Lol. What's with you trying to find the Thorns a coach? Anyway, after beating UNC, the Bruins had nowhere else to go but up. Well deserved victory, for sure.
If Morgan Brian wants to win a National Title, she should transfer to Florida State. They could use a player like her to create for their offense, plus she'll score in between 15-20 goals.
Wiki page was already updated with today's result http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_Women's_Soccer_Championship
This might be the start of several for UCLA. That team loses very little and with another year for Cromwell to coach how she wants - we might be seeing several more opportunities with this team .. . The player I was most impressed with over this college cup weekend was Courtnall . . (and Megan Campbell's throw ins). Courtnall showed blazing speed and ball skills throughout the two games. A rare and deadly combination in most sports - but especially so in womens soccer. . It's like Bale as her speed was world class compared to the midfield/defenders trying to keep up with her on Virginia and FSU. . I was thoroughly impressed by UCLA and with the teams they beat to get there, they thoroughly deserved the NC.
UCLA will win more National Titles. All they had to do was ensure that Jill Ellis or B.J. Snow was not leading their program. It only took over a million years for them to figure it out, but now they know.
I was actually more impressed with Dydasco, especially tonight. This goes beyond this weekend but she shut down Ohai last weekend and Fields today. I thought she got forward a lot better than Courtnall today as well.
You sure you saw the same game as I did ? I thought it was courtnall that marked ohai out of the game. . Dydasco plays on the left and Ohai attacks down the left (usually). It sure looked like courtnall though the UNC feed downright sucks (all the time) While Dydasco is impressive, she doesn't have that world class speed to break down anyone that can't match that speed. . .
I would still like to congratulate Virginia Tech, on their first ever appearance to the College Cup. They have nothing to be disappointed about. I know they wanted to win it all, but no team over-achieved more than they did. Realistically, they got the most out of their talent. No one expected College Cup for them before the season.
You're right, my mistake regarding Ohai. Though I still thought Dydasco had a better game today than Courtnall.
On the other hand, an ACC team has won the National Championship 24 of the last 32 years (if you count ND) Statistics...
I thought Dydasco and Courtnall had two very different games today-- both outstanding! Fields was an outstanding contributor for FSU on Friday, and she was pretty much erased from the contest today. Dydasco was pretty much all over her, all game. Also, I think I'm correct that a nice look on goal by Dydasco late in the first half set up Smith's second Banger off the post. Had that shot gone in, a lot of credit to Dydasco. On the other hand, Courtnall is just a lot of fun to watch. She makes runs into the corner that may remind a Tarheel fan of Megan Klingenberg (though FSU defense was pretty good today at blocking many of her crosses) and her blistering speed and defensive awareness make her a lot of fun to watch. Its possible she had a somewhat better game on Friday night when (IMO) it mattered more. There were so many outstanding performances by so many fine players this weekend it seems almost arbitrary to single out individuals, but I was also enormously impressed by Megan Campbell whose field skills match the excellence of her NASA-calibre-sub-orbital throw-ins, and by Taylor Smith who had an outstanding game today, demonstrating a work rate that was relentless (and very much at variance with her efforts in the first half of the FSU game). In addition to working her tail off today, I was simply in awe of her raw speed, her fitness, and she is an astonishing striker! If I were her, I think I would have someone do some fung shui on how she laces her cleats (or something)-- I have never seen a player have so much misfortune in one weekend, banging excellent shots off the post(s)-- its gotta be some kind of record! Congratulations to UCLA on an amazing run (Stanford, UNC, UVA, FSU) and a well earned NC! I continue to feel the UVA match up was the Final (for me) of the weekend. That game will stand out for some time to come as one of the most enjoyable and exciting games I've seen at this level in a while. Thanks to all four teams for a great weekend of soccer!
I don't think they overachieved at all. VT was for real and a few bad calls away from making the Final. Jazmine Reed was a pleasure to watch, despite not scoring Friday night. That kid has some lovely skill, as do her teammates. Very impressed by what I saw from the Hokies. Let's hope the folks in Blacksburg build upon such a wonderful showing.
