That was a situation where the referree should have called a time out to see what really happened. He should be be reprimanded for that. A person spitting on another person after knocking them down is unacceptable. That should have been a PK without any doubt. The other call should have been a PK as well. If it would have been any other team, I am sure he would have taken a look at that. It is funny how none of our teams can get a call at home no matter what the sport is. This is off topic but I did watch the men's game at Duke last night and the same thing happened at Duke. Our guy was going to score which probably would have won the game but the Duke player horse collard him to the ground preventing him from scoring. Instead of being a PK, he had to shoot the ball 20 to 30 yards away which I thought was BS. This happened at Duke. Then that same person tried to fight our player after the game was over. There were a couple of players on both sides that got heated after the game at Duke. There could have been multiple fights. Scottie Antonucci was the player who got knocked down and spit on. I hope that player from Stanford get suspended for at least two games and I hope the referee is reprimanded as well. He was the main one that gave Damon two yellow cards. As a fan, it made be wonder whether or not Stanford had paid him before the game had started. I am glad that we won. I do not know why Summer is not playing more. Is she hurt or something. Also, Gaetino is she hurt or something. She should have played some as well if she is not hurt.
UNC Women's Soccer 2026-2027
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That Duke player should have been ejected last night, he had the audacity to chirp afterwards too.
I'll give you that....but it did happen right in front of the 4th official...I mean literally feet away from where she was standing, and there is also a line judge not far away either (although I imagine that person was more focused on watching the back line players as their main role is to look out for offsides calls). Maybe instead I should just be annoyed that it's something that happened plain as day on camera and there is literally no one paying attention that can do anything about it until after the fact. We have all of the technology in the world, yet the rules still don't allow it to be used to its full extent.
This is all a moot point because we won thankfully. But in all seriousness, that girl should have gotten a straight red card, and Stanford should have been playing a player down the rest of the game. A loss in that game could have really been meaningful for our ACCT seeding and even NCAAT seeding. Could have cost us a home game or two in the postseason, you just never know. I just think that if anything rises to the possibility of a "violent" offense (which spitting is under the rules), then it should be allowed to be reviewed by the officials. That kind of behavior just has to be removed from the game and needs to be harshly punished. Stanford's coach should have benched her himself. I'd be absolutely furious at one of my own players for doing something like that. It's one thing to have a nasty streak and have players that play with an edge (you need some of those and honestly I think that may be one of our team's hidden weaknesses going into the postseason), but there is a line that you don't cross (like trying to injure an opponent intentionally), and spitting falls in that category of things you never allow.
The league needs to look at their protocols in this kind of thing going forward (along with the absolutely ridiculous way they are penalizing UNC and FSU for not being able to play a game in a freaking hurricane). Ridiculous lack of common sense.
I think Devey is more suited playing up top than playing out wide now....she looks to score when she gets in the box. We are better when we have players out wide that are looking to get crosses in. I remember being a little frustrated with Devey last year because she'd choose to cut back into the middle (into all of the traffic) when she had the ball out wide....I wanted her to get the ball into the corner / end line and cross it in to Thomas and Faasse more than looking for her own shot so much.
She has really done great in that center forward role this year. We needed someone to step up at the 9 and she has absolutely done that. Her work rate is fantastic too....I saw her track some Stanford midfielder probably 40 yards defensively at one point last night, and that pressure helped us win the ball back. Providing pressure defensively is such an underappreciated thing for forwards. She is always running her *** off up there trying to force a mistake by the other team's back line.
She's really good and making smart runs into space off the ball as well. Also a great point that she is amazing at staying onside. Olivia Thomas and Kate Faasse used to drive me nuts the last couple of years...we'd get called for offsides 3-4 times at least every game and it'd just kill some really big chances. You rarely see that with this team, it's really impressive.
As good as Olivia Thomas was, I wasn’t a fan of her back to the goal game. While we won a Championship, I think this team make up is more in line with what Damon likes to play.
And while some of us get frustrated with how we play in though middle of final third vs playing wide and endline crosses back, Damon likes this style of soccer. Working in tight spaces, probing the defense, making angled runs to break down D and get shots in front of net. That’s his preferred style and you can see the team flourishing this year and struggled some last year.
And while some of us get frustrated with how we play in though middle of final third vs playing wide and endline crosses back, Damon likes this style of soccer. Working in tight spaces, probing the defense, making angled runs to break down D and get shots in front of net. That’s his preferred style and you can see the team flourishing this year and struggled some last year.
