The stakes were very high......national championship.
Of course UNC & ND were just playing for a result. As the author said, when the pressure is on (championships or promotion/relegation), even the high level club games turn ugly (physical and direct). Watch some of the SCYSA semi-finals this Saturday, the winner gets a R3PL spot.
My question doesn't have as much to do with the system of play, as it does with the type of player recruited. I don't think all of the girls on these two teams are the most highly-skilled and creative players (exceptions being Heath and Nogueira), but they certainly seem to fit the mold of "bigger, stronger, faster".
I guess that's why they call it athletics.