Certainly strong congratulations are due to UCLA for a fine win at today's College Cup. I'll add my congrats to all the rest who are observing that the best team certainly won. The Bruins were coached well, and for their top 13 players they had the superior talent, speed, and athleticism and it showed. Moreover, they lose only one starter (Jenna Richmond) and should be even stronger as a team next year --especially compared to the other strong teams who each will be loosing from 3 to 5 starters. I (and I suspect many others) am not surprised by their showing. From the moment I saw their astounding 2011 recruiting class I knew that it was only a matter of time before we'd see them take home the trophy. (I said at the time, that we would likely never again see such a strong recruiting class.) Usually it takes 2 or 3 years for a strong class to gel and assert itself, and, on schedule, (and with the on-field coaching problems solved) this class has transformed itself over the course of this season and has truly "arrived" as one of the most dominant classes ever assembled. Yes, Virginia, recruiting is essential to forming dominant teams! How is it that UNC has been dominant, or recently, Stanford, Notre Dame, Penn State, or much of the ACC, or formerly Connecticut, and perhaps presently Portland and Santa Clara? Answer: they recruited strong players. Back in the day (30 to 10 years ago) there were less of them so there were only a few dominant teams, but in the last 5 years the numbers of excellent young women coming into the college game has mushroomed. The level of the college game has been greatly elevated and in the very recent past we have been seeing excellent soccer. This past week has been another a showcase for very high quality playing. For my (perhaps biased) money, the best game was UNC -UCLA where the metrics were about even and there was no domination of one team over the other. Just astounding soccer into the second overtime. The next great game was Virginia - UCLA where two different styles were employed and the game momentum went back and forth in waves until the Hoos ran out of gas. While most of us thought that the Bruins had the upper hand and was the better team, Virginia showed very well for the first 30 minutes and in the first overtime where they took it to UCLA. But over all the results for this past week were fair and were driven by a hugely talented and lighting-fast group of UCLA players.
Soccerhunter, I can't agree with you more that the best game was UNC v UCLA. I also though it was the most instructive from a tactical perspective: A team was able to deal with the high pressure approach of a very good UNC team. It wasn't until I saw UCLA able to do that, that I realized how very good they are and began to expect them to win the whole thing. In terms of the evolution of women's soccer in the US, I think this game may be a significant marker of change. At a very high level, players now have the technical ability to deal with high pressure applied by excellent players. In that respect, and at that level, it means the playing field is evening out. It doesn't mean there is parity among a large number of teams, but it means that there is more balance at the very top. I thought I would be bored the last two weekends, but instead I saw some great and interesting play. Congratulations to all the teams!
I would take these comments one step further and say that the UCLA team that came East for the Final could not only absorb the (injured) Carolina pressure, but also dish it out! UNC played less well than usual because UCLA was showing in-our-face-full-pitch-pressure for the whole game, and they had the fitness to keep it up. They did not get tired and they did not fold up. There is a Lesson for the Tarheels going forward! UCLA applied similar full-pitch pressure to FSU to pretty much smother that quality team in the Final. They have great speed, they can finish (when the post doesn't get in the way) and as they showed on a wet nasty field against FSU they can also be outstanding at possession and put together some amazing passing sequences. What is not to like about this team? They are just Awesome! What UCLA showed on the weekend should cause everyone, including UNC to reconsider their preconceived notions of what it will take to get the job done in the NCAA NC.
Oh, I agree. What I'm saying is that they over-achieved compared to preseason expectations. Nobody had Virginia Tech in the Top 10 before the season.
