The game is on Pax TV today. Here is the courage site's article: http://carolinacourage.com/362754.html Go Courage!
Courage looks for roll By J.P. GIGLIO, Staff Writer news-observer.com Courage shooting for winning streak today The Herald-Sun Right now we need a goal.
We lose, 2 - 1 Venus James and Unni Lehn had very strong games. Fotop and Tiff seemed to give the ball away to the other team when they had possession.
I'll echo Heeligan's remarks. Fotop looked dreadful to me out there. Her headed goal was even that well struck. I thought Roberts first touch was shockingly uncharacteristic. I think we missed Birgit up top. It would have been interesting to see how her pace would have changed our tactical play. Horrible defensive marking on Aly Wagner's goal, although it was beautifully struck. She should have never had that much time. Kind of a surprising call on the penalty by Seitz (I was down behind the other goal) but the rest of the game I thought the ref was spot on. Not much protest from the Courage players on the call so she must have gotten the PK right too. Sure had fun watching the Spirit's flip throw-ins. You should have heard all the pony-tail hooligans around our section ooh and ahh everytime one was executed. When are we ever going to play a home game on a dry day?
Looking through my shots, I caught more jersey tugging in this game than I have in a long time. While I wouldn't say it was one of the more physical games, there was a lot of grabbing on both sides. I need to look it up, but I have to wonder if San Diego's 11 offsides is a WUSA record.
Sad to see the Courage lose when they're finally on PAX...and not to see Prinz. Anyone know why some of those Spirit players were those ugly black head-thingies?
You know what might be interesting? Venus and Birgit up top and Fotop on the bench. I can only wish. Fotop's first touch was horrible through out the game which led to a lot of lost balls from here. There was a point where she was yelling at Venus to push up and I was just thinking maybe you should get more involved and do a little work. I thought Venus looked good. She took on some people 1 v 1 and made some pretty good decisions. Had a strong shot late in the game from the top of the 18 that was nice. It would be real interesting to see her and Birgit play up top together. I could not see anything that happened on the PK from where I sit but Seitz was pretty adamant that she saw something there. Sounds like it was unlucky from Burt's quote in the paper yesterday. Oh well, 1-5. What does Entlich do now.
I posted some more pictures from the game here: http://www.nc-soccer.com/courage/may24/ I don't know what to say about the game. I guess it WAS that bad. Venus and Birgit might be an interesting combination. I don't know what the spark is going to be on offense, but it certainly seems like they need one (and one that is going to be consistent). I thought Fotop looked good in the first Washington game at home and obviously she had a good showing in the last game at Washington, but, man it just doesn't seem to be there this year. It reminds me of the first season when the goals seemed to be pure luck rather than derived from a consistent attack. I think the coach is probably wondering the same thing. What do we do now? Whatever Marcia put together in season two to start racking up the goals, it might be time to consult her again... ;-) Add to the woes that Slaton doesn't seem to be healthy or in great shape, yet. She isn't as dominating as she was last year. Yet she seems to have a lot of help in back with Bre, Burt, and Bax. Those three all appear to be playing reasonably well... But, the defense really depended on Slaton being able to chase people down last year. Go figure. Oh well... Ruminations for a Memorial Day Monday. Go Courage!
Venus looked dangerous. I didn't think Fotop had that bad of a game (and I'm not her biggest fan). I like Overbeck in the midfield. I thought Uni did a good job. T. Roberts just can not seem to complete a pass to her teammates. Her passing isn't just a single bad game issue. She didn't have a great defensive outing against the Spirit either. Do any of Burt's crosses ever find her intended target? They just seem to float away on her.
oh yeah, I thought Slaton was dangerous in attack for the 1st half. We do need her healthy for the whole game, though. Is this knee injury similar to the one that plagued her college career?