Tennessee Soccer 2016 Season Thread

#76
#76
I said Kupritz was more effective than Gouner, which I think is true. I didn't say she was a good forward--and in fact I have been critical of her play myself ALL YEAR. I said in my above post that her attempted centering pass when she made the good drive onto the a&m goal was ironic because she almost never passes the ball--and in fact should have taken the shot. She needs to play with her head up and have some awareness of what teammates are doing and where they are when she gets the ball.

We are not getting much of anything out of her or Gouner. McClung might be a better option at right forward as she does know more about playing the position. She doesn't have the pace of the other two, she couldn't press the opposition backs as well as they do--but she is a more savvy player. Pensky likes speed on the wings, getting the ball out wide to forwards, who then make crosses. But defenders know that Kuptritz and Gouner just want to try and beat them to the end line and cut off the runs. I think we could do more to take advantage of Gouner's speed--maybe bring Wilkinson toward midfield to take a pass, turn and release Gouner down the right side.

I was watching South Carolina play Arkansas and the gamecocks are good at counterattacking because they are quick and direct--as is Arkansas. They'll bring McCaskill up, get her the ball, and she will turn and send a deep pass to a breaking teammate. Or McCaskill will often be the one breaking down the flank herself. We are too slow and imprecise with our passes to be good at counter-attacks.
 
#77
#77
It's nice to see the Vols playing better--but we remain a LONG shot to get in the NCAA tournament. We don't have a single good non-conference win--and our non-conference loss to Washington was doubly bad because the huskies have won only 1 game in the Pac10/12. There is another problem: The pundits and experts do not have the SEC ranked highly as a conference. The SEC is 6th in the conference power rankings, according to Hero Sports. I don't know how they arrive at their rankings, but they've got the Big 12 ahead of the SEC, which I dispute.

Right now, Hero projects that only 4 SEC teams would make the NCAA tourney--S.C., florida, arkansas and auburn. It has 9 ACC teams getting in--which is an absolute joke. It has NC State getting in, I assume solely because NC state beat UNC--but otherwise the Wolfpack have a losing record in the conference and no other wins of note. They've also got Louisville getting in--and, again, I don't think Louisville has beaten anybody good, and they lost to Kentucky. I have no idea why they were ranked 21st prior to losing to Clemson. No conference should get 9 teams in the tournament--that's a joke. No conference should get more than six, really.

As for the Vols, I see no way we get in unless we beat Kentucky, beat Miss. State--and then beat either South Carolina or Auburn, for starters. There is no way we get in without doing that, IMO, unless we win the SEC tournament. We have to show that we can beat a good team, and that means beating either SC (preferable) or auburn--and we HAVE to beat kentucky and Miss. State, both of whom will be desperate for wins themselves to get in the SEC tournament.

If we were to beat kentucky, miss. state and one of auburn or south carolina, we still wouldn't get in the NCAA tournament, I don't think. I'm pretty sure those three wins would get us into the top six in the conference and thus get a bye in the tournament. We'd then surely have to win at least our first game in the SEC tourney--to get to the semifinal--and maybe our first two games, which would put us in the final. We'd basically need to show that we are the 4th best team in the conference. We are not even a bubble team at the moment--and shouldn't be. But we are playing pretty good soccer, and need to keep it going.
 
#78
#78
armchair said:
It's nice to see the Vols playing better--but we remain a LONG shot to get in the NCAA tournament. We don't have a single good non-conference win--and our non-conference loss to Washington was doubly bad because the huskies have won only 1 game in the Pac10/12. There is another problem: The pundits and experts do not have the SEC ranked highly as a conference. The SEC is 6th in the conference power rankings, according to Hero Sports. I don't know how they arrive at their rankings, but they've got the Big 12 ahead of the SEC, which I dispute.

Right now, Hero projects that only 4 SEC teams would make the NCAA tourney--S.C., florida, arkansas and auburn. It has 9 ACC teams getting in--which is an absolute joke. It has NC State getting in, I assume solely because NC state beat UNC--but otherwise the Wolfpack have a losing record in the conference and no other wins of note. They've also got Louisville getting in--and, again, I don't think Louisville has beaten anybody good, and they lost to Kentucky. I have no idea why they were ranked 21st prior to losing to Clemson. No conference should get 9 teams in the tournament--that's a joke. No conference should get more than six, really.

