Isn’t that kind of like saying if it wasn’t for Weisner’s play, PSU would not have scored any goals? Two good teams, but Stanford seemed better on the day. I’m sure PSU can beat Stanford any given day though
Not really. The other goals were one-on-one. Macario's first goal, she was surrounded by 4-5 PSU defenders, and she still got the shot off and buried it. It was incredible. She is a force. I think the match was pretty evenly matched in the first half, however, Stanford looked better in the second.
Home opener Fri night against Penn sold out. A large contingent of Penn fans expected, as Nicole can field a lineup of 10 Penn players who call the Bay Area home. From Jonathan Tannenwald: How two Philly coaches helped Stanford build the U.S. women’s soccer team dynasty
Nice write up. A little disjointed Jay Cooney is a great guy that helped my kid a lot in her college recruiting process
Game 3: Stanford 5-1 Penn from The Stanford Daily: Women’s soccer routs Penn in sold-out home opener Game 4: LSJU 7-0 SJSU Congratulations to Paul on achieving a milestone
Game 5: USF 0 - 9 Stanford This game was already decided before it really even started. 2 minutes in, Beattie strips a ball from her opponent deep in her own half. Jailbreak ensues. Passes out to the right for Haley, who promptly passes it to the opposite side for Macario, who then deftly slots it home. USF 0 - 1 Stanford. 5 minutes later, Macario''s 25-yd dfk hits the post. Some of Macario's best shots are when she hits the woodwork. 10 minutes in, their GK punts the ball. Aerial battle won by Girma. 2nd ball to Briede. Macario drops back to receive the option, and passes back to Briede, who then launches it forward to an unsprung Malatskey, who then buries it far post. Game over. The Card carved up USF defense in both of those goals Brutally efficient 5-pass play w/o being touched by an opponent; reminiscent of that great sequence in the 2017 playoff game against Penn St enroute to a national title. Great season so far for Malatskey, burying her chances. Should have had a hat-trick last week against SJSU, but what the hey, the crossbar got in the way. Tranny looks good as well, probably the most active and most fit she's been. Her runs the past 2 weeks give defenses fits. What a difference a healthy Macario makes. She was still good last season, but that quad injury hobbled her quickness and mobility. She moves differently this season, much more active, much more mobile. If she wore blaugrana, she would be Luis Suarez. And even when the action bogs down, her back-to-goal play has been the most improved dimension to her game thus far, She is scary good. A quarter of the way into the season, this edition may be relatively young and inexperienced, but they move differently and space so much better than the previous edition. as pedro alluded to in the scrimmage, the returners look so much better, they look fit. The spacing is so much better. They move and run better without the ball, and move forward with the ball. Cat may be the star, but she's not the show. The Card play at Malibu on Friday, Goleta on Sunday.
How did Sophia Smith look? I am hoping she'll be fully back to health... a duo of Smith and Macario is going to be fun. Imagine if we were fully healthy and had Kuhlman up there as well...
I love my 6-spd tranny. 6-spd tranny keeps me in the sweet spot of the power band, whereas otherwise there would be a noticeable power dip on 5th if i rev high, and whines. Throaty growl and no rev hang in the 6-spd tranny I guess she looked OK. Don't know the extent of her quad injury, relative to Macario's last season. Once she adds subtleties, nuances, and wrinkles to her toolbox, she would be more exciting to watch
Game 6: Pepp 1-0 Stanford Game 7: UCSB 0-1 Stanford WATCH | @sophsssmith breaks the deadlock in Santa Barbara. 🌲: 1🔵: 0#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/VNmm5Oi0T0— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) September 15, 2019 Next up is a Sunday night game at Santa Clara, most likely in conjunction with their new frosh convocation. SCU have already beaten UCLA, but have also suffered inexplicable losses. They really need a positive result against Stanford, should they not win the WCC, to get an invite to the dance. Two wins against the Pac giants will help them offset the RPI drag that they will absorb once they play the rest of the WCC. They will certainly be very motivated. For Stanford, whoever starts at GK will face a real test, which did not really happen this past weekend. Hopefully Stanford can convert the chances that they generate at the other end. KO Sunday 1900 PDT
This probably is a little too pessimistic for the scenario in which they don't win the WCC. If they lose to Stanford and lose out in the WCC to BYU, but otherwise perform as expected, they likely still will be an at large selection. Might not be, but probably will. If they lose to Stanford and lose twice in the WCC, potential trouble.
