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This Week in Soccer
Becoming the Team of Firsts
By. Jessica R. Chisley, Asst. Coach
September 3, 2007
It's here - the start of the 2007 season! This past weekend marked the beginning of our 2007 campaign. Playing in our home showcase, we welcomed traditional showcase partner, Transylvania University ( Ky. ), in addition to two other regionally strong programs. On Saturday, September 1 st , we faced the three-time NCAA tournament-seasoned Cardinals of Otterbein College (Oh).
Knowing the Cardinals had been to the NCAA tournament was certainly a motivating factor for our ladies. While some may have been intimidated by such an achievement, others were ready to get out there and make a name for Centre Women's Soccer. It is no secret that we too dream of qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Beginning our season with such a team as Otterbein was a great opportunity for us to see just how close we are. Though the outcome was not in our favor, we certainly had many opportunities during game play to score but we simply could not finish. Despite a 1-nil loss, Jay and I certainly saw many positives and were pleased with the overall effort of our players.
Sunday afternoon, we faced another regionally strong program – the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern University (Oh.). Last year we fell 2-nil on the Polar Bears' home field. However, this year – we were playing in front of our fans on our home field. Needless to say, coming off of a 1-nil loss, we were ready to make some noise. From the moment the whistle blew, you could see the determination and focus of our players to win the game. Looking out at the field that day was like watching a well oiled machine in action. Rotations were like clock work, balls were pinging around the field with precision and accuracy, communication was sharp, and the focus of every player was superb. Going into the halftime period ahead 2-nil, we faced the daunting task of holding off an angry Polar Bear. We knew they would come out with teeth bared and claws slashing, hungry for a win. We have to pat our ladies on the back as they showed terrific maturity, patience, and determination in that second half of play. Rather than playing not to lose , each player played with an attitude that said, “we are going to win this game – period!” And win, they did.
It certainly felt good knocking off one of the top teams in our region. We hope our players now realize that we are right there, knocking on the door of success. As long as we keep our eyes focused on the prize and are willing to do the things that are necessary to achieve it, we will reach our goal. Whether or not that is this year or not…we will just have to wait and see. Over the past few years, we have watched this team develop and are confident we can compete with some of the top teams in the region. Accordingly, this season, we have set the bar high scheduling such teams as: NCAA experienced - Otterbein College (Oh.); regionally ranked – Ohio Northern University (Oh.); NCAC power-houses - Allegheny College ( Penn. ) and Wittenberg University (Oh.); and No. 14 Washington University ( Mo. ) (as of Aug. 14, 2007 ). Our hope is to become the Team of Firsts. Every program quests for a Conference title, NCAA bid, and the ever illusive NCAA championship. These types of feats often take years to achieve and to some may seem impossible. However, impossible is nothing. Impossible is a stumbling block in