As for the Vols, I see no way we get in unless we beat Kentucky, beat Miss. State--and then beat either South Carolina or Auburn, for starters. There is no way we get in without doing that, IMO, unless we win the SEC tournament. We have to show that we can beat a good team, and that means beating either SC (preferable) or auburn--and we HAVE to beat kentucky and Miss. State, both of whom will be desperate for wins themselves to get in the SEC tournament.

If we were to beat kentucky, miss. state and one of auburn or south carolina, we still wouldn't get in the NCAA tournament, I don't think. I'm pretty sure those three wins would get us into the top six in the conference and thus get a bye in the tournament. We'd then surely have to win at least our first game in the SEC tourney--to get to the semifinal--and maybe our first two games, which would put us in the final. We'd basically need to show that we are the 4th best team in the conference. We are not even a bubble team at the moment--and shouldn't be. But we are playing pretty good soccer, and need to keep it going.
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I agree that right now the Vols wouldn't make the NCAA tournament, and my view is the Vols likely need 3 more regular season wins and possibly 1 SEC tourney win to lock it up. One game at a time. This week is KY. Must win.
 
#79
#79
I was looking at some RPI rankings--maybe even compiled by the NCAA, must check--and the Vols are 98. What's bizarre is that Miss. State--one conference win, four wins total--is ranked 68. Why, or how, I don't know. I think losing to SE Missouri was brutal and hurt our RPI, as they've not had a good year, and neither has Washington. (I actually thought SE Missouri was pretty decent defensively against us, but then we were bad offensively.)

One analyst has only 4 SEC teams getting into the NCAA--which would be bull$hit--and 10 from the ACC! I've been on a collegiate soccer board arguing that mediocre or worse teams in good conferences benefit hugely from their schedule--even if they are losing--and I think it's true. One or two analysts have Va. Tech getting into the NCAA. The hokies are 2-4-1 in the ACC and currently ranked 10th. They beat two of the worst teams in the conference, and lost to three of the better teams. Va. Tech has played UNC, UVA and Duke--and lost all three games by a combined 0-9 score. Didn't score a goal. Va. Tech has beaten two lower-tier SEC teams, Miss. State and LSU, and tied Clemson,which is ranked 5th in the ACC. That is its biggest achievement of the year (bigger than anything we've done, I'm afraid....so far!).

I don't think any team with a losing conference record deserves an NCAA bid, but others disagree. It's an argument that's been heard often with the NCAA basketball tourney--do you give a bid to a lower-tier team from a good conference or a higher-tier school (good record) from a lesser conference? It's arguable--but I certainly don't think the ACC deserves 10 bids. Absurd. No more than 8. If the ACC gets 9 or 10, the 5th or 6th team from the SEC will get left out this year--you watch.

All the Vols can do is keep winning. There is no doubt that Kentucky and Miss. State will be in a desperation mode, so let's hope we're read to play--and play well.
 
#80
#80
Vols got a point tonight from their hard fought 2-2 tie with Kentucky. I knew this would be a dangerous game: Kentucky is a better side than their record indicates, they were desperate for a win, and that was bound to make it difficult for a squad like ours that simply doesn't play good enough possession soccer.

UT played a good defensive first half, and got the lead on a great individual play by H. Wilkinson, who spit a couple of defenders, went in on goal, deeked the kentucky keeper when she came charging out from her post and slotted the ball in the next. That was about the only thing we did right in attack in the first half--I think it was our only shot on goal. We only had 3 for the game. We were terrible with the ball; Kentucky played high and pressured us, and the Vols gave the ball away regularly, as we often do. Kentucky then tied the game late in the first half off a corner kick when M. Neal got lackadaisical and failed to challenge her mark, who headed the ball into our goal. I'm not sure Neal was even paying attention to the flight of the ball. Neal has made a huge difference to the UT defense, she's been great, so we can't fault her too much. But you can't just stand and watch your mark head the ball on a corner.

