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Just curious, what other Billiken teams have ever advanced to the sweet sixteen round in any NCAA competition? I know we’ve done it with the NIT, and maybe that was back when the NiT was the bigger deal than the NCAA, but I’m still curious. Has to be the men’s soccer team, right? 

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1 minute ago, Lord Elrond said:

Just curious, what other Billiken teams have ever advanced to the sweet sixteen round in any NCAA competition? I know we’ve done it with the NIT, and maybe that was back when the NiT was the bigger deal than the NCAA, but I’m still curious. Has to be the men’s soccer team, right? 

The men's soccer team has won 10 national championships and have been to the College Cup (Final Four) 15 times. 

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3 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

Just curious, what other Billiken teams have ever advanced to the sweet sixteen round in any NCAA competition? I know we’ve done it with the NIT, and maybe that was back when the NiT was the bigger deal than the NCAA, but I’m still curious. Has to be the men’s soccer team, right? 

Men soccer have made the sweet 16 35 times. 

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On 11/13/2023 at 8:07 PM, courtside said:

 

All things Hoya Saxa:

Georgetown likes to play a 4-2-3-1. If they are less successful, they will change during the game to 1 or 2 other formations. 3-5-2 is one of them. But their preference is 4-2-3-1
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Juliana Leas is their best player, a 5th year player, 1st Team American center back. Physical, stay at home defender, tackles, blocks shots, breaks up plays. She will get forward mostly only as a set piece aerial target along with Riley. Georgetown has several good players. This is perhaps their most important player defensively. Get her isolated in space with speed, and play physical as a back to goal target against her. They play very good team and help defense.
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Brianne Riley is a UCLA grad transfer center back next to her. National Champion with the Bruins last season. She’s athletic, good in space, and she’s capable of running the length of the field when need be. 
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Eliza Turner is a holding midfielder that covers a lot of ground, box to box. 2 time 1st Team Big East Player. 
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Natalie Means is a wing who can and will play anywhere from right back, holding mod, attacking wing where she plays most. More shot taker than playmaker as opposed to Winstanley and Lardner, but she will do both. All 3 will make flank runs and provide box service. And all 3 are capable of a moment of brilliance any time during a game.
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Allie Winstanley is a grad transfer from Dartmouth. Multiple time 1st Team All Ivy. She’ll play the other wing, and, if need be, she’ll play up top when Georgetown goes to 2 forwards. 
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Maja Lardner will also play wing and up top.’She has a similar game to Winstanley. More likely to either start up top or to come off of the bench as a wing.
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Tatum Lenain is all things left foot. Make her go to her right. Crafty, skilled central attacking midfielder. She takes all set pieces and corners. One of a few Hoyas without some length, but she plays much bigger than her size. Good passer in tight spaces. Shots from distance. More of a facilitator. She’ll split time with Shay Montgomery. Montgomery is more likely to make downhill midfield runs and diagonal runs taking the space. Otherwise it will be Turner, an outside back or Riley.
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Allie Augur is a very good, experienced, polished keeper. 1st Team Big East player, played 2 years at Boston College prior to Georgetown. Not the biggest Keeper at 5’7. Cara Martin is a capable #2. 
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Outside back and forward are two positions where the Hoyas will tinker a lot. Some previous players are no longer in the rotation. Harwood (left side) and Manning (right side) are the initial current preference. Bair, Junkmann, Hanson, are less likely at this point of the season. 
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When Georgetown struggles defending their right side, which is a thing, they will even switch to a 3-5-2, play Means on that side, set her up deeper and let her run the entire flank. They did this vs ODU at half time. 
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Henley Tippins is likely to start up top at Forward. But Georgetown will sub liberally there and rotate in Grace Sherman (Princeton grad transfer) and even 1 or 2 others. Georgetown is much more likely to sub their attacking players. But anything goes in any game with them.
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Emma Davis emerged this season as the compliment to Turner at holding midfield. Davis a physical stay at home holding mid, another Ivy League grad transfer. Are you seeing the Ivy grad transfer theme yet?
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Georgetown can build from the back through Turner. They use the width of the field, and they get good spacing. They make a lot of sideline wing runs for box service, and to win corners. (like SLU)
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Georgetown is a high level set piece team. Both offense and defense. They push bigger defenders forward. It is one of their two most common ways of scoring. And they don’t give up many set piece goals going back years. But they have given up a handful this year. Strength vs strength.
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They have had many flat slow starts to games this season. More times than not they have gotten away with it. Great opportunity to push for a few early goals.
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Georgetown usually gets better and better as games progress. They tinker and they make adjustments. If their coach doesn’t like something, he will substitute 10-15 minutes into games for that player(s).
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Georgetown mostly recruits Metro DC, NY/NJ, California, New England for the bulk of their players. They will also add 1 player here and there from larger soccer markets like Dallas or Atlanta, etc.. and they get transfers from Ivy League and elite academic non Ivy schools. 
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SLU is every bit as good as Georgetown. And, I think SLU is a little better. But unless Georgetown plays a bad game, it will need to be one of SLU’s good games, or better games, of execution and efficiency, while limiting mistakes.(Weather always has a say with regards to game type) Have to match and surpass pace, physicality, from the opening whistle while maintaining level.
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Reduce middle of the field turnovers. Keep it simple. SLU forwards need to be a little bit stronger on the ball and value the ball around midfield. Final third is the place for other things. Win a high percentage of 50/50 goal kicks and keeper punts, and be sharp with distribution. Have to be strong on the ball. And win it back right away after a turnover. While solid, triangle and combo defending will need to be elevated a little bit from the first round.
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SLU’s pace on the wings and up top will challenge Georgetown. The Hoyas don’t like playing direct, high pressure teams. Their adjustment will likely be to clog the middle 3-5-2. That’s when SLU will need to play more diagonal balls and balls over the top to find the corners and seams down the middle. No need for SLU to change the way it plays for Georgetown. And that includes during the game. Have to keep to strengths even if and when having a lead. 
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If something is working for SLU, Georgetown will recognize it and change tactics. SLU needs a little bit more from a few more players. The Hoyas are a lock down defensive team but they can be lured into a different type of game than their coach would like. Georgetown had all kinds of trouble with Xavier twice. But they managed a draw and a win, and that’s what they do. They have a tendency to play to the level of their opponent, good, average, bad. 
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Winstanley, Means, Lardner have been the bulk of their more recent effective offense along the wings. Lardner may also play up top a little bit. And they switch sides too. Set pieces are service from Lenain to defenders that get forward.
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It’s another great opportunity for SLU to play another high profile team. (and both teams in the 2nd game are college soccer blue bloods)
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Ireland’s Dave Nolan is in his 20th season as head coach of the Hoyas. He was a 5 year assistant there prior to that. And he coached in NY/NJ (played at Seton Hall) They have made 14 out of the last 17 NCAA Tourneys, including 2 College Cup Final Fours in the past 7 seasons. The Hoyas have won at least a share of the regular season Big East Title 6 out of the past 8 years. And they have won their conference tourney 7 out of the past 8 seasons.
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The Hoyas, like many other higher profile Women’s Soccer teams, took an International trip this year. Their trip was to various parts of Italy.
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SLU 2 Georgetown 1

