A new star for women's soccer?
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 7:01 pmFor those of you who haven't been out, the women's soccer team is pretty good. They're close to being REALLY good. Beat USC Friday night, and USC is a pretty good team. From what I've seen, most of the attention is going to the offense. Kimber Bailey is a scoring machine. Crystal Bailey and Olivia ORear are fast and can score, and Jena Lind looks like a great passer. And the freshman goalie looks good, too.
But I think they've stumbled on a stud defender. Maybe it's because Alyssa Pembroke has been hurt (and she's tough to replace). Carly Phillips is going to be a star. Or at least she would be if defensive players got the attention that scorers get. She's big (5-11 on the SMU web site), which allows her to move opponents away from the SMU net (she seems pretty good with her elbows) and also makes her a nice target when she races forward on free kicks and corner kicks. She also is completely tireless and seems to have pinpoint accuracy on free kicks. They played Pepperdine last weekend, and I thought she was the best player on the field. Same thing Friday night. I've watched this team for almost 10 years, and she looks as good as any young defender I can remember. Could she be the anchor of the defense for the next four years?
But I think they've stumbled on a stud defender. Maybe it's because Alyssa Pembroke has been hurt (and she's tough to replace). Carly Phillips is going to be a star. Or at least she would be if defensive players got the attention that scorers get. She's big (5-11 on the SMU web site), which allows her to move opponents away from the SMU net (she seems pretty good with her elbows) and also makes her a nice target when she races forward on free kicks and corner kicks. She also is completely tireless and seems to have pinpoint accuracy on free kicks. They played Pepperdine last weekend, and I thought she was the best player on the field. Same thing Friday night. I've watched this team for almost 10 years, and she looks as good as any young defender I can remember. Could she be the anchor of the defense for the next four years?