Game 8: Santa Clara 2 - 4 Stanford A very entertaining game, even from a partisan's perspective. Lots of good soccer, open, back-and-forth game - which probably played more to our strengths. A moment of magic with Macario's dfk MACARIO GONNA MACARIO#GoStanford | @catarinamacariopic.twitter.com/7XlbjGJqbs— Stanford Cardinal 🌲🤓 (@GoStanford) September 23, 2019 And Haley's cool finish for the 4th sealed the deal. Amusing to hear the spin-doctoring from Jerry's perspective, that it was a fairly even game, and that "3-2 was probably the accurate score on how the game went". Accurate score should have been 2-6 iF based on "how that game went", but Smith and Malatskey shot for the moon instead of a tap-in to a wide-open goal. Santa Clara are a very good team and exposed areas that the Card have to improve upon. Haven't really seen them much other than for attending their UCLA game; they really play well, but their record does not reflect my opinion. As I've mentioned in these boards the past 2 years, they score a lot but also give up a lot of goals. perhaps this season is no different. The OOC season is over and looking at the unofficial raw RPI estimates, Stanford are outside the top 10. More seriously is that our opponent's net wins are only +6, and the big-name portion of our games so far [PSU, West Virginia, Santa Clara] are only +2 net wins. These teams are not having the season that I thought they would. I wish those teams win out so they can boost our RPI. Next game is at USC, the only team on the schedule with a higher RPI than Stanford. Huge game for both teams. The winner will be in the driver's seat for the Pac title, and the loser will have to play catch-up, and with UCLA still to be played. You really don't win the Pac in the 1st week, but a poor result likely means not winning the Pac. KO 1300 PST Saturday
It was, even from a Santa Clara grad's perspective. And yes, it could easily have been 6-2. I watched the streams of SCU against UCLA and Stanford. When the Broncos got their second goal on UCLA, the Bruins really cranked up their game and looked frighteningly powerful, but Santa Clara was able to answer. After the second goal on Stanford, the Card cranked up their game and looked frighteningly powerful, and there was no answer. Re the RPI issue, Colorado had that problem last year. The pre-conference schedule was softer than expected, and the RPI never really recovered much, kept them out of the playoffs (along with a bad loss to Utah in the last game). With Stanford, the issue is seeding. Definitely one of the top 4 teams in the country (I'd vote #1), but the selection committee worships the RPI deity. So don't get seeded, and prove them very wrong. Santa Clara's RPI won't get much better unless they upset BYU. I sort of follow West Virginia, my father was a Mountaineer (1928), and their start has been underwhelming, but the tie and three losses are all to very good teams, so the RPI might not be too bad. Kansas and Baylor, both away, could be RPI boosters. Penn State has three losses to good teams and one stinker, not many RPI boost games ahead for them. Beat USC.
