Ivory played well in this game but to say that she's going to be on the U.S. WNT is a major stretch. I mean, it's possible--but if there is one position where there is a surfeit of talent in U.S. women's soccer, it's keeper. There are a LOT of excellent keepers in this country--a lot. I've seen UVA play a lot--I'm a neutral when it comes to ACC teams but live in ACC country and watch a lot of the matches--and have always leaned to the notion that Ivory was overrated--but in truth it's been hard to rate her because she has not been called on too much over her career. UVa's good reputation could help her going forward, I'll say that. As for UNC, I'm not sure why anyone would, or could, call their style of play "tedious." Tedious in what respect? I would call their style of play just the opposite. That just sounds like superficial anti-UNC bias, to me. A team that really defined tedious to me over the last couple of years was Florida State. Haven't seen the Noles play this year--but I've watched more than a few FSU games in which they pass the ball around for minutes at a time and not only accomplish nothing but sometimes try nothing. They build-up, pass around, bring the ball to the line of confrontation--then push the ball back to the centerbacks and start over--and will do this multiple times sometimes. THAT can be tedious to watch.
I agree with you on UNC. Regarding FSU, what you are describing fits with how the very best teams at the highest level of the men, and many of the women (US excluded) play. Cycle back, probe, cycle back, probe, etc., etc.
The "assault" You mean the 50/50 collision that everybody disagreed with you on and nearly all of BigSoccer College WoSo came onto this the thread to push back on? https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/acc-2019.2091949/page-15 Yes, I remember it ... I remember it for being something UVA fans lost their minds about despite the replay in the stadium clearly showing it was a 50/50 collision and no where near a foul... and someone got kicked out for it. Was that you? and this article was posted soon after. https://virginiasports.com/news/202...cts-on-road-back-from-injury-and-looks-ahead/ ... and that red card reversed via VAR you referenced was ... not against UNC ... or Duke. Honestly man. You just once again wrote a very long post and half of it was you repeating and detailing a laughable officiating and ACC conspiracy theory. It's one thing for people to suggest a fan base is only upset about officiating because they lost ... it's a whole different ball game to go off the deep end like you are.
RE FSU: They are an outstanding possession team, to be sure, but I've seen that team on multiple occasions spend multiple minutes holding the ball while its opponent sits deep and....nothing happens. Eventually, they'll try something that doesn't work and repeat the cycle. It's good for FSU--they've got the ball and the opponent doesn't--but bad for those non-FSU fans who like a bit of entertainment value with their soccer matches! I should have made it clear that from this soccer fan's perspective only, they can be a bit tedious at times. For me the most tedious soccer matches are those when one team is completely dominant but cannot figure out how to penetrate/beat/score against a low block. Four minutes of passing it around, a foray that amounts to nothing, the opponent clears the ball but right back to the superior team, four more minutes of probing, then nothing, and on and on. I've seen many Dutch women's NT WC qualifying matches like this!
there was a point in the UNC Clemson game that I immediately thought of reading this. This year UNC is making a more concerted effort to be patient and pass the ball back and forth on the back line before moving forward. There have been times against some opponents this season that the concept of what to do with the space that ball movement provides was wholly confusing to some players. Abby Allen at one point in the Clemson game received the ball in front of me on the touch and just stood there for something like 20 seconds with the ball. Nobody challenged her.
I gotta get that on tape @babranski . I coach middle school girls and I now have the luxury of actually showing vid. That would make a great teachable moment. Can you remember when that occurred? 1st half or 2nd? Early in the period or late? Thanks.
I can do one better and gif it directly. My recollection of the moment is obviously off, though the overall point still stands that Allen obviously was uncertain what the heck to do with the time and space the Tigers were affording her. I should have remembered something was off about it being a knock about, as Allen is never on the touch unless she's covering for Bell and the OB on that side. She's the left side CB. 1445853269419429888 is not a valid tweet id
Funny thing, I guess it all is a matter of taste, because I love this kind of game. I love seeing if the much weaker team can pull it off all the way to the end -- although that seldom happens. There was an NCAA Tournament game years ago, High Point v UNC, where High Point tried it. They came up just short of pulling it off through regular time. Many UNC fans hated it. I loved it. Simply put, within the rules, try to find a way to win.
