Stanford Soccer 2004 [R]

Barnie and Hayley travel to Sao Paulo, Brazil with the U.S. Under-21 National Team [link].

 

Brazilian Blog No. 2 [link]

 

From the Stanford Soccer Newsletter

STANFORD WOMEN EARN HARD-FOUGHT DRAW AGAINST SANTA CLARA

The Stanford Women's Soccer team took on South Bay rival Santa Clara Broncos in the final spring game of the year on Wednesday evening May 19th. It was a very entertaining game for the 700 fans in attendance who witnessed a 1-1 tie. Stanford played very good possession soccer and created some excellent scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, the Cardinal could not capitalize on most of the chances. However, the team showed great character coming back from a goal down to eventually tie the game.

With ten minutes remaining, leading scorer this spring, Leah Tapscott scored on a cross by Natalie Sanderson. Leah Tapscott displayed particular power in her game by making a number of long surging runs with the ball through the heart of the SCU defense forcing the Broncos to foul to stop the play. Tapscott carried evidence of her rough treatment at the hands of the Broncos by wearing an ice wrap on her bruised shoulder after the game. Midfielder/Forward, Gina Farias-Eisner provided fans with a preview of things to come in future seasons with her inventiveness and imaginative dribbles. Farias-Eisner, playing nothing like a freshman, gave the Bronco defense troubles by continually switching flanks and starting attacks from all areas of the field.

Despite giving up a goal, the Cardinal defense was solid and effective with strong play in the back from Rachel Buehler. Amy Grady, displaying the veteran experience of an upper-class student-athlete, was solid & effective as the holding mid-fielder. The Cardinal showed a variety of attack options with Heidi Herrick & Katie Wayland making wide runs out of the midfield to open the play on the flanks. Emilee Shim contributed to the offense by making good use of the ball and finding space in the attacking third on a number of occasions.

The Cardinal ended the spring season with a strong team performance despite having a number of injuries in the spring which reduced the playing roster. The Stanford Orthopedic staff had to use the sharp tools on Shari Summers and Jennifer Farenbaugh while Rachel Zollner has sported a right hand cast for the past few weeks. All are expected to be back and contributing in a big way for next season. On the comeback trail, Megan Alderete & Marcie Ward were able to get into the Santa Clara match showing that they will be back on the field in the fall of 2004 despite missing the last season. There is good news to report that Brittany Oliveira, graduated senior who ended the season with a serious knee injury, is back on the field training and getting her game back. Grad senior, Anna Hare, has been popping-up at spring training sessions making guest appearances on the field to help the coaching staff make up numbers for drills and games.

Coach's Comments: The entire team played very well and we deserved at least a tie from our performance. Overall, the team made great strides during the spring and we are excited about building upon this foundation in the fall. We appreciate all of your support and look forward to seeing you in in the fall. Go Cardinal! We will see you on Friday, August 27 at 7pm at Maloney Field for the 2004 fall home opener versus Utah.

 

I don't know what Biggie's injury is.

Summers tore her ACL last season.

Zollner's wrist was in a cast the last half of the season.

 

Brazilian Blog No. 3 [link]

 

From the U.S. Under-19 WNT CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament in Montreal, Canada [link]

 

From USSoccer.com: Buehler's Long Trek Back To the Field

Nice article, although Buehler didn't take the field until late September. Even then, she was still gimpy. I felt that Buehler wasn't fully fit & ready in that game against Georgia. However, the Card only had 13 healthy field players prior to that, so Rat probably thought a gimpy Buehler was better than nothing. She steadily improved throughout the season as she gained confidence & became comfortable with the environment. Buehler really came into her own in the game against the weenies, showcasing her quick feet and her strength in winning all those balls in the air.

 

There's no official press release yet, but Barnie, Biggie, and Hayley are in the U-21 Nordic Cup Team going to Iceland next weekend.

 

It's official. Barnie, Biggie, & Hayley are part of the U-21 WNT going to Iceland to play in the Nordic Cup.

 

Jennifer Farenbaugh, Hayley Hunt and Nicole Barnhart share their experiences from the U-21 team as the U.S. captured its sixth-straight Nordic Cup in July. [link]

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On the recruiting front, great news regarding the Card’s recruiting efforts for 2005. We may have missed out on the Surf’s Carrie Dew, but we got Surf’s GK Alex Gamble – a U-19 National Team Pool member. Woohoo! Alex is an imposing physical specimen standing at or close to 6 foot. I have no doubt Alex will start next year after Barnie graduates.

The Surf are an important pipeline to the Card. Looking forward to Ali Hawkins in 2006.

Now if we can get Taylor Numann & Lauren Shapiro to commit for ’05, we’ll be set.

 

Welcome to the board cardinal.

