DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 21, 2023 14:25:25 GMT -5
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 23, 2023 9:22:06 GMT -5
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 23, 2023 19:13:36 GMT -5
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 24, 2023 10:16:34 GMT -5
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 24, 2023 17:08:09 GMT -5
Real Fall 2021 vibes to this one, right down to the late corner kick goal by a transfer grad student center back (I'm thinking of the Butler game). Gonna need more bite on offense to avoid a repeat of that year's "Good, not great" end results.
But I'm always of a mind that it's better to set about making improvements after an unsatisfying win than an unsatisfying draw (much less the other alternative). Bring on the Hokies!
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Aug 24, 2023 19:31:47 GMT -5
The Hoyas outshot Bucknell 21 (6 SOG) to 0 (that is nil in English speaking countries).
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Post by bearsandbulls on Aug 24, 2023 21:33:48 GMT -5
Nil or no, we were almost nil....3 goals, 3 games....21 shots on....better find someone to finish or it will be a long season...Sunday looms....Who is gonna step up?
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 25, 2023 8:03:27 GMT -5
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 25, 2023 9:52:20 GMT -5
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RusskyHoya
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In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 26, 2023 9:03:17 GMT -5
Nil or no, we were almost nil....3 goals, 3 games....21 shots on....better find someone to finish or it will be a long season...Sunday looms....Who is gonna step up? In fairness, and to take a Glass Half Full perspective, Bucknell is definitely not a cupcake. They're the defending Patriot League champs and looked like they had some good athletes. They started the season with multi-goal wins over St. Joe's and GW. And for all that, against Georgetown it looked like they could play for 900 minutes and would never sniff goal. They were sitting back a bit and playing for the counter but could never engineer a counter. So from that standpoint... it's a lot easier to focus on finishing and make more shots go on frame when you're confident you can tilt the field in your advantage against most teams.
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Post by bearsandbulls on Aug 26, 2023 9:52:14 GMT -5
In fairness, you are correct. No question Bucknell presented a defensive quandary as they bunkered in all game long. The ball rarely crossed midfield except for us to reset or an occasional long ball attempt for a breakaway by them.
And also in fairness, it is early in the season, and also hard to get "all the way up" against a perceived weaker opponent. But I was at Pepperdine, and watched all of the Bison game, and as with Dave's sides I seem to always worry early in the year about finishing. With 21 pops to nil, it is quite obvious your opponent is defensively oriented in strategy. But this is not UNC, or Stanfurd, or Duke, or FSU...In Va.Tech I think we get our first real good look at what to expect this year. So far we have taken care of business, but to be kind, marginally so.
They will bring a ton of fans as always and will try to literally displace Hoya fans from midfield viewing as I have witnessed twice at Shaw. Get there early, hold firm, and support strongly. Go Hoyas.
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 26, 2023 17:23:59 GMT -5
In fairness, you are correct. No question Bucknell presented a defensive quandary as they bunkered in all game long. The ball rarely crossed midfield except for us to reset or an occasional long ball attempt for a breakaway by them. And also in fairness, it is early in the season, and also hard to get "all the way up" against a perceived weaker opponent. But I was at Pepperdine, and watched all of the Bison game, and as with Dave's sides I seem to always worry early in the year about finishing. With 21 pops to nil, it is quite obvious your opponent is defensively oriented in strategy. But this is not UNC, or Stanfurd, or Duke, or FSU...In Va.Tech I think we get our first real good look at what to expect this year. So far we have taken care of business, but to be kind, marginally so. They will bring a ton of fans as always and will try to literally displace Hoya fans from midfield viewing as I have witnessed twice at Shaw. Get there early, hold firm, and support strongly. Go Hoyas. FWIW, Pepperdine's second game was a 2-2 draw against Michigan, which I watched parts of (Pepperdine scored an almost identical goal against Big Blue as they did against us). Michigan then went into Charlottesville and played #5 UVA to a scoreless draw. So the Waves - again, they were ranked as high as #10 last year - are also not chopped liver by any stretch. They may well be better than Virginia Tech!
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 27, 2023 8:53:34 GMT -5
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 27, 2023 14:03:14 GMT -5
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Post by bearsandbulls on Aug 27, 2023 14:17:00 GMT -5
Now that was a solid performance between two very good sides. Will go down as the Maya Lardner game not only because of the goal. She showed some great juke moves against quality defenders. Front line seems to be coming together better. Well coached, well played. Immediately looked to see Maya was a junior. Nice.
Well done Hoyas. We have some solid speed up front when you add Natalie Means. Have been watching Tippins closely and wondering if she is fully recovered from her injury. Last year she was en feugo until she got hurt. Good game Hoyas. Nice resume' builder.
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 28, 2023 11:11:34 GMT -5
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 28, 2023 15:29:54 GMT -5
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RusskyHoya
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In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 28, 2023 17:25:16 GMT -5
Somehow these get worse each passing year... but at least they're still doing them, unlike The Hoya, which has given up entirely
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 28, 2023 22:09:20 GMT -5
As for my own thoughts on the Hokie showdown... well, how's that for a homefield bounce?
Virginia Tech came loaded with ACC-caliber athletes, and they seem to have bought in to Chugger's "The best defense is a good offense" philosophy (we'll avoid commenting for now on any of Chugger's other potential philosophies - suffice it to say the entire saga of him being sued for essentially being too 'woke' is something out of an absurdist comedy). They were very disruptive with pressing and midfield challenges and generally had the better run of play, even if their own ability to string together an attack lacked a certain... sophistication.
Then the second half arrived, the goal came out of the blue, and the Hokies were forced to rely on being creative rather than disruptive. They were clearly less comfortable in that role, and while they had their chances, the Hoyas managed to bring some more balance to the various offensive metrics through some crafty attempts of their own. Maja Lardner, as noted previously, has to get the game ball for her efforts in this regard, even setting aside the slick finish aided by an unbelievably fortuitous bounce.
All in all, a deeply satisfying win - always love to beat the ACC - but a tempered one. Bucknell followed up their trip to the Hilltop by going up to Pitt and getting throttled 5-0. There's evidently still a significant gap to the level of the national title contenders.
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RusskyHoya
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In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 30, 2023 22:34:35 GMT -5
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