Actually, the United Soccer Coaches have them at #1, so you were right on. However, beware! The average of their opponents' winning percentages, which is 40% of the effective weight of their RPI, is only 0.4762, which is poor (as compared, for example, to UNC's 0.6548). This will improve after this weekend's games against ACC opponents, but it will be a drag on their RPI rating and rank. Their scores are impressive, but from an RPI perspective only the results -- W, L, or T -- matter and the scores don't matter. So, there seems to be reason for a lot of optimism, but when next week's RPI ratings come out, don't be surprised if their RPI rank is well below where the USC poll puts them.
LOL. I had to edit your post, all in fun, mind you. But we are the #1 ranked team, so that is pretty special. 🆕 @UnitedCoaches Rankings 🆕And a new No. 1 with the Hoos on top.#NCAASoccer | @UVAWomenSoccer pic.twitter.com/4FIA5Ze5uH— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) September 17, 2019 I understand RPI. Well, I understand it as it pertains to hoops, but we've not played a cupcake schedule. We've faced West Virginia, Georgetown and Penn State, and a once-thought-to-be-decent Minnesota. Not as sexy as Florida and FSU flying out to California to take on USC and UCLA, or UNC playing Lyon's bench, but still.
I finally got the William and Mary highlights done: And for those who just want to focus on Renee Kohler's goal:
Game was not really close Shot Charts + xG/xAPenn State on top, Virginia on bottom.Team xG1.29 - Penn State3.50 - VirginiaIndividual xG Leader - Meghan McCool (UVA) - 1.07Individual xA Leader - Samantha Coffey (PSU) - 1.07 pic.twitter.com/S3PzhPESDz— Chris Henderson (@chris_awk) September 18, 2019 3.50 xG for a top 10 matchup is huge
I finally got the Penn State highlights done. I am getting a little better at making them. I like McCool's goal. I'm pretty sure I've never seen anyone get up off the deck as fast as her. In any sport. I've got three examples of this (including this goal) and when I get to four, I'm going to make a highlight vid of just that.
Well, Virginia's tenure as #1 is likely to be short. In our only game of the week, we tied Wake Forest 1 - 1. I have to say, though, that these women are tough. Last week at Penn State, the Lions scored to tie the score in the 85th minute. We scored 26 seconds later for the win. Tonight, the Deacons went up 1 - 0 off a penalty kick in the 87th minute. We tied the score with 30 seconds left.
That was an outstanding goal to tie it by UVA--the long pass right where it had to be, and the great touch to control it and then poke it by the Wake Forest keeper. At the same time, WF squandered the win by being lax on that play--four players deep and somehow they let a ball get to a UVA player? UVA is the better team but Wake is very well coached and executed their defensive game plan very well.
Was frustrating as a Wake fan, although UVA was clearly the better team and certainly deserved something from the match. Wake played a deep 5-4-1 that gave space on the flanks and 30-40 yards out; it was just one of those games where the final ball or final touch wasn't there for UVA (except when it absolutely needed to be). I wouldn't read too much into this from your end: Wake played ultra-conservative even for a Tony da Luz team (which is saying something) and got stellar performances from quite a few players (which means this approach will likely continue throughout ACC play... ugh). I thought UVA did an excellent job of constricting space in the midfield/defensive areas, and you actually impressed me every bit as much as UNC did when they beat Wake 4-0 last week. You'll be fine, and good luck the rest of the way!
It's painful to watch, and it's not an isolated incident... this is how Tony da Luz sets them up to play (and has for quite awhile). The first reaction when forcing a turnover is to play the ball back to possess regardless of any opportunity to counter. It's so incredibly frustrating, because it really creates a situation where the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Here's all you really need to know: Wake has a grad transfer (Hayley Younginer) who led the country in goals two years ago for Wofford... and she played wing-back last night. Wake's leading scorer two years ago (Hannah Betfort, who was an all-ACC freshman at forward) is now a center back. And both played well last night (Betfort in particular)... but if you move a lot of your attacking talent to the backline, you really limit your ability to create chances in the final third.
I think that other teams will watch and follow that wake model if they don’t think they can win. Wake played very impressively on defense - Hannah #33 was very very impressive. She played like a beast and that was one of the more impressive center half performances I have seen. as for Virginia - couldn’t hit on frame on any shots. Their goal keeper looked very suspect. Just had to put shots on frame and I don’t think their keeper was up to task to save or secure it. Unfortunate. Jarrett remained a threat. Though any speed wake had - they had on defensive flanks. Which did nullify our pace. Virginia obviously played better but this is soccer. Sometimes the better playing teams don’t win. I don’t think you can fault the same game plan. If you asked anyone - wake getting a point is a win against Virginia.
thats the thing. Clearly you know Wake's personnel better than me, but its not like they dont have talent. They set up to bore UVA to death . I think they did UVA a favor in the longer term. Its possible they learned from this game and can take that experience to bigger and better things
UVA is not a particularly pacy team. Three players can win the end line consistently and they all do it differently..Petersen, Spaanstra and Jarrett. A game like that you miss Ordonez and Constant. UVA will have more weapons when it comes to breaking down teams set up like Wake when those 2 return.
