Statistically the odds are against them. There is only one school in NCAA Women's soccer history that has repeated.....UNC. Give the girls a bit of credit for what they achieved!
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2016-1017 GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER THREAD
- Thread starter gkrent
- Start date
Zerodenero
GOLD
Was it "luck" that Jordan's bulls dominated in the 90's?...how bout Kobe's/lakers of the late 90's/00's?....was it "luck" that Brady's patriots have 5 rings?....is it "luck" that Kelley Slater has won 11 world championships?
Luck is being prepared and having the skill to capture luck when luck presents itself.
NoGoalItAll
SILVER
Not sure who, but someone has one of those inspirational posters hanging in their office . . .
I won the lotto last week. Everyone kept telling me it was luck. Now I'm going to tell everyone that it was really skill and preparation. Since I can afford it, maybe I'll get one of those posters and hang it on my wall.
I won the lotto last week. Everyone kept telling me it was luck. Now I'm going to tell everyone that it was really skill and preparation. Since I can afford it, maybe I'll get one of those posters and hang it on my wall.
The Driver
PREMIER
Boy or Girl Alphas don't deal with lucky talk. They win because they worked for it. It's so mental yall
Zerodenero
GOLD
Sheriff Joe
DA
You do understand the concept of "some"? Brady had a bunch of luck in the last Superbowl, would you agree?
The Driver
PREMIER
Brady had Check Downs and pre snap reads. Nothing to do with luck.
Sheriff Joe
DA
Maybe I should have said the Patriots, but you get what I am saying.
The Driver
PREMIER
Nope really I don't get luck at all.
Zerodenero
GOLD
I'm sure you could pinpoint a play in every championship run that comes down to a play theat someone could call "lucky". ( culmination of skill and opportunity)
Sheriff Joe
DA
Agreed
So if they repeat, they play possession, but if not, they dont? Very clever. Look, people may have different definitions of "possession," "kickball," or "direct," but if you're implying that USC played kickball as in "kick & hope," as someone else here has described it, then you are wrong.
Did SC play tiki taka? No. Was it the most sophisticated or aesthetically pleasing? Maybe not, but to call it kick & hope is dishonest. SC played a lot of possession through their mids (countless ground hugging passes through the seems from freeman to mills/Andrews, and trust me if Freeman wanted to, she could kick it to the moon. Countless times Prisock would dribble up the back line, fake off the forward, and get the ball to the mids or forwards).
They also played a lot of possession through their forwards. Pruitt, Johnson, and Anthony could all play with their backs to the goal and a lot of balls went through them (see game winner against Georgetown).
What you saw against West Virginia was a very good and VERY athletic team and yes, SC had trouble playing the type of game they had played all year. Shoot, even Barcelona has had trouble all season long with high pressure. Yes, SC had to clear plenty of balls to relieve pressure (in fact Prisock cleared/booted some balls when she was not under much pressure, something she hadn't done all year, but I think the opponent had something to do about that). Even the second goal SC scored started with a clear from Andrews at the 18, which Pruitt chased down, and had the skill and composure to give Johnson a nice ball to handle and score from.
What distinguished SC more than anything is that they had 3 very capable forwards who knew how to put the ball in the net. Nobody in the country had anything close to that trio. Thats why some of us on this board were so high on SC from the get go. I've watched a lot of college soccer and there are a lot of so called top teams that would not have put that second goal in the net. Pruitt's physical ability to win the ball, composure and skill to place a very good pass (under the circumstances) to Johnson, and Johnson's composure to put the ball in the net, could not have been accomplished by any other team in the nation.
Legendary FC
SILVER ELITE
That is false. Every champ has skill and an iron will. Some are very fortunate.
Legendary FC
SILVER ELITE
I watched almost every game that the Trojans played and I would love to see video of them playing the ball on the ground against a decent team. The truth is it isn't out there. I give them all the credit in the world for winning. Calling them a possession team or a team that plays possession is disingenuous at best and straight up false if you ask me. We will get clarity on all of it in 5 months.
If their forwards were so good why did the team have a losing record against California schools? They can't even boss their own neighborhood. That reminds me of the kid that was a tough guy at his private school but is a nobody when he comes home to his hood.
Please watch this game and enlighten me as to when they played more than kick and hope and thug ball.
NoGoal
DA
Did I ever post UDub plays possession? Nope! They are a defensive counter attacking team. At least I am not in denial of their style of play. #haha
NoGoal
DA
I agree about US Soccer style of play. Basically, high pressure direct soccer.
NoGoal
DA
Are you lost, because this is the adults thread. Your ulittle 2003/2004 thread is a few clicks down!
North Carolina and Stanford not good enough for you. It may not be "possession" to your liking, but calling it "kick and hope" in order to create offense is simply wrong. Clearing to relieve pressure is not the same as kicking it to an open space to create offense (at least consistently,though that may be the correct play in certain situations).
So they lost some games, so what. Barca lost to celta vigo recently, does that make celta better than Barca?
No, you will not get clarity in 5 months because we are talking specifically about last years team. Every team is different and they may not be able to play possession through their forwards like they did last year.
You're very smart in trying to pin SC on what they will look like this coming year, and you're probably right because in all likelihood, they will not be as good as last year. Those three forwards playing together and having chemistry is going to be hard to repeat. However, what we are discussing here is what type of game they played last year.
Were they able to play their usual game against West Virginia (or Georgetown for that matter), No. However, neither was WV or Gtown.
Talking about UCLA last year, yes they could possess nicely the first 2/3, but were awful in the final 1/3 after Jenkins went down. They have some nice pieces coming in (and I will be rooting for them, I'm an alum), but there is no guarantee they will be as good and effective as SC's trio from last year. That trio, in college soccer, was special
NoGoal
DA
I disagree, USC strength was not their forwards it was their backline and GK aka defense. I watched USC play. They have the thickest girls among the Pac12 teams and yes their are some thin players/team (UCLA). Where am I going with this? The players thickness is why they were the most physical team in the NATION last year. There is a forward on USC who played on the same HS as my DD. My DD heard This USC forward gained 30 pounds at USC.