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Film Study: Weekend Trio of Soccer wins

By Matt Gritzmacher
  • (Women vs Toledo) 11' Buffalo 1-0: Based on where UB is setting up, I think Moira Petrie is aiming for the back post here. Julia Benati is available on the short option.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 11' Buffalo 1-0: The delivery is short and a Toledo defender is able to make a play on it uncontested. She should aim to get the ball to one of the near defenders on the original corner, who could then clear it into the highlighted open space. Toledo likely wouldn't gain possession, but they could reset their defense.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 11' Buffalo 1-0: Instead her header goes to Benati, who needs a second to settle it, but has a few passing options to the center of the field. In general most players are moving back upfield.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 11' Buffalo 1-0: Instead of passing into space, Benati loops it over the pack. Celina Carrero is likely onside anyway, but is especially kept on by the circled defender, who's two yards further than anyone else.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 11' Buffalo 1-0: Carrero reacts faster than anyone else on Benati's surprise pass, and is uncontested for the header. Had that lagging defender, who hasn't even turned back around yet, been a bit more advanced, Celina might have been offside or not beaten Toledo's goalie to the ball.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: Bri Shingary is taking the free kick after a CMU yellow card, and UB looks to be gunning for the near post this time.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: Carrero, Kidd, Benati, Niper (x2), and Hart all have defenders on them, but Niper has the inside angle on hers, and Jackie Hall has shaken free with plenty of space in front of her. Considering all six of her career goals have come on set pieces, this isn't a good look for Toledo.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: Only the goalie keeps Hall from making an uncontested play on the ball untouched, and the delivery will pop up into the air. UB attackers, though, have pulled most of the defense close to the goal line, Julia Benati is drawing her defender laterally, and Kassidy Kidd has shook hers.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: The ball is about to hit the crossbar, and Kidd is even more free while everyone else is even more in chaos.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: When she heads the ball, she's fully seven yards in front of the defender originally covering her.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: I pulled an extra screenshot to show Jackie Hall literally stepping over a defender after the goal.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 79' Buffalo 3-1: Bri Shingary delivers the ball into Carrero, who while covered, has good position on her closest defender. Ashley Evans is in position if Carrero doesn't get a clean touch. Kidd and Gerritz on each wing give UB even numbers with Toledo on the front line.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: Gerritz pushes upfield for a pass that Carrero can't possibly deliver, but it pulls a defender further back, giving Kidd room for a steeper run. Carrero is drawing a defender out of that very space, and Kidd has once again shook her defender.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: Still frames don't do this pass a lot of justice, as Carrero flips the ball sideways from about waist height. Kidd gave her plenty of room, but it's nice all the same. From here it's Kidd and Kidd alone.
  • (Women vs Toledo) 54' Buffalo 2-0: These posts aren't great for technical details, but look at Kassidy's feet here. The left was first, pointing clearly at the near post, while the right pushed the ball to the far post past the already-committed goalie. In real time, this looks like a smooth goal when you watch the ball, but if you watch Kidd you see a nice bit of athleticism.
  • (Men vs West Virginia) 76' Buffalo 2-0: This set up should look familiar: Braden Scales is flipping the ball into an OK situation for the Bulls, and if they win the loose ball they might get a good shot, if not, they won't get burned on defense.
  • (Men vs West Virginia) 76' Buffalo 2-0: The key here is that the WVU goalie has come out of the net. If he's going to do that, he *must* get the ball. Considering the Mountaineers have two guys defending two Bulls, all four with their backs to the net, it might have been wiser to see where the ball bounced and gone after it then.
  • (Men vs West Virginia) 76' Buffalo 2-0: Instead he takes out his own man as the ball bounces to Marcus Hanson. The video doesn't show the shot very well, so I'm not sure on placement, but the lone man in front of the net did more dodging to avoid a handball than movement to save the shot.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: This is a minute or so removed from the goal, but UB played a long set up here. Compare this to the goal against Kent State: Moira Petrie doesn't have tons of space to advance, and CMU's defense is well organized. Petrie is basically going to send the ball long. Worst case CMU gains possession while UB sets up their shape 20 yards upfield, while best case Cutrona or Kidd gain possession and hold it while UB sets up upfield.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: Best case comes true: Kidd pounces on a loose ball, carries it 40 yards upfield, and earns a corner kick for the Bulls, who off one pass and a loose ball get to pull the whole offense up into the final third.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: Off the corner, Petrie earns another throw in.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: This will now lead to the goal. CMU has seven defenders devoted to five Bulls all to the goalie's left. Only one defender (on Julia Benati) is on the other side of the field. This is partially due to UB's set up, but it will persist.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: The ball gets cleared out, and most of the CMU defenders are moving upfield without resetting themselves into the center of the field.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: As Bri Shingary (again) swoops in to make a play on the ball, CMU has lost attention of both Cutrona and Benati. Six defenders are focused solely on Shingary and the ball, the closest Chip to Cutrona isn't following her into the space on the wing, and even Benati's mark is cheating a little.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: The ball gets to Cutrona, whose closest defender can't stop her from passing. We can start to see the cumulative effect of the ball at this side of the formation for a full minute, as CMU has five defenders devoted to three Bulls, with one in no position to stop any of Cutrona's options. Benati's defender is dropping off to help should Kidd get the ball.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: Kidd makes one touch on the ball after drawing the defender and it's headed to Benati. The final tally is seven Chips on four Bulls, none on Benati, and two in no-man's land who could have pressured Cutrona and Benati on the wings but instead did nothing.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: CMU might have survived had Benati's defender gotten a bigger piece of this pass. They might have even had a possible counterattack.
