3rd round: Bruins vs. Duke The Bruins earned a trip to the Elite Eight with a 2-0 win over the Blue Devils. Duke started off the game very strong, controlling the flow of the game for about fifteen minutes or so, connecting passes, and making good runs. The Bruins were kind of on their heels, and were also trying to find their forwards by booting the ball from long range, which isn't the best way they know how to play. Once they started playing with possession and using the midfield, they were much better at creating offense. UCLA's first goal was I'd say 90% Lindsay's doing. She took the ball down the left side and had Duke's Rachel-Rose Cohen 1v1 just outside of the box and a few feet from the endline. With Cohen between her and the goal, she found just enough space to send a cross that went untouched across the goal mouth and found Danesha, who had an easy finish. It was a nice individual effort by Lindsay. I'm also glad that Danesha's been able to contribute a lot offensively since the postseason started. After a hot start at the beginning of the season, she cooled down a little but has come ready to play in the NCAA tournament. Duke came out in the second half putting a lot of pressure on UCLA and had the edge in shots, 5-3. I think one of Duke's best chances to tie the game at one was on a shot from the top left of the box. I don't remember which Blue Devil took the shot, but whoever it was bent the ball very well and it almost hooked inside the far post. UCLA's first shot in the second half didn't come until the very late stages of the game. It's not that the Bruins were sitting back trying to protect a one-goal lead though; they did have some good offensive opportunities and pretty buildups that didn't result in shots. Finally, I thought the Bruin backline was great today, with Mary again the all-star of the group. 601 isn't bad, but I would've liked to see something closer to 1000. Now it's time to take the show on the road. I just looked at the 10-day forecast at weather.com for Knoxville and Columbus. Both will be colder than LA, and Columbus also has a possibility of showers next weekend. Whatever the weather's like, I hope the Bruins can come away with a win.
Quarterfinals With Ohio State's 1-0 win over Tennessee, Danesha will hopefully have a nice homecoming Saturday. Anyone know much about the Buckeyes?
Re: Quarterfinals I know almost nothing about Ohio State, except that they have a good coach in Lori Walker and that one of their best players is a freshman from Switzerland. According to the Ohio State website, the game next weekend is scheduled for Saturday at noon (eastern time) and will be shown live on CSTV. Looks like I'll have to try to watch the game at a friend's whose cable company carries that channel, because mine doesn't.
Re: Quarterfinals Ohio State is having it's best season ever. Offensively the catalyst is the freshman Dickenmann, complimented by forwards Lisa Grubb, and Danielle Dietrich. Dickenmann has the flair, Grubb, a blue collar tenacity, and Dietrich a technically sound and tall, (5'11") target. All 3 have scored 30 points or more this season. The Buckeyes are tough at home 15-0-1 this year and have outscored their opponents at home at about a 50-7 mark. Defensively, tall, physical, athletic and fast. Anchored by senior Erica Nollen, a central defender who will be starting in her 91st consecutive game and All American Mellisa Miller. Arguably the strength of the team. These young ladies enjoy playing with and for one another and that intangible along with the home field advantage make OSU a tough opponent. It should make for an enjoyable contest, as each game in the tourney has become progressively tougher. OSU plays a visually entertaining type of possession soccer, so it should be fun to watch on TV for any soccer fan.
Re: Quarterfinals That's good info on the Buckeyes. Now I'll know what to look for when I (hopefully) watch the game on TV. I say "hopefully" because so far nobody I know seems to have CSTV; it's either on digital cable or on a premium package with satellite. The Bruins will spend their Thanksgiving together in Ohio (they're leaving LA on Thursday morning). Here's the weekly UCLA release.
Re: Quarterfinals Bruin Spirit, Thanks for the kind words over on the Broncos thread. We will be cheering for your team to help us complete a west coast sweep of the Big Ten this weekend. In fact we're hoping for an all west coast party in Cary next week, inlcuding a Broncos/Bruins rematch in the final. The forecast in Columbus calls for mid-40s and rain, so if you are going be sure to pack your warm rain gear. Once again, best wishes to the UCLA team for safe travels and a victory.