Is the Meemster officially part of the roster? The 2004 roster is lean, & we need all the healthy bodies we can field. Next spring’s roster will only have 14 players, three of which are GKs. With the inevitable national team invites, the number of field players will be further decimated. The Card will either train/play short or the other 2 GKs will have to play field. And it may still be short.

With the coaching situation and transition, recruiting took a hit the past two years and it showed in how lean the past two classes were. Recruiting for any Stanford program is a different kind of animal, & I hope that Rat has learned the nuances of recruiting for Stanford. Rat needs to recruit at least five field players for ’05. Rat’s not at St. Mary’s anymore; Stanford are a national program. Trolling for local talent will help, but there’s only so much to go around, so he has to expand his search nationwide for top-notch talent. The reality is that Stanford will never be able to recruit the best talent, in this case, soccer. In actuality, that hasn’t stopped other Stanford programs from overachieving and winning national championships since Leland stepped in. Ultimately, Leland will benchmark Rat’s success not against other soccer programs, but against the other Stanford programs. Other Stanford programs operate at a similar grind, same Admissions requirements, same everything. And if they can recruit outstanding student-athletes and win, and if Rat can’t …..

Let’s look at the talent up the spine.

Barnie’s a solid wall and is the best GK in the country.

Buehler’s play will be missed. She’s a monster in the air. Probably the Card’s best defender. Positions herself very well and very difficult for forwards to get rid of.

Hayley is the latest in a distinguished line of Stanford defenders. Spilger cast a long shadow on the defense, so now it’s Hayley’s turn to lead. Spilger was a little more organized & played smart, while Hayley’s a little bit stronger and tougher. However, I felt more comfortable with a junior Spilger leading the defense than with a junior Hayley. Whatever. I think Hayley will be fine as long as she can find her outlets wide & she has confidence in the player(s) in front of her. There’s only so much defense Hayley can play if the player(s) in front of her don’t defend.

With Buehler out, who gets to play with Hayley in the middle? This may be an ideal spot to blood Lizzy George. One way or another, I see Lizzy George in the starting lineup somewhere. She’s worked hard this summer by guesting for the eventual champs Laguna Hills at Surf. Jen might do well in the middle, but I think she would be ideal to play right back. She was a revelation when rotated with Pabon. There may be no one quicker than Pabon, but Jen plays better defense and has great ability to dribble up the touchline and launch those crosses. Look for Rat to play her like a Javier Zanetti. Lindsey could probably line up next to her twin, but it’s probably best to utilize her speed up the left. Or unless a better left back emerges.

Tapscott will play somewhere up the spine. I liked her tough-as-nails play when she was utilized as d-mid. She stabilized team defense which allowed other mids to become more offense-oriented. She learned how to play the position and knew when to go forward. One of the things I really like about her is that she’s not one to shy away from getting in someone’s face, which is what this team needs since the great and influential mids such as Withers, Myers, Carlson, and Marquand have graduated. If I were to anoint team captains based on on-field example and grit, I would pick Tapscott and Hayley, along with Barnie.

If healthy, Shari Summers will set the Card’s rhythm in midfield. Much has been said about how scoring-challenged the Card were last year, but when Summers went down, what creativity there was went down with her. Plays with both feet and has great touch on the ball with her perfectly weighted passes up and across the field.

I don’t think Martha West came back so that she could warm the bench. Figure her to be the 3rd mid.

Marcie will play up top of the spine. She plays like Bergkamp, very skilled and very fluid, and able to open up the attacking third with penetrating dribbles and deft passes. Someone else has to emerge, otherwise opponents will just gang up on Marcie. Tapscott could play up top but I wouldn’t trust anyone else to play d-mid. And when d-mid was unsettled, the Card were always on their heels. I liked what I saw in Gina and maybe she’ll emerge after having played with this group for a year. Her dribbling and slashing abilities were wasted playing wide, and perhaps the Card will be a better scoring threat when partnered with Marcie. If Rat elects to play with three forwards, maybe this would be a good spot to blood April Wall. None of the incumbents really got anything going last year, so why not try the frosh.

The first game is against Utah. Utah are an up-and-coming team, vastly underrated, have a good incoming class. And combined with their incumbents, Utah will be a formidable challenge. Utah are tall and well-drilled on defense. Coaching the 86s enabled Manning to recruit better players and those who liked his style and with what he was building in Utah. And by assisting with the 87s, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him recruit another good class. Manning’s turning things around there. The guy has something to prove, and he’s not coming here just so he can lose.

The Card will take their lumps during the non-conference season. After Utah, there are the long road trips, and of course Satan Clara. If they work hard on both sides of the ball leading to and during the league season, I’m optimistic about the Card’s chances in winning the Pac.

 

I see that the Meemster is part of this roster.

 

Thanks for the update l'AJA. Buehler wasn't at practice last week but the Card still looked good without her. The girls looked very good and fit. This defense is fast and very good, and I think will surprise a lot of people.