Just to follow up: I think y'all are gonna be fine. Obviously the bulk of the ACC schedule is in front of us, but I've peeped some of the top teams here and there through online streams, and it's pretty clear UVA belongs on the short-list of national title contenders. Didn't quite have the final product last night, but it's still a road game against a likely NCAA team where you dominated everything but the scoreboard. Wish y'all the best going forward, and hoping that we don't have to run this back in the ACC or NCAA Tourneys because I don't see it being anywhere near as close a second time around.
here is the funny thing. People say Virginia isn’t a “pacy” team but the funny thing is that all the opposing people we have played - say we are pacy and fast. Very fast. Now to quantify - most teams don’t have pace everywhere. We have pace where it matters- namely on the wings. I would say Constance/spaanstra/Jarrett are very pacy. Peterson is not quite on that same level. I would also add that gorzak is pretty fast. Not pre-injury fast - but still fast. And ordonez and McCool night regularly be faster than the center halves they go up against. We were faster than every single person in the pitch at wake outside of their right back. Now don’t get me wrong - would we like more pace ? Certainly. Everybody does. But we are faster than every team we have played. That makes us pretty pacy. Maybe not Unc fast - but with Swanson the team has always been greater than the parts. And our defense will always be suspect. That’s just the style we play. We commit large numbers forward and the shape doesn’t always shift back correctly on counters. So any time the counter is on - we are suspect. Think of us like arsenal - always trying to attack. Always looking good. But defense is a second thought. It’s decent but good teams will look very effective.
Not fun to watch at all, but the Wake defense gave up 7 goals in its last two games heading into this game. You can't put yourself in position to win (especially in ACC) if you're leaking goals like that. Wake was 60 seconds from earning a W against arguably the most potent offense in the country right now. Agree UVA will be fine. If I'm being honest, I think they're playing better than UNC right now they just need to get shots on frame. UNC's performance against Louisville yesterday underscores that... half as many shots as UVA had against Wake, but got 3 goals.
Sure, but Louisville missed a penalty, missed a pretty clear cut tap in before UNC even scored. That game was won/lost in a 5min period in the first half. AS fans, we take temperatures every game because its boring to wait till it counts. None of this really matters bar health for the top teams. It comes down to how well they play at the end and getting the breaks. The one thing i take away from UVA this year is the mentality of the team is very encouraging. That frailty that has been there at times is not there this year. Odds are they wont win the ACC tournament or the NCAAs, but that wont be because they lose their nerve this year. This is a very good UVA team
HoosPlace is undergoing some technical work today, so here's the game report. Hey! Y'all get it first. LOL Virginia's Stay at #1 Likely to be Short A week ago, at Penn State, the Lions leveled the score against Virginia, scoring in the 85th minute. 26 seconds later Virginia struck to capture the win. Last night the Deacons converted a penalty kick in the 86th minute to take the lead. Virginia equalized in the 89th minute for the tie. These women don’t give up. Wake Forest 1 Virginia 1 Two weeks ago, Wake Forest played then #1 UNC and were thrashed 4 – 0. Since then, UNC dropped a game to Arkansas and UVa ascended to #1, which meant for the second straight week the Deacons played the top-ranked team in the country. This time the result was much better for Wake Forest, and for two-glorious minutes late in the game, they actually held the lead against UVa. Wake came out in a nominal 3 – 5 – 2 formation. I say nominal because the two wingbacks were forced to play mostly as defenders, which is per normal for teams facing the Cavaliers. Wake offered an interesting wrinkle to the How-to-Play-the- Cavaliers handbook: they attacked, particularly in the first half, central midfielder Taryn Torres. When Torres was deeper, they attacked the space in front of her. When she moved up, they attacked the space behind her. So while Virginia was the stronger team on the night – Hello, we’re #1 for a reason – Wake was able to maintain more possession than any team we’ve faced thus far. It was brilliant because who would have thought to attack Torres? She’s an absolute bulldog on the pitch with an astounding work rate (think Kyle Guy) and she never slows down. Most teams try to come up the right side where Alexa Spaanstra and Courtney Petersen man the flank because both are given more license to attack, and thus may leave Virginia vulnerable. Or so the thinking goes. Wake came straight up the pitch and it was remarkably effective. For the most part, the game was a chess match; the kind of game only a soccer fan would love. Spry Stadium is one of the bigger pitches in the ACC and both teams have learned how to maximize the space. Winger Becca Jarrett is used to finding herself with 10+ yards of space when she receives the ball at Klockner, just because opposing defenses aren’t used to teams able to find players so wide so quickly. For Wake, this space and ability to change the point of attack quickly becomes second nature. Jarrett got the end line and she had plenty of time on the ball, but she wasn’t her usual disruptive self. Spaanstra was relatively anonymous in the first half. She has become the engine for this team: she can turn the ball at will, possesses wonderful vision, and while she is quick, it is her change of pace that is truly remarkable. I