Soccer Loss In Ot

[Boomer23]

The ladies lost vs. Denver 3-2 in Overtime. Tough loss, hope they can end their 4 game losing streak with a win at their final game of the regular season.

[NCMeanGreen]

The ladies lost vs. Denver 3-2 in Overtime. Tough loss, hope they can end their 4 game losing streak with a win at their final game of the regular season.

Astonishing! What the heck happened to them????

[res1dg16]

www.firejohnhedlund.com

[nortx9]

Boomer was a very nice touch for such a big game!! Glad to see we were able to find a place for it this time! Good crowd too, tailgate was fun.

[KRAM1]

Don't know what happened to the ladies as the season wore on as I was not able to make that many games this season...but, it isn't John Hedlund. The guy can coach and he has done some very good recruiting in the metroplex. I think we'll see the ladies "bounce back" quickly...

Tough way to end up what looked like a very promising season, but we'll see better things ahead. You can count on it...the Lady Eagles are awesome! GO MEAN GREEN!

[nortx9]

Don't know what happened to the ladies as the season wore on as I was not able to make that many games this season...but, it isn't John Hedlund. The guy can coach and he has done some very good recruiting in the metroplex. I think we'll see the ladies "bounce back" quickly...

Tough way to end up what looked like a very promising season, but we'll see better things ahead. You can count on it...the Lady Eagles are awesome! GO MEAN GREEN!

Hmmmm..... . Have to be careful with how, when and what I can say I think my alias in no longer ...an alias... after my last outburst.... The girls really played very hard all week and overcame some tremendous odds in two straight games. It was a remarkable team effort given the last three weeks results.

Couple of notes: The two teams that presented the most trouble for us have one thing in common. I spoke to this in the off season on another post and never did follow up on how many teams won conf or made NCAA lat year that had MENS teams on campus, but there are a lot . WKU won conf this year, and DU managed to save the season with a tourney win and NCAA berth. Both teams have mens teams and were very organized and played very fast and physical. I believe that intangible is a very big plus for many ladies teams to have mens teams to push their endurance, physical play, and speed of play. UNT practiced against the UNT mens club team quite a bit last year, but did not do that much (if any) this year I'm told, and I think it showed. A second point. In early 2006 I posted that the loss of Kevin Smith as a special trainer would eventually take its toll. Players have spoken of how they hated his training, but in retro now realize he helped build strong individual skills. This years team lacked some of the attacking skill and defensive discipline and characteristics that Kevin is very good at teaching and SUSTAINING, strong attacking and posession skills and marking skills. Most of the players he influenced are now gone, only a few remained this year, and even less for next year. Not to say that the present staff can't make that happen, but with Kevin it did, and the results showed in team performance and player development. Many of the players trained under him in club ball prior to their days at UNT. Not all would agree with my sentiment, and with Kevin, you either loved him or hated him as a coach, but he has always gotten results. Not sure why he really left, but I hope we can back to that type of hardnosed fundamentals training so we can recapture a championship. Wish someone would see if he'd like to come back as a training instructor part time .

We have extremely good talent coming in next year, but we are losing some key players with Championship experience. too Looking forward to finally getting over the hump with Denver, soI hope we can develop a strong team for next year. More to come.....GMG!

[Mad Hatter]

Any chance of getting an invite to the NCAA tournament based off of the season?

[nortx9]

Any chance of getting an invite to the NCAA tournament based off of the season?

I'd guess slim to none.... we actually had a better case last year I think....this year we just did not show well enough in conference. And, we lost twice to Denver when they were must win games. Also did not win any OOC game ultimately of ay significance except UTEP. Based on the lunacy of some of the bids last year, stranger things have happened, but common sense would suggest otherwise. My opinion.......fire away....

[FlatFoot]

Any chance of getting an invite to the NCAA tournament based off of the season?