 

From the Palo Alto Weekend edition [link]

 

On the recruiting front, the Card get a commitment from defender Allison Falk (Pleasanton Rage/San Ramon Valley HS). Hmmmmm . . . . . I wonder if Rat is even considering Taylor Numann or Erin Wylie.

 

From the Daily Utah Chronicle [link] .....

..... and from the Palo Alto Weekly Weekend Edition: West takes advantage of a second chance

 

Stanford 3-0 Utah


Guess who’s back? Yep, Marcie’s back. Marcie didn’t waste much time trying to get to know the visitors when she scored her 1st goal in the 1st minute. On a set play, Sanderson found herself against three lazy defenders at the edge of the PA. She wisely slotted the ball to a streaking Marcie. Just like that, Card 1-0.

Marcie scored her brace when she stole the ball in midfield, did a number on the GK, took her out of the play, and calmly slotted home her 2nd.

You can tell Marcie doesn’t have her timing back yet, because she could have scored an easier goal when she stole another ball at the center circle to beat one defender. But Marcie misjudged her dribble. Oh well.

The Card scored their 3rd in the 45th minute when Marcie played a short corner to Lizzy George, who whipped a cross that found Hayley’s head, then Leah’s foot. Card 3-0 HT.

Manning made the soccer gods angry when he compared his keeper to Barnie. Big mistake. LOL. The Card showed everyone who were better and why. But Utah are not a bad team. They obviously have talent and will be a good team as their season progresses.

The Card did not dominate this game. Utah were better at winning balls in midfield. The first 20 minutes showed the Card play a very passive game with people just standing around and with no one making runs when the ball is held up top. Early on, movement off the ball was non-existent. It might take a while for the midfield to gel – losing balls, passing to phantom teammates, and most important of all, not contesting balls & not playing the ball forward. Grady needs to play big and move the ball forward. The twins need to take their time to find their outlets wide instead of whacking the ball upfield to no one in particular. Leah was constantly clipped by the opponent, played hurt for most of the game, and eventually had to leave.

Officiating was mediocre at best; no blood no foul being the mantra of the night. I hope Rat sends the tape to the assessor so that he could rip the CR’s ass off for persistent infringement among other things. I could be wrong, but this might be the same CR who called the game against the weenies. Wayland was clipped from behind by the last field player inside the PA with five minutes left, but with the Card up 3 goals, no way this crew was gonna make that call. With the game in hand and with no relief from the officials, Rat wisely took out Marcie with 20 minutes left, and the rest of the starters a little later, and blooded the newbies in the process.

After this game, I hope Rat has a better idea of who his first team are. Stanford soccer has always been about playing your best XI regardless of seniority, and finding an effective system to use that best XI. To imply that Shari Summers is not among the best ten field players is, at best, idiotic.

This is the sort of game that illustrates the importance of Buehler’s presence/absence on the field. Buehler plays big and does a lot of the dirty work that enable the Card to move forward. Without Buehler winning those balls wherever she plays, you see Summers start drifting back to win balls and playing deeper where she’s not as effective in channeling her creativity. In effect, you lose more than one player.

Marcie’s goals were spectacular, but to be honest, her timing is not yet there. Once she gets into the groove of things, she will start to terrorize opponents. She still needs help up top though. Yes it’s only the first game, but when there’s no one naturally moving off the ball or making those diagonal runs, it’s a cause for concern. These are instinctive moves that cannot be taught and learned in just a couple of months.

The frosh sported their initiation Cardinal-red hair job. LOL. Erica Holland was impressive during pepper. Lizzy George had a rough start when it seemed that everyone else was a step ahead of her. Footspeed’s not her greatest asset and because she’s a wobbly runner I feared that she’d hurt herself. But when she started to settle down, she made instinctive runs and made passes off midfield and created exciting plays. Her inclusion into the game enabled the Card to hold the ball better, be a little more adventurous, and do their trademark overlapping runs.

Were it not for Marcie’s goals, the player I was most impressed with was April Wall. Starting for Jen at right back, April played a fantastic game. She is as good as advertised. I don’t recall seeing her beaten once; she completely shut down everything on her side. Plays with confidence, has decent speed, but her spatial awareness sets her years ahead of many of her teammates. It’s as if she’s played with this team for years. Jen has competition. LOL. If she continues to play big, I think April will nail down a spot on the first team. When Jen comes back from her concussion, April will find a spot someplace else on the first team.

To digress somewhat, Pabon was in the stands and turned heads everywhere she went. She looked stunning.

It’s nice to get that first win out of the way. The next two weeks will see the Card take their act on the road. It would be nice to see the Card win on these trips. But what’s even more important are the bonding and the chemistry that happen on these trips. With only 18 healthy bodies, it won’t be difficult to figure out who to take. When the Card get to know each other better and learn what their tendencies are on the field, they will develop better chemistry and will make for effective team play.