Kentucky put a lot of pressure on us in the second half, and went ahead when A. Kupritz clattered into a wildcat player in our box just as she was shooting the ball. Kentucky was awarded a penalty kick and scored it to take a 2-1. Kupritz can usually be counted on to barrel into opponents once or twice a game--but she redeemed herself late in the game by getting on the end of a nice centering pass into the kentucky box by Wilkinson and knocking it past the wildcat keeper to tie the game. Kentucky created some chances late in the game but could not convert and the game went into OT. Late in the second OT, M. Flynn sent a lovely cross toward the near post for Wilkinson, who was wide open. But Wilky made a hash of the header--sent it wide and a great chance was missed. She knew it too. The Aussie striker has been super this year, but she'd like to have that header back, I know. A few miscellaneous points:

--Kentucky has some midfielders with some size, and they pushed around our mids tonight quite a bit, I thought, especially Baldwin and even Flynn. Baldwin is playing better in her new forward role, works her tail off, but her lack of size is a handicap.

--Good things happen when Vignola has the ball in our attacking half. She does have size, and technical skill, and she can create when she has the ball. She needs to have the ball more often...

--Marcano has been quite solid the last couple of games. She's working hard, like everybody is, playing tough, and has done a nice job covering centering passes from the other side of the field into our box. She's getting forward in attack some, too--though not all that effectively. Needs to make better crosses and passes, and get her shots on net, when she can get one. Her ball striking and delivery is pretty erratic.

--Flynn has been solid playing left forward in relief of Bialczak. She doesn't have great pace but she has a bit of size and is good at crossing the ball.

--Gouner has really been struggling at right forward. Speedy player but too slow making decisions and spends too much time dithering with the ball. Needs to get stronger. Not sure why she is getting more minutes than Kupritz. We should be using Gouner in counter-attack--bring Wilky or Bialczak up to receive a pass, then Gouner releases down the right flank with speed. We know that--and the Vols had precisely that counter-attacking opportunity two or three times in the first half--but were too slow making turns and delivering the ball across and down the field. Wilky was too slow getting rid of the ball on a couple of occasions when we might have had something. This is something that McCaskill of South Carolina does well--come up and receive a pass, turn quickly and send a deep ball down the right flank to a flashing teammate. We'll see that next Sunday. We should try to counter every chance we get--but go faster. It is almost pointless for us to back-pass and try a buildup---we usually just end up losing the ball in our half and give opportunities to our opponent.

--Next Thursday's game at Miss. State is crucial. We have to win it to have any hope of making top six in the conference and getting a bye in the SEC tournament. The only way to nab 6th, it would seem, is to beat Miss. State and then try to get 1 point--one tie--in our last two games, against the two best teams in the conference. It's not going to be easy! Fingers crossed.
 
#81
#81
Thankfully I only saw the first half. Watching beyond that may have resulted in permanent eye injury, certainly my head hurt from the first half. While I have given the coaching staff credit for figuring out how this group can get some results, make no mistake that this is an incredibly poorly coached soccer team completely void of any quality soccer concepts.

I've seen the Vols pregame drills before and they're a total waste of time. Given how they play they should split the team in half on each sideline and launch balls across the field. At least then they would be preparing for what they do during the game. You combine the Vols with an equally poorly coached KY squad and the first half was a display of horrible soccer. It is like watching a supersized U6 game. This group will make the SEC tourney but make no mistake it is an AWFUL soccer team.

The Vols formation should completely eliminate the midfield because they don't touch the ball. If Vols backs played more than a handful of passes to the mids in the first half I would be shocked. I'm not sure a couple of the mids received a single ball from a back in the first half.

I'm so sick of seeing players constantly dribble into pressure and giving the ball away rather than play a simple pass. The team has zero concept of shape and zero concept of movement off the ball. I'm also sick if every throw in being a long throw to Wilkinson. Does the staff think their opponents don't watch video and can easily defend this elementary throw in? The Vols give away more than 50% of their throw ins and the throws are so often bad and impossible to receive. Awful, awful awful.

How bad is the Vols style of play? There was a moment in the first half I was so mesmerized by the awful balls in the air never played to a teammate that for a moment I lost track of which direction we were supposed to be going.

