http://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21355
Huge win tonight. Dayton had to have this one. It took a near heart attack to get there, but we got the result we wanted and that's the most important thing. I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty ANY day.
Fans need to realize that Boston U.'s back line was better than just good. They were spectacular at times. Its not often UD runs into a team where they can mark players out of a game 1 vs. 1 against the likes of Willy, Libertin, Smigel, et all. Not that Lethal Weapon 3 didn't make their back line work up a frothy sweat tonight. It was just a real treat to see great players countered by other great players, without the need for gimmicks and other hokey game plans. As good as our attackers are, Boston U.'s defense is probably on par, which is why our dangerous scoring chances were relatively few. The true soccer fans appreciate player battles like this.
The middle 75-80 minutes tonight were full of Miami Hurricane malaise. It' a credit to our back line that they held things together in spite of the large possession disparity for big stretches. The UD back line had their own share of suspect touches at times, but they were just not receiving much defensive help from the mids. There remains a huge swath of real estate we're giving up between the mids and backs. I'm not sure how to solve it other than to find the right combination of players that can keep a high energy level. There's a few players making their case to get on the field, while a few are making a good case to get off it.
Libertin must have run 10 miles tonight. She's gotta be a whipped puppy. At times she just got no help. She'd work her tail off to run down a ball, then 2-3 defenders would converge on her because no UD teammates were running into space to create a passing lane. With the standing around, Boston defenders risked very little in converging like flies on her. You gotta be a buddy on the field and provide options to your teammate.
I thought Waters and Campbell made some strides tonight. Waters was huge late in the match when we needed someone to spark some energy in the midfield. That effort says to me, "I wanna play, coach."
It wasn't a Rembrandt, but we danced until the last song. Sometimes you have to win matches like these where you aren't necessarily playing well, but you are battling to just sort of hang in there and capitalize on an important chance. We did that. Sometimes we just need to work smarter, not harder. Sometimes we need to work harder.
But that's for practice to iron out. Let's just savor the victory for now. This is a long journey and there will be twists and turns. Tonight, we did what Dayton has made a tradition of doing -- finding a way. And that counts for a lot once you stop devouring every small detail. Someone had to earn the corner, someone had to take the corner and find a noggin, someone had to redirect it, someone had to finish it. That just didnt happen on its own.