First All-Star related survey....

If I'm April Heinrichs, I don't give a crap about how anyone performs in an All-Star match.

I think Siri was the best keeper in WUSA in 2002, so I have no argument with her being in NT camp.

The keepers haven't made it easy for April though since nobody has really emerged as the dominant one or two keepers over the course of two seasons (IE no no-brainer choices like Keller and Friedel are for the men). To wit:

Beene: Best in WUSA in 2001, slipped in 2002 to #4 or #5

Pags: Second best in 2001, dropped out of picture in 2002.

Moore: Pretty good but with shaky moments in 2001, near top in 2002.

Mullinix: Not that great in 2001 (maybe #5), tops in 2002

Scurry: Pretty consistent, but only #3 or #4 keeper at best each year.

Lucks: Didn't have much of a chance in 2001, near top in 2002.

Solo, Webber:

On current form, it's hard to argue that Mullinix, Moore, and Lucks shouldn't be battling it out. But April can't rotate keepers through every year and expect the back to ever gel - do you give Beene more of a chance to prove she can still be tops or do you give up on her and go with 2002 form? Not an easy call.

 

I'm glad I'm not April! Actually though, my preference in goalkeepers is with ones who are good with their feet. My first choice would be Siri. I've seen some times when our defense was really put under it because of poor clearances by our 'keepers.

 

Re: Some WUSA *career* stats

Unfortunately for Moore, there's one other thing that has to be taken into strong consideration. In the "respect among her peers" category, she appears to have essentially a 0, as evidenced by her non-existance in the player's vote for goalkeeper of the year (which can be referenced back here.) In a team sport, if the other players don't like you and/or don't have confidence in you, it's going to hurt your chances of getting picked for the team. Why the disrepect/animosity, I have no clue, but I think it's starting to be pretty clear that there is some, which is a shame for Moore. She is obviously talented.

 

Re: Some WUSA *career* stats

First, the usual disclaimer: Lies, damn lies, statistics.

That being said, the two above speak volumes. Moore faced a full 52 less shots on goal during the season. 52! That's a very, very big number.

And Paul, while it's fun to watch you cry about Moore being snubbed, the "two less games" designation means nothing on save percentage. Save percentage is done exactly so that you can compare players who saw less opportunities.

All this being said, Moore and Mullinix should get serious looks. Luckenbill too, although her "numbers" aren't as impressive.

Here's the thing: Mullinix also strikes me as being more fragile. Does April take a risk on the player who, for my money, is the top goalkeeper in America currently (or, certainly, in the top three)? Can that count against her?

One things for sure: IT'S AN ALL-STAR GAME. IT IS MEANINGLESS.

RS

 

Maybe Charge! had a problem back in 7th grade math? Percentage has nothing to do with the number of games. It is the ratio between the number of shots and the number of saves.

FS2000 noted that the CheeseSteaks' defense limited the opposition to a many fewer shots (almost three less per game).

The realm of also-rans. (I got any stat you want on the Breakers. )

 

Despite good WUSA seasons behind good defenses, neither Moore nor Luckenbill has done anything to a warrant national team callup.

Oh, sure. Take away any statistics that don't favor Moore, and keep the ones that do, no matter how meaningless. Playing behind a great defense, Moore should have more shutouts than she does - that's really an argument against Moore.

Moore led the league in GAA and winning percentage but those are as much team statistics as GK statistics. The statistic that makes those stats meaningless as GK statistics is shots faced.

It's pretty obvious that Moore wasn't tested nearly as much as some of the other keepers. Sorry, Charge!, but you haven't convinced me. In fact, you got me started thinking, and the more I think about it, Moore doesn't belong on the AllStar team, much less getting a NT call-up - she was simply behind a good defense. Her numbers reflect the defense not her indiviual performance. Any GK would have looked good behind that defense.

The same argument could be made about Luckenbill and, in reverse, about Pagliarulo. Based on stats, the callup of Pagliarulo seems a little off, but maybe Ape wants to see if Pagliarulo is really that bad, or if the problem was more the team in front of her.

To answer the poll question, if Ape makes any desision based on what happens in an AllStar game, she's dumber than even her worst detractors say she is.

This year's WUSA season didn't make the GK situation any clearer. It just muddied the waters. Scurry, Beene and Mullinix played well enough to remain NT keepers, and nobody else really made a legitimate case for NT consideration.

What happened to Pagliarulo is the real question, and that may be way Heirichs called her up - to she see if her skills have slipped, or if she was just the victum of playing behind a lousy defense.

 

Sure they do.

One problem is that it's so easy to keep a bunch of meaningless statistics for goalkeepers. Fortunately, it's harder to do that for field players.

Here are some (mostly meaningless) GK stats- from the 2002 regular season (keepers with 1000 or more minutes only.)

Code:

              GP  MIN SHT  SV %  CP GA GAA  W S
Luckenbill CA 21 1890 156 114 73 77 30 1.4 12 2
Moore      PH 20 1800 110  86 78 54 20 1.0 11 4
Beene      SJ 20 1800 104  72 69 93 27 1.4  8 4
Scurry     AT 18 1620 115  80 70 95 24 1.3  9 6
LeBlanc    BO 17 1530 101  64 63 67 27 1.6  5 2
Webber     NY 14 1258 132  91 69 44 40 2.9  3 0
Pagliarulo SD 15 1168  86  54 63 47 28 2.2  2 1
Mullinix   WA 14 1139 104  84 81 57 15 1.2  7 2

(SHoTs, SaVes, Catches/Parries, Goals Against, Goals Aggainst Average, Wins, Shutouts)

Nothing in that suggests that Moore had a better year than Beene, Scurry or Mullinix. As you point out, Moore leads in GAA and winning percentage, which is great except that, as I always say, those are team statistics. I'm surprised you don't make a bigger deal over save percentage, because Moore trails only Mullinix in that. And that is actually a GK statistic.

If you want to make an argument that Moore belongs on the NT on the basis of the 2002 WUSA season, don't look at those statistics too long, because that's not what they show.

They do show that Moore had a slighly better year than Luckenbill, athough Lucks seems to have been under more pressure. In fact, it looks as if just about everybody was under more pressure. Moore's 54 catches and parries is an interesting statistic. Beene and Scurry have 93 and 95 respectively which suggests that Beene and Scurry controlled the box better than Moore. So did Mullinix, for that matter.

We agree on something. Based on those statistics, the choice of Pagliarulo is interesting. Maybe Ape wants to see how much statistics lie.