HoosPlace game report for Virginia at Boston College: https://hoosplace.com/2021/10/08/wsoccer/6156/ It’s been quite a fall for Boston College soccer since the glorious start to the 2018 season -- 11 straight wins and a climb to #6 in the polls -- as the Eagles entered the game as an ACC bottom feeder. The last four games between the two teams had been settled by a single goal and in the 20-game series between the two teams, BC had only been shut out once. Both of these milestones were broken in this game. Boston College came into the game fresh off a heartbreaking loss to Miami having surrendered the game winner in the 59th second of the 89th minute. Buzzer beaters just don’t happen that often in soccer. While not as dramatic, the loss to Virginia would be just as heartbreaking. AT THE BUZZER FOR THE WIN‼️#NCAASoccer x 🎥 @CanesFutbol pic.twitter.com/kNbkGO40EK— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) October 3, 2021 Boston College 0 Virginia 3 Boston College came out roaring against the Cavaliers and in just the third minute, BC’s Jenna Bike sent a wonderful cross that found Abby McNamara within the six-yard box. The weight of the pass might have surprised McNamara because she tried to just deflect the ball into the goal and instead skied it over the bar. This should have been a goal. 25 minutes later McNamara would again be on the receiving end of a lovely cross following great BC counter. She was offsides, but she missed this opportunity as well. Both of these chances were indicative of a first half where the Eagles ran the Cavaliers. Junior forward Sam Smith was especially active, and to be honest, it looked like she was channeling her inner Alexa Spaanstra and she provided three dangerous crosses in addition to providing McNamara’s second chance. I was impressed with the overall team speed for Boston College: they were fast, and they turned on the ball quickly, and they were dangerous when they changed the point of attack. Center back Michela Agresti filled the triple role of shutting down Diana Ordonez, snuffing out Sydney Zandi in the final third, and offering support in covering Spaanstra. Virginia had their chances for the first half hour of the game, but at no point in the first half did BC look like a team that was sitting 0 – 4 in the ACC. The levies broke for the Eagles in the 33rd minute when Diana Ordonez was brought down in the box. Ordonez had pounced on an errant BC pass and drove hard into the box where Michela Agresti was waiting. Ordonez lost the ball and then took it back, away from BC’s Eabha O’Mahony, who subsequently brought Ordonez down in the box. At first glance, as the ref blew his whistle, the homer in me thought it was a foul. There were no replays provided in the ACCNX feed, so it took me til the next day when I could make my own replay. Upon watching it two or three times, I thought that maybe O’Mahony got the ball first and that BC had been done in. But when I figured out how to play in slow motion, it seems more apparent that O’Mahony did NOT get the ball and that the ref was correct. You be the judge. VAR might have been nice to review this penalty call that allowed the women to go up 1 - 0 vs Boston College on Thursday.I think the ref got the call right. pic.twitter.com/0mfNi68ElA— Hoos Place (@HoosPlace) October 9, 2021 No matter. Ordonez took the penalty. And like Spaanstra before her this season, she seems she’s learned her lesson after last year’s disastrous penalty kick flameout in the ACC tournament. She kept the ball on the deck and slipped it beautifully into the side netting. 1 – 0 to Virginia. Boston College didn’t pack it in and they tried to bring the game to Virginia in the second half, but they had obviously tired after a playing the first half at full throttle. Sam Smith also moved over to right wing for most of the half where she made far less impact. Maybe the task of tracking back to chase Samar Guidry was too much of an ask. The game was effectively killed off in the 56th minute when in the scrum off a corner kick, Spaanstra put the ball in the back of the net. Normally an undemonstrative ball player, even after scoring, Spaanstra turned to the BC bench and raised her finger to her lips to shush the Eagles. The announcers had commented several times about the chirpiness of Eagle bench and it turns out they had been correct. Two minutes later on a corner from the same side, Lia Godfrey this time hit a driving cross that Spaanstra headed home at the near post. I’m wracking my memories, but this could have been Spaanstra’s first headed goal for Virginia. Giving up two goals in three minutes was too much for the Eagles. Both teams emptied their benches. In a welcome sign for the Cavaliers, Lacey McCormack again got into the game for an extended run spelling Claire Constant for the last 20 minutes. Adventures in VAR. Well, not so much, it turns out. It looks like referee Victor Borges made the right call on the penalty, but had he wanted to review the play, he would have been unable. There was but one camera on at the game. Over in Pittsburgh, where the Panthers were playing the Tar Heels, UNC won the game on a goal that VAR confirmed. How is it possible that in a game on the ESPN/ACC Network, between two Power 5 schools in the premier soccer conference in the country, in the third decade of the 21st Century, VAR is so haphazard? One game being decided by VAR while another lacks this capacity seems as erratic as if one game had two assistant referees and the other didn’t. How can a conference function with different rules for each game? These women deserve better. Next Up: The Cavaliers complete their tour of the norther tier, traveling to Syracuse on Sunday, October 10th. Game time has been changed to 12 noon.