I watched the post-game presser and am thinking from some of Damon's comments that we may not have heard the last of the spitting indicent.
Pretty sure the NCAA will review the spitting incident from the Stanford player. The announcers brought it up after reviewing the play.
USA U17 loses their final group stage game to China who appeared to be much the better team, at least today. IMO Manning was our best player today. She assisted on the first goal (by DiMaria, who now has 11). Our prize for coming in second in the group is a knock out match against Spain. If we win that, next would likely be PRK. Our players may be home before the regular season is over, although they will be drained after the games and travel.
Wow…seriously US Soccer needs to take a hard look in the mirror. There have been some disappointing losses this year. I expect it from the men’s side, but not the women’s side…youth or senior team level. I do still think their idea that they are going to cobble together a bunch of players from all over the country (who are all mostly accustomed to being a critical player on their teams), let them practice together for maybe a week or two, and then expect them to play top level TEAM soccer is just completely unrealistic. They have to find a way to have these national teams spend more time training / playing together to build chemistry, trust, and establish roles. Just finding a bunch of stars and rolling the ball out there and expecting it all to click isn’t a great way to go about it. Easier said than done I know, but considering the talent and resources we have, we should be doing more. Just blowing out really bad teams (I’m still really unimpressed by them running up a 17-0 score, more disappointed in the coaches for allowing that one) isn’t good enough.
Added: It wasn’t mentioned that Stanislaus assisted our second goal in injury time. A bit too little too late, but was a beautifully unselfish and smart pass that lead to basically an open net tap him for a teammate.
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No. 2 UNC bounces back behind Devey’s left-footer, defense, Trayer’s play in goal
CHAPEL HILL — In their first match since falling from the No. 1 ranking, North Carolina showed why it earned that standing by battling well during its second top-10 clash in five days. After fallin…
tarheeltribune.com
Well to be honest this is no surprise on the Women's side. I think some of yall have forgotten. American women soccer became a power house in the 90's moving forward as far the world and Olympics are concerned. The world has already been good in women's soccer. You can go back to the 1950's, 1960's etc. With that in mind, America has been late to the party. Compared to the world our dominance in women's soccer is relatively new. Remember, if you look at the past Olympic games going back to the 1930's, 40's, and 50's, American women sports were not recognized and very little money time, and investment was not there where as in other countries it was.
I am going to post this on some of the other Olympic sports threads but I would love when someone sees a coaches and/or players video to post it to make sure we all see it. It's easy to find football and basketball press conferences but I really do enjoy listening to our olympic sport coaches- they are an impressive bunch.
For fun (and the good the team dynamics), you should watch the press conference at least starting at 10:50, lots of laugher between the ladies and Damon.
Then they speak about the orange tape, which is a significant story about Milo and cancer.
Then they speak about the orange tape, which is a significant story about Milo and cancer.
This video is cut a little short: Scottie immediately throws her hands up at the sideline in a "seriously?" motion. Not sure if she was appealing to the sideline ref or her own team.
This is awesome...I said it earlier in the year but you can just tell this team really loves and cares about each other. Add that to the talent they have and this could be a special team in the making.
Did anyone expect them to be ranked #2 (or whatever) at this point in the season?
I thought they would be a top 15 or so, but they have definitely outperformed my expectations so far.
I thought they would be a top 15 or so, but they have definitely outperformed my expectations so far.
Watched some of that game on replay yesterday. Saying China appeared to “be much the better team” isn’t what I’d describe it as. We outshot them 20-12, and outpossessed them 72% - 28%.
China definitely did well to finish their big chances, and I’m not taking anything away from that. But I think your characterization of the game is a bit off. USA needs to figure out how to finish in the attacking third and turn all of that time dominating possession into actual threats, but in no way would I take away from what I saw was that China was much better than USA. That happens in soccer though, a team can bunker in, concede lots of possession and try to counterattack when their opponent has tons of players forward, and if you get ahead a goal or two, it can really put pressure on the favored team…who then pushes forward even more and becomes even more susceptible to a quick counter.
They won’t see that kind of approach with Spain…Spain will want to control possession and won’t bunker in, so it should be an entertaining back and forth game (Thursday at 2). Either way is good news…obviously I want them to win, but if we get Amari and Deus back in a week, I won’t be sad about that either. We have really missed Manning playing out on the left wing.