Stop by for the Gaebe v Leas showdown. Stay for the Larson magic. 
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No surprises in the starting lineups or formations. 4-2-3-1 for SLU. Same lineup for the 10th straight game for SLU. 12th straight game of Gaebe starting. 
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Georgetown started in a 4-2-3-1 as expected with their recent lineup. Also as expected, if they needed to defend better and tweak for more offense, the Hoyas would switch to a 3-5-2, and, they did just that in the 2nd  half. This means moving Manning to the opposite wing from right back, and letting Means roam the right flank. 
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Early in the game, Georgetown tried Lardner up top off of the bench before moving her to her wing position. Talked about how Georgetown is better and deeper on the wing than up top. (Tippins, Sherman).
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Lots of good early pressure for SLU down the left side of the field. Heavy doses of Larson and Gaebe. Another slow and flat start for Georgetown. It took them a little while to match SLU’s pace and pressure. But as expected they eventually did and they got better later in the game. SLU didn’t give Georgetown any room to breathe defensively. But the Hoyas were able to keep SLU at the edges of the 18.
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Good defending, denial vs contain for SLU High line. Good help defense early and often for SLU. Forced many turnovers. Kept it simple and up the line in back. SLU blocked several defensive third passes and shots from distance. 
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16th minute good chance, Groark up thr line to Gaebe off of throw in. Gaebe makes a long diagonal run, takes the space, beats Davis, cuts left on Leas with a near post shot, save Augur from 10 yards out.
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SLU had several chances in the 18 but couldn’t connect the final pass. Georgetown had one counter, Winstanley switching fields to Turner to Means running on to it, back post cross defended well by SLU. 
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20th minute Groark to Gaebe right edge of the box, cut left, shot well wide. Immediately after, Luebbert wins a 50/50 ball to Kelly who lobs in behind the defense just a touch too long for Gaebe in alone. 
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29th minute. SLU free kick midfield, flicked on header by Stram in front of goal but Augur was there first.
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Talked about Georgetown’s one moment of brilliance once or twice a game out of nothing. 35th minute. Turner wins a 50/50 ball midfield to Means who get past Schreiber with Lawler doubling to help. Means lays it off wide to Turner who overlapped after her pass. Turner flicks a through ball in between Lawler snd Schreiber. Means runs onto it defended by Heckel. She crosses  middle of the box past and behind Stram who was marking Sherman. Ball goes to the trailer Davis, who’s shot was blocked by a sliding Houck, back spinning straight up in the air, and Sherman gets there first to tap it past Puricelli but Sherman was off sides on the play. No goal. Good call. 
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40th minute: Schreiber to Simon in space, makes a run, slots a through ball for Gary in alone but Leas broke up the play last second. 
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41st minute, Simon blocks a Riley pass and Riley tries to pass back to Augur, almost a give away there. Then Bockius wide to Sawyer 1v1 vs Harwood, and she cuts in to her left from 18 but routine save from Augur. (other teams need to scout that Hannah always cuts left or takes ot wide left because she’s left footed. It’s like scouting Lenain.)
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43rd minute: Good pressure from Gary and J Preusser, Forced a turnover wide of the nox. Sawyer cross cleared to Stram who had Simon all alone top of 18 for a walk in but the pass was just behind her and she had to track it down.
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Halftime
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 In the first half, Georgetown made an adjustment by essentially triple teaming Gaebe and doubling Larson down the left side.
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46th minute: Kelly wins a throw in up the line and Gaebe overpowers Harwood as a target, she draws Leas and Davis too. Cross to Larson who wins the near post header race v Manning 1v1 to finish. What a moment. 1-0.
 
