Agree. We were the better team in nearly every phase. I thought Pestell and the defense did very well. Merritt had a couple mishaps, but her teammates were there to cover for her (whos covering for Weigel). Libby has been doing good work in the middle. Want to see Erin bulldoze people on Sunday like she did in the 2014 A10 tourney.
Kiehl is one of the most enjoyable players to watch. She runs at EVERYTHING. Every back-pass she forces the other team to be mistake-free. They hear footsteps. 9 times out of 10 they handle it okay but that 10th time she pounces. Its a tremendous strategy of volume and attrition and knowing nobody can be perfect on defense. Just takes one screw-up back there to give her a game-winner. She is in tremendous shape.
The last half of the season Alexis seemed to change up her game a bit and reconcile that she's never going to be a bowling ball up there able to toss players around like a Colleen Williams. In the past, physical players tended to slow her down. But then I think the light bulb went off and she realized her size can actually be to her advantage. And her speed and fitness. So attack those same defenders like a cat and force players into discomfort by using your speed and endurance to wear them down over 90 minutes. Make them make a play they dont want to make under duress (even GKers). Since that course correction, she's been tough to slow down.
That said, we are going to need at least 1 goal from someone else on Sunday. I think we need at least 2 goals to win. At some point some coach is going to throw 4 players at Kiehl and take his chances. And defending Mills for
SJU will be a tough task. She is huge and physical and fast. Pestell is too small I think. Perhaps Byrne. She has speed and a bit more size. Best way to slow down a great player is to deny them the ball altogether. They cant hurt you if they dont get touches.
We are playing our best soccer and it goes without saying we've got something to play for. I hope we practiced PKs. I dont think Tucker could live through yet another A10 tourney PK loss where we miss 3-4 PKs. Just win it in regs!