I saw from the box score that the second KY goal was on a PK resulting from a penalty by a UT forward. I haven't seen the play but I would bet that the penalty was a thuggish unruly physical encounter.

The good news for the Vols is that beyond maybe a dozen or so teams pretty much most of college soccer is garbage. So then it is a contest of Vol garbage soccer against opponent garbage soccer. The video from the first half last night should be a training video for all coaching license courses for how not to play the game. It may have been the worst quality of soccer I have seen all year.

Two home games next week. Must beat MSU. Then pray S. Carolina is worn out and we can possibly steal at least a point on Sunday. Last night was a bad result.
 
#82
#82
I agree with you, man. I have turned off the game a few times this year--stopped watching--because the soccer was not good. It worries me that Pensky doesn't realize what a bad possession team we are.

You just can't beat anybody good the way we play, which we will find out when we play Auburn and south carolina. I watched a bit of auburn vs. arkansas last week, and auburn is good--the best attacking team in the SEC and solid in the back as well. They've got the Ramsier sisters in midfield, who seem to have been around for six years. They are both good---and their attack goes through them. They are good with the ball, excellent runners and passers, and their forward Dodson is one of the best in the conference--strong, fairly fast, a good scorer. She and the Ramsiers have good chemistry. I give us no chance of beating them; I think we have a better chance of getting a tie with South Carolina, if there is some divine intervention on our side. It's very likely that we will lose both those games, which is why we have to beat Miss. State.

I watched Penn State play Rutgers--and the difference between the way they play and the way we play is stark. For one thing, their players are all spaced widely, they all seem to know how to move into the proper space, and their passing is precise. You don't see three and four players in the same small area too often--which of course brings three or more defenders into the same area. There is cohesion--something we almost never have. We are pretty good at pressuring and winning the ball from an opponent, but we then give it away cheaply,and that is a weakness that good teams will always exploit.
 
#83
#83
I barely have the time to watch the Vols games let alone anyone else. You know what this group could win is the UT kickball intramural championship.

I wonder what coaching instructions can come from reviewing the game video. I wouldn't even know where to begin because the quality of the play is so bad. I'd tell the team and coaches to watch matches from the best European pro leagues but I'm not sure they would even recognize it.

I also wonder if it was possible to collect stats on UT passes to determine if the ball was on the ground more than the ball is in the air. I'm not sure I would bet the ball was on the ground more. The coaches of both schools completely butchered the beautiful game. It really is a horrible product that is put on the field and the sad thing is most people who watch the games have no idea how bad the quality really is.
 
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#84
#84
UT's RBI actually dropped after we tied Kentucky. I think we're at 107. Funny thing is, Mississippi State has an RBI of 85, despite the fact that they're 6-9 overall and 1-7 in the SEC. Go figure. RPI can be a bit of a head-scratcher--but I think we killed ourselves by losing to SE Missouri State and Washington, both of whom are having bad years. Losing to bad team hurts your RBI--but playing and losing to good teams helps your RPI, even if you lose to all the good teams you play.

We need to play well and win tomorrow night.
 
#85
#85
Got the win and in the big picture that is all that matters. MSU had more scoring chances than the Vols but the Vols finished their chances.

Not going to beat a dead horse on quality and style of play. They play the way they play.

Sure hope the Vols can get some bodies back for Sunday. Need all hands on deck to have any kind of shot. The good news is soccer is a game where strange results can happen. Roll the ball out on Sunday and see what happens. Vols desperately need to at least 1 of the last 2 to have any shot at the NCAAs.
 
#86
#86
Yep, SocFan: We were BRUTAL in the first half--embarrassingly bad early in the game--and I thought a disastrous loss was a serious possibility. But Yanez and some good finishing won this game for us and we're at least in the SEC tournament. I think we're top six in the conference now--and would get a bye if the tourney started tomorrow. Unfortunately, it doesn't--and we've got to play the two best teams in the conference to close the season.

I thought the Vol keeper, Yanez, was excellent. She made good decisions throughout, came out of goal at least three times to smother balls just before Miss. State players could get a foot on the ball in our box--and she made one brilliant save in the second half.

