Sumo wrestling would have at least been more interesting. Hey it was good enough for Munk & Mick.... Anyone got ANYTHING on Matchtracker yet? edit: OK I got something. No line-ups yet though...
30:14 SJC -31st Minute. Substitution: 7-Christina Bell for 6-Brandi Chastain, 30 minutes played. I really wish I could see this game! Edited to add: OH! It just came on!
Would you like some specifics regarding the game? I was there.. great views.. better weather (no humidity!).. or do you want to wait for the 2 am showing?
Eyewitness accounts are always good. We've got an [R] for this thread anyway, so anyone waiting to see the game later knows to stay away if they don't want to know. Right now, all I have time to really say about this game is: BORGMAN AT FORWARD!!!! OK it only took the whole darn season, but there she was. Yay.
from what i read of wusa.com... christina bell played only 1 minutte?? and did borgman end up with a caution?? i never saw/tracked the game... so i have no clue what happened... ~Melissa oh by the way- did boof n 'keyisa have a good game??
Thanks for the clarity on posting of content. Much appreciated. 1. For nearly the entire first half (except about 7 minutes total- near the end), it seemed that the theme or subtitle of the game was "The Breakers Defense finally shows their stuff..and how to keep the ball in the defensive 3rd." Basically, Boston had trouble getting the ball beyond the midfield stripe, and getting solid attacks.. San Jose came out attacking heavily, and Karina was left to make some saves early on- great ones, I might add - at least two are in the "great" category. A few shots went high and wide for San Jose. 2. One play that I recally early on in the game (6 or so minute mark) was a play by Heather Aldama (Breakers #12) on Katia. Katia was on the left side of the field (by Hospitality/VIP tents) and easily had Aldama appearing to be beat- very very nice footwork on the play, and yet Aldama somehow got behind Katia and then stole the ball from her and moved forward. How this happened, I do not know. Katia should at least have gotten a cross off, but Aldama decided to show her money's worth and made a FANTASTIC play. Note- this point does NOT diminish Katia's brilliant footwork, speed, etc.. it was an amazing play that has me remembering it. 3. If I recally LaKeysia made some great saves.. not too tested in the 1st half..in the second, more so. Boston was hungry.. SJ looked tired... or not able to connect. In the 2nd half Boston's one-touch-heaven passes came back to life... and they (the Breakers) were all over the field... smooth..classy... typical Boston brilliance (I indulge in this, as a Boston native-for-now.. one of the things that I love most about the team is their ability to one-touch it to almost anywhere.. and with such grace..so this is just a Boston-fan point) 4. Again- throughout the game SJ attacked..and attacked..and attacked... and never really let up... 5. Carey Dorn - wow! Mosquito- little pest... ouch! ... In the best way- she was fantastic! 6. Borgman did get a yellow- though I saw it, I don't remember why.... 7. I think the first time Lil went down HARD... it was clean, but a yellow may have been in order.. 8. Did I miss the 1st yellow, or was I too far away?.. I thought maybe a ref was trying to even out the first call on Lil... I could be wrong... perhaps TV people will be able to clear this up.. 9. Non-game related..post game.. KUDOS.. BIG.... BIG.. BIG KUDOS to the team (SJ) for signing autographs in Autograph Alley!!!!!!!!!!!... Wait, you say, what?? This is SJ we're talking about... Ahh..but this is SJ in Boston.... this is SJ... it's a customary thing for non-home teams to sign autographs behind their bench. SJ didn't do this..THANK YOU SJ!! It makes the life of the Boston staff much easier, and we appreciate it! Classy.. very very classy.... Last game.. out of the playoffs..and absolute courtesey and respect.. I thank the team for this- and I say this with all of my heart... And, on that note, SJ signed and signed and signed.. and signed..and signed..and signed.. and.. did I say signed???.. SJ players were some of the last to leave. in fact, I think 2 of the 4 players at the end... still on the field..were SJ ones.. signing.. wow! Thank you. 10. SJ came out intense..hungry..active if you will..attacking.... wow... scary.... from the Boston fan perspective... 11. I checked the Breakers web site for their LIVE updates, and it's down..not there.. go figure.. For future SJ-Boston games- Boston does a LIVE log on their site- FAR more comprehensive than the MT.. actual descriptions.. you might want to check there in the future.. if TV doesn't provide kindness for you... in timing, etc..