Ahead of the Syracuse game, a look back at BC. NCAA - Boston College vs VirginiainStat Top Rated1. Alexa Spaanstra (UVA)2. Lia Godfrey (UVA)3. Laney Rouse (UVA)4. Samar Guidry (UVA)5. Laurel Ivory (UVA)Virginia had little problem with BC en route to a resounding ACC win. pic.twitter.com/kBSGu5V4uD— Chris Henderson (@chris_awk) October 9, 2021 Rouse did have a good game, maybe her best since entering ACC play.
Big picture. UVA are getting results. They are not scoring from open play vs teams that they should be dominating. This team needs to start clicking as tournament time approaches or it will be a long offseason
On the ACC Network Extra broadcast they clearly thought that Ron Raab was Steve Swanson. It was just funny that they kept showing Raab on the sideline.
I think I am remembering the correct game. A 1-0 UNC win? The thing I could not understand was the bunkering even when UNC went up a goal. They would not even care the ball forward much if they had the chance. Everyone stayed back. I have no issue with a team trying to get a win however they can strategically (as long as the play is not dangerous). What I cannot understand is essentially trying to hold a 1-0 loss. Down a goal, if you are still not trying to play office, it looks like you are trying to beat a betting line or something (though I do NOT actually think that’s the case). Can someone explain this to me? If memory serves Maria Lubrano scored UNC’s only goal
Nope it was 2009 and Lucy bronze scored in the 68th min. I swear I recall them still bunkering after they were down a goal
HoosPlace recap of Virginia at Syracuse: https://hoosplace.com/2021/10/11/wsoccer/6168/ Deja vu all over again for Syracuse On Thursday, despite hanging tough for a half against Florida State, Syracuse ended up losing 5 – 0. That score was eerily reprised against Virginia as the Cavaliers blitzed Cuse 5 – 0 with all five goals coming in a 12-minute span in the second half. Facing FSU and UVa back-to-back, (with Duke immediately preceding them for good measure,) is just life in the ACC. Syracuse head coach Nicky Adams faces a daunting task of rebuilding a program that has fallen on hard times. She’s in her third year, but any progress she made her first year may have been swept away by the overriding concern of keeping her players safe in last fall’s pandemic season. While she has the pedigree to suggest she’s the woman for the job – very successful player and second leading scorer in program history for Texas A&M, and a successful head coaching stint at Rice – this team seems further behind the other rebuilding programs going on at Pittsburgh, Boston College, NC State, and Wake Forest. Wake Forest 0 Virginia 5 For the fifth straight game, Lizzie Sieracki started at left back. Other than what I presume was a tactical change of Kayla White starting in goal against NC State, Steve Swanson has been able to play the same lineup for every game thus far in the ACC. Let’s take a moment to remember that last fall, Swanson used a different lineup for every game, one game had 13 players out, and had only two starters who were available for every game. Stability is crucial, and in a season that has been considered by many to be “The Year” for this program, stability will have to be the answer for a program that is still seeking an edge after the season-ending loss of Rebecca Jarrett. Virginia started slowly. Again. I’ve written many times how this Cavaliers team never gives up and plays to the final whistle. It’s the team’s cardinal trait. But it is also becoming apparent that this team starts sluggishly as if they’re not getting their morning dose of caffeine. This game was no exception and it was a full 15 minutes before I jotted a single note on the game – the longest it’s ever taken me to record something in my notebook – and that was a fairly tame shot from distance by Alexa Spaanstra. The game announcers were not to be fooled, though, and it was wryly amusing to hear them basically concede that it would only be a matter of if, not when, Virginia would break through. It was as if the Virginia players heard the announcers, because following the initial Spaanstra effort, UVa sprang to life and there were a flurry of better chances – five in the next six minutes – and another half dozen over the remainder of the half. Cuse keeper Lysianne Proulx had three great saves to keep the teams level heading into halftime. Proulx has long been my favorite (non-Virginia, of course) keeper in the ACC and I wonder what her career would have looked like if had she not had so many 10-save, 5-goal nights like these last two games. It didn’t take long for Virginia to announce that the second half was not going to be repeat of the first. It took just five minutes for Lia Godfrey to rocket a free kick off the crossbar. Two minutes later Spaanstra sent a driving cross that either Godfrey or Haley Hopkins could have converted. No matter. Two minutes later Virginia got the goal that opened the floodgates. Godfrey