Re: Quarterfinals Thanks, ussoccr! The Ohio State game is going to be tough, even without having to battle the possible elements of rain, which would most likely work in the Buckeyes' favor. If the Bruins make it to the Final Four, I'm going to try my best to go to North Carolina. It could be the last I see them play for a long time. One potential problem is that I've got an interview in NorCal the Tuesday following the College Cup and have long since booked a flight to go up there (to NorCal) on the 5th. But anyway, I shouldn't even be thinking about this because I don't want to get ahead of myself and jinx the Bruins. If they can't get a win on Saturday, this would all be moot. I'm thinking first and foremost about what happens against Ohio State.
UCLA vs Duke Video clip This video is a summary of the UCLA vs DUKE game on Nov. 20th...it is in the Real Video format: http://stream.jazzij.com/womenssoccer2.html This video is from the previous weeks game between UCLA and University of San Diego: http://stream.jazzij.com/womenssoccer.html
Re: UCLA vs Duke Video clip Thanks for those video links. It's nice to see replays of the different goals that were scored. It's do or die tomorrow for the Bruins. Rain had been in the forecast, but I just did a quick check at weather.com and apparently it won't be raining until the evening in Columbus.
Re: UCLA vs Duke Video clip UCLA won 1-0. To be totally honest I was not overly impressed with UCLA. They won the game, but it was mainly due to their freshman forward/midfielder Danesha Adams. If not for her this team really didn't have any attacking options on the day. Every shot on goal or potential goal seemed to be setup or taken by Adams. UCLA's goal was a freekick at the top of the box, set up by Adams after she was taken down on a breakaway by an OSU defender who was immediately sent off with a red card. Adam's just blew by everyone on the field today, she was just so quick. Unreal speed, nobody could keep up with her, not even her own teammates. Good luck to the Bruins in the Final Four.
Re: UCLA vs Duke Video clip I'm sorry that I could not see the game in person, it sound like a lot of the recent UCLA games. UCLA has not allowed a goal, so far, in the tournamnet. The box score shows Danesha with 5 shot and 0 SOG. While Bristyn took 10 shots (4 SOG) and Iris had 6 shots (3 SOG). In total the Bruins had 9 shots on goal to Ohio State's 2. So it looks as if UCLA had a few offensive opportunities. Sophister
Re: UCLA vs Duke Video clip I'm not saying they didn't have their chances... I'm just saying that it seems Danesha <who is a hell of a player> was involved in one way or another in just about every single one of them whether it was splitting the defense and laying the ball off, screaming down the wing and sending in a cross and creating an opportunity for a player coming up the middle with a run that took a defender with her. She was the difference on the field, without her this game would have been totally different.
Quarterfinal Actually, one of the best scoring opportunities was around the 30th minute and didn't involve Adams. Bristyn Davis at the center line delivered a perfect pass to a streaking Iris Mora who easily got by #11 and got off a shot. Only a miraculous save by the Buckeye keeper, who came off the line, prevented a goal. As for the overall game, the biggest obstacle faced by UCLA was the Columbus wind in the first half. It's difficult to even recall the 2 shots on goal Ohio State had, since their offensive attack was nonexistent. And Jill Oakes managed to completely suffocate #24, "the Mia Hamm of Switzerland."
Re: Quarterfinal First and formost congratulations to UCLA on their victory. It was a big win in an tough environment. As to Jill Oakes suffocating Lara Dickenmann "the Mia Hamm of Switzerland", had very little to do with Oakes ability as much as an injury to Dickenmann. Dickenmann pulled her hamstring earlier in the week and did not practice this week. If you watched the game you'll notice the wrap. She was probably 60%. Imagine the speed of an Adams with playmaking and scoring abilities and that what you have in Dickenmann. That was the sole reason for the lack of offensive production. The best OSU offensive player came up lame and homefield and any other intangible advantage was lost. Good luck to UCLA in the finals.
Thanks to fidlerre and kejj1212 for the Buckeye point of view of the game. In short, I thought the Buckeyes were the better team in the first half and the Bruins the better team in the second half. The ball spent most of the time on the UCLA side of the field in the first half and had me pretty nervous. As Rocky mentioned, I thought the wind was a big factor in the game--it hampered UCLA in the first half and then did the same with Ohio State in the second half. I also agree with fidlerre that without Danesha, the Bruin attack would've been much less dangerous. This was her best game of the season. I've already made my plans to go to Cary for the Final Four. Fortunately I was able to move my flight to go to NorCal from Sunday to Monday, which is good because I won't be throwing away the money already spent on that flight. Princeton is definitely not going to be a pushover. I think their defense leads the country in GAA. I'm hoping for a good match (and a UCLA win ).
