I have been critical of the “type” of soccer that is played at the college level for women but I was impressed by teams that just seemed more comfortable on the ball and more interesting at yesterday’s sem-finals in College Station.
Mami Yamaguchi (FSU), Amy Rodriguez (USC) and Lauren Cheney(UCLA) all proved to be excellent soccer player and among others upped the interest level. The atmosphere also was great at Texas AM.
Both favorites Notre Dame and UCLA were upset.
UCLA has been to the final four five consecutive years and has yet to win a title under Jillian Ellis. So what is happening here? Five consecutive times to the final four without winning it with the best talent in the nation. Clearly USC outplayed UCLA in the second half and the look of fear was evident on the face of their players and coach.
I was chuckling at commentary that spoke about the great recruiting going on at UCLA….How much recruiting do you really have to do to get top womens soccer players to UCLA. Not much, they come to you.
We must factor in the difference in recruiting a the college level when institutions have advantages like location.
Kind of like the difference between recruiting a player to the University of Texas or Baylor in Waco. And that is no slight to Baylor, just different resources and geographic locations. UCLA should go deep every year and by now should have won a national title.
USC is a perfect example of the above . USC got more out of their players in the second half and I put that down to UCLA being out-coached. The win was the first in 11 matches against UCLA by the Lady Trojans.
Looking forward to the final at Texas AM this Sunday at 1pm, time for a road trip.
On an additional note my recent column about the tournament and womens soccer included this quote from Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum concerning the changes and parity at the womens college level which is no longer dominated by UNC.
“They’re still a great team, but the Carolina mystique has been chipped away,” said Waldrum whose Notre Dame team beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill in the playoffs.
The quote was picked up on the ESPN halftime show.
It is healthy that more teams are competitive to win the national championship yearly. It is no longer four teams competing for the title but 8-12. Read deep in Waldrum’s quote and this is clearly about positive growth for the womens game at the college level.
Thumbs up to Texas AM, the games look great on tv and the atmosphere is excellent along with the surface at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.