Mixed opening weekend for Soccer

[psycHOGlogist]

We dropped the season opener 1-0 in OT to SMU on Friday night. I thought we looked a bit sloppy (SMU posted a free stream) and did not really play Coach Hale's aggressive, physical style all that well. We are young, and SMU had several big girls who were willing to use their bodies to shoulder Arkansas players off the ball pretty effectively. We had good chances but did not convert. SMU's OT goal was pretty soft, but we played a true FR goalkeeper, and overall I thought she looked pretty good for most of the game (though the defense looked a bit shaky and disorganized at times).

However, today we bounced back and won a 2-0 decision over a fairly decent UNT squad in Denton. Goals from Fr Taylor Malham and So Kayla McKeown. There wasn't a stream for this game (or at least a free one). We started our RJr GK today, and she got the shutout. Coach Hale substituted very liberally and a lot of people saw action, but I'm still a little concerned about the back line -- UNT managed a lot of shots and a high number of corner kicks. I don't think we can have that kind of performance against Penn State and be successful (even with the home crowd).

We've got a week to try to clean things up, however. WPS!

[dbhog]

I watched the SMU game on CST.  We should have won in regulation.  Their goalie came out on a ball away from the net and we had a point blank shot that was somehow kicked out by a defender.  If we elevate that ball, we would have scored or at the very least gotten a PK for a hand ball.

I agree the defense needs a lot of work.  SMU had players in the box who were not marked closely.  And our defense on a lot of the corner kicks was not very tight.

But we have 14 freshmen on the team so we should get better as we get more experience.