To say that our 2-0 halftime lead was against run of play would be a major understatement. Miss. State was pressing us and physical and quick and we were slow and flat-footed. Were it not for Yanez and some Miss. State misses the game could have /easily/ been 0-2 the other way. But Wilkinson, Bialczak and Flynn combined on a pretty goal--really quality play from all three--and Flynn with the good finish. And then O'Keefe knocked one in from 30 yards that caught everybody by surprise, and with that flourish we ended the half up two goals. Miss. State seemed to lose its edge, or motivation, in the second half, and we did a better job of controlling play, got an insurance goal from Baldwin and won 3-0. We should have had four. M. Hairston, who got a lot of time at forward tonight, had two golden chances to score in the second half and muffed the finish on both of them. Hairston has impressed me with her movement and ball skills--she's got some quality.

What didn't I like? We were terrible in the first half. Watching Gouner at right back, I could see why bama scored four goals on us in the first half and she was replaced at that position. She was giving the Miss. State forwards acres of space and not closing on the ball until it was dribbled to our box. Meanwhile, Baldwin and O'Keefe in midfield were being outmuscled, outrun and out-jumped consistently. Culhane made her usual array of bad passes, as did (of course) more than a few other Vols.

I thought our centerbacks were pretty weak in this game. Culhane and Neal were disorganized and got beat more than a few times--and I fear they are going to be exposed in the next two games. Culhane just doesn't have the speed or strength to cope with strong, speedy forwards--and Neal isn't around to help much as she always seems to playing out near midfield and then having to sprint back to cover onrushing opponents. She seems pretty undisciplined at times. South Carolina has a strong and talented striker in McCaskill--and she is going to terrorize the slight pair of Culhane and Morrow if Neal doesn't stay on our defensive side of the field. Her high line helps us in midfield, and helps thwart opposing attacks before they get started--but when the ball gets behind her we've got problems. Auburn has an excellent attacking midfield AND a very talented striker in Dodson, and I think they will punish our back four. We were lucky not give up two or three goals tonight. They'll have to be better--and we need to get Marcano and Vignola back. They were missed.

It would be huge just to get a tie in one of these next two games. But I don't think we're sound enough defensively to pull it off. South Carolina beat Vandy tonight in OT, 2-1, after Vandy scored the tying goal with 2 seconds left in regulation. It was the first away-game goal that SC has given up in the SEC. That outcome actually helped us in the standings--as did the Ole Miss loss. I actually think we've got a better chance to get a result against south carolina than auburn--but that's not to say that it's a good chance!
 
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#87
#87
A win against UT Sunday would clinch the SEC regular-season for the Gamecocks, so this one will have a little extra importance applied to it....
 
#88
#88
Our goalie was good last night and she kept us from losing. MSU outplayed us in the first half but couldn't finish. The personnel changes to the back line resulted in us giving up fewer goals, our ability to possess the ball is as bad as it gets. Other than chasing the ball and trying to defend the Vols don't utilize the midfield. It is why they should just play a 5 -5 formation.

It is crystal clear that the Vols plan is to kick and throw in as many balls as possible to Wilkinson and to try to have her play the ball to a mid or wide to a forward. Next game, count how many balls passed to her are actually balls on the ground to her feet. I'd put the over under at 1. There are so many balls she tried to win with her head or line drives to her that are difficult to corral and require 3 or 4 touches to try to make a play or rockets at her chest that she tries to bounce off to a mid but who knows where the ball ends up. The throw ins are the same disaster. Throw it in to her when she has 3 or 4 defenders around her and we give away the ball 80% of the time.

You combine this with poor shape, lack of poise on the ball, rarely shifting the point of attack, lack of sophisticated movement, and players constantly dribbling into pressure rather than just playing a simple ball to a teammate and it is why this style will never win anything of significance.

A win Sunday would probably vault the Vols RPI by 40+ spots. Hopefully the kids that were out yesterday are back.
 
