Uva kick wide MD kick goal UVa kick goal MD kick if md score more pks if the miss UVA win MD score More pks
Oh, Sandon.......... He is now to be known as Mr Gelnavatch..........master motivator and tactition for the next year. John
I made the drive to CARY to see the match and, well, ycchhh, and a tthe cost of $3 parking and a $12 ticket, no less. The first half was one of the lowest quality matches I've seen at the college level for a long time. No patience, terrible first touches, brutal fouls, mystifying, almost comical officiating. The second half was a bit better, certainly more skill and speed of thought was shown, but in general, certainly not a showcase of US football. In contrast, I walked up to the practice fields at the half and watched three different groups of 9 year olds play some pickup. The kids, all obviously from select teams from around the country, were absolutely stunning, amazing skill, flair, and sense of the game. I was sorry to miss the real select matches.
ACC Final I assume that Sandon made the trip to Cary, and I hope we will have his assessment shortly. He will be pleased that IU beat PSU, and he will have to be somewhat subdued in his criticism of BGG. I am looking forward to his take, as just last week we were discussing replacements.
game rpt To me the match in Cary was very entertaining as it showed that a young underdog team can make a difference. It was physical at times (which I enjoy), with some awkward soccer, but the whole 110 minutes were fun to watch. I felt like the first half was controlled by UMD and they played much more of an attacking role than UVa did. Sumed is a skilled attacking forward. If not for the excellent play of the UVa defensive line he would have been tournament MVP. Buete was also aggressive and taking advantage of the UVa mid field in the first half. He is a solid player that can also take it 1v1. If not for a couple of outstretched saves by UVa’s Burke, their confidence could have been easily down going into the second half. Stammler is tough on defense, and he showed yesterday why he is getting attention as a quality player. I also liked the spark that Marcantonio broght to the UMD side. I thought that Holder for UVa played a strong game. The play of Cristman turned me off as he fell down more often than not and hardly was able to hold a possession when pressured. I guess the UVa forward problem is nothing new at this point in the season. The referee at the game, Dhima, has a get in your face style, and he had to use it often with these teams. It would get worse in the second half. In the second half, UVa substituted Vide and Hinkle at midfield. Vide neutralized Buete which took lots of pressure off the UVa defense. Vide also made this run from deep in the attack, leaping over Cristman (who was getting up) and eventually catching up to Sumed who was on a breakaway. I think the substitution of Hinkle and Vide enabled Hall to worry less about covering the wings and focus on stabilizing the mid of the pitch. UVa also brought in Johnson at forward and his size and speed put pressure on the UMD defense. A lot of credit has to go to all four of the UVa defenders – Oliver, Hartman, Freeman and Tuman. The hand ball by Hall was unfortunate, but one that had to be called. It came on the right side of the box and Hall hardly had time to get out of the way of a rocket cross. The penalty kick didn’t get the UVa side down. I thought that the red card on Bertz was not necessary, and it surprised me that he got it. UMD became a little less effective on the attack than the first half and they seemed to get increasingly more frustrated with calls and the inability to get a goal. I was looking forward to watching Goodson play, but he spent more time fouling than defending. His yellow was well deserved, and I was somewhat surprised that he didn’t get another. In OT, the teams played carefully, not wanting to make that critical mistake. There was a little bit of attacking, but it was not all out. During PKs, there was a stretch of four misses (2 by each side) that made me wonder if pressure was getting to some of the guys. UMD tried to ice Vide by illegally substituting keepers, but he made it anyways. Dinnall made the one that counted for UVa when Buete’s attempt was stopped by Burke. I thought that Buete may have miss-hit his strike as it didn’t have much force. Big time credit to Burke – who was not on scholarship at the beginning of the year. The win was obviously good for UVa, and possibly for UMD. Going into the tournament UMD still has to be one of the favorites. They hardly make any mistakes, but can be a little volatile (perhaps partly driven by their trainer). One other note, the UMD students were a blast to watch. The UVa fans appeared to be a bunch of fuddy-duddies in comparison. They got a bit unruly before the game and were forced to move into a corner of the stands, but it didn’t stop their enthusiasm.