Re: Quarterfinal Sorry. I'd suggest that "the sole reason for the lack of offensive production" from OSU was Val and the Bruin defenders. UCLA has not been scored on in this tournament.
Re: Quarterfinal I finally got to watch the game. Too bad the other three games were not also on TV. Oh well. My thoughts from watching UCLA-OSU. I have to agree that it was the tale of two halves. No doubt in the first half OSU had almost all of the possession. They seemed to keep it at will. Became one of those possession clinics that amount to looking pretty but nothing on the scoreboard. UCLA did a great job of dropping way back and keeping the play in front of them. Result is OSU looks great but never quite gets the dangerous opportunity to go ahead as might have been deserved from the play. Second half UCLA starts attacking 1v1 much more. This was very dangerous and they were clearly the more dangerous team in the second half. The goal comes from a brilliant counter attack. One second OSU has the ball about 30 yards from the UCLA goal, 5 seconds later Adams gets taken down for the red card 70 yards away just outside the OSU box. Classic counter attack soccer. In the end I thought it was a great game betwen two teams, both of whom could easily be in the final 4. It was one team possessing it and the other team using dangerous speed to counter. UCLA found the special opportunity and made the most of it, which OSU never did. On that note, UCLA deserved the 1-0 win. At least all the final 4 games will be telecast. I have seen all the teams play this year except for Princeton. From what I have seen of the other three, it should be a great final 4.
Re: Quarterfinal Feel free to believe that, but a 100% healthy Dickenmann would have given UCLA fits like they've never seen so far this tournament. I'm certainly not saying it would have changed the outcome but as an example look at what happened to France when they had an injured Zidane in the 2004.WC. When your playmaker, and best player on the field is playing injured and at 60% it does have a profound impact on the teams performance.
Re: Quarterfinal As an Ohio resident who decidedly does not like Ohio State but has had the opportunity to see them several times this season it was very clear from the outset that Dickenmann was carrying an injury that did not allow her to play as she usually does. This is not to say Oakes did not do or her job or is not capable of shutting her down if LD was fit, but the injury was a major factor in her performance or lack thereof. Whatever the case, good luck to the Bruins...unless you face ND in the final
Re: Quarterfinal For what it's worth, I watched Dickenmann play on TV this year and I think she is the best player I have seen in a very long time! She is the whole package.....
Re: Quarterfinal If you follow competitive sports long enough, you'll discover that some players, when faced with the biggest contest of their careers, will somehow find a way to not perform to the best of their ability.
Re: Quarterfinal While I think the Bruin defense has been solid this postseason, there are no guarantees that the shutout streak will continue at the College Cup. Just look at last year--the Bruins also hadn't been scored on through the quarterfinals. All of that changed in the semis when they played UNC and gave up three goals (granted, two were due to goalkeeper miscues). I had never seen Dickenmann play before Sunday's game, but I have to agree with fidlerre and Lensois that her injury probably played a role in her subpar performance. And that's not to take anything away from Jill, who had one of her best games and controlled the midfield. Edit: I was over at the Princeton website and it had this nice article about Julie Shackford (the Tiger head coach) and Jill Ellis.
Re: Quarterfinal Correct, but you'll also find--if you follow competitive sports long enough--that injuries can hinder the performance of a player no matter how great their desire to make an impact. As I said, I'm not Ohio State fan but to say that Dickenmann's injury did not help the Bruins is sticking one's head in the sand. I don't think you can pinpoint a "sole reason" why she was ineffective, certainly UCLA did a good job on her but the hammy certainly played into it as well.
Rocky and Lensois are both right regarding key players who are playing with injuries in big games--sometimes they can't make an impact no matter how much they want to (as was likely the case with Dickenmann) and other times they just aren't up to the task. The Bruins will have to face another offensive catalyst this Friday with Princeton's Esmeralda Negron. I hope the backline is up for the challenge. Here's the weekly UCLA release.
College Cup I'm flying out to North Carolina later today and I'll be back home Tuesday night after the interview in NorCal. Hopefully I'll have some soccer pictures to share, and I'm hoping it's a good weekend for UCLA. One game at a time though!