#89
#89
Yes, a win Sunday would cure all ills for us! The odds of us holding onto a top six spot and getting a bye are not favorable, however. Vandy is three points behind us and plays its next two against Ole Miss (beaten by georgia yesterday) and alabama (a team that has faded badly and looked like it was going through the motions against florida yesterday). One Vandy win ties them with us in points for 6th--and I assume they'd have the tiebreaker advantage. (We will rue choking away that point in the Vandy game).

Missouri, tied with us, plays at georgia and then florida.

You hate to fall out of the top six because it makes the tournament far harder. It's time for us to get a result against a good team.
 
#90
#90
Here is the one takeaway I would love to see pounded in the Vols staff and players. The first goal came from a nice sequence where we caused a turnover in the midfield, one mid played a ball to another mid, the second mid plays a simple ball wide, ultimately Wilkinson makes a 1 v 1 move to send a ball across the field, ball is received and then played to Flynn for the finish. Very simple where ball stayed mostly on the ground, very limited dribbling, and the result was a goal. We have only had 2 or 3 sequences like this all year. Playing 1 and 2 touch, moving the ball, changing the point of attack created a nice chance. It is a mystery why nobody recognizes these sequences and tries to do this more often.
 
#91
#91
That first goal was an example of quality soccer--nifty little touch by Bialczak--but you're right: Those types of plays are a rarity with us, whereas as a team like UCLA or Stanford or UVA will try to play like that all game long. I watched a replay of UCLA vs. Cal. the other night and the Bruins are a nice team to watch. I'm sure if we had their talent we'd be playing better possession as the players know what is good football. They bring their two forwards up to receive passes, slot the ball back to a center midfielder, who typically tries a find their nifty playmaker/10--a Spanish girl who's got a little Barcelona in her. They often go through her--and she is good with the ball. As talented as they are, the Bruins don't score a lot of goals. They've played four straight OT games in the Pac12--just beating Washington in OT, a team we should have beaten and probably would beat now, 2-1. The huskies I think have won only 1 PAC12 game. UCLA has a starting right back named Goralski--speedy, good player--from Naperville, Illinois. She has a sister who has committed to the Vols--I think it's the same family.

Although I have to say, I watched a bit of Duke vs. UVA and Duke vs. Fla. State--and while the quality of soccer is better, these teams really play fairly cautiously and deliberately for long stretches, as if they have too much respect for the other team and are scared to make a mistake, and the defenses can sit back as well. The result can be rather dull. Where is all the helter-skelter action you get with us!!?

What's the word on Christy? Anybody heard? It's hard to get info on injuries any more. I don't know if it's the privacy/hipaa thing, or what, but it's got rather ridiculous. A cone of silence. I assume she has a knee injury and is done for the year? Last night I tune in for the TV broadcast, two starters are missing--and of course not a word from the play-by-play guy about them. Everything is a mystery.
 
#92
#92
Saw the second half. Awful, horrible soccer. First goal came off a give away by holding mid and after SC connects a couple passes our thug forward runs over the SC forward rather than defending and the SC player gets up and connects on a header to their star player. This starts with zero composure on the ball and what must be a constant message to send balls forward. Would have been very easy to play a ball to the right wide back except the Vols have no concept of shape and most players are always out of position, at least positions usually associated with soccer.

Second goal started after once again giving ball away on a throw in and a couple passes later their star scores again. Vol soccer will never beat good teams with this style of play. Until the team demonstrates an ability to possess the ball they will never challenge top teams. I don't think SC is that good, part of their success is how bad the SEC is this year. That said, they play much better than the Vols, they have more patience, better coaching, better spacing and shape, and are just much better. The Vols really didn't have a decent scoring chance.

Vols most likely end up in 7th place and will play MSU in first round of SEC.
 
#93
#93
What's going on? UT used to have a competitive program but it seems to have gone down badly. I know coaching was changed a few years ago. In your opinion, is it coaching, injuries, or lack of talent? Volleyball seems to be suffering too. Seems like only sport on the rise is football, and it had nowhere to go but up! (Thanks Hammy). Oops...softball is holding on:), just so many seem worse that sometimes it just seems like it's all of them:eek:hmy:.
 
