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September 25, 2007
By. Jessica R. Chisley, Asst. Coach
This past week was an exciting week for the ladies. With Wednesday's win over NSCAA No. 25 [as of Sept. 18 th ] team - Transylvania ( Ky.), the players were on a high going into Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play. On Thursday morning at 9 o'clock a.m, we loaded the bus bound for Conway, Ark. The charter bus was unbelievably nice, which was an added plus for the long trip ahead (8hrs). Making the most of limited space, the players made small talk as the bus cruised down the highway. Before long, the sounds of Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholas filled the air the featured film: Men of Honour . On-screen, while Tom struggled to figure out if P.F.C Willie Santiago had in fact been the victim of an ordered Code Red , the players drifted off to sleep. Their nap would be interrupted when we stopped in Bowling Green to switch drivers.
As we waited, the players stood to stretch, re-visited Men of Honour (which, by the way, was just about to get to it's famous YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH line), and paced the aisles. Then, from around the corner of the hotel beside us, a silver car appeared. In the driver's seat a familiar face. Within moments an old friend was standing on the bus Pablo, the amazing coach driver from last season. As soon as the players saw him, they all shouted with joy, exclaiming: Pablo! Pablo! It is tough to describe someone such as Pablo. However, the closest I can get (and this still does not do him justice) is high energy, tons of fun, and a great sense of humor. He genuinely enjoys his job and makes travel as fun as possible for the people he transports. Seeing Pablo drive up was like watching the hero of a movie-drama save the day. The only thing that could have made that moment better would have been seeing our former volunteer assistant coach, Sam McDonald walk up the stairs. However, with Pablo at the helm, we knew we were in for a good weekend.
With his signature attention-grabbing chime, Pablo proceeded to explain the rules of the motor-coach. As expected, the typical pick-up-your-trash-speech ensued. Then, something unexpected - Be careful with the No.2 , he says . The bus bathroom is like Vegas what happens on the bus, stays on the bus. When the bus stinks, you stink. The bus erupted in laughter! For anyone whom has ever traveled by coach, you certainly know this is true.
On Friday night in Conway Arkansas, our ladies had the opportunity to play on an incredible field. It felt like something you would expect to see at the World Cup - the pitch was fast and neatly trimmed, lines were precise, the ground perfectly flat, and the area was an unbelievable 120 x 70 yds. It is probably the closest thing to a full-size regulation field (which is 120 x 80 yds) the players have ever played on. That night, the game began fairly shaky. However, by the second half we found our grove and were able to play beautiful soccer. We would win by a score of 5-1 with goals coming from Erin Menard (2), Lora Gralheer, Allison Terry, and Brittany Garr. The assists for the evening were credited to: Lizzie Hubbard, Marina Hoe, Allison Terry, Tamaryn Tuller, and Chelsea Stanley.
Concluding the Men's game, we loaded the bus and drove to Memphis Tennessee for our match against Rhodes College. Going into it, we knew we were in for a battle. Sunday morning, as soon as the whistle blew, it became just that. Rhodes was hard hitting, aggressive, and ready to defend their home field. At the 9:36 mark we found ourselves under counter-attack and conceded the first goal of the match. However, we quickly fought back and minutes later gained possession, putting Rhodes under attack. Sophomore, Elizabeth Hooper, gained possession 35 yards out and began a nice movement down the right flank. Hooper would connect on a pass to fellow D.C. teammate, Cindy Bergstrom whom then took the goal-line and sent a beautiful cross to the near-post. The goalkeeper tried to make a play on the ball, but mishandled it into her own net.
The goal would tie things at 1-all and would hold through the second half of play. Going into the first overtime period, both sides were tired, beaten up, and just plain worn out. However, Rhodes found their second wind and once again came at us with all cylinders. Before we knew it, our goalkeeper was the only thing standing between an open Rhodes player and our goal. With only 3 minutes elapsed, Rhodes would net the goal and walk away with the win.
Sadly, we had fallen to the curse of the tight game . In our fourth closely played match against a talented team, we had lost by one goal. Our players were yet again crushed and dejected. They are doing a lot of things right and we cannot ask more than that. However, the task ahead is to figure out how we can do more things better . The further we go down this road, the more important it will be to focus on the magic ers better, harder, faster, longer, etc. Rather than quantity , we must now look for quality , as well as precision and accuracy.
Furthermore, we must keep a level head and remember that our loss to Rhodes is not the end of the world. Perhaps our path has gotten a bit harder because of it, but nothing in life comes easy. Last weekend was the first of six conference weekends. If we can manage to concede that loss as our only loss over the ensuing weeks, then we can consider our conference run a success. It is still possible to end conference play with a record of 9-1-0. Yet, accomplishing such a feat will certainly take work, dedication, consistency, and we must pay attention to even the smallest of details.
The Colonels next match-up will be Thursday, September 27th, against Indiana-based Hanover College. Kick-off is set for 7:00 pm at the Centre Soccer Complex. Reminder: the Finlandia game previously scheduled during Family Weekend on September 29 th has been cancelled. As always take care and until next time
THINK CENTRE!
This week in women's soccer archives:
Tuesday Sept 18, 2007
Tuesday Sept 11, 2007
Tuesday Sept 4, 2007
Tuesday April 24, 2007
Tuesday Jan 16, 2007
Tuesday Oct 31, 2006
Tuesday Oct 24, 2006
Tuesday Oct 17, 2006
Tuesday Oct 11, 2006
Tuesday Oct 3, 2006
Tuesday Sept 26, 2006
Tuesday Sept 19, 2006
Tuesday Sept 12, 2006
Tuesday Sept. 5, 2006
Monday Aug. 28, 2006
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