outcomes of games but that non-call of a penalty against Restovich really seemed egregious. If someone can explain to me why that was an acceptable play I would be grateful. I'm starting to wonder if the Irish, and the coaches, are getting a reputation within the officiating community. I believe that coach Rennie was not allowed to participate in this game due to the red card received at BC, correct? I have worked extensively with baseball umpires and I have a brother that officiates high school basketball and every one of them will assert that they take a lot of pride in being as non-biased as possible but will admit, in certain circumstances, that they have made a call that was influenced by the, what they consider unacceptable, behavior of a player or coach.

- I can't justify how that was deemed a no-call. Restovich was bowled over and the NC State player had no chance -- and I doubt, intent to play the ball -- on that one. And the fact that it took so long to determine was mind-boggling for what looked for a clear-cut play. Yes or no.

- As for Rennie on the sideline, I didn't see him, but wouldn't he have sat out for the UVA game, which was next?

- I remember you posted that Norman and Rennie's reactions weren't a good look for ND at BC and I get that, to a degree (although I have no idea what was said.). If Norman feels that the calls or lack thereof could result in their players being hurt, I can get the emphatic responses. But if the refs respond to continual nagging afterwards, the staff needs to realize it could hurt the team.

- And, btw, the ref in the BC game -- I don't care how lauded his career was -- had a game for the ages (and not in a good way).

They seemed more animated about every call and non call.

My bad.

I think coach Norman is the most animated of any of the NCAA soccer coaches that I can recall. He's not Kim Mulkey animated but the ND sideline has been more vociferous than others in their handling of officials. I doubt that it would impact the way games are called but we have seen enough in the last few that make me start to wonder.

How should you approach a team that is intent on just filling the box with defensive players to obstruct any direct line to the goal?

I've only played, coached, and officiated soccer at the recreational level so I don't have the depth of knowledge or experience into the finer strategies of high-level soccer that most people on here do. But, when I do sometimes look at corollaries to other sports for possible approaches and solutions. In basketball, when a defensive team is packing the paint what do you do? You have to make some outside shots and, if your starters are not great outside shooters maybe you have players on the bench that are. I wonder if ND has some players who might be better at trying to curl one in from distance.

I noticed on some of the few occasions that the Irish were able to get long passes completed to Engle or Chukwu that there were still five defenders back so it was 1-on-5, 2-on-5 or, at best 3-on-5 and the Irish player was being double-teamed, two defenders sticking specifically with them. In basketball, when a player is being double-teamed that means that someone else is open but not necessarily in this case. If I answered my previous question of 'If you were the coach...' (and I do have another) I would have said that my ideal formation would be 3-4-3 (if it's good enough for Emma Hayes it's good enough for me) with Engle-Chukwu-Hodson up front and Joseph in the offensive midfield position, Matriano in the defensive MF, and Klenke and Roy on outside. Maybe more people forward would create better odds especially since NCSt really wasn't pushing forward in any meaningful way.

You just gotta scrap it mentally and move onto the next.

Now apologies for dodging your original question, but I try to avoid revising tactics or gameplans personally. I can't speak for others on the board but I have no high level coaching experience outside of my sisters middle school games and as such feel like I'd be performing a fools errand to try to come to conclusions about what a coaching staff of several seasoned veterans of the college and professional game did wrong. That's not the case for every game but it's not like anything looked ridiculously wrong structurally for me in terms of formation/positioning, ND had the better of the game but switched off on a corner kick and could only put the ball in the net once. That's hardly an indictment of the gameplan, in my view. Not to say the gameplan was perfect and the coaches can do no wrong, obviously... but it's not like Notre Dame didn't have control of the game and the lions' share of chances created. They did. That wins you most games you play.

All of that to say my one piece of advice going forward which is... just flush it. Good teams play bad games. It happens. Now you'd love to still win games you play bad in, but no team ever has gone wire to wire without once playing down to their opposition. Especially not a team where 11 of 14 consistent contributors are underclassmen.

