Notre Dame Match Recap!

Last night we had the chance to play Notre Dame, who this last season finished ranked number 5 in the country. I've always said in order to be the best you have to play the best. Spring is an opportunity for players to improve and raise their game to the next level. You always want to win and play to win, but the journey to get there is what spring is about. The chance to see the speed of play at the top level is certainly something that will be a huge benefit for this group.

I was extremely pleased with the play of our strikers, Lizzy Karoly and Jackie Torda, as both had great work rates and did a good job holding the ball. We created some great chances and Chelsea Cody did a very good job of playing those two in. The fact we had so many corners was extremely encouraging and showed that we have the ability to be dangerous against the best teams in the country!

I felt defensively our 1v1 and small group defending all over the field was poor and is something that the team struggled with because we didn't keep the field compact enough. As young as our group is I felt we got a little rattled and just retreated and dropped, giving Notre Dame way too much time and space. All of there goals were a result from too much space and give Notre Dame credit, they capitalized.

The good news defensively is that we played them straight up as I wanted to see how far away we are from competing at that level. By no means were we pinned in our own back third, scrambling. We actually showed the ability to break down their defense at points and maintain posession. I think if we have a normal defensive effort from our mids and back line and don't panic it's a pretty even match. That's what's exciting - walking away knowing we're not far off.

The game certainly served it's purpose though, as obviously we're dissapointed in the result, but I walk away even more confident that we have the ability to play at that level. The trick for us is to do it consistently and have every one of our players believing they belong at that level!