Game 9: USC 2 - 3 Stanford Finally got to watch the game at USC. Lots of goals; good to come out on top. A win at USC is always a big deal, so I’ll take it. USC are such a very dangerous team. You gift them 2 chances and they take it. Credit to them for clinical finishes. In each case, the last Stanford defender inexplicably and clumsily took themselves out of the play. USC shooters had 2 clean looks at goal; Rood had no chance. The only legitimate scoring chances they had in the game, we gave it to them, and they took it. That’s what makes USC very dangerous - they take goals. Stanford have them just as well. However, fair share of Press-type shooters as well. Aka - shoot first, ask questions later. For all the stat sheet domination, disappointing that it was just a 1-goal win against such a dangerous team. Stanford need to convert more of their gilt-edged opportunities, such as chipping the GK when the opportunity presents itself. Can’t say enough about what Macario means to the team. Had a foot in all 3 Stanford goals. If I were to nitpick something about her decision-making, when they set up 3 or more on the goal-line to defend dfks, perhaps it would be prudent to slyly slide a pass behind the wall. A page off of set-piece tactician Jeremy Gunn's three-time national champions. It’s a sort of relief that this was just a 1-game trip to LA. Asking for back-to-back wins at USC, and 2 days later at UCLA, would have been such a Herculean task. Perhaps the Pac needs to schedule the California teams as a permanent fixture on the 1-game 1st, 4th, and last weekends. Makes for great entertainment Next game is at home against Wazzu. For the first time in 79 years, we get to host them hooray! icymi, it snowed in Pullman this weekend. Homecoming of sorts for one familiar face [link] KO against Wazzu scheduled Thursday 2000 PDT
Macario is flat out sensational. Soo dangerous on or off the ball. If you man mark her you open up opportunities for her teammates. If you don’t she’ll eat you alive
Game 10: Stanford 5 - 0 WSU The Card ran riot against Wazzu. Sophia Smith scored the 1st goal off of back-to-goal spins and runs by Macario and Haley. Smith actually had to slow down to match the final ball’s pace. Their GK made an ill-advised move from far far out to intercept the ball off of Smith’s feet, but Smith played around her for the goal. Stanford 1-0 2nd goal was a pen off of a GK foul with 10 seconds left in H1. Belle in the PA was actually moving away from goal but super-aggressive GK took her down. Within seconds of the H2 KO, Macario. Smith, and Haley once again ran riot with Haley scoring from close range. This was the time that the GK should have come out and challenged, but probably reined in her aggressiveness that cost them the game in H1. Stanford 3-0. 4th goal was Macario being Macario. While the goal was a great shot from close range [again, the GK should have come out and challenged], the spectacular move was Macario flicking the ball to herself in space lol. As I have previously stated a few weeks ago, Macario’s back-to-goal skills are so much better this season. Game 11: Stanford 4 - 0 Washington 1st week of October in the Bay Area means the start of summer woohoo! Double-header scorcher in the stands. Watched another 2OT men’s game [better result - a tie, instead of a loss]. Prior to the women’s KO, retiring Udub HC Gallimore was honored, flowers and the whole shebang. Hmmmmm ..… I wonder who’s going to coach at Seattle next year. Theresa probably has the inside track - UW alum, & most recently HC at some school named Notre Dame. and oh btw she’s already in Seattle coz hubby is an AD at Seattle U. The Card wasted no time introducing themselves to the Jet City Woman. Nifty ball movement unsprung Malataskey. Her 1st shot was parried by the GK, rebound came back to her feet, and lasered it in near-post. Stanford 1-0 Wow Carly’s having a great season. There was always a player there, but just like Carusa, she hid it well for three years At the restart, the Card got the ball back. Spin move and a pass from Haley at the center circle made for a footrace with Smith and the ball at her feet. The GK, the last Man in the Box, brought Smith down. 3 years ago the CR sent off Calamity Jane for a less-egregious foul against Udub. Smith slotted home the pen. Stanford 2-0 Uh-oh, just 10 minutes in, and within less than a minute apart, Udub give up 2 goals. Udub were really Down in a Hole. Across the field, Gallimore had an incredulous stare, staring in Silent Lucidity. Or perhaps she was sitting in an Angry Chair, wallowing in a Sea of Sorrow. Lucky for them, Smith almost scored another goal a minute later. It was an open goal, but at such a tight angle after running around the GK, hit the far post instead. With seconds left in H1, UW conceded another PK after handling the ball. Macario with the pen, Stanford 3-0. A minute into H2, Doms scores the 4th Stanford goal. Don’t Got Me Wrong. No Excuses. It is Over Now. Score could have been more lopsided. Smith, Haley, and Tran should have scored beautiful goals, but hit the woodwork instead. Stanford looking and feeling good after having a spectacular weekend. Hmmmmm ..… the last time they looked and felt this good, they got tripped up in Malibu, and almost was at Goleta. The Card travel to the Oregons this weekend. OSU, who are having a great season, play hosts on Thursday night. Does not seem like there’s TV for the OSU game. Sunday will see them play at Uncle Phil's plastic pitch. In situ impressions for both will be much appreciated.
