armchair
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After a frustrating opening match against an inferior Lipscomb, UT played much better today in beating Ga. Southern 2-0. Coach Pensky played a lot of people in the opener, and I think that depth paid off in this second game of the weekend, as we were quicker and fresher and just better than Ga. Southern.
What's exciting about this squad is that the Vols have got a /bunch/ of athletic, talented young players, along with some good veterans, and it was the veterans McClung and Amy Neal who scored today--and both played very good games besides. McClung scored the opening goal and made some nifty passes. Neal was the "man of the match" as she terrorized Ga. Southern with her speed and strength and determination in the second half. She created at least four quality scoring chances for herself, put two in the net (one of them called off because of an offside) and might have had another opportunity to score were it not for a mysterious offside call on a breakaway. She was great.
I think as the young players gain experience, this is going to be an exciting team to watch. Ironically, the one young player that I have questions about after today is super-recruit Cousins. She started in midfield today but probably had less impact on the game than any of the freshman. She is good when she has the ball--but she doesn't seem terribly fast or athletic, and did not get to many loose balls. As a result, she did not figure much in the second half action, when the Vols were putting a ton of pressure on the opponent. That kind of jumped out at me today as I saw a lot of Vols flying around the field.
Keeper J. Eckles didn't have to do much but made one very good save on a ball that almost went in off a deflection in the second half. I have to say that a number of her goal kicks have not been very good. They are short and, in some cases, low--and thats a risky combination--you can see your opponent coming back at your goal, with few defender back, pretty quickly.
In any case, this was a pretty encouraging performance from a team with considerable upside.
What's exciting about this squad is that the Vols have got a /bunch/ of athletic, talented young players, along with some good veterans, and it was the veterans McClung and Amy Neal who scored today--and both played very good games besides. McClung scored the opening goal and made some nifty passes. Neal was the "man of the match" as she terrorized Ga. Southern with her speed and strength and determination in the second half. She created at least four quality scoring chances for herself, put two in the net (one of them called off because of an offside) and might have had another opportunity to score were it not for a mysterious offside call on a breakaway. She was great.
I think as the young players gain experience, this is going to be an exciting team to watch. Ironically, the one young player that I have questions about after today is super-recruit Cousins. She started in midfield today but probably had less impact on the game than any of the freshman. She is good when she has the ball--but she doesn't seem terribly fast or athletic, and did not get to many loose balls. As a result, she did not figure much in the second half action, when the Vols were putting a ton of pressure on the opponent. That kind of jumped out at me today as I saw a lot of Vols flying around the field.
Keeper J. Eckles didn't have to do much but made one very good save on a ball that almost went in off a deflection in the second half. I have to say that a number of her goal kicks have not been very good. They are short and, in some cases, low--and thats a risky combination--you can see your opponent coming back at your goal, with few defender back, pretty quickly.
In any case, this was a pretty encouraging performance from a team with considerable upside.
