Women Win, Men Fall
Saturday, August 30 2008 by Tim
As we mentioned we would do, Tiki and I made it out to Klöckner last night to see our soccer teams in early season action. I’m sure Tiki (who knows more about Soccer than I do) will chime in later, but I wanted to get a recap up before I get into football mode for the day.
We didn’t get to see much of the women’s game as we arrived a little late, but with 5 minutes to go in second half, the women were crushing Liberty 4-0. They made it 5-0 before it was all over.
The most impressive stat to me is the shots. The Cavs took 18 shots in the first half to just one for the Flames. Very impressive, but they weren’t done. They followed that up with 20 shots in the second half to none for the Flames. 38-1 total. That’s domination right there.
Here’s some of the game notes:
GAME NOTES: Lenczyk was the first Virginia player to record a hat trick since the 2004 season, a span of 73 games and the ninth hat trick in the history of the program ... The Cavaliers extend their winning streak to 19 games against in-state opponents, outscoring them 68-1 in those games ... Virginia extends its home unbeaten streak to 15 games (13-0-2) ... McKeon, Carr, and Starsia all made their collegiate debuts ... Flanagan, Carr, McKeon, Starsia, and Fancher all recorded their first career point.
We did get to see the whole men’s game and it was an… interesting… showing.
The #18 Virginia men pretty much controlled every aspect of the game. Time of possession would have definitely been in their favor if that stat was kept. The Cavaliers out-shot the Red Storm 17-7. They had an 8-1 advantage on corner kicks.
Pretty good, right?
Virginia lost 1-0 on a goal in the 33rd minute.
A frustrating way to lose.
The team looks like they’ve got the talent in place to be good (the front line has speed and definite talent while Matt Poole is once again very solid on the defensive end), but they don’t seem to have the experience. On several occasions near the goal, they dribbled a couple too many times and lost an open opportunity. The decision-making just wasn’t solid and it wasn’t quick.
Thankfully, those are the things that can get better with practice and more training. We’ve got a very young team as far as I can tell (I noticed at least three freshmen – Ownby, Tchani and Agorsor – who got significant minutes) and some of the more experienced players (GK Giallombardo, MF/F Barlow, MF Villanueva) didn’t play as much or at all.
The ladies take on VCU on Sunday while the men play SMU. SMU beat Old Dominion 2-0 on Friday.
That was frustrating to watch. We were very solid in midfield, and the defense was solid in the back. The problem was the attackers. Everybody was tentative, taking an extra dribble. There was way too much one on one play.
And the finishing was horrid. There were several good shots, a few open nets, and many opportunities missed.
When you dominate a game like we did, from a possession standpoint, and you don't even come away with a draw, you have to be disappointed.
And I am very disappointed.
The women kicked ass.