FritoBandito - agree that it was an entertaining game and a Huge win for gg and his young cavs. Yes, Maryland has some talented players but the UVA played tight defense with Hall at D-mid with the back line of Freeman, Oliver,Hartman and Tuman. It was great to have Oliver back. Also agree that the UVA midfield played better second half. The combination of Vide and Hall works well. As strong as the freshman Hall has been for Virginia this year he sometimes has to do to much. Burke was outstanding the entire game and came up big in pks as did the rest of the Virginia squad as they took the ACC Tourney 7-6 in pks: Matt Oliver-Goal Hunter Freeman-Goal Adam Cristman-Miss Wide Post Ian Holder-Miss Wide John Hartman-Goal Will Hall-Goal Gifford Okatah-Boi-Goal Maryland tries to sub their Goalie - DENIED! Vide-Goal Dinnal-Goal Burke-3 Saves!
Sammys, true true dat. Oliver keeps the defense solid and tight. Plus, you hardly ever see Oliver lose a head ball. The UVa midfield has been under more pressure this year to score because the forwards aren't. Hall is so solid and hardly makes a mistake. Vide's creative nature leads to some errors, but they are made aggressively. Holder's play may change some of that as he has a good ability to play with his back to the net then whip a strike. I thought the other forward should be one of Johnson, Dinnall or Littlefield. Cristman seemed sluggish and not coordinated, but it could be he was just having a bad game or dead legged.
Crtistman I'm going to disagree with everyone that thought Cristman played a poor game. I thought he worked hard to challenge for every ball against a good MD backline. That effort helped UVa get back in the game in the second half. He's not the most athletic guy in the world though. When, Paul Johnson replaced Cristman in the second half the UVa attack went dead. Johnson is absolutely worthless on the ball and he doesn't like to run either. UVa might as well have been playing with 10 men. Vide is very slow. He's not strong enough on the ball to hold it either. He had some good moments mixed in. Hall is a solid player, but he made some bad decisions when UVa had golden opportunities. UVa's midfield didn't know how to effectively counterattack. The transition from defense to offense was too slow and the passing dreadful. They were playing with a man advantage, but you couldn't tell. I'm not sure they'll advance very far in the tournament. The intensity of the ACC tournament final was second to none.
Davide - I appreciate your opinions, but somehow you are looking through the wrong glasses about player abilities. First, Cristman did not assist in bringing back UVa into the game. He was getting bounced around the entire game. If he's not losing the ball, then he's missing dish offs to his teammates because he doesn't look around and has no feel for the field. The last time he scored was on 15 October (that's one month bro), and thats playing virtually every minute of every game. It was such a relief when he came out. The combination of Dinnall, Johnson and Holder are what made the attack stronger yesterday. Did you get a count of how many times a ball was sent into Cristman, and how many times he either fell down or lost the ball? If not, go look at the tape!! Johnson doesn't like to run? Are you joking me? He ran the right side the entire time he was there and was being fed by Vide. He had to come out because his hammy is still bothering him. The most exciting time of the second half was when he was there against one of the best defenders - Stammler. Further, I cannot believe that you say Hall isn't one of the finest freshman midfielders around. He's beyond solid. Given, all players make some mistakes once in a while, but I can't say that Hall made any noteworthy mistakes yesterday. He blended in well with the defense and got things going on the attack. He is a very good decision maker and a chaser. I'd say he reminds me of a young Buete, but without the 1v1 moves. Brother, how can you say that Vide doesn't have speed. He ran down Sumed from about 30 yds back (after jumping over the fallen Cristman who Sumed took the ball from) and reached him before he encountered the UVa defense. Then he knocked the ball away for good measure. The dude flat wears himself out chasing and creating. The only knock I would put on Vide is that his creativity sometimes creates bad decisions (something you said about Hall) and he doesn't pace himself enough. I guess that's just not his style. It could be that you've heard the UVa players make fun of Cristman because he is so bad, yet liked by Gelnovatch, that you feel he needs defending.
