Overall, I am impressed with the incoming talent from what I saw yesterday. I'm excited to see the immediate impact they will make early in the season if they remain healthy through preseason.
Emily: Goods- Speed is a huge plus with her. If she is fed into space or takes a touch into space I noticed she was able to create numerous chances, whether a shot on goal or pass to a teammate. She was playing in a withdrawn forward position and then slowly moved in to a true forward position. She has good touches and I liked her creativity with some of her passes. She had a 1v1 with the GK and unfortunately shot it right at her, but her first shot of the game was just wide and well shot. Goals will not be an issue from her as we can see from her 80+ HS season. I think she will work well in G's system up top or out wide, if he utilizes a different formation with an outside mid. Others- Small in size, but as we can see with Miki that may not mean too much. The other team wasn't too physical, so I am not sure how she will adjust to a more physical college game. Also, the pace of the game was slower than usual and that may have been because both teams knew it was their last game and it wasn't a win and go on situation. If she can adjust to a much faster game and be physical she will have an easy time adjusting because she has the technical ability.
Brittany: Goods- Height for sure. I didn't see too much play in the first half from her because the Sting utilized the left side (way more than they needed to) and Brittany was playing right forward. The times she went up for a ball it looked like she had good control in the air. Her off the ball movement was excellent as well. Her runs in the box were in good position to win the ball if a cross came to her (in front of the defender). Most of the crosses were deflected out or to the near post runner. I watched her on a 1v1 against the GK (after a great through ball) late in the 2nd half where she was very calm and slid the ball into the goal. She has confidence and I like it. Others- I didn't see much physical play from her. It was too bad Sting didn't use the right side more because I would have loved seeing more out of her. Very similar to Annie Kunz (besides being tall and blonde) I think Brittany has a little more natural talent with her touch compared to Annie. Paired with her and Kate, Karlie may have another 10 assist season next year.
Kate: Goods- Very physical. Work rate is high to get the ball back if lost. My favorite thing about her is movement off the ball. She was always asking for the ball or moving to be in a position to receive the ball. Others- Tatu spent a good amount of time picking on her for the slow pace of play. I read earlier in the thread that she was severely underrated by TDS and this game was unfortunate to watch to prove that wrong. Another thing of note is she is skinny. This may cause her to easily get muscled off the ball (with players like Savannah Jordan), but her tenacity counters this. Off season weight training will help this issue and it shouldn't be too much of a concern in the future. Overall, Kate may have had an average game, but I am not worried about her. Janae and her will be a commanding presence in the midfield and I hope she gets some minutes to speed up her play.
2017 Commitments (I watched 30 minutes of their game)
Abby Grace Cooper- I was surprised by her. I would compare her to Kelley Monogue in her shot taking abilities. She took a 30 yd free kick that went just wide of the upper 90, but it had amazing pace and placement was just off. Took another rocket shot that went off the crossbar 5 minutes later from 20 yds out. Finally scored a great goal off a difficult pass with placement in the right side past the outstretched diving GK. I loved her creativity with her passes, even if they were sometimes unsuccessful. I hope she stays committed and continues to develop her game because she could have a big impact during her 4 years.
Addie- Didn't see too much play from her, but still impressed with her touch and movement to get into a passing lane. One thing she will need to work on is her defending. I thought it was a little lazy with sticking her leg out hoping to get a piece of the ball and then hoping her defender will actually get to the ball. Sorry I don't have more on her, but she is good.