72 Roo

Last night was an entertaining matchup of two formidable teams. If you missed it you lost an opportunity to see the game at an elite level. The first half had me concerned. It thought 'Cuse was getting the better of play. They certainly had a few opportunities that could have been goals. The high press bothers us and we have struggled to make teams pay. When played well it can suffocate a team like Georgetown did. But then again they are the best team I have seen in the last two years. The second half was a different story. We used diagonal passes to get behind their press and despite the heart-stopping clearance on our goalline we dominated. I would like to see O'Rourke take Sears under his wing and show him how to penetrate better. Sears seems lost when he gets the ball one on one. Sears technical skills are supposed to be his strength, but the college game in the Big East has caused him to slow down and that plays into the defenders. If he grows his game that will take more pressure off Remi. With Creighton Sunday this is a good time to be putting it all together.

Some posters are a broken record that bore the hell out of me. Say something new and intelligent rather than bitching about the obvious.

I agree with this analysis by the eminently qualified fknbuflobo. The better team won. We are nor at their level. They had no weaknesses and to beat them we had to play a perfect game. We were not capable of doing that. We can do better though. This game showed us what level we needed to sustain to go deep in the playoffs. I do not feel we have found the best 11 to do that. The process continues and the coaches have to figure it out with the talent we have.

This game was more about us rather than Minnesota as far as I'm concerned. We repeatedly made mistakes that took us out of the game. The Zips came to play, but left discipline at home. The coaches have to change that. If they do we have the potential to be better than .500. I was not impressed with Minn. I did see progress in several aspects of our game: DL, OL, LB's, QB's. If we clean up the drops, penalties, missed tackles, fumbles and stupid decisions we will have the team we want. The season's not over and UNLV is beatable.

In the manner of Zip_ME87 finding positives in last night's lackluster performance I also want to applaud our back four, GK and Matt Dreas. We are solid in the back and can always build from there while we sort out the attack. Goalkeeping has been better than anticipated and Matt is a beast as a defensive mid. He is deserving of Ist team All American honors. Last night was a pee poor performance but we have been here before and we can recover. This team can be exceptional.

Both Butler and the Zips were unimpressive. Our forwards were not a factor and the same could be said of our wings. We missed O'Rourke. Roman has yet to find his form and Sears needs time to adjust to the speed of attacking. He's got all the skills, but he is still raw. Tonight was an opportunity lost. It was more about us than what Butler did.

This attendance was horrible for a school as steeped in history as Pitt. It gives me hope that we will overcome our attendance issues in the years to come because we continue to make incremental improvements to the program and the event experience.

Keep it going Zips. Perhaps this is the year we catch lightning in a bottle. Stranger things have happened. As Ted Lasso says "Believe".

Strange things happen in the Big House when the MAC visits. Years ago the Zips went up north and outplayed UM. We got the ball down to the UM 2 yard line with 40+ seconds left, but we had no timeouts. The refs took over 30 seconds to spot the ball thus taking two plays away from us. We failed on the one play we had to punch it in for the win. I respect the Big Ten, but I can't stand Michigan.

My biggest concern in the Wake game is not who is at QB, but if he will keep his undershirt tucked in. I'm shocked that there isn't more concern over this. Where are your values?

I like the white uni with gold helmut. On the other hand I hate the undershirt of a different color hanging out. It doesn't carry any class, is sloppy and looks undisciplined. It portrays a team that carries no pride in what they project to the fans.

We lost a little momentum with this loss, but we move on. Duquesne is a mediocre team in a league only slightly better than the MAC. The Dukes did expose our poor outside back defense. We had no answer for their wings and the score could have been worse. Our attack had a bright moment here and there, but primarily was shut down where we got in the attacking third. The biggest deficiency I find with the team is that we do not have D1 athletes. We have no speed, no explosion, no separation. Maggie needs time to change that.

Last night's game was one that will be talked about for some time: perfect weather, great opponent, team effort, 90 minutes of pressure on the Wake goal, great coaching match. We still have much to work on, but we are coming together and putting the pieces in place. My random points: Ty Morck was our best midfielder last night I love how the staff is playing Sears into a formidible attacker. I just wish he would take defenders on more often. If there is nothing there cross sooner, I don't care if we are short. Running onto the ball gains an advantage over a static defender Sam Bunch has got to cool his physicality. Last night he deserved two yellow cards = one red The defense is solid. Freddy and Matthew are easy to build around. McQuire and Bunch are nice additions. Wake had only one attack that was dangerous. We had a half dozen. Our corners have got to improve. We have little production from them and that is a waste of opportunity. The upside for this team is enormous. Remi needs the mids to be more dangerous to open space for him. O'Rourke looks ready. Jack Sullivan has come on, but Jack Roman has yet to find his form Cudos to the Wake goalie. He was outstanding. He kept the game from being 3-0.

Too much optimism.

Sorry to hear of the passing of Len. He played during an earlier era when many on this site were too young to follow the Zips or had not been born. He was an awesome basketball player, capable of taking over a game on his own. It could easily have been argued that when he played he was the best collegiate player in the state including what OSU and U Cinci had. In his later years he struggled with his health and the effects of bad habits. I saw him 2 years ago in Pittsburgh during our post season run and he did not look good. He was a humble man, yet on the court he was a giant. RIP my Zip friend.