I caught the match on FSN and have to agree with you that it wasn't exactly pretty to watch. A lot of just wacking the ball forward by both teams. The second half was better but not much. And just so people don't think I'm out to bash college soccer, I used to live in D.C. and would often make the drive over to Charlottesville. Saw some great soccer beginning in the Reyna years and even up through Ben Olsen's days at UVA. Yesterday just paled in comparison in my opinion.
Nope, I haven't heard anything about the UVa players. This is only time I've seen Virginia play this year and I'm not a fan of the program. Ok, Cristman was working hard the entire game for UVa. The UVa forwards don't work well together and the service is pratically nonexistant. That means it's not going to be easy for a target forward to score a bunch of goals. Cristman was battling to keep balls alive for UVa and it's f'ing sad if it's true his teammates are making fun of him for his efforts. The game was physical and he tried to match the physicality of the Maryland defense. If UVa get him some service from a wing player, he would produce produce goals as a center forward. I see some promise in this player, but he needs to work on ball skills and he's a bit clumsy. BGG needs to bring in a small forward next year with some speed and good skill so that he can play combinations. UVa doesn't create much offense, but it's not all his fault. Paul Johnson is WORTHLESS. Paul Johnson lost possession EVERY time he touched the ball. He didn't make the proper runs. His touch is still awful as it has been since 2001. It's a disgrace that BGG brough this kid into the U-18 National pool. He added nothing to the UVa team. Holder impressed me with his hustle and speed, but at the and of the day the forwards don't combine. That was the other forward right? Vide is slow. He'll get torn up by a team with a good left winger. He couldn't provide decent service to the forwards, I recall one cross that ended up out of bounds on the other side of the field. Now, he came back and made some plays on the defesnive side. But, he isn't a star. He's fairly average in fact. Buete pushed him off the ball to easily. Littlefield- I never even noticed the guy. Dinnal- ZERO skills with the ball, just another speed player. Hall- He had a solid game. I think he's a quality player, but he also made some mistakes especially on a counterattack late in the game where he forced the ball to a Uva forward surrounded by three defenders when the wide player was the correct play. He should stay in school for another year. Hill- Nothing flashy. Defense- They weren't exposed but Tuman has trouble turning and he'll get carved up by a fast forward. I think the outside backs are both solid players and Oliver is a rock, although he not the fastest guy either.
Actually, the UVa forwards would work well together if they could get Cristman out of the game for a while. Cristman was the man missing getting the ball to both Vide and Johnson on the right side. Instead, he keeps it on his foot then loses it. Did you see how many times they were both open. Even the fans (some kids) were yelling to the guy to "switch it". Anyways, I've said enough about Cristman, and don't want to continually badger the point. In my opinion, Dinnall has the best foot skills / speed combination on the team. That doesn't make him national level, but I feel like his quickness is enough to create problems for the opposing team. It makes him effective both at mid field or up front. I have seen him tire early because of his pace, or injuries. Johnson doesn't need more defending from me. He is what he is - a good athlete with speed, skill and desire. The only knock I've had with Johnson is his desire to just knock the ball long sometimes. I've said enough about him in the previous post. I would take my man anytime anywhere. Last time I checked, Buete is a "good left winger". Did you notice that Vide neutralized him in the second half? You mention that Vide was getting pushed off the ball, but he and Buete hardly physically tussled the whole game. I saw their play as respectful of the good players they both are. It was easily a draw, although Buete is a more skilled wing man. The Hall-Vide combination is the most effective to start the attack. I don't even want to go further with Hall, because that man should be on the 20s. Tuman has taken a lot of criticism over the year, but yesterday he didn't let anything deadly get past him. He should be applauded for his play against both Wake and UMD. Oliver is definately the rock!! At least we agree on that!! You don't have to be fast to be a back, you just have to anticipate, be quick and get into the attackers head. Oliver is very special at doing that.