Watched Vikings and Idaho in front of about 100 in Hillsboro yesterday.
First 20 minutes, Portland State seems to play all one touch... consequently, Idaho had most of the run of play.
Next 25 minutes, Portland State subs in a couple players, the ball gets settled down, more possession, chances made, eventually leading to the free kick where Portland State scored.
Bit of a cheeky goal, BTW. Idaho wall starts a pogo preparing for a shot overhead. So Kristin Moyer musters power and placement, keeping the ball on the floor, and finds the far corner. Nice shot that probably fooled the whole Idaho defense... I don't think it went under the wall, but probably right next to it while the wall rendered itself unable to react to it. Keeper wasn't expecting. Nice.
Then comes the second half. Why does Portland State come out like a U-10 team and whack the ball downfield and pray? Actually, that might be because the defense is anything but comfortable with the ball at their feet. Unable to clear= eventual penalty. Not much later, on a counter, PSU gets called for a backpass in the 6, the resulting free kick leaves a 1 v 1 battle at the far post that's easily lost. Not much complaint about a backpass that could have easily been called a deflection and therefore something Abbie Faingold could have picked up. Blerg. 1:2.
Portland State does get about 10-15 minutes of chances in Idaho's half right after, but are unable to convert, then simply start wasting balls forward again. SMH.
This isn't the kind of team I saw when I lived in Boise and sauntered over to Pocatello a couple times.
So some questions and comments:
How many scholarships does Portland State actually allocate to soccer? I recall the NCAA maximum is 14, but I highly doubt that anyone in-state but University of Portland carries 14. One thing that hasn't changed between 10 years ago and now is a roster heavily populated with freshmen and sophomores (and only one senior seens to see much time this year), which leads me to believe that Portland State is heavily dependent on non-scholly players or is spreading the scholarship money so thin that the team is dependent on ladies paying their own way. Of course, when you're out in Hillsboro and not charging money, it's rather obvious the program is depending on a couple donations and not much else to compete in the Big Sky. Not an easy fix.
Last year, the Seattle Sounders played a home game a day after a corporate event at Century Link Field left the field a mess. The rubber pellets in the turf were much more exposed than usual. Looked like black crap, and by the end of that game, all of soccer social media was having a laugh at the league's attendance leaders. Hillsboro Stadium's field looks just as bad. I know that, previously, PSU played games at PCC-Rock Creek and at PP. The in-town rival has one of the best natural surfaces in these United States. I highly doubt PSU has the money to make an investment in a real soccer stadium. I could easily say they need to get out of Hillsboro, but as PP is too expensive and space on campus is at a serious premium, I don't know where you put this program. If you could get PSU to partner with the Timbers on a field with bleachers either out by the Timbers' training facility in Beaverton or by the Timbers Academy setup at Delta Park? Even then, location... though at least Delta Park is no more than a brisk walk from the MAX Yellow Line stop at PIR.
BTW... if you don't think that turf is irrelevant to this issue, allow me to point to the Pac-12. Only one artificial surface in the league: University of Oregon. Not that the Oregon program has ever made the tournament (there was one season that should have mustered a bid), but they've pretty much been at the bottom of the conference for some years. Even though I'm sure the turf probably plays 80% better than Hillsboro, so many other options means not having to suffer it.
Even the Timbers bring in youth teams to be ball boys AND have (pre-game) little kids mini-games. I recall many Boise State games with ball boys... and crowds allowed out on their grass field at half to kick around, which is what the kids would do. Portland State just has a couple adults chasing balls out of bounds. Especially with charging no admission, you'd think that would be an incentive to get eyeballs out to your games and attention on the program (it's not ideal compared to more adult crowds for Timbers and UP and a bit less for Thorns, but it's something). It looks like there's absolutely no communication between the local youth clubs and Portland State.
First 20 minutes, Portland State seems to play all one touch... consequently, Idaho had most of the run of play.
Next 25 minutes, Portland State subs in a couple players, the ball gets settled down, more possession, chances made, eventually leading to the free kick where Portland State scored.
Bit of a cheeky goal, BTW. Idaho wall starts a pogo preparing for a shot overhead. So Kristin Moyer musters power and placement, keeping the ball on the floor, and finds the far corner. Nice shot that probably fooled the whole Idaho defense... I don't think it went under the wall, but probably right next to it while the wall rendered itself unable to react to it. Keeper wasn't expecting. Nice.
Then comes the second half. Why does Portland State come out like a U-10 team and whack the ball downfield and pray? Actually, that might be because the defense is anything but comfortable with the ball at their feet. Unable to clear= eventual penalty. Not much later, on a counter, PSU gets called for a backpass in the 6, the resulting free kick leaves a 1 v 1 battle at the far post that's easily lost. Not much complaint about a backpass that could have easily been called a deflection and therefore something Abbie Faingold could have picked up. Blerg. 1:2.
Portland State does get about 10-15 minutes of chances in Idaho's half right after, but are unable to convert, then simply start wasting balls forward again. SMH.
This isn't the kind of team I saw when I lived in Boise and sauntered over to Pocatello a couple times.
So some questions and comments:
How many scholarships does Portland State actually allocate to soccer? I recall the NCAA maximum is 14, but I highly doubt that anyone in-state but University of Portland carries 14. One thing that hasn't changed between 10 years ago and now is a roster heavily populated with freshmen and sophomores (and only one senior seens to see much time this year), which leads me to believe that Portland State is heavily dependent on non-scholly players or is spreading the scholarship money so thin that the team is dependent on ladies paying their own way. Of course, when you're out in Hillsboro and not charging money, it's rather obvious the program is depending on a couple donations and not much else to compete in the Big Sky. Not an easy fix.
Last year, the Seattle Sounders played a home game a day after a corporate event at Century Link Field left the field a mess. The rubber pellets in the turf were much more exposed than usual. Looked like black crap, and by the end of that game, all of soccer social media was having a laugh at the league's attendance leaders. Hillsboro Stadium's field looks just as bad. I know that, previously, PSU played games at PCC-Rock Creek and at PP. The in-town rival has one of the best natural surfaces in these United States. I highly doubt PSU has the money to make an investment in a real soccer stadium. I could easily say they need to get out of Hillsboro, but as PP is too expensive and space on campus is at a serious premium, I don't know where you put this program. If you could get PSU to partner with the Timbers on a field with bleachers either out by the Timbers' training facility in Beaverton or by the Timbers Academy setup at Delta Park? Even then, location... though at least Delta Park is no more than a brisk walk from the MAX Yellow Line stop at PIR.
BTW... if you don't think that turf is irrelevant to this issue, allow me to point to the Pac-12. Only one artificial surface in the league: University of Oregon. Not that the Oregon program has ever made the tournament (there was one season that should have mustered a bid), but they've pretty much been at the bottom of the conference for some years. Even though I'm sure the turf probably plays 80% better than Hillsboro, so many other options means not having to suffer it.
Even the Timbers bring in youth teams to be ball boys AND have (pre-game) little kids mini-games. I recall many Boise State games with ball boys... and crowds allowed out on their grass field at half to kick around, which is what the kids would do. Portland State just has a couple adults chasing balls out of bounds. Especially with charging no admission, you'd think that would be an incentive to get eyeballs out to your games and attention on the program (it's not ideal compared to more adult crowds for Timbers and UP and a bit less for Thorns, but it's something). It looks like there's absolutely no communication between the local youth clubs and Portland State.