(flame shield against jILL... ) Beene made a costly venture out of her zone, tried to play the ball in the hopes of clearing it away and the ball got tangled right behind her, along with a pack of players. (end flame shield) I think it was Alagich and Lilly that were fighting for the ball right in front of the gaping net, and in a contest 99 out of 100 times Kristine is going to win those balls. That accounted for the only goal of the game. Overall, in spite of that, I can't presume what happened since I missed half the game. I will go along with Poet's assessment of her performance--well until that one moment in the second half... In terms of how the season went, overall she did well to keep the Rays competitve all season. Right now, there's every reason to say that Beene is the #1 keeper, with Scurry as her mentor. Speaking of jILL, maybe she can give an evaluation of how Beene did this season, maybe compared to last. Now, can she get Beene to throw her gloves into the stands? That will make her just as revered as the goalie from the men's team... Cheers!
Continuing 12. Regarding specific players.. 1. Tisha stands out.. amazing heading game tonight..that lady was ALL over the field in all areas... MVP for San Jose easily of the game..not a doubt in my mind... she went down a couple of times..hard.. one it scared me.. as she didn't get back up.. fast..ouch! It actually seemed like it was Take Out the National (or Former) National Teamers..... 1. Lilly went down twice badly, 2. Tisha went down twice, too, 3. Brandi subbed out in the 31st minute, and 4. Kate subbed out in the 60ish minute (I may be off on Kate's subbing out.. 2. Bell seemed to make a big impact... or at least play solidly enough for me to notice her.. 3. Thori- as always, brilliant...... I again suggest that maybe Boston woo SJ with some clam chowder and a few players to get her... or a player or two and a draft pick.. 4. Frenchie seemed to be Frenchie.. maybe not as stellar as the 29 June game in Boston.. but.. still.. classic French... guts.. and plays... 13. From the Breakers site... Scoring Summary: BOS: Kristine Lilly 8 (Dagny Mellgren 3, Heather Aldama 1), 51. SAN JOSE CYBERRAYS – Lakeysia Beene, Thori Bryan, Kelly Lindsey, Brandi Chastain (Christina Bell 30, Danielle Borgman 66), Michelle French, Dianne Alagich, Carey Dorn (Lisa Nanez 67), Sissi, Tisha Venturini-Hoch (Theresa Wagner 70), Pretinha, Katia. TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Katia 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Katia 3); FOULS: 13; OFFSIDE: 5; CORNERS: 7; SAVES: Beene 1; CAUTIONS: Lindsey 34, Bell 66; EJECTIONS: none. BOSTON BREAKERS – Karina LeBlanc, Jena Kluegel, Kate Sobrero (Monica Gonzalez 56), Chrisy McCann, Heather Aldama, Sarah Dacey (Alexa Borisjuk 66), Angela Hucles, Bettina Wiegmann, Kristine Lilly, Maren Meinert, Dagny Mellgren (Allie Kemp 74). TOTAL SHOTS: 3 (Lilly 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDE: 2; CORNERS: 4; SAVES: LeBlanc 3; CAUTIONS: none; EJECTIONS: none. Temperature: 87 degrees, partly cloudy Attendance: 6,013 14. Am I missing stuff- sure, as I wasn't watching it for technicalities.. last game at home, surely all of the SJ fans understand this ... the experience, too.. 15. Fair amount of SJ supporters in the crowd.. maybe just under 100 die hards... including family mems... 16. KUDOS to SJ for the way that they conducted themselves... given the knowing when they showed up at Nickerson that they were eliminated from the playoffs, and essentially having 1 hour to recoop emotionally- I was impressed.. it says a lot for the team to go out and stay (nearly entirely) in the offensive 1/3 for most of the 1st half.. and then, again, the way that they conducted themselves post game is great... was great... I enjoyed SJ in June, and I enjoyed them even more in August.. classy team with grace.. certainly one that makes me turn my loyalties or eyesight with respect to the west coast.. in appreciation of a great team.. **..If I am missing something, I'll answer questions.. it's late.. 2 am EST..and I am needing of sleep... I hope that this helps.. May the 2002 draft and upcoming off season be beneficial to all... in all areas.... and thanks to SJ for a GREAT night Oh, before I post.. I must give credit to the weather gods... for they ended the 1st half with less humidity, and the 2nd half with a dark (night) sky, no humidity, and gentle breezes.. if only all games could be played in those conditions..