Game 12: Oregon St. 0-2 Stanford from The Daily Barometer: OSU Women's Soccer falls to No. 2 Stanford Game 13: Oregon 0-5 Stanford Oregon, who seemed to be playing with 5 defenders, held the Card in check for about 40 minutes. Then a PK was awarded after they handled the ball in the PA, opening the floodgates, inundating the duck pond that is Uncle Phil’s’ plastic pitch. The pivotal sequence leading to the attack that culminated in the pen happened deep in Stanford’s half. Oregon seemingly had Goad pinned to the touchline. But her, and Smith’s, ability to play off each other in tight spaces allowed the ball to escape containment. The pass went to Haley in the open field, dribbled half the field, and what happened afterwards is the sequence you see in the clip. I wish the video editors would show the start of the sequence because the game is more than just scoring goals. in addition, I realize that the Pac-12 network is a low-budget production, but perhaps they can find a PBP person who sounds a little less angry. If giving up the PK was not bad enough, less than a minute later, Smith slalomed through the Oregon defense for the 2nd goal. Two goals in less than a minute, with 5 minutes left before HT, just killed the Ducks. These Ducks were cooked, but dinner was yet to be served as the guests still had 45 minutes to kill, And the slaughtering of the Ducks continued in H2. Someone please call Oregon Game & & Wildlife & rat Stanford out for exceeding the bag limit for hunting Beavers and Ducks this weekend. A different sort of animal comes to town this weekend in the form of the Bruins. I’m going to have to miss this one. Someone else will have to share their insights on Saturday.
Stanford 1-0 UCLA Much like last season's game, UCLA's defensive header goes in the vicinity of the penalty arc, where a Stanford player cleans up. Credit to the team effort to hold a dangerous UCLA to ZERO SOGs. Next up are difficult games at elevation, SLC on Thursday, and at Boulder on Sunday.
Colorado 0-4 Stanford Utah 0-4 Stanford With the whiteout conditions, It never ceases to amaze me why the Pac still plays with a white ball; it is so 20th century. Euros play with yellow, pink, or orange balls. I love going to the Rockies in March and April when they get dumped with snow and most folks are all skied-out. And one time I was in SLC on a November and the Great Salt Lake churned up lake-effect snow. About a foot on I-80 but none and bright and sunny as you head south to Provo. This edition now knows that they can play in freezing whiteout conditions in the thin atmospheres of mile-high stadia. Should come in handy if/when they get shipped out to some frozen wasteland in the Tournament, or should the polar vortex take a detour to Stanford The Card host the Arizonas this weekend with an early game on Thursday against ASU.
Stanford 3-0 Arizona St. Stanford 6-2 Arizona Final regular-season game at home against Cal Friday 1900
Stanford 4-0 Cal The Card won with surprising ease. Perhaps da Bears cruised on 3rd gear knowing that they were already getting an invite to the dance, regardless of the outcome. My crystal ball suggests that the seeds have already been rigged ..... I mean set, as follows: ACC1 - SoCal to UVa Stanford - FSU ACC2 - SoCar to UNC UCLA - Arkansas Stanford's likely 1st-round opponent might either be Boise St, or the WAC champion [Seattle-Utah Valley]. Utah Valley game 2 yrs ago was wide-open and a lot of fun. Will Santa Clara be in Stanford's bracket? Tournament bracket reveal scheduled for Monday 1330 PT.