL Rhinos are broadcast on the station, so it may have been a typo. Local Time Warner TV station did show the game on tape-delay the next night. The main reason for the low turnout is stadium location (perception over reality). Same problem the Rhinos have. But with the media buildup, and the team playing well, word of mouth will help.
Why set the bar so low in terms of backline distribution? (LP is not a shining example of backline distribution and she's gotten even worse lately.) I don't think Engen is terrible at distribution, I just think she's not quite there yet w/ slightly difficult balls through the middle. (the "there" being a complete USWNT international level no-brainer. So, a high bar). She's been away from the team and that's disruptive and possibly/likely the cause of the bad passes I saw. In order for Engen (or any other backline candidate) to force Pia's hand, they're going to have to be amazingly better at all facets of the game so that even a blind troglodyte can see that they're better at the modern game. If BT isn't even making this camp and LP is being tried at right & left back, then I don't see Engen forcing Pia's hand clearly speed isn't a concern of hers. But you never know. Balls over the top are a skill Engen honed at UNC as a UNC fan, I mean that in a good way. And she was *very* good in the air in college. Her first 2 years (as a forward) Anson commented on her offensive heading ability. Her ability to win defensive headers was a strength when she made the shift to defense. Her year @ CRS was both a rookie learning experience and unsettled due to coaching/position changes. Don't get me wrong, I really like Engen's game. She's got determination, bite, speed, has some skill on the ball, and is learning more about defense all the time. As badly as the USWNT needs outside backs, I was hoping (unrealistically) she'd be able to shift left seamlessly even though she's an excellent CB. She'd still be better out there than LP but I've written enough of a post that should be in the USWNT forum and not this one. So I'll stop.
That's bizarre because quite a few of us were able to listen to the radio broadcast via their internet station.
I agree with all you said Kool-Aide Since I wasn't at the game, can anyone clarify the backline from the WNY-ATL game? I heard they played a 3-5-2. Was Chapman playing centrally or was Engen? It sounded like Engen was to me but I'm just curious for some clarification.