UNC v Notre Dame 17 sec. in, ND up, 1-0. Hanks in clean with no pressure and GK blinking into the sun. Bright sun and stiff winds. The shadows look longer than 2 PM.
I thought Hanks was offsides on the first goal. Thanks to ESPN for no replay. Probably not enough cameras in proper positioning. Is it legal/illegal for a keeper to wear ski goggles in a direct sun situation? I was wondering if someone from the carolina bench was going to give her a visor or something like ski goggles to battle the sun. I think there's a distinct wind advantage which will work for UNC in the second half. My gut says they will pull this out. The irish did nothing but chase the ball for the entire first half after the goal.
I don't like to see any player mouth off to a ref at the college level. I think the ref needs to start flashing some yellow at these players... Yelling at the refs is the coaches job!
Geez...Carolina D has been ball watching this half...what a chance by the irish before the break... Damn good game so far. It looked like the sun affected the irish GK on that direct kick.
Notre Dame needs some speed at the top. Those chicks are slow! That said, the Irish are tough and I hope they pull it off.
Hopefully next year the refs will match the level of play. Congrats to UNC on another title, but I think ND has some serious complaints about the refs.
Damn good shot on the gamewinner. Overall...an even match. Well-played. Exciting to the end. Cat Whitehill annoyed me a bit. I really didn't like that comment "it looks like both teams are playing for overtime"..
Cat was decent during Friday's match--very fair. Today, I just muted the TV and played some music from my computer. Both teams were pretty even w/ ND getting the edge, aside from the final score. I never thought that I'd enjoy watching an overly defensive team. But ND was fun to watch.
i disagree. other than about a ten-fifteen minute stint in the second half, i thought the tar heels had the run of play. definitely more chances, though notre dame definitely had some quality ones.
I would give the Tarheels a slight edge on overall play, but it was very close. Notre Dame dominated for the first 10 or so minutes following Hanks goal. From there it seemed the Tarheels dominated possession. Then, Notre Dame had a stronger second half start. Last 20 minutes neither side was doing much.
After being there and then talkiing with viewers who taped it they confirmed the number of bad calls including offside calls and the foul that gave UNC the first goal. It is a shame to make it this far and play all year to get to this level only to be given a ref who called things he did not actually see... the girls deserve more!
Casey not on the national team or u20???? Wow...........Work rate.......whatever, can play. She can make things happen.
After watching the game and then checking a couple moments later on tape, I'm not sure I see the problem. On the first goal, Hanks is definitely on-side by a couple yards. Her torso is beyond Givan, but Eveland is holding her on, out on the right side. Good call. Great run and finish by Hanks. First UNC goal, McDonald definitely is fouled. She has her right leg taken out from under her by the defender. Not real hard contact, but at pace, so I think she was taken down (she was in a lot of traffic so maybe she didn't fight to keep her feet... but still...) Anyway, its outside the box-- its a chance, but by no means a gimme. Just a fantastic shot by Norgueira and that's not the official's fault. I say, perfectly reasonable call. There was a later run by Hanks and another ND striker that was called back. One ND player was off, but the ball went to Hanks, and it was not clear to me that she was off-- I rather thought not? But I haven't found that on the replay. Other than that-- I didn't see any calls that I felt were potential game changers. Some things got missed and there was some inconsistency on what got called and what was allowed to slide, but overall I thought the officials did a reasonably good job. If folks feel it was truely a factor in the outcome, please cite examples and game minutes, because I didn't think the ref's made the difference.
they didnt give them a goal. jessica was fouled outside the box and got a free kick from it. casey still has to finish the direct kick.
I'd actually switch her out for her teammate and put her on one of the national teams; she plays w/ more consistency.
You sure are a homer, aren't you? There were 2 offside calls that went against ND that weren't. The one against Hanks in the 1st half. If you watch the replay with the touchline view, you could see that the AR did not even raise her flag. The center called it himself. Another call in the 2nd half that was called by the AR was close but still onside. Rewind, watch the replay and also and find Cat's comment. She even said those were not offside. I can find the minutes if you really want but they were about half way in each half, I think. There were probably the same ones you commented on. I agree with the other assessments. McDonald was fouled and Norgueira had a good strike on the FK. ND's keeper was just not ready. The wall was formed to protect her left, she should have covered her right side but she positioned herself right behind the wall. On the second's goal, Norgueira took a good shot after some nifty moves. With all the time she danced in the PK area, ND's defenders failed to double up on her and paid for it.