After injuries to Roger Levesque and Todd Dunivant, Stanford's offense has fallen into disarray. A 0-0 draw with Cal on Friday makes it four straight games without scoring. And despite hitting the post once, they didn't deserve a goal. Fortunately, the Cardinal defense is outstanding. If their two stars don't return to full health, the drought is likely to continue. For their own part, Cal showed even less of an attack. Playmaker Mike Munoz is a very intelligent, skillful player, but his teammates let him down. Still, they were very strong defensively. It's remarkable that their starting backline consists entirely of sophomores. The outstanding player of this game was Cal's right center back Troy Roberts. It's rare for a great young athlete to have such good defensive positioning, too. If you like attractive soccer, Friday's other west coast results were encouraging. - Washington upsets UCLA, 2-1. UDub always impresses with its passing and movement ... little surprise, then, that its alumni often do well as pros. - Fresno State beats Oregon State. Frankly, I think that Oregon State is being exposed as a paper tiger. This is a team that plays with a lot of energy but not nearly enough skill. - (a small boast here) Six games ago, I posted that San Jose State had enough skill to turn their season around. At the time, they were 4-7-0. After beating UNLV 2-1 on Friday, they're now 10-7-0.
I thought Stanford had a more dangerous attack, only because Cal couldn't get anything going. But the 0-1 result at Berkeley last week and the scoreless tie last night @ Maloney has condemned this team to mediocrity. An 0-2-2 record the past 2 weeks with zero goals scored. It wasn't that long ago we were ranked # 1, but even I refused to believe we were that good. The lack of midfield creativity and Roger's lack of production hurts. The Pac-10 title is all but gone. Rematch at home against Fresno State next weekend.
FWIW, I watched my first Santa Clara Bronco's game this season against St. Mary's. While in the past I supported my Alma Mater, I basically had to force myself to watch the team, because the soccer being played was so unappealing. I always watched Stanford's performances with envy. I was pleasantly surprised this time. They have a new coach, Cameron Rast, a former asst. He has the team playing a much more possesion oriented passing game, with much less phyiscal brutality than the previous Mitch Murray years. They were clearly the superior team Saturday, as indicated by the 4-1 score. They did seem to lack the vision for the one final pass in and around the box, to get the ball into the net. If they find that, they could make a run in the playoffs if they are able to get an at large berth. More realistically, they will likely show tremendous improvement next year, as they seem to have a pretty good crop of underclassmen getting generous playing time this year. A lot will depend on whether Cochrane and Cronin stay. Ryan Cochrane is deserving of the reputation he has acquired as a quality defender. He really stood out. He won every high ball in his area, and the well placed distribution of his headers usually ended up at his teammates feet. He also made some nice runs forward displaying quite a nice bit of dribbling skill around the opposition's midfield.
A few results from Sunday... UCLA 2-0 Oregon State Fresno State 3-2 Washington San Jose State 0-1 New Mexico -- goal with one second left in OT Also, Loyola Marymount beat USF 1-0 on Friday, putting the two teams in a tie for first place in the WCC.
Levesque has a knee problem, while Dunivant is listed as his quadriceps. Both are playing hurt at this point.
I have seen a few Stanford games this year, but this game was my first look at Cal. Here are some thoughts from the game: - Stanford was clearly the more talented side (overall). - I don't know if it was tactical, but the way the game played out for Cal was brilliant. They played very well organized defense, let Stanford keep as much posesson as they wanted in the middle 3rd, and looked to counter through the speed of that Carr guy. They relied on their stellar backline, and they almost stole another game from Stanford. I was really impressed with all of their defenders. - I could see Cal making some noise in the tourney, the way they are playing. They frustrate the other team and look to score on the counter. Combined with a little luck, this is the formula for success in college ball. - Twellman looked really good playing in the back for Stanford. He could be all Pac-10 at that position. But do they need him up front too much, especially with Levesque and Dunivant injured (and Fernandez currently having a nightmare)? - If Stanford can get their act together in the next couple of weeks, I see them coming out of this region. I think they are most susceptible to the blue-collar teams like Cal. If they can show some patience in the final 3rd, the should be OK. I am interested to see what happens when UCLA comes to Palo Alto this weekend.