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Somewhere back in the spring, I said that they would have a top 5 defense, but scoring was going to an issue. And that I could see a lot of 0-0 draws in their future. I guess I was half right, but way off on the wrong half.
I know I did not expect this since this team is young with a lot of new players including the transfers. This is a testament to Damon and his coaching staff and to the closeness, love, and fun the players have as being teammates.
Kind of overlooked by us here, but Trayer had a day vs Stanford: 7 saves to notch a clean sheet.
ACC FOTW
ACC GKOTW
theacc.com
Stratton earns defensive honors. Well deserved with that perfect assist and helping to notch that shutout.
ACC FOTW
ACC GKOTW
ACC Announces Women’s Soccer Players of the Week Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Notre Dame junior Izzy Engle and Wake Forest sophomore Allie Flanagan were named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Soccer Co-Offensive Players of the Week, while North Carolina senior Izzi Stratton and Fighting Irish junior Abby Mills shared ACC Defensive...
theacc.com
Stratton earns defensive honors. Well deserved with that perfect assist and helping to notch that shutout.
I did! I caught one of their spring games, and I knew the talent that still wasn't on campus yet. They'll be even better next year.
This is why she should be starting. I will leave it at that. Hopefully, Damon will do the right thing moving forward and start her.Kind of overlooked by us here, but Trayer had a day vs Stanford: 7 saves to notch a clean sheet.
ACC FOTW
ACC GKOTW
ACC Announces Women’s Soccer Players of the Week Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Notre Dame junior Izzy Engle and Wake Forest sophomore Allie Flanagan were named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Soccer Co-Offensive Players of the Week, while North Carolina senior Izzi Stratton and Fighting Irish junior Abby Mills shared ACC Defensive...
Stratton earns defensive honors. Well deserved with that perfect assist and helping to notch that shutout.
Trayer went out injured, reportedly with an illness. There is no reason to believe that she was held out longer than was advisable, in terms of getting her back to 100%.
Great DTH article here:
Peyton Trayer puts on greatest show of the season in UNC women’s soccer’s win over Stanford
The first-year goalkeeper saved a career-high seven shots against the Cardinal and inspired the team through her vocal leadership and extroverted personality.
dailytarheel.com
UNC has 4 goalkeepers; perhaps one too many now that we have roster limits. They all have starting experience and were pretty highly recruited. All have eligibility remaining, but two should be on track to earn their diploma this year. Now that a freshman appears to have firm hold of the starting job, I would not be surprised to see a transfer out in the offseason.
And Stratton hopefully has earned the starting position. Any word n Gaetino- injured or just DNP
I agree that Stratton has earned the starting role but I thought that after the win vs dook, and then we didn’t see her for weeks. I guess her apparent “injury” (never really confirmed what it was) was a lot more than it seemed to be, but since we get zero info on injuries it’s really hard to know. The only info we get is from the tv commentators, which is suspect to be nice about it considering some of their knowledge of the team (and soccer in general). I swear some of these ACC Network folks never played soccer before and they just hype up whoever the leading scorers are for each team and that’s about their extent of knowledge. I like it when Kacey White does our games because she’s been there and actually knows what she’s talking about. Sorry, off topic there….what I’m getting around to is that it’s really hard to know whether Gaetino is just benched, or has an injury and will start again as soon as healthy.
Really wish we had better information on these kinds of details….especially when Damon’s substitution patterns can be so perplexing. Like Denigan’s fall off from being tied with Devey for most goals on the team for the first month of the season to now barely getting meaningful minutes off of the bench now. Part of me wonders if she’ll play at all once Amari and Deus are back. If she’s not 100% I’d understand it much better (and not question Damon’s judgement there) but who knows.
I was wondering the same thing about Summer. I was thinking and hoping that she was not 100% healthy and that was why her minutes have been reduced. I hope and pray that is what it is because having both her and Bella in at the same time along with Hope the first games of the season was causing the other teams problems trying to stop all three from scoring. I think Damon needs to get back to this. Plum was also scoring at one time. Did she start the last game. I think having all four of them in on the offense side will cause a lot of problems.