Riley had taken Groark and Turner had taken Lawler. This is why it is so important to get defensive midfielders and outside backs forward to make the defense mark more players.
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47th minute: Gaebe forces a turnover at midfield and she was off to the races down the middle past Davis, Turner had to mark Kelly wide offering support. Gaebe 1v1 vs Leas, rips a great shot inside the 18, low, far left post, but a full extension from Augur diving to keep it from a 2 goal lead for SLU. 
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49th minute Gaebe knocks down Leas after Leas got physical with Gaebe, and the ref had enough at that point. She came over and talked to both who had been battling all game. 
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45th minute: Turner beats Groark middle of the field, nice through ball for Winstanley but good team d from Houck and Stram. Turner is dangerous there. 
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51st minute, Lawler yet again wins another midfield aerial 50/50 ball, up to Kelly back to Houck and a give and go later has Houck flying down the right side. Her cross for Larson and Lawler was too close to Augur.
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SLU was able to limit middle of the field turnovers and transition.
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53rd minute, Puricelli to Larson on the sideline, diagonal run and through ball for Gaebe in alone behind Harwood, but she was just offsides a step. 
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57th minute. Schreiber wins midfield 50/50 ball, header to Larson who played it up to Groark in space, cuts inside, and her through ball inside the box to Simon is cut off by Harwood.
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58th minute: Georgetown Harwood left flank run wide after beating Groark and Simon, to Winstanley up the line, cross to Lenain who gets there before Miller. Solid save Puricelli on a hard shot from 18. 
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Gaebe and Larson then put on repeated pressure down the right side of the Heoegetown defense keeping Harwood and Leas busy for the next few minutes which led to Sawyer’s goal.
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61st minute: Lawler wins another 50/50 ball over Hanson at midfield up to Gaebe as a target, who quickly turns on Riley and plays to Sawyer opposite back side,who runs onto it in space. Sawyer zips past Manning 1v1 in alone, and she puts it past Augur left foot short side. 2-0 
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Gaebe back to Miller ahead to Kelly in alone a touch too far.
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62nd minute. Means run cleared by Heckel up to Gaebe. 1 on 3. Gaebe beats Leas, Manning, and Davis in alone, rips a close shot and a great save by Augur, punched out to Gaebe again, but Davis blocked the rebound. 
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67th minute, Turner at midfield wins a clear and sends it up to Lenain who flicks on a nice header to Lardner in space behind Heckel. Puricelli comes out to make the save and Lardner trips over Stram who was on the ground. No foul there. Good no call. 
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68th minute: Kelly makes a run to Gary in space, She walks through Means and Riley. 1v1 vs Leas inside the 18. Cuts right but puts it wide. She could have cut back left. Means saved one there. Immediatelt after that still in the 68th minute, Leas makes a run down the left side and she shoves Gary. Gary uses her speed to chase her down and then Jordan makes a nice clean tackle sending Leas flying. Great toughness there.
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Harwood left side pass up to Montgomery who flicks a header through to Lenain around Heckel. Save Puricelli. 
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70th minute, Kelly wins a foul on Turner. Houck free kick headed on by Stram and Heckel. Leas was there to clear it away. Ensuing throw in cross by Houck but no one was back post.
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73rd minute:
Harwood left side pass up to Montgomery who flicks a header through to Lardner, who gets around Heckel. Shot. Save Puricelli limited angle.
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80th minute: Miller volleys a long ball up ahead to Gaebe in space 1v1 with Turner. She walks around Turner but Riley hustled over with help or Gaebe walks on the edge of the 18.
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86th minute. Houck lines a low hard pass up to Sawyer 1v1 with Leas in space but she was just offsides or that would have been off to the races.
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Georgetown sent everyone forward with about 13 minutes left onward. They won a few corners, took some well wide distance shots. And they were vulnerable to long counters.
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89th minute: Houck forced a turnover. Long ball up to Sawyer in space again, but she slipped taking on Harwood. 
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Still 89th minute, a Georgetown moment of brilliance late. Junkmann hits Winstanley 30 yards out. She lays it squarely to Lemain, who chips ahead for Sherman who volleys to Leas cutting in unmarked. Leas chests it down and left foot low far post all on the run. 2-1. 
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Sweet 16. Celebrate Success. 
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Penn State is good. But so is SLU. And, SLU can win that one too. Colder, 40’s and sunny Sunday.
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Penn State for Elite 8:

Penn State will change formations at times from 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3, 5-3-2 even within a game. They will change personnel from less common positions during a game by moving a holding midfielder to center back. () And, they are the only team SLU has faced that will at times play 5 in back, which is 3 center backs and 2 outside backs at the same time. (This is when drops back to center back, they bring in Gleason for dmid, and they keep their back line. Otherwise will move back and they will sub out Agresti and play with 4.
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In their 4-2-3-1, plays holding mid with Alonso. The back 4 is the same The front 4 is similar but moved around.
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Against Santa Clara, Penn State opened in a 4-2-3-1 but the twist was moving to center back and moving their left back Wiesner up to LW but playing deeper. So they only started 3 attacking players. They can and do tweak that to look like a 4-4-2, a 3-4-3, and even 5 across the back Part of that is because two of their holding mids are former center backs. (Alonso was also a center back but she is less likely to move to there from holding mid)
 
Penn State was content to defend the 18 with overloaded numbers, 8 behind the ball,
and play long counters and transition vs Santa Clara. And it was successful for them. It’s interesting because while usually a strong attacking team, this year’s Santa Clara team was more of a defensive team. 
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vs Michigan State, of an attacking team, they played a 4-2-3-1 and they moved back to Center back when they had a lead. They do that often. Michigan State had a lot of success with pressure. But they lost because they made 2 bad mistakes in their own end, and they were given a bad call for another. Cannot make own third mistakes vs Penn State.
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I’ve seen them play a variety of different ways with different formations. I even saw them outplay a decent team most of a game  with only 10 players and outscore them They play very differently vs attacking teams and defensive teams. 
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The strength of their team is their 2 defensive holding midfielders, and Alonso, as well as their 2 outside backs, Wiesner and Wheeler. All 4 are very athletic, technically sound, they defend, and they get forward with pace. High energy. This is complemented with 3 capable attacking players and solid center backs. 
 
is their best player. #10. And she will play two different positions depending on the formation and situation. In a 4-4-2 she will playing holding midfield. In a 3-4-3 or 5-3-2 she gets moved to center back. Everyone else has a set position in the back 6 or 7. 
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Their attacking players can and have rotated a bit from wing to up top to central attacking mid. They seem to have much more spark when they play Borgen (33) in the middle. She’s a length and pace technical player who makes long middle of the field runs. Started out as a wing. But her pace and length in the middle has been a difference maker for them two ways. 
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Linnehan (12) is their pacey forward that gets behind the defense, makes diagonal runs, and finishes. She’ll also play on the wing. Her best asset is her pace. Have to keep her in front. She is also effective in tight spaces inside the 18.
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MacBean offers, physicality, size and shots from distance where she often cuts inside and doesn’t go outside. She’ll play up top and wing. Not as much of a pace player. Deceptive. Strong on the ball. Has scored some big goals, as has the other two.
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Wilson and White provide depth in the attacking group. White is less experienced, Wilson is undersized but capable. (Borgen, Linnehan, MacBean are their primary attacking threats.) Penn State gets a lot of mileage offensively from its defenders.Alonso, , etc…and those two are more pacey and technical players for the position. 
 