coach girls youth soccer and when I teach them simple turns, I emphasize the two parts to a turn: change direction and change speed. Spaanstra’s game wholly embodies this change of pace and it affords her the space to be so disruptive. With her “absence” in the first half, Wake was able to possess the ball for longer stretches than UVa has seen before, and to be frank, the women got tired. One challenge that Coach Swanson is dealing with this year is a relative lack of depth, especially in comparison to recent years. Lizzie Sieracki was lost for the year and for the third straight game, both Diana Ordonez and Claire Constant were on the sidelines. Ordonez was still in a boot but Constant has graduated to a brace – and they were moving pretty well – so maybe soon they’ll be ready to contribute. But other than that, we have only two substitutes at this point. The past two games Ashlynn Serepca and Alissa Gorzak have swapped starting roles up front, as have Anna Sumpter and Sydney Zandi in the midfield. Freshman Cam Lexow has played in every game, but she’s not ready yet. Emma Dawson is going to be a fine replacement in two years for Taryn Torres in center midfield, but she is also only a spot player at this point. The starters are logging a lot of minutes, and in two physical games – this game going into extra time – they are showing signs of wear. Center forward Meg McCool plays very energetic defense, covering more ground than the average central striker, yet on this day, she was a step slow on half a dozen lovely crosses delivered by Becca Jarrett and Courtney Petersen. The other challenge posed by the permanent loss of Sieracki and the temporary loss of Constant is that Phoebe McClernon has been shifted out to right back. Now, even with Constant available, Coach Swanson has elected to move McClernon wide to accommodate freshman Talia Staude in the center when she’s in the game. Staude is going to be great: she’s physical, has the poise that the center defense position requires, and her distribution is good. But she’s not McClernon. Phoebe is a magisterial player with superb vision and touch on the ball, and she is our best player playing the most important position on the pitch. Except when she’s out wide. Plus, on the right, McClernon is a weaker player. She does attack. Relentlessly. But in the final third her distribution is, umm, average at best. And her shooting? Let’s just say there’s a reason why McClernon plays defense. A wide pitch that Wake knows how to utilize, coupled with the fatigue of our players, along with a relatively poor half by Spaanstra, made this game more of a dogfight than UVa might have expected. At the half Virginia held the usual lead in shots (5 -1) and they would go on to amass an 18 – 4 differential for the game. We were the better team, but Wake defenders Hanna Bettfort and Madison Hammond were up to the task. In the 87th minute, Wake’s Hulda Arnarsdottir finally made the kind of through ball behind our defensive line that so many teams dream about – yet find so hard to do, you know, actually out there on the pitch – and Torres, who had to have been exhausted, was the one to chase down, and foul, Wake’s Sofia Rossi. Madison Hammond took the penalty kick, and by my way of thinking, she telegraphed that she was going to her right. Keeper Laurel Ivory must have made the same read, because she got a good jump, but Hammond went left with a crisp strike. It looked like the game was over. I know that as a fan I despaired. I spent most of the next two minutes busying myself in the kitchen, basically avoiding the game. Fortunately these women are far more resilient than me. For the next two and half minutes, Virginia held total possession and managed four crosses to the top of the Wake box. The fourth, from Courtney Petersen, found Anna Sumpter at the penalty spot and she toe-poked it under the charging keeper and the game was 1 – 1. Last week it was Sydney Zandi scoring 26 seconds after a Penn State goal for the win. This night it was Anna Sumpter scoring with just a minute left to salvage the win. Sumpter and Zandi are fighting for the same starting spot alongside Torres and Spaanstra in the midfield. It’s going to be a tight race. Next Up: The Cavaliers travel to Blacksburg Thursday to take on the #18 (and perfect on the season) Hokies. We’ll have had almost a full week off between games (the only time this will happen all season) so I have to hope Constant and Ordonez will be available. This game will NOT be covered by ACCN or ACCNX. I have lots of UVa friends who claim that Tech is NOT our rival – they’re too cloaked with disdain – but for me, this is a big omission from ESPN. So in place of a game report, next week I’ll recap where this season has taken us thus far.
I know. I'm impressed with the will on this team. And a draw now is no big deal. It is kind of special to be ranked #1, and it can only bring more attention to the women, which is my driving goal. If they know they can score at any moment, well, that will only make them stronger.
Weird. I'm so fvcking dyslexic at this point in my life. Thanks for catching that before I go live with the game report.
Well, I'm also one of those people, but I get the point you make, @anthem in that there is some difference between pace and speed of play. I would agree that we play fast. We can jump on a loose ball and attack immediately. Spaanstra is quick, but her acceleration after a turn is 1st rate. Torres and Zandi have amazing engines. But in a foot race??? We don't have it. We're susceptible. Now Ivory seems to be coming off her line quicker this year, so she may be able to cover behind the back line, but I'll be worried anytime we play a top team. The ball that Arnarsdottir played to win the PK is our particular poison. Granted, that pass is danger to anyone. I just think it's our special kryptonite.