Unfortunately, the loss to Illinois pretty well summarizes the Aggie soccer season. Flashes of glory but untimely critical mistakes and in the end a team which failed to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in six seasons.
The freshman class was everything it was supposed to be. I saw three main problems w/the Ags. 1) center mids that just couldn't score. I question as to why Garey wasn't put into that role. She is a scorer (5 goals in less than 1/3 of the total playing time).
2) Mis use of Amanda Burke. Burke's a gamer and should have been on the field at all times be it either as a center back or in the midfield. 3) Aggies couldn't consistently win at home. I believe this is the most home games lost in the history of the program.
The Ags had the talent to still be playing. But, as G always says "Wait till next year."

[This message has been edited by bigperm (edited 11/15/2004 5:59p).]

Freshmen were/are great. Best the program has ever had. G has always got the most out of his troops. This year, well a disapointment. Don't see how I've been critical of the coaching staff. Quite the opposite....

I think the problem is that the Aggie soccer team is evolving right before our eyes. This year's senior class is the high-point of G's philosophy to beat the SMU or Nebraska 'goon squads' -- the big physical teams that relied on pushing players around. His teams always had 2-3 great skills players spread out among classes, and they were surrounded by athletes. I love this year's senior class -- they're by far my favorite -- but none of them are really top skill-type players. They're the last or second-to-last class brought in to battle the goons. You can see the philosophy. Burke and Labhart are the physical midfielder and defeneder that would knock heads with the goons, and Echavarry and Smith were the speedy forwards there to outrun bigger, slower defenders.

His philosophy worked. Texas A&M won, at least becoming NCAA regulars. Then the Aggies were able to recruit Kati Jo, who is now a junior. I would guess she had an effect on recruiting. Look at the sophomore class -- Klovstad, Krambeer, Burnett, Devloo, Pfister and Pierson. This class might not have been No. 1, but it is the first class full of athletes with complete soccer skills, not just good soccer players who are great athletes. You could say one or the other is faster or more physical, but they're not from the same mold as Burke or Smith. By the same token, Nicky Thrasher, Kristen Strutz and this year's senior class helped paved the way for this type of class to arrive.

Now G has two classes full of skills players, and there has been a bit of struggle in the transition. Probably the hardest hit have been this year's seniors, who have had to watch their playing time drop as this new type of Aggie team takes the pitch. The other problem is now G has to rework his tactics. The Aggie should probably become more of a ball-control, passing team rather than a counter-punch team that kicks balls past defenders and expects a speedster to run it down. They players he has are better than that. The teams they face are better at defending that.

Finally, it seems that the "goon squad" teams are moving away from the big-n-slow type of players. They're evolving, too.

If the next signing class is as good as this year's freshman class, then the Aggies really will be loaded with skills players. And that should be fun to watch.

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[This message has been edited by BBRex (edited 11/16/2004 5:28a).]

Excellent analysis BBRex -- I agree.

The future is very bright.

Still though, I would have like to see us convert the PK to tie the game.

Gig'EM!

Coach G's program is one of, if not the most nationally competitive programs in Aggieland. The team is full of young talent,and has many great accomplishments ahead. Tough loss, but this team will be fine.

quote:

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Still though, I would have like to see us convert the PK to tie the game.

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I agree, but misses like that happen. Penatly kicks seem automatic, but they're not.

http://soccer.news.designerz.com/beckham-right-to-blame-pitch-for-penalty-miss-ricardo.html

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England captain David Beckham was right when he blamed the poor state of the pitch for causing him to miss during the Euro 2004 penalty shoot-out against Portugal , Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo revealed.

The Sporting Lisbon player said he approached Beckham before the start of the quarter-final penalty competition at Lisbon's Stadium of Light and told him he would fail with his spot-kick attempt.

"He didn't even blink. He seemed worried, probably because he feared missing the shot," Ricardo wrote in his Euro 2004 diary which will be released this weekend according to excerpts published in weekly magazine "Sabado".