Lapi will rotate in at holding mid depth. Wolfe at outside back if needed, but a drop off from Wiesner and Wheeler. Cooke, Raich, Kershner will bring later half depth. 
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Schiemann (25) is a stay at home center back with size, much improved. She also anset piece aerial target. Agresti is a grad transfer from Boston College who has had some injuries. Isolating her in space would be ideal for SLU’s attackers. Same for Schiemann. 
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Wiesner and Wheeler are high level outside backs, who get forward, defend the flank well 1v1 with good pace and tackling. They are a bit better than Georgetown at that position. But their center backs aren’t any better than Georgetown’s center backs if you don’t include . But they would be better at holding mid. Borgen and Linnehan (lacks size) have a little more pace than the Hoyas. is their elite defender.
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Asman is a very good athletic keeper with size and range, in her 6th season. Very experienced.
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2 Penn State starters and good players are Internationals, from Berlin (Schiemann) Madrid (Alonso).
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Borgen, Alonso, , Linnehan all have the ability to build quickly in the middle of the field. This has been at times a defensive issue for SLU with personnel, pace, and shape. Have to force them wide. 
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SLU has to plays its game. Speed up the back 6 of Penn State, force turnovers, mark tightly. Close the middle and get help and doubles  Penn State is an elite defensive team. Gotta make them move East West in the final 25 by still playing direct but overlaps, switch fields, diagonal balls. Gotta spread them out and isolate players. Don’t let them stay compact. Be ready to defend occasional quick counters. Find Borgen and in the middle as well as keep Linnehan in front. Those 2 are their pace players. MacBean gets involved too. 
 
SLU should be able to play straight up in its 4-2-3-1. If it has trouble defending the middle, they can move Larson there. And if they get down a goal in the 2nd half, they can switch to a 4-1-3-2 by moving Kelly up too w Gaebe and having Larson and  Sawyer on the wings. Rotate 1 holding mid. 
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Similar to Georgetown, Penn State doesn’t give up many set pieces and corners. Need efficiency there.
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No final 3rd mistakes defensively. SLU has been rock solid the first two games. 2 fouls v Indiana and 1 v Georgetown in their own third. Limit Penn State set pieces and corners which is part or how they score. Limit long transition, set pieces, capitalizing on mistakes. Force them to build. An early goal or two would force Penn State to play a way they don’t prefer to play. They are talented enough. 90 minutes and beyond. Penn State has scored late several times. 
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In a recent game, Iowa recognized that Penn State was overloading its midfield so the Hawkeyes switched to a 3-6-1 formation to counter it successfully and win the defensive slog game. SLU won’t be doing that. A more effective approach for SLU would be to make overlapping runs and switch fields while still playing direct, in addition to the other usual aspects to the attack up the line, diagonal runs.
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Erica Dambach: 17 seasons at Penn State. 1 National Title. 2 College Cup Final Fours. 10 Seeet 16’s. 16 straight NCAA Tourneys. 11 Regular Season Big Ten Titles. 5 Conference Tourney Titles.
 
Dambach coached Harvard the year after Katie Shields graduated. And she has been a long time coach and fixture with the U.S. Women’s National Team at various levels and age groups. She is an FOP, friend of the program. 
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Penn State is a veteran experienced team filled with Seniors and 5th year players. They can start as many as 8 or 9 Seniors or beyond. At least 5 5th year players. Their transfers haven’t been quite as impactful as Georgetown’s transfers. Bench players mostly. 
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Penn State occasionally overlaps SLU in recruiting, not annually, and only for some select players. Every few years they will recruit the top few players in St. Louis, mostly without success. Tim Wassell does the bulk of their recruiting. PA/DMV/NE/NY/NJ/SoCal etc but also the Upper Midwest. Anywhere nationally and even nationally. 
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If SLU can play the same way as they did against Georgetown, slight elevation, they will have a good chance to win the game. (Relentless pressure and pace. limit mistakes, make a few plays, 90 minutes, SLU is most certainly good enough)
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