Just this Sunday, a defending national champion Florida State couldn't put it all together and drew a middle of the pack SMU squad. There's a reason there isn't a single high major team in the country right now with a perfect record. That isn't to excuse not winning winnable games, of course but... it's probably important to remember the context here. Again, this happens to just about everybody. Unless you're a truly superlative team -- FSU last year comes to mind -- you're going to have off days. The real judge of the team's fortitude will be how well they flushed the missed opportunity with a week of rest for it to simmer and attack a Syracuse team they should cruise against next week.

the box on top and, yes, a few over the top passes.

As opposed to the one team (Northern Illinois?) that set the impossibly high line to force offsides, NC State decided to bunker it.
The announcers, I discovered, were not mistaken when they listed a 5-person back line. They were all there...and then some.

I thought Norman got a bit of a handle on it when he put Ospeck on the left wingback and moved Izzy Engle to the right side. Both of them have the speed and technical ability to bear their mark and then make inbound passes. Of course, with the box as congested as the Cross Bronx Highway, not many of those crosses will find paydirt. Plus, ND doesn't have that many people who play "in the air," which may be why Sophia Fisher was in. And why Izzy was moved back into the middle in the last 10 minutes.

As for the top of the box, Restovich tried to get a few passes off from the top and almost had Chukwu on one.

In both instances (side and top),I'd like to see some weakside cuts to the ball or the posts with the hope that something might connect or end up by an Irish foot.

As for mid- and longer-range shots, Joseph tried a few of them, but they were off-line. Maybe I would've like to have seen Engle try some of her Albert-esque shots, but she was on the side a lot and the Wolfpack were very onto her.

Lastly, the over the top passes from the Abbys and Logan: I'd like to say hit them earlier in transition, but the Wolfpack backs were never that far forward, so it was hard to get space.

I hear what you're saying: get one of them to a big forward who can bring it down under control, turn and shoot. That would be Mrowicki or Fisher, the former of which seems to be AWOL.

Of course, all of this was set up by the Wolfpack scoring first....that was good enough for them, even after the Irish leveled the score.
If ND had scored first, the block party in the box would've had fewer folks.

(Sorry I hate that cop out) was the problem. ND has scorers they should have won.

Several good crosses had no one near them in the box, so it's a timing issue.

Several long shots were at the keeper or high, lower the shot and make the keeper move.

Several dribble/pass entries were close but when the shot went it was at the keeper or off target.

ND does need more players who can head corner kicks in but they have who they have so work on it more.

Maybe they needed to calm down on some situations but I'm not one to talk, I was not calm.

Early in the game NDs corner kicks were not good and the defense even worse (they failed to mark up on the goal). I know so very little about the finer strategies of this game (as my kids remind me all of the time).

It seems to me that a packed goal box looks a bit like it does on corner kicks so maybe some extra practice or similar strategies could be employed?

There were times that I was also reminded of how a basketball team will pack the paint and dare teams to shoot from outside. I know one strategy is to quickly swing the ball from one side to the other and also to have back door cutters to get a cheep rebound or lob pass.

I have no idea if either strategy is viable for soccer, but again it is one sport that I watch when I can and know the least about.

..and, yes, I can aargh (at best) when a player leans back on his/her shot and blasts a field goal rather than put it on target.

Having coached travel soccer for years and having a son who played goalie and a daughter who was a center back, I can appreciate how tight things get in the box. Wide overhead shots often miss subtle things like a defender getting a toe on a cross or if a cutter who looks like she should've headed something was actually three feet away. The former happened with perhaps Izzy's best cross.

All this was made crazier by NC State's camping out in the 18-yard box. Yes, one would like to see a team break that down, but even the most mature ones often have time getting through. That was obviously not the case.

You and I are in agreement that ND needs to work on corners and free kicks and I'd like to see more definitive movement off ball (remember, I'm a basketball guy, as you know).

That said, it was one of those nights where you're -- in retrospect -- ok with at least getting a point out of it and moving on.

Go Irish!

That is not cavalier, but honest feeling. It's not all that often that responses on the internet or, more pointedly, on these boards, all show an understanding of the subtleties, difficulties and vagaries of sport and especially soccer. Thanks for your considered posts.