This has been a rough year for me as a soccer fan.
DC United, as I wrote previously, gambling that old legs would still have some magic, lost the gamble big-time and are all but out of the MLS playoffs. The Virginia Tech men, having lost their coach due to apparent recruiting violations, is floundering somewhere in the middle of the ACC.
The UVA men are doing their usual "we are a pretty good soccer team" thing. The US Men have qualified, and that is great, but have suffered some serious, some would say catastrophic, injuries in the process. Thus the victory may yet prove to be Pyrrhic.
On the "Plus" side, though, are the Stanford women, who over the weekend knocked off powerhouses USC and UCLA by 4-0 and 2-0 scores, respectively. USC is a fine team, maybe not as fine as their tradition would dictate, but a national power nonetheless. They could not withstand the relentless, multi-dimensional onslaught (engineered by the two Maradonas, Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press) that Stanford rained down on them. This victory put Stanford firmly in what I call the "scary-good category".
Two days later, Stanford faced UCLA, a team that is entirely capable of beating any team in the country. Throw out their early season lop-sided loss to UNC. The first three games in any college soccer teams schedule, men or women, are essentially preseason games, due to very limited preseason practice time. UCLA is, top-to-bottom, an outstanding soccer team, and they have the best pure striker in the country in Lauren Cheney.
Well, #1 Stanford handed them a 2-0 loss. This game was, to be sure, an epic battle, UCLA almost putting 1 or 2 goals in the back of Stanford's net. But, unlike Stanford's Final Four match last fall, it was Stanford that got the breaks this time. This time, the round thing went across that lonely white line for the Cardinal, causing digits on the scoreboard to change in their favor.
So, it would seem, there are two towers rising above the rest in women's D1 college soccer. One has long stood in the rarefied climes of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The gaze of its flaming eye must surely be fixed on the other -- one rapidly rising and already imposing, on a farm in Palo Alto, California.
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5 comments:
I just love your technical terms like "the scary good category". :)
Big weekend indeed for the Cardinal women. Big Soccer's Cachundo and EPL88 paint a real good picture of what the soccer was like. Kel was very happy to see two of her cousins (and her Uncle) and rewarded our trek with wonderful play. I'm biased, but she really is extremely fun to watch and things happen when she's playing. Her parents were very good athletes in their day but even they are surprised, especially with her competiveness and tenacity.
Keep your eye on the Freshman mid defenseman, ALina Garciamendez( plays on the Mexican National team). Dan, my bro, says she'll probably be Stanford's best defenseman, EVER! She's basically anchoring the defense right now, as a frosh. Her size nullifies the big girls, including Cheney. She's certainly not playing like a frosh.
Cami Levin doesn't start but comes in and can play any position, and score. What a weapon.
LT is getting better by the week. Got to meet her and her parents. Truly delightful folks and she is a real card(no pun).
Stanford defenitely has the best team in the nation, but wins don't always go to the best team.
Will they let their guard down sometime over the next few weeks? Everyone will be gunning for them.
Hey, we took a bicycle tour on Saturday of the Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge with Sasalito(sp) on the other side, ferry return. What a blast! Highly recommend that tour.
Jerry,
re: Big weekend indeed for the Cardinal women. Big Soccer's Cachundo and EPL88 paint a real good picture of what the soccer was like. Kel was very happy to see two of her cousins (and her Uncle) and rewarded our trek with wonderful play. I'm biased, but she really is extremely fun to watch and things happen when she's playing. Her parents were very good athletes in their day but even they are surprised, especially with her competiveness and tenacity.
- she has been the best soccer player on that team for four years now. Hmmm. Best player on the best team in the nation -- seems to me that is Hermann Trophy material. Ah, but politics enter into such things.
re: "Keep your eye on the Freshman mid defenseman, ALina Garciamendez( plays on the Mexican National team). Dan, my bro, says she'll probably be Stanford's best defenseman, EVER! She's basically anchoring the defense right now, as a frosh. Her size nullifies the big girls, including Cheney."
Well, you and I were wondering who was going to fill the shoes in the central defense, and it looks like we have our answer. She marked Cheney out of the match. Huge.
re: "Cami Levin doesn't start but comes in and can play any position, and score. What a weapon.
"
I don't see any shame in coming off the bench for a team like Stanford. Just as there is no shame in playing 4th line for a certain hockey team from Pittsburgh. Cami Levin (and several other SU players) are what is called in soccer "super-subs". They come in and change the game for the better. Cami in particular is a clever player. Oh, my, yikes there are so few clever players in college ball. They are not always the best athletes (though Cami *is* athletic) but they win games.
re: "LT is getting better by the week. "
That is good news for the Card, and ominous for their opponents. If she can be at her fittest and freshest at tourney time, that will really help the Card. Last year she kind of faded in the tournament's later rounds, but this time she knows what to expect.
re: "Stanford defenitely has the best team in the nation, but wins don't always go to the best team.
"
In no sport is that more true than soccer. If an inferior team can 11-behind-the-ball bunker, they can either steal a goal on the counter or take it to PK's and then who knows what happens. Throw in the fact that college players are kids who don't always travel well or get enough sleep, eat/hydrate properly etc. etc. etc. means anyone can get beat.
re: "Will they let their guard down sometime over the next few weeks? Everyone will be gunning for them."
It is extrememly hard to go undefeated/untied in college soccer, regardless of who you are. They could lose one and tie one and probably still be a top seed in the tourney. As long as people stay healthy I think they are in good shape even with a little letdown which I too hope does not happen.
The thing about the tourney is, when you get down to the final 4, any one of those teams can win it. Let's say we have Stanford, UNC, UCLA, & Portland as the final 4. *Any* one of those teams could win, though I would say Portland a bit less likely than the pther three. Anyone of those teams could win all the rest of their season games each by a score of 10-0 and it would still come down to them being essentially even in the final four.
Another thing I keep coming abck to is all too often it is the best hackers that win the tourney and not the best soccer players. This is more true on the men's side, but I have seen my share of it on the wons side. An exception was the Wake Forest men's team that won it all a couple years ago. They were an AWESOME soccer team, and won the tourney playing soccer at a very high level.
Stanford reminds me A LOT of that Wake team.
Ron,
I thought I posted this to you on Twitter..but guess not.
Last weekend I found out why Stanford's Soccer field is called the Farm. Do you know?
Jerry,
I hadn't known before we discussed it on twitter, which caused me to google it. Apprently a reference to the campus grounds in general which used to be Leland Stanford's farm.
Ron
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