With the loss to OU, who didn't qualify to play in the Big 12 Conference Tourney AND the loss to SMU who didn't qualify for the C-USA tournament AND falling completely out of the central region Soccer Buzz rankings AND by losing to SMU which helped elevate them to RV status for the Central region, they stand a better chance of getting in than UNT and I don't even think SMU will get in. Nope, I'd venture a guess that UNT will be on the outside looking in. That's OK, though. These girls need to heal up and get healthy. Make their NCAA appearance when they can sustain a high level of play. Learn from this year and come back strong next year. Only 4 seniors leaving (I know, I know... Slavonic, Hutyra, Weller and Ellis, we'll miss them all) so our bench should be stacked with additional recruited, recovered replacements. I think that in spite of all the injuries, this team remained competitive in our conference. They should be REALLY good next year given all the seasoning that took place this year. I believe that bringing Kevin Smith back for some of his workouts would help as well. I also like the idea of scrimmaging with a mens team, too. Shirley , there's a team out there that we can find to play.

[nortx9]

With the loss to OU, who didn't qualify to play in the Big 12 Conference Tourney AND the loss to SMU who didn't qualify for the C-USA tournament AND falling completely out of the central region Soccer Buzz rankings AND by losing to SMU which helped elevate them to RV status for the Central region, they stand a better chance of getting in than UNT and I don't even think SMU will get in. Nope, I'd venture a guess that UNT will be on the outside looking in. That's OK, though. These girls need to heal up and get healthy. Make their NCAA appearance when they can sustain a high level of play. Learn from this year and come back strong next year. Only 4 seniors leaving (I know, I know... Slavonic, Hutyra, Weller and Ellis, we'll miss them all) so our bench should be stacked with additional recruited, recovered replacements. I think that in spite of all the injuries, this team remained competitive in our conference. They should be REALLY good next year given all the seasoning that took place this year. I believe that bringing Kevin Smith back for some of his workouts would help as well. I also like the idea of scrimmaging with a mens team, too. Shirley , there's a team out there that we can find to play.

....waiting to be officially pronounced...........I want to try to stay positive as well, I've allowed myself to drift some and probably lost some credibility as an objective fan. I'm sure the coaches will re-evaluate why we missed the target, and what should be done. Just feel like we could have achieved more..... from my view in this plush armchair. Next year is always a great year!!! So, I'm with ya on that! Gonna have to get with it though and fix the pieces that will bring the conf championship. WKU bringing almost the whole roster back, and Denver is stocked with a lot of young players too, Hemmings should be back, and that Keeper is a monster player. Got to find a way to beat their defense.......in Denver too!

[FlatFoot]

....waiting to be officially pronounced...........I want to try to stay positive as well, I've allowed myself to drift some and probably lost some credibility as an objective fan. I'm sure the coaches will re-evaluate why we missed the target, and what should be done. Just feel like we could have achieved more..... from my view in this plush armchair. Next year is always a great year!!! So, I'm with ya on that! Gonna have to get with it though and fix the pieces that will bring the conf championship. WKU bringing almost the whole roster back, and Denver is stocked with a lot of young players too, Hemmings should be back, and that Keeper is a monster player. Got to find a way to beat their defense.......in Denver too!

It's official. Only DU from SBC made the cut. They get the honor of playing Portland. Is Portland any good? Probably the best. Took it all a couple of years ago. Might take it all again this year, or NEXT YEAR. Wait, that's OUR year. Not sure what our non-conf schedule is for next year but if we play some tougher teams before conference, it should serve to increase the level of intensity, barring anymore injuries. If we do end up playing weaker teams again, I foresee UNT sticking with the possession gameplan longer and continue to possess the ball even when we're up by 3-4 goals. It appeared that in the games which had high output in the 1st half, the output dropped dramatically the 2nd half. Shot percentages went way down. Goals were fewer. Seems like there were more shots taken from way outside the box. Just a natural reaction, I'm sure. That goal starts to look HUGE when the ball has ripped out the back of the net during the first half. We can still use those weaker teams to refine our possession game and the #'s should come anyway... By the time we get to WKU, MUTS, DU and I guess UALR now, at years end, the possession game should be pretty sharp and nearly second nature. DU at Denver? Piece of cake. I know of one UNT player that was on a U12 or U13 team (too long ago) in Colorado that played DU on DU's field and only lost 3-0. If I remember correctly, I believe DU was nationally ranked that season. (probably a rumor to intimidate those little girls) Anyway, DU can be had... Hooker was coaching both teams so maybe he had the little ones take it easy on the nationally ranked team.