"Maybe because he had missed the last two penalty shots, in one case (in Turkey) having failed exactly because of the bad state of the pitch, which was in a similar state that day," he added.

"At the moment he kicked, the foot he had on the ground lifted a piece of the grass, which was enough to alter his balance and change the trajectory of the ball."

Rather than go towards the net the ball flew above the bar and into into the stands, where it was caught by a Spanish football fan who is currently auctioning it online.

It was Beckham's third consecutive penalty miss for England .

He missed a spot kick during England's 2-1 defeat to France in their Euro 2004 opening group game while last October he slipped and sent another spot kick over the bar in Istanbul during his side's 0-0 draw to Turkey in its final qualifier for the tournament.

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I'm sure nobody wants that penalty kick back more than Amanda Burke. Besides the Aggies had some other great chances to convert that didn't go in, either. So I'm not going to blame one PK for the result on Sunday.



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"When I look to this lion it looks arrogant, it is aggressive, it is powerful. He is proud of being a Chelsea lion." -- José Mourinho

what it all comes down to is this...

we blew our chances, they outplayed us the second half, and our team will just get better.

this was a sad ending to a successful (trophy wise) season, and we only have better more dominant days down the road. time to get the heads up and look forward to some good ole fightin texas aggie soccer in the spring season / next fall

dp

[This message has been edited by AgSoccer2007 (edited 11/23/2004 2:01a).]

Everything considered, this team should still be playing. This team was the most talented ever assembled at Aggieland and chances for greatness don't come around all the time.
Just wish they could have been better at home. No question they should be better next year but you never know w/injuries and such. Point is, this year could have been a final four season. Coaches realize this one slipped away.

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but you never know w/injuries and such.

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I would argue that the injury to Paige Carmichael is why they didn't do better this year. They finally got their defense settled in and she gets hurt. The real missing piece this season was a dominant central midfielder or forward defender. It probably should've been Burke, but for some reason G decided to go in a different direction. Carmichael moved into that spot and was making it her own when she was injured. Nobody else except Burke seemed to have that ability.

Even without next year's freshman class, I don't know who I would start next fall or in spring ball. My guess:

-----------------------Spisak---------------------

Falcusan---------------DeWoody----------------Burnett

---------------------Carmichael---------------------

A. Berend (or C. Berend)------Krambeer----Garey-----Probst (or Martino)

----------------Pistorius---------Klovstad-------------


I would guess that G would look for another top defender to go with Carmichael and Falcusan. The back line needs an increase in talent on the bench. I haven't seen enough of Spearink to know how she'll fill in for KJ after next year.

I would hope Carmichael could be the next big middle of the field presence at sweeper. The Aggies could then easily start five quality midfielders upfield from Paige and about as many forwards. This is great for being able rotate players to keep them fresh. I might also rotate starters for the same reason.

I can't wait for spring soccer.



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"When I look to this lion it looks arrogant, it is aggressive, it is powerful. He is proud of being a Chelsea lion." -- José Mourinho

[This message has been edited by BBRex (edited 11/16/2004 2:48p).]

Interesting choices. No disrespect but Kat's not a center mid. A. Berend as a starter positioned behind Garey will set the two center mid positions. Carmichael showed she can play and now wishing her a speedy recovery. Think G will look for defensive help in the center back and for a forward that can compliment Pistorious. Dewoody is a boomer but has a hard time passing the ball. Don't know how or why Pierson fell out of favor.
Liked the way Kat came on as the year went on.
No question, she's talented enough to start but is the desire there?

I could see swapping Kat and Amy. Both seemed to play well on the right. I really thought that Kat played well enough to start when she was in. She has the speed and skill to really work that side. I put her at right center because Amy seemed to play out there more, but it probably would make sense to swap them.

The left side of the defense, to me, is the only real question mark. I'll be interested to see what happens in that spot. I'm thinking there will be freshman there next fall.