The CyberSquid were burned on one of their staple set plays - the short corner. SJ love to pull this play because tactically-naive GKs are slow to react to the situation. The post-players are caught sleeping on the job, allowing every opposing player to be on-side. SJ love to pull this play, more so on tactically-deficient clubs such as SD and NY, catching indecisive GKs off-guard. Some clubs have the preponderance to post a player on each post during CKs. An alert GK will instruct her post-markers to move up as soon as she realizes that it's a short corner. I've lost count of how many goals SJ have scored this way. This time they got burned.
Boxing, again? Well, I checked our broadband broadcast schedule and sure enough, the match was scheduled to be re-aired at 2am. So, I set the recorder, said a prayer, and went to bed. This morning I rushed to the TV to watch the game (before taking my daughter to her tournament) and lo and behold ... BOXING?!!! (I'm wondering if the "technical difficulty" involved a camera crew not finding the stadium). Was anbody else successful? Of course, I had rewound my partial recording of the game in hopes of re-recording the whole thing but now I got nutt'n. --Socceroo
A question for those that follow San Jose closely I try to follow the GKs fairly closely but the west coast teams are harder as a lot of games never make it back to the east for whatever reason. Both Beene and Scurry, the two top keepers last year, have had periods of less than stellar play but, mostly, they have been as good, and in spurts better, than last year. One thing that seems different about Beene however. Is she loosing weight? I do NOT mean that she looks fitter than before, like Scurry, rather she looks thinner with less muscle mass than even early in this season. TV can give very distorted views of a players appearance and the jersey style may be the difference just making her look thinner but the appearance on TV is that she really looks like she is not as physically strong as she was just last year. If possible could those of you that see her regularly can give your feelings on this. It is even quite possible that she, and her trainers, have gone with a quickness training program rather than strength and that the apparent loss of muscle is intentional. Or it could just be an illusion of TV.
Re: A question for those that follow San Jose closely Uhhh.... I'm thinking it's the TV/uniform/whatever. Of all the players, Beene is one of the few who really looks about the same as last season (in person) to me. She has always been very lean in terms of her muscle mass, so I guess I'm not sure where you're seeing that she's lost any.
Thanks for the detailed report, PoetSong! Thanks, too for that tip about Breakers games being carried via a live log on the Breakers site. That will be useful information for next season! That's why I like Dorn! Again, if I was the coach, however, I would have no idea what to do with her. I can certainly see arguments against her in terms of her technical abilitly, but I like having her on the field because of her mentality and energy. Hmmm...I see that Lindsey got a yellow early in the game, but Borgman's not listed with any yellows. Maybe people are getting them confused (their agressiveness is similar, so I've seen people assume a gutsy tackle was one or the other and actually have it wrong) or the stats were mis-reported at first? We in SJ are really spoiled by having a terribly classy team, where all of the players seem to understand the importance of appearances and connecting with the fans whenever and wherever possible. At home games the players walk the (grass) parking lot (lots of tailgate parties on weekend games) for maybe 30 minutes or so about 2 hours before game time and will stop for photographs (they won't do autographs because it would just take too long and be too crazy) and just to chat with people. Then of course they do autographs after the game in Autograph Alley (which is hear is a zoo--I stay away!--but the players take their time from what I've heard), and then apparently the whole team goes out afterwards to a restaurant where I understand they mingle with fans once again (there is an announcement at every game about this opportunity after the game--I have no idea if other teams do this or not. I remember reading on here that several SD fans were pleasantly surprised by the welcome they got from several of the 'Rays when they went to the restaurant, even though they were in their Spirit garb). We may very well have the most fan-accessible team in the league, and that's cool. I'm glad to hear they are as gracious, thoughtful, and courteous on the road (after a very dissappointing day) as they are here, though I wouldn't have expected to hear otherwise. It's tough to do, and I respect them all tremendously for that. I'm glad a few other people on here notice and like Bell. I think people are focusing a lot on what she's not doing and missing the subtle things she is doing that contribute to the team as a whole. Glad to hear, too, that Frenchie looked like, well, Frenchie, even if she wasn't totally exceptional this game. It's very hard to see how defenders are really playing on TV, since so much of what they do to contribute happens off the ball (in terms of organization, making runs, denying forwards the ball by positioning themselves in a way to cut off the pass, etc.). Frenchie's almost always pretty darn solid for us. OK, at least I think so. As for my own impressions of this game, much has already been covered. Obviously I would have liked to see us get the win and finish the season on a high note, but that was not to be. I do have one last question for anyone who attended the game and actually may have gotten a better look than we did on TV.... How did BORGMAN look at FORWARD? HELLYEAH! 'Bout time, Ian! Ian put her in for Bell, and I wondered if for some psycho reason we'd made a defensive sub, but nope...Borgs ran right up top (and I went jumping all over my house yelling "Borgs at forward!" I really am sick!). Anyway, from TV it looked like about all she had opportunity to do was chase a lot. I don't expect that she looked remotely polished up there but I like that as an option. Borgman has a ton of speed (obviously not so much when she's injured), added to the workhorse mentality I like so much from Bell. Right flank D is probably the best use of Danni's abilities overall, but I still personally believe she can be a wrecking ball at forward with a little bit of work.
