2013 UNC Tarheels

Discussion in 'Women's College' started by Soccerhunter, Dec 5, 2012.

  1. uncchamps2012

    uncchamps2012 Member

    Jul 9, 2011
    not an excuse, just an analysis....
    and it wasn't just one player, it was more like 5 starter or starter quality players who were unavailable by the time UCLA scored. the main point is that in this day of greater parity , ANY TEAM is going to need a bit of luck to win the championship. UNC certainly benefited from some good fortune in winning in 2012. It's not like they were CLEARLY the best team. They had to gut out every game from the 3rd round through the final. The 4-1 result in the final suggested a greater difference between the teams than was the reality, as I think any UNC fans in the stands at half-time in San Diego thought Penn State was in the driver's seat or at least had a good chance to win.There's no longer a team that is heads and shoulders above the others such that they can withstand major losses of players. I think injuries are somewhat based on luck as freak things happen and when they happen in the season is also a bit lucky. I could say that UNC could have won if they had all five players available, but the truth is that I think that just having Dunn available would have made a huge difference. I thoroughly enjoyed watching UCLA play. They play a very exciting brand of soccer and their players are great individual talents. Their run through the tournament was very impressive. I don't want to take anything away from them. The team they have coming back and the coach they now have in place will make them the favorite next year. UCLA is very, very good for women's college soccer.
     
  2. Norfolk

    Norfolk Member

    Mar 22, 2001
    Do you think that some of these injuries have to do with over-training and the competitive cauldron and record keeping in practice at UNC. It always appears that they get more injuries to important players than other schools. Remember Susan Bush? It used to work becasues the depth of the team was far greater than the other teams so they could fill in for injured players, but now the competition with other programs is much closer, so its important to manage your star players. Thoughts?
     
  3. uncchamps2012

    uncchamps2012 Member

    Jul 9, 2011
    good thinking...I have wondered about that as well, but don't know enough about training methods in general and how UNC trains to form an opinion. I am sure the bright soccer minds at UNC consider such factors as well. I wonder though about whether the injuries are necessarily more than other schools. I just don't know. The run of concussions with Ball and Bowen this year seems like a lot....are they encouraged to take more physical risks? If I absolutely had to guess right now, I would guess that it is all consistent with the luck of the draw and overall rate of injuries in women's soccer, but it would be informative and fascinating if someone had greater insight or even data.
     
  4. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    I don't think such an analysis is correct in this case. With regard to injuries, Both Ball (long time starting center back) and Bowen (Ball's replacement at that position moved from another starting position) went out with serious concussions from collisions with opposition players. This has nothing to do with over training. Further, the intensity of training has actually backed off at UNC if you believe Graham Hayes report about a new training regime:

    "...the Tar Heels last season overhauled their training philosophy to align with that of Dutch coach Raymond Verheijen. ... In grossly oversimplified terms, Verheijen dissents from what he feels is a culture of overtraining in soccer. His model suggests it is better to do more with less, utilizing short intervals of intense training. To the consternation of some soccer alumni, and even the seniors who lobbied throughout this particular week for more practice and more running, preseason is not as brutal as it once was."

    So more injuries with less intensive training is what UNC experienced this year (but I'm not saying that they are necessarily connected.)
     
  5. jimhalpert

    jimhalpert Member

    Jan 9, 2011
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We know. You have told us "ad naseum" over and over in multiple threads that if Dunn was healthy, they would have won it all. She wasn't. They didn't. So let it go.

    UCLA was the best team in the tournament and they proved it. To say one player would have changed this outcome is a reach. There should be no asterisk by their title
     
  6. Gilmoy

    Gilmoy Member+

    Jun 14, 2005
    Pullman, Washington
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    ... just a star above the school logo :D
     
  7. uncchamps2012

    uncchamps2012 Member

    Jul 9, 2011
    Being so negative and critical in your posts might give you a little twinge of satisfaction momentarily, but ultimately it just serves to sustain your apparently chronic irritability and likely sad mood. There is a better life if you seek it. I mean it.
     
  8. jimhalpert

    jimhalpert Member

    Jan 9, 2011
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just negative and critical of your consistent whining about Dunn's injury. Things like that happen and all the opining and speculation of what would have been is pointless and tiresome.

    Otherwise I am quite content. But thanks for caring.
     
  9. uncchamps2012

    uncchamps2012 Member

    Jul 9, 2011
    Get help.
     
  10. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    #1435 Soccerhunter, Jan 17, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2014
    Well, Well.... NWSL Draft news.

    No surprise with the #1 pick with Crystal going Washington. And no real surprise with the #2 pick with Kealia off to Houston. (More will be written about these two great UNC players that we were privileged to watch...)

    But congratulations to Megan Brigman for her second round pick by Seattle. Did any one see that coming? So now the girl from Laurinberg with no particular accolades coming out of high school (played local club ball and mostly was a three sport star at her small town high school in basketball, tennis and soccer) who got to UNC and converted from forward to nail down a starting defensive position for three years with the Tarheels... will get the opportunity to once again prove her mettle and now demonstrate that she can play professionally!! The Reign need back-up defensive help, but who wants to take odds that she'll end up starting?

    Megan will be going up against Amanda Frisbee (from Portland) who was the Reign's first round pick. Frisbee is also a converted forward and has gained national recognition. The way I read it, Frisbee is expected to challenge for a starting position (ya don't waste a first-round pick unless she is expected to produce!) while Megan is seen as a back-up. But, there is precedent here...Remember Kristi Eveland? Same trajectory to who ended up starting as a pro.
     
  11. cpthomas

    cpthomas BigSoccer Supporter

    Portland Thorns
    United States
    Jan 10, 2008
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And, she'll get to play with a whole bunch of Portland Pilots.
     
  12. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    Which is definitely a good thing. (Portland players are great!)

    Not having followed Seattle very closely, I'll go out on a limb and predict that the defensive line just in 2014 just might include Frisbee in the center with Brigman on the wing.

    What folks do not generally appreciate about Megan (because she is not flashy and is just steady, makes good decisions, and gets the job done) is that she is deceptively fast. While she doesn't have the instant acceleration that gets the fans' attention, give her a few seconds to accelerate, and she will overtake almost any forward out there. Consequently she is very effective at wing back.
     
  13. Soccerhunter

    Soccerhunter Member+

    Sep 12, 2009
    Just a note here (the 2013 thread) for posterity...

    The 4th member of the Heels 2013 team is playing professionally: Anna Seiloff with BV Cloppenburg in the Bundesliga.
     
    uncchamps2012 repped this.
  14. uncchamps2012

    uncchamps2012 Member

    Jul 9, 2011
    I am very happy to hear this. Anna was a true Tar Heel. You could tell she was a team leader even when she wasn't starting. Imagine the class it took to stomach being behind Gaye and Heberlin after starting a good bit before that.
     

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