  • (Women vs CMU) 15' Buffalo 1-0: CMU's goalie is to Benati's near post. Normally this would be fine, but normally defenders would be in the way of a shot to the far post. Benati is going to shoot it to the low outside corner. If the goalie does get a piece of it, it will have skipped right before there, the better the chance for a rebound.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall save: It doesn't seem like CMU has much hope on this long ball beyond a clearance - there's eight Chips in frame to only five Bulls.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall Save: This actually looks promising for CMU. There's a narrow passing lane between Markiewicz and (?)Hart, and the off-ball forward is headed to it. Defensively, you'd like to see Hall disrupt the pass and the other two hold their positioning.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall Save: Hall does just that, and this should be threat over for UB.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall Save: A weak clearance gives the ball back to CMU, and Buffalo is terribly out of shape.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall save: UB gets their shape back, but between now and the next slide, the ballcarrier moves up twenty yards pretty much untouched.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall save: Another Chip carries the ball for a stretch, but the UB defense collapses well.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall save: Another weak clearance gives the ball to CMU, and UB is now the victim of their own collapsing defense. CMU couldn't get a pass off, but UB pretty much dropped the ball into a spot they weren't.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall save: Even so, this shouldn't be too dangerous a shot from here.
  • (Women vs CMU) 30' Dougall save: But it is.
  • (Women vs CMU) 34' Buffalo 2-0: Bypassing possible open areas in front of Meghan Simmons and Nicole Gerritz, Kristin Markiewicz goes for the long ball UB has been trying all year. Notice that Carrero and Bramble haven't started moving yet.
  • (Women vs CMU) 34' Buffalo 2-0: It takes a while for Carrero to beat her defender.
  • (Women vs CMU) 34' Buffalo 2-0: Carrero does get to the ball, and is able to get leverage on the defender.
  • (Women vs CMU) 34' Buffalo 2-0: Carrero shoots pretty quickly, and clearly the CMU goalie didn't expect it, because she's coming out for the ball. Celina shoots the ball on the bounce over the keeper.
  • (Women vs CMU) 69' CMU Chance: Off a restart, UB's forwards pressured a few CMU passes, and the Chips were able to get the ball up. Here, you can see CMU about to bypass UB's entire midfield.
  • (Women vs CMU) 69' CMU Chance: One more pass, and CMU is moving with the last line of UB's defense with a runner wide-open on the other side of the field.
  • (Women vs CMU) 69' CMU Chance: As they reach the box, CMU has a few passing opportunities, but needs to work quickly, because while their quick passing got them behind the Buffalo midfield, it also separated their own formation. Right now it's four on three, but the next five players coming in are all Bulls.
  • (Women vs CMU) 69' CMU Chance: As UB's defense collapses on the ball, CMU might have two passing options if the run is there, but instead settles for the shot.
  • (Women vs CMU) 69' CMU Chance: UB's defense succeeded in this instance by staying disciplined: the ball stayed to the outside, the three defenders back remained organized and didn't overload inside of the outermost attacker.
  • (Women vs CMU) 70' UB Chance: Immediately off of Dougall's save, CMU gets possession, but Carrero pressures the ballcarrier. She tries to just loop it forward.
  • (Women vs CMU) 70' UB Chance: Instead, the ball goes right to Gerritz, who has plenty of room to work before working on a pass, as she's in a middle ground between layers of the CMU formation.
  • (Women vs CMU) 70' UB Chance: The CMU defenders behind her are catching up, but Kidd is making a run and Gerritz has had time to find the narrow passing lane without being pressured.
  • (Women vs CMU) 70' UB Chance: Kidd's shot is saved, but this is a great example of UB capitalizing on a chance off of some high pressure. You'll frequently see Carrero, Gerritz, and Bramble press for the ball in situations like the start of this chance.
  • (Women vs CMU) 87' Buffalo 3-0: Angel Hart is moving upfield with the ball, and for the most part all of UB's players are covered, but Nicole Gerritz is moving through space.
  • (Women vs CMU) 87' Buffalo 3-0: As the ball is delivered, Gerritz continues moving into space. There's one defender who could still get to her, but she doesn't look to be moving with urgency. CMU's goalie looks to be coming off her line.
  • (Women vs CMU) 87' Buffalo 3-0: One final CMU defender takes herself out of the play, and it's pretty much a race between Gerritz and the goalie.
  • (Women vs CMU) 87' Buffalo 3-0: Gerritz wins. This wasn't a super complicated goal, but basically Gerritz works really hard and really deserved this one.

I had all the captions written out and then lost the entire post, so I'm not going more in-depth in the body of this post as I have in earlier posts.

Fortunately, most of Buffalo's eight goals were pretty simple, comparatively. Full replays of the Friday games aren't available, so I only had the goals to go on. In Sunday's Women's game against Central Michigan, though, I tried to pick a few opponent's chances so we could talk defense, too.

There's no reason to break down a free kick, and I don't have access to the run up (or the uncalled penalty when WVU dislocated Russell Cicerone's shoulder), but you probably want to watch Cicerone's game-winner from Friday.

I also made a .gif of Marcus Hanson celebrating that goal:

MSOC Hanson celebration

Otherwise, click through the slideshow above, and hover for explanatory captions.

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