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.
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.