“Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.” — Paul Bryant
“Over the course of a season, offenses are often more advanced than defenses in the beginning, but late in the season, defenses, and especially goalkeepers, can have an outsized effect on the outcomes of games.” — TopOfTheCircle.com Eighth Law
Over the last two days, the NCAA Division I, II, and III semifinals took place, and each of the six games had a number of defensive highlights – more, I think, than the norm.
Team defense, individual defense, and goalkeeping are at their most sophisticated levels than ever. And yet, the goal for the defense is about the same as it was in the 1990s — if you can make the offense fail more than 45 percent of the time, you not only have a better chance to win, but you have a chance to be immortalized by winning a championship.
There were several aspects of defense the last couple of days that I’d like to highlight:
UNC’s goaltender rotation: Since March, the Tar Heels have used Betty Nelson in the first half, and Lexi Zenk in the second. In many sports with an important “focus” player such as a quarterback, goaltender, or a Formula 1 driver, there’s no such thing as equal playing time. For the sake of team cohesion, the powers-that-be for the team need to declare a primary person for that position.
Unless you’re Jenny Levy, the head coach for Carolina. Somehow, over the course of years, she has made two-goalie rotations work. Ten years ago, she alternated Megan Ward and Caylee Waters in the goal circle, and the Heels won the national championship. Can this work again?
The Tewaaraton defender: Reagan O’Brien of Johns Hopkins made a name for herself in high school as a top attacker for Boston (Mass.) Latin. But she has been a brilliant shut-down close defender at Hopkins. This year, she has cemented herself as one of the all-time greats, as she had 88 caused turnovers, five yesterday against Northwestern. But O’Brien is just one player; in order for a team to have tournament success, all seven outfielders need to play their part.
Doing the work: If there was one player who moved the needle defensively, it had to be Wesleyan defensive midfielder Lindsey Diomede. The proof was in the results. In the semifinals, the Cardinals faced an undefeated Salisbury team which had been scoring 14.75 goals per game. But what did Wesleyan do? They held the Sea Gulls to four goals, and to one over the last 33 minutes.
Diomede, who has done the little things well, had two caused turnovers and two ground-ball pickups to go along with a draw control. But playing a massive role yesterday for Wesleyan was first-year defender Elise Kurtis and senior defender Molly Simon, especially in a final two-minute phase of play when Salisbury sought the equalizer.