#94
#94
Didn't see the game, SocFan--and was trying to decide if it was worth watching on replay or not. Probably won't, though I have seen the highlights. I thought Gouner was out of position on the first goal--she should have been closing down on the winger who crossed the ball to McCaskill, no? Kupritz was certainly in the area, too: I don't know what preceded the sequence--but I should think Gouner should have been a lot closer to that winger and closed her down. McCaskill essentially beat Culhane on both of those goals, though defense is a group effort. Neal was caught in a bad position on that second goal, too. I mean, you simply can't leave McCaskill free. SC had only four shots on goal for the game, so it sounds like we were decent defensively overall--but then this is how SC wins: they do not give up many goals--probably less than 1 a game on average--and McCaskill scores.

It's annoying. I mean, there is reason that McCaskill and Jordan have been far more productive than Wilkinson over their careers, and the biggest is that florida and south carolina know how to possess the ball and create good chances with their forwards and we don't. Lack of patience/composure is definitely one of the reasons for our poor possession. As for Kupritz, I think Pensky screwed up by playing her so much. She played big minutes all year and has one goal and no assists, I believe. We'd have been better off with McClung or Hairston. McClung doesn't have great pace but she understands the game pretty well--and had two shots in her 16 minutes of senior action at the start of the game, I see.

What's Marcano's situation? I assume she's banged up in some way? I hope not seriously as we need her back in the lineup.

Yea, with Vandy winning today and we've still got auburn to play, we are not going to get top six and get a bye. There is no way we're beating auburn, I'm sorry to say.
 
#95
#95
armchair said:
Didn't see the game, SocFan--and was trying to decide if it was worth watching on replay or not. Probably won't, though I have seen the highlights. I thought Gouner was out of position on the first goal--she should have been closing down on the winger who crossed the ball to McCaskill, no? Kupritz was certainly in the area, too: I don't know what preceded the sequence--but I should think Gouner should have been a lot closer to that winger and closed her down. McCaskill essentially beat Culhane on both of those goals, though defense is a group effort. Neal was caught in a bad position on that second goal, too. I mean, you simply can't leave McCaskill free. SC had only four shots on goal for the game, so it sounds like we were decent defensively overall--but then this is how SC wins: they do not give up many goals--probably less than 1 a game on average--and McCaskill scores.

It's annoying. I mean, there is reason that McCaskill and Jordan have been far more productive than Wilkinson over their careers, and the biggest is that florida and south carolina know how to possess the ball and create good chances with their forwards and we don't. Lack of patience/composure is definitely one of the reasons for our poor possession. As for Kupritz, I think Pensky screwed up by playing her so much. She played big minutes all year and has one goal and no assists, I believe. We'd have been better off with McClung or Hairston. McClung doesn't have great pace but she understands the game pretty well--and had two shots in her 16 minutes of senior action at the start of the game, I see.

What's Marcano's situation? I assume she's banged up in some way? I hope not seriously as we need her back in the lineup.

Yea, with Vandy winning today and we've still got auburn to play, we are not going to get top six and get a bye. There is no way we're beating auburn, I'm sorry to say.
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Jordan and McCaskill are more productive because they're much more skilled soccer players and they play in systems that require the team to possess the ball. The movement and passing of SC and Florida is so much better than the Vols. The Vols aren't in the same universe. And as I said Jordan and McCaskill have first touches and control far superior to Wilkinson. What Wilkinson has over them is her ridiculous athleticism.

On the injury front my worry is Neal didn't come back in last night. Can't afford her to miss time.
 
#96
#96
Didn't see tonight's game against auburn--didn't want to see it. I see we got an early goal on a corner--nice--but from completely lopsided shot totals it seems that auburn dominated possession and eventually got the game winner at the 80' minute mark or thereabouts. Without Neal we were in trouble.

I don't get why Marcano played only 30some minutes--has she been hurt or what? She is certainly better defensively at right back than Gouner, who got benched earlier in the season, so I can't figure why Gouner would play 90 and Marcano 30 when we are already missing one of our centerbacks, unless the latter is nursing some sort of injury.

