In Reply to: Women's Soccer lose in 2nd Round 1-1 (3-2 pen) posted by Mishka on November 19, 2011 at 09:50:38
In the first half there seemed to be a huge change in tactics from what they had tried to do all year long, with Richmond up front and Leroux hidden on the left. They really needed to do more to get her involved.
In the last 30 minutes and overtime, USD was doing everything they could to take time off the clock. In some ways that's fair, but when the wall on free kicks is repeatedly setting up within 5 yards of the ball and taking 30 seconds to slide back into position, the referee needs to do something.
Speaking of the referee, UCLA should've had two penalties in regulation. The first was in the first half when Leroux was knocked over from behind - maybe debatable. But I don't understand at all how he managed to ignore the foul on Richmond in the 2nd half.
As for the penalty takers, maybe it's just a matter of choosing the people that were feeling most confident. I would guess that he left out Leroux because she was hurt - it was surprising that she was able to play at all after she came out.
Next year should be good. Apparently we have a highly rated forward coming in, so there will be options up front to replace Leroux. Every other starter is returning.