By and large the commentators for ACC events have improved immensely in the last 2 or 3 years, especially for the streaming only events. It used to be really bad. (Dr Ty says hi!) But they have settled into a decent group of go-to announcers. No, I certainly do not like them all, but I feel like we usually get knowledgeable, professional announcers. And they usually make reference to info attained at the pregame media availability or direct Q&A's with coaches.
I cant remember who/which sports, but there has been a ton of injury info shared here the first time gleaned by on-air commentator discussion.
There are too many types of injuries or other reasons for player unavailability that most people would want to remain private if it were them. And of course we obviously have medical privacy laws as well. So I get it why we don't often have decent info. if you share all the benign injury stuff for 90% of athletes, but then the 10% is kept hush-hush because it is "personal," then the microscope goes onto those curious outliers, "What is her deal?" Some players share their injuries online. That is their choice. Most do not, which tells you that most probably appreciate the privacy.
But I take it as a constant reminder how silly it is for us to question coaching decisions. Because they always have 10X more info than we do. (That does not even take it into account that they are actual professionals and likely know what they are doing better than us.) It is also important to remember there is a wide gulf between out due to injury and peak performance. A player can be medically cleared but only able to perform at, say, 70% of their peak ability. A coach can see that. A coach can know whether his/her preferred starter at 70% is better or worse than their back-up at 95%.
A good demonstration of this is cross country. Due to the nature of how many can run in the regular season, without causing any harm to your team if they do not place, you will often see wide variance from one race to the next for the same runner. Runners not at their peak are running anyway and that often shows in head scratching results. Because the coach does not have to make the hard call on who is best ready that particular day. That is, until they get to tournament time, and you have to pick a certain number to run. Then the coaches are asking themselves, "who today gives us the best chance to win?"
I cant remember who/which sports, but there has been a ton of injury info shared here the first time gleaned by on-air commentator discussion.
There are too many types of injuries or other reasons for player unavailability that most people would want to remain private if it were them. And of course we obviously have medical privacy laws as well. So I get it why we don't often have decent info. if you share all the benign injury stuff for 90% of athletes, but then the 10% is kept hush-hush because it is "personal," then the microscope goes onto those curious outliers, "What is her deal?" Some players share their injuries online. That is their choice. Most do not, which tells you that most probably appreciate the privacy.
But I take it as a constant reminder how silly it is for us to question coaching decisions. Because they always have 10X more info than we do. (That does not even take it into account that they are actual professionals and likely know what they are doing better than us.) It is also important to remember there is a wide gulf between out due to injury and peak performance. A player can be medically cleared but only able to perform at, say, 70% of their peak ability. A coach can see that. A coach can know whether his/her preferred starter at 70% is better or worse than their back-up at 95%.
A good demonstration of this is cross country. Due to the nature of how many can run in the regular season, without causing any harm to your team if they do not place, you will often see wide variance from one race to the next for the same runner. Runners not at their peak are running anyway and that often shows in head scratching results. Because the coach does not have to make the hard call on who is best ready that particular day. That is, until they get to tournament time, and you have to pick a certain number to run. Then the coaches are asking themselves, "who today gives us the best chance to win?"
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Jenn does an exactly job as well. The analyst who have played soccer do an excellent job of commentating because they know exactly what they are talking about since they have played the sport IMO.
Stratton got a concussion against Duke. Concussions can be weird and Gaetino has over 50 appearances - not easily knocked off her perch.
Denigan had a groin injury. It's an interesting question how many she, Blum, and Antonucci get in the number ten roles when everyone is fit. But I think that at the moment, her recovery must be limiting her minutes. Why else would Roossien be getting more minutes than a Hermann trophy semifinalist?
These decisions could also have the post season in mind. In 2024, Evelyn Shores's recovery was managed so that she could play in the final but nothing else.
Related to the medical privacy, our players are students and so presumably covered by FERPA laws. At a recent press conference, Nahas wouldn't even go into the details of Trayer's illness that kept her out.
Denigan had a groin injury. It's an interesting question how many she, Blum, and Antonucci get in the number ten roles when everyone is fit. But I think that at the moment, her recovery must be limiting her minutes. Why else would Roossien be getting more minutes than a Hermann trophy semifinalist?
These decisions could also have the post season in mind. In 2024, Evelyn Shores's recovery was managed so that she could play in the final but nothing else.
Related to the medical privacy, our players are students and so presumably covered by FERPA laws. At a recent press conference, Nahas wouldn't even go into the details of Trayer's illness that kept her out.
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