was standing 40 yards from goal and delivered a beautiful, looping cross to the far post which Hopkins ran onto perfectly and headed home. You can’t diagram a play as perfectly as this one. Two minutes later, a Taryn Torres corner found Sieracki on the back post and she brought the ball down and slotted it into the net. Sieracki had been crashing the boards, as it were, on corners all game, and this was “crashing” goal. Four minutes later, Godfrey and Hopkins worked a lovely give-and-go at the top of the box that Godfrey rifled home. By now all the Syracuse players were pointing fingers, except for Proulx. She just sat on the goal line for a couple of beats. This game was over and everyone knew it. The only real question was how many more goals was Virginia going to score. Literally a minute later, Spaanstra got baseline and fed the ball to Hopkins, who had timed her run perfectly, and Hopkins slotted home. That was four goals in 7 minutes. It was brutal. The last goal of the game came five minutes later when a glorious Alexis Theoret corner found Lacy McCormack. Hopkins had commanded all the attention in the box and McCormack made her run a foot or two immediately behind Hopkins and became the 12th Cavalier to score on the season. The green team took over, and despite trying to extend the lead, the score remained at 5 – 0. 🖐️ goals. 1⃣2⃣ minutes.✅ ACC road win.#GoHoos 🔶⚔️🔷 | #ALLIN ⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/Mz0DxOZnVY— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) October 10, 2021 Three of the five goals came off set pieces and I’m encouraged that Virginia has made real strides this year. We are, no doubt, struggling to score in open play, but in Haley Hopkins and Diana Ordonez, the Cavs have a pair of big, strong, classic center forwards. And with Theoret getting near-starter’s minutes, we’ve got a woman who has shown she can deliver in a dead ball situation. Next Up: Notre Dame on Sunday, October 18th. It’s been a true road trip for the Cavaliers as they have been sleeping in motels for two straight weeks. Saturday night in Raleigh seems a long time agon. Notre Dame has started strongly this season. While Florida State and Virginia are #1 and #2 in the polls, in terms of ACC standings, Notre Dame actually separates them both. Notre Dame got a jump on their ACC slate with opening matches against Miami, Boston College and Syracuse (a combined 1 – 17 in the ACC.) The Fighting Irish sit 5 – 0 – 1 but they are about to pay the piper because their last four games are at UVa, at Duke, at UNC and then home to host the surprising Wake Forest. Whew. Such is life in the ACC.
Much more institutional memory coming from you than from me. Really it's only been the past five-six years that I've been able to follow the team. But I agree, bunkering seems a little ridiculous. I presume that wasn't in the tournament...
Recruiting. A Big South or any small midmajor coach will make a hell of a big deal of only losing 1-0 to UNC. The players they're talking to likely wouldn't have seen the game, so wouldn't know how they played. They will make it sound like they were right there in the game with UNC. It looks good on the schedule when kids look them up, etc.
Laurel had an ice bag on her knee on the bench of the NC State game, so presumably she had some kind of knee pain that kept her out.
Interesting.Pretty cynical thing for a coach to do though. Fine to throw out a theory… any knowledge that this is actually done? What exactly do you tell you players down 1-0 in the 68th minute as the reason they should still bunker? It’s one thing to say we are going to counterattack, but my memory (which could be off) is that they did not even pursue balls they managed to kick past midfield. The most awesome group of fans I recall them facing were from Liberty. They’d come to UNC for a first round NCAA game and nearly match the number of UNC fans and out cheer the UNC people. They were always super polite though, never the slightest bit obnoxious.
Is there any other possible explanation? 'Let's lose for no reason at all' doesn't really cut it. '1-0 loss to UNC will make us look good' seems a lot more likely to me.
LOL. Thanks. Yeah, I saw her with a knee brace standing on the sideline. It was in my notes, but forgot that at midnight when I posted the above.
I think it made sense: Statistically speaking, given their RPI rating difference of 0.2660 that year (based on the current RPI bonus and penalty award system), High Point had a less than 1 in 1000 chance of winning. So if they do not continue to bunker, the score is virtually certain to go from 1-0 to something considerably worse. If they do continue to bunker, there always is that chance there will be that one break away that will result in a score and get the game to PKs.
Ok … I understand the theory. Just asking if it was known that coaches do this. My memory is that they didn’t really even try for that one breakaway. They didn’t follow the ball past midfield.