******BTHO New Mexico State******

3,765 Views | 50 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by Soccer1
HiddenAg2
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The story of the game was 5 literally point blank inside of 7 yards missed shots by A&M that would have given us an easy 5-0 lead in the first half and then just cruise the rest of the way. Absolutely ridiculous in our inability to finish in front of goal. I mean, one of them is a slow rolling PK with air in front the shot and GK and we launch it over the goal. Pante had several great crosses that no one could finish. Beccera did have a nice shot that hit the crossbar but the other team misses were unacceptable.

And of course as is usually the case when you miss so many chances, you give the opponent (even one as poor as New Mexico St) any hope, it only takes one mistake and you are in a dogfight. Yes, the linesman missed an obvious offsides call that led to their tying goal, but you take care of your chances and it's a barely a blip on the radar. I'm just glad that we finally had a Makiya McDonald sighting at A&M with an incredible last 20 minutes or so from her, where she setup two great scoring chances with weighted passes forward, and then scored a nifty goal herself to win the game for her team. Where has this McDonald been? If she can play at that level consistently going forward, we suddenly have a dangerous offense when paired with either Hayes or Carroll. Her issue has always been tip-toeing with the ball and indecisiveness, but during that stretch she knew exactly what she was going to do before she even received a pass. Just really encouraging to see from her. And it was great to see Anderson Williams on the field after her multiple injuries.

It's hard to say how good this team is right now because of the competition, but next week on the road at Illinois and Ohio St should give us a better indication since both are winnable games.
taylorswift13
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AG
I agree it's a good thing McDonald is playing with confidence!! I think we need Maile Hayes to knock in a goal and give her better opportunities (or her not going offsides lol) to get her confidence going again, cause when she's rolling not many will stop her!
ntheno
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Here are the SEC team stats if anyone is interested.

http://a.espncdn.com/sec/soccer/cwsoc/stats/2022/Statistics.pdf
mullokmotx
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AG
We kicked a lot of free kicks directly to the keeper, especially in the first half, and I remember we put a corner kick into the side of the goal.
Aston94
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AG
HiddenAg2 said:

The story of the game was 5 literally point blank inside of 7 yards missed shots by A&M that would have given us an easy 5-0 lead in the first half and then just cruise the rest of the way. Absolutely ridiculous in our inability to finish in front of goal. I mean, one of them is a slow rolling PK with air in front the shot and GK and we launch it over the goal. Pante had several great crosses that no one could finish. Beccera did have a nice shot that hit the crossbar but the other team misses were unacceptable.

And of course as is usually the case when you miss so many chances, you give the opponent (even one as poor as New Mexico St) any hope, it only takes one mistake and you are in a dogfight. Yes, the linesman missed an obvious offsides call that led to their tying goal, but you take care of your chances and it's a barely a blip on the radar. I'm just glad that we finally had a Makiya McDonald sighting at A&M with an incredible last 20 minutes or so from her, where she setup two great scoring chances with weighted passes forward, and then scored a nifty goal herself to win the game for her team. Where has this McDonald been? If she can play at that level consistently going forward, we suddenly have a dangerous offense when paired with either Hayes or Carroll. Her issue has always been tip-toeing with the ball and indecisiveness, but during that stretch she knew exactly what she was going to do before she even received a pass. Just really encouraging to see from her. And it was great to see Anderson Williams on the field after her multiple injuries.

It's hard to say how good this team is right now because of the competition, but next week on the road at Illinois and Ohio St should give us a better indication since both are winnable games.


We dominated game except for finishing. I am about done with McDonald. Her first touch is not good, and her finishing is just as bad. She should have 10 goals with the opportunities given her so far this season.

I am all for Hayes and Carroll getting the bulk of the minutes and McDonald coming in for a change of pace. We are too good elsewhere to waste so many opportunities.

She finally got a goal in the last 20, but should have had 2-3 before.

I am also tired of watching Sample give away possession with terrible passes up to midfield. Her pass rate has to be really, really bad. So
Many loose passes to no one in particular.