Just got back to Chicago from North Carolina and the NCAA Final Four. I'm very tired so I'll blog tomorrow of some of my thoughts but I just want to say, the right team won. I saw all 3 games and IMO, UCLA was the most prepared team (finally!) and brought it all, skill, ball control, defense and attack. I was standing Friday next to a Virginia fan who said he goes to all the Virginia games and he told me that against UCLA ,Virginia did not play their style of play at all, especially the second half. For several reasons. He said that normally the two outside backs would move up into the attack and that would give Brian all kinds of options to pass. However because of UCLA's speed and because Virginia's defenders aren't really speedsters, they had to sit back to defend UCLA's quick counter-attacks thus unable to contribute in the attack like they normally would. Also UCLA closed down and pressured Virginia's midfield quickly and shut down Brian from receiving the ball and doing here tika-taka passing all over the place and when she did they were on here like white on rice. UCLA's midfield was physical and won every 50/50 ball and air balls. Virginia was not allowed to play their Barcelona style of play and was completely thrown out of their element. In the first OT Virginia tried going back to their style but by then had run out of gas. Also, UCLA's goalie was flawless and confident. She cut down angles well and gobbled up many crosses into the box. Now that I'm home, I'd like to review the games but IMO, UCLA deserved to win this Championship as they were consistently the best team out there. And I said from the beginning when the field was chosen that I felt this was UCLA's year and I was right.
This is completely true. . This was the first game that UVA did not pressure the opponent in their side of the field (except for small periods in the 1st OT and about 20 minutes in the 1st half. . It looked like their was a conscious change of plans of how they normally play to offset the speed of the UCLA backs. . However, the more they played this way, the more it allowed UCLA to bring the ball back and pick out their runs. . They needed to continue to play their normal style to keep the backs busy in their half of the field. . I can't say I am at a loss as to why they changed tactics for this game as we know how fast Courtnall is now, but generally attacking teams that change their style of play end up hurting themselves (which is why arsenal/Barca /never/ change their style regardless of whether they are outpaced or outmanned). You could tell this was the case as when UCLA possessed, UVA immediately retreated to the halfway line which I had never seen all year. A few other notes of that UCLA-UVA game. It looked like Stearns was slightly injured as her goal kicks became shorter and shorter over the course of the game. in the 2nd half and OT she couldn't clear the ball to midfield and UCLA was pouncing on goal kicks like a tennis player pounces on 2nd serves. Even the UVA defenders were 1/3 of the way back expecting the ball to come right back at them. . It was interesting enough that on the 2nd OT initial kick which is usually dribbled around, they just punted it on goal and see if she could get it and then wait on the ensuing goal kick. . something strange there but no one addressed that post game. . UCLA-FSU was what I expected. UCLA gained confidence as the game went on and attacked more. FSU however - frequently looks like they are under seige and absorbs that pressure until they can get a counter or goal against normal run of play. It seems that appears their modus operandi and it just didn't happen this time though they had a few chances.. . They would be deadly if they actually had a midfield that could connect their superb defense and their forward attack. UCLA deserved to win with their play the last 3 games. Call me impressed and they are/were a deserving champion.
I don't know if it was conscious change of plans but I've noticed that as well. Normally they win back so many balls in midfield and they didn't indeed pressure the way they always did. Interesting thing you said about these goalkicks. Initially I thought that UCLA was just better at winning these balls in the air because of their physicallity but maybe Stearns wasn't 100% procent and they were just too short. I'm not suprised that they didn't addressed that post game. I can't imagine this team looking for excuses. But either way very deserved win for UCLA
I was at the game, and it was pretty obvious to not have the backs overlap down the flanks and usually all the players press once the ball is played wide (everyone shifts and picks up a player to mark and pressure applied). This rarely happened during that game so something was tweaked as they backed off on any sort of pressure until they reached midfield. . Also, Stearns usually easily clears midfield on GK's and they were getting shorter and shorter. The wind was actually to her back and they were still falling short. She looked to have a limp as well, so I think something was tweaked somewhere. . I watched the game back to confirm my suspicions and it did look to be the case. I doubt it'll be confirmed in anyway shape or form.
I watched the game back too and it was really noticeable that Stearns had some problem. Maybe something happened during one of CK's when she fell pretty bad. Watching the game twice I must agree that change of tactics affected them. I wonder what would happen if they didn't change anything...
Yeah - just looked up Courtnall - 11.90/100m 53s/400m . Runs the 100, 200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400. . I would say 11.90/100m speed has got to be the fastest soccer player in the country. That would be world class pace for a womens soccer player. And she has some ball skills. ..