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"When I look to this lion it looks arrogant, it is aggressive, it is powerful. He is proud of being a Chelsea lion." -- José Mourinho

if a&m had a coach who knew anything about keeping shape, and playing to the sidelines, or any other basic strategies one would employ starting at U-11 mens soccer...we'd still be in the tourny

Pat did you watch the game? We got flat out out played in the second half of the game. I dont remember ever watching a game where we were on the defensive for almost the entire second half. Dont forget most of the girls are freshman or sophmores. These girls are dangerous and the rest of the country knows it, if we get some consistent defense this team will be flat out scary imo.

agreed...they certainly had the raw ability to go far, but remember how many girls we were starting and putting through the rotation that only have high school experience...

they were able to grab the big12 regular season and tournament champioships for us, even with their youth...next year i can certainly see it being the same, only this time i see us going at least elite8...

cydne curry isnt gonna hurt either, if UNC felt she was worth heavily recruiting at striker, im pretty sure she'll be a fine asset to our team

I agree with PatAg. The over the top game is dead. We need players that can control the ball and have speed. The Midfield for the most part is too slow. Anyone notice the calming affect Annie has when she gets on the field(By the way, where has she been all year?). When she is on the field, the defense is not so frantic and we start to move the ball with purpose. The midfield with Burnett and Amy looked great in SA and things started to click.

The Illinois team scored 2 goals with players joining the attack from the back line. They had speed and good control. I recall the Aggies employed control and attacks from the back line last year, but for some reason did not employ this style with this year's team. The midfield needs to gather the ball, beat their defender 1 on 1 and start the attack. Do not just knick the ball and turn it into a 50/50 ball.

I don't like to think of this season as a "failure" because the Ags did win the Big 12 (co-champ) and the Big 12 Tourney. I'm just disappointed they exited the playoffs so quickly. I don't believe the Ags lost because Paige was hurt. The team did fine (won the tournament) and did not lose to Illinois because she was not on the field. We lost because Illinois was fast, skilled, and added two more attackers to the mix by bringing their two backs forward. The game against Texas State was too easy and the speed/determination of Illinois just caught up with us. As others have stated on this board many times, we are not a fast team this year. I agree with Duck2550 that the "over the top" game needs to go, especially when we play fast teams like Clemson, Princeton, Missouri and Illinois. We just can't win those long balls. Also, we need to start involving our defenders in the attack again. It worked nicely last year and we did not have the offensive firepower we did this year. One last thing, I think we need more leadership on the field from the older players.

Illinois beat nebraska and in an upset, 16th seeded santa clara beat north carolina. Portland beat texas. So Illinois faces Santa Clara. If we had won (beaten Illinois) and had beaten nebraska we would have been the highest rated seed in our group on the way to the semi-finals and would have hosted the game vs. santa clara. Oh well.

"the one that got away"...

You're right, this is the one that got away. This could have been the year the Aggies broke into the Final Four. While I still don't consider the season a failure, I do consider it a season of underachievement. Not sure G always plays his talent in the best positions, and I wish he would be more willing to change things around if something is not working.

duck knows what hes talking about. just kicking the ball forward works in rec soccer, but this is college ball. I would honestly put any Dallas Classic League under 15 and up againt the lady aggies and the ags would get beat bad.

You guys have obviously not seen this team play!

They pass the ball around as well as any team - male or female - I've seen.

Your crack about the Classic team = stupid. Can you whip your mother?

I've watched this team play for the last 3 years and I can tell you they did not pass well this year. We played more boom ball than ever, just kicking the ball without purpose. The team did enjoy moments of very fine passing, and it made me wonder why they didn't play that way more often. But most of the time their play was such a frenzy -- we need a little more composure. The talent is there -- maybe the composure will come with maturity.

ya we definitely had flashes of brilliance when it came to playing crisp soccer. and we looked like we couldnt be beat when we were playing this way. and yes a lot fo the time we were just kicking the ball up ahead and assuming wed get it....

next year all those girls will not be freshmen and we'll do fine i think.

off to church!