Rambotx
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Rambotx
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Rambotx
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Rambotx
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MookieBlaylock
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AG
Who names the player of the match? The announcers can't tell the players apart
Mir San Mir
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AG
Fully agree. Pante was Leb, McDonald was Smith and so on. Also agree with the lack of quality passing from the back line - aimless passes that lead to simple giveaways. Speaking of which, why is Kenna Caldwell taking free kicks from mid-field and blasting them over the end line? Even the opposing team's keeper isn't concerned. On a higher note (although hard to judge given the early season opponents), the passing and ball possession in the midfield has improved and the depth of the squad is clearly better.
tamufan
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I'm going to disagree a bit about the passing from the back line. Building out of the back is not a bad strategy, and it seems to be working well for us so far. We are certainly generating offense and scoring opportunities. It is not the back line's fault that our forwards squandered so many scoring opportunities against NMSU.

A couple times we did decide to pass over the midfield, leading to 50-50 balls at best, and even those balls we initially win are often soon lost for lack of supporting passing options. Of course, if it works and gets a forward in, then it can look spectacular. And the occasional attempt helps keep the defense honest.

I'm also going to disagree about calling out Karlina Sample. I admit thinking she had a bit of an off day for her against SHSU, a few questionable passes, but she played very well in the attack against NMSU.

I would be more worried about the defensive breakdowns that led to the score, and to the subsequent near-score that required an excellent 1v1 save from our keeper. Both times NMSU got in from our right side. I realize that the goal on what seemed a clear offside occurred in part because our players expected the call that never came, and in large part because the offside was so close to goal that it gave the NMSU player a commanding positional advantage. But, we almost had a similar occurrence only a few minutes later. That second occurrence was more troubling because there was no offside involved, just a clear breakdown in coverage.

Overall, given that we won, I am glad NMSU gave us a better game than our first two home opponents. Our superior athleticism against McNees and SHSU allowed us to get away with some things that won't work against better teams. NMSU wasn't at our level, but at least closer, and gave us a more physical game too. That is a better preparation for facing two big ten teams that will have skills and athleticism much more like Clemson than like our last three opponents, and I suspect much more physical as well.
Expert Analysis
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AG
NMSU was better than I thought they would be. They were physical and passed the ball pretty well.

I have noticed a few times our 3 back formation gets out numbered on quick changes in possession. There are issues with their position in combination with our outside and holding mids.
On the goal, it started with a really bad miscue from Colvin to give them the corner. When we cleared it we were not playing hard and fell asleep. When the ball was played back in by MNSU Calzada had at least 6 teammates behind her, not sure why she was up so far. Sample and Smith are standing next to each other and Pante fell asleep being our furthest back player. Smith was the only person who tried to run back to play defense...
On the second miscue two freshman who both may have just entered the game played some poor defense, Smith got caught to far up the field, Sample covered Smiths spot, but the pass came in behind her to an unmarked player. Colvin was in the area of the unmarked player as the outside mid and should have dropped back to cover her. That location was probably more in the area where pounds should have been but she was over in the middle to far up the field not doing much and Caldwell had to save the game. At least everyone was running back to defend this time.

Georgia Leb may be our best striker of the ball. If she is in the game she needs to take all the free kicks. Caldwell does not have the accuracy, and I'd rather her save energy because she has been great in goal.

This team is really young. Our offense is almost all Freshman and Sophomores. Our passing in general is much better than the past couple years. We are doing a good job staying wide and generating crosses. Our forwards need to do better to get on the end of crosses. Too many good balls go through the box with nobody on the receiving end, but that also means the crosses need to be better as well. I like where we are at right now. Need the freshman to come up to speed and need to get those connections in the final third.
B$Weigem
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AG
I like Hayes on the pitch more than McDonald. Hayes plays hard, Mc Donald does not and often waits for the ball instead of coming back to get the ball. Loses possession way too often.
Aston94
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AG
Agreed.
Soccer1
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Compared to last season the possession has been better. Just need to cut down on the unforced turnovers and do a better job finishing.
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