Re: Thanks for the detailed report, PoetSong! Borgman did get a yellow, the websites just messed up the stats and put it under the Breaker's stats. Check the WUSA.com press release, it's in there. Thanks for the reports, everyone! Disappointing game for sure, it sucks(can't think of any better word) to go out like that. Boston stayed undefeated at home and I think we went home with a 1-6-3 record on the road. OUCH! The team we did beat was New York.
On random notes... 1. When Borgman went in, I shouted. Happy. I'm a big ole fan of her, and I was soo happy to see her play! She didn't disappoint, and I was grateful- and to Ian for putting her in. 2. As I noted, often Breakers staffers have to tell the visting team players to "sign over there.." in AA, but tonight- it was a gift.. I don't remember last time SJ was in town.. only that it was INSANELY hot- the 29 June game on PAX.. and the players were dieing... almost.. on the field... SJ signed forever then, too. Still..as I said.. I was soo happy with SJ.. they made our lives easy.. and a little bit of class goes a LONG way.. especially after team awards, humidity (early on in the day), and hard fought if not pretty game. 3. Breakers games generally have LIVE logs for away games, too- so should you be a SJ fan and the Breakers are in SJ (twice you lucky ducks you.. I'd love to see SJ at home twice as I did this season next year)- and you are sans TV or needing the MT- you should check the Breakers site- I think they didn't have LIVE logs for 3 or 4 games this year- away ones.. still 7 or 8 away games live logged is great - and again- the person who does them..or persons..is/are phenomenal- "x player takes y player down hard..." "x player collects the ball at midfield, runs down the left/right flank, shoots at y location, and...." - far more "watchable" than the MT! 4. I'm not aware of the other teams post-game happpenings. The Breakers all go home/out on their own. Last night there was a post game and season gathering- team only. 5. Is Frenchie in the hurt locker??? Or slow from the season's wear and tear... As I noted before..she was on..but not "shining"... or "electrifying" last night.... the 29 June game she had me wishing we/Boston could snag her... 6. Again- just more kudos to SJ.. what they went through and what they did are things more complex than any of us can imagine.. When Boston was doing its team awards, SJ was huddled in a circle- professionally. It was photo worthy- just the image... 7. Big ole Kudos to Lilly - she opened her End of the Season remarks with a Congratulations to SJ on their season... very respectfully.
The official WUSA.com stats say this: Borgman's alleged yellow is obviously not listed in the Breakers stuff now, so they've fixed that. I think the stats are all completely screwed up. Bell subbed out at about the 66' mark and she definitely did NOT have a yellow right before she went out--I am positive of this. I didn't see Borgman get a yellow when she was in (Borgs is someone I would have remembered getting a yellow), so if she did, she got it off-screen. Also, I'm thinking I remember that McCann got a yellow. I could be thinking of another game, but I'm pretty sure I either read it on matchtracker or saw it. She's Breakers #16, so maybe that's the confusion with Borgman getting the yellow supposedly. McCann isn't listed as getting a yellow anywhere, though, and of course the Match Tracker PBP is long gone, so I can't check that. I guess I'll look when/if I rewatch this game. Weird statkeeping.
On yellow cards Not one of them made sense last night.. or my location was not where I could make sense of them. Then again, it could be that my lack of sleep and all of the other post-game happenings have clouded my memory (nothing food or drink induced, more like lots of work and lack of sleep) The first one, I'm not sure if it was the Breakers bench or fans, but there were cries of "Card her!" that could be clearly heard.