So the last two games went as expected. I see we play mississippi in the first round of tourney--and the winner gets auburn. I was watching mississippi play vandy last week, and the rebels were actually controling play in the second half with the score tied at 1. Vandy scored on a counterattack and ended up winning 4-1. Strange.

Here's what idiotic about the tourney: The winners of the first round games have to play the EARLY second round games. Why wouldn't you give the first round winners an extra couple of hours of rest? Seems stupid and unfair.
 
#97
#97
The SEC should reduce its conference tournament from 10 teams to 8. Winning four games in a week is nearly impossible and rather silly. Eight is better--and it might keep improving the conference as it will be just that more difficult to get in the tourney.
 
#98
#98
Opportunistic win over Ole Miss in the SEC Tourney today, 2-0. Wilkinson, with a veteran goal in the first 40 seconds of the game, had the game winner. It was a nice chip over the Mississippi keeper after a pretty good pass from Gouner.

The game wasn't pretty--it seldom is with the Vols--but it's a result and sets up an (unenviable) rematch with a very good auburn team that had something like 20 shots against us 5 days ago when we lost to them, 1-3.

We were a bit shaky in the back in and in midfield in this game, what with Neal still out of the lineup, and certainly Ole Miss had the ball around our box too often--but we kept the ball out of our net. Actually, we didn't--Ole Miss scored off a free kick--but the official disallowed the goal, apparently thinking that our keeper Shae Yanez was interfered with. It was a big break as it didn't really look like there was goalie interference.

It was a tough day for Morrow, who got exposed by the Ole Miss right forward all day. Morrow has a great work rate, wonderful Vol--but she just doesn't have the size and athleticism to cope with good opposing players. When she tried to play high and tight on the Ole Miss forward, she was physically beaten--and then after that played so far off the ball that she was giving the forward practically a free run into our box. Whew. We have the same problem with Baldwin--who was practically invisible in this game except for her penalty shot.You've got to be able to athletically compete with opposing players--compete with them physically and with your pace and skill set. Culhane has the same problem--good instincts, but just doesn't have the size, strength or quicks to compete with good forwards. If we were well organized and possessed the ball better, perhaps the athletic limitations of some of our players wouldn't be so noticeable--but we aren't.

I was glad to see Marcano back at right back. I'm not sure why she didn't play in that spot against Auburn, but without her we would have been toast today. I mean, our best two defenders are a converted midfielder and a forward who each have less than a season of experience in the back. We can only hope Neal plays Wednesday. Without her, we'll need divine intervention to win! Or, at the least, we need to score on a couple of corner kicks.

For all the need for improvement, we have taken some steps forward this year. Next year Gilroy and Cousins will help a lot--but we'll need /at least/ three freshman coming in next year to be good. Be good, Vols!
 
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#99
#99
Just watched the second half, only stretches of which I saw during live play, and thought we were better than in the first half--quite a bit better, actually. The announcers seemed to have an anti-UT bias, but we were good in the first 20 minutes; controlled play, had some good combination play and a number of crosses, especially from Flynn who played quite well on the left side and who had decent chance with her right foot but sent it wide. We miss the net too often on shots. It would be nice if we could create a bit more in the attacking third for Wilkinson rather than just humping into the box area and hoping she can make something happen.

Ole Miss had a couple of good chances--O'Keefe saved a goal early in 2H with a great play, and Culhane may have saved one, too. Yanez had another excellent game. Marcano, who seemed to be hurting late, played a gutsy game at right back--tough kid. Hope she is OK. Baldwin's PK shot was better than I gave her credit for earlier--it was a solid, well-placed strike.

The color commentator made a big deal about the PK call on Ole Miss. I may be biased but thought it was a definite penalty: the Ole Miss keeper may have tipped the ball with her toe but she also slammed into Kupritz at the same time. I think most officials would have awarded that penalty. Credit to Kupritz for making the play. On to Auburn. :hi:
 
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#100
#100
armchair said:
The SEC should reduce its conference tournament from 10 teams to 8. Winning four games in a week is nearly impossible and rather silly. Eight is better--and it might keep improving the conference as it will be just that more difficult to get in the tourney.
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The coaches were the ones that voted to expand it to 10 when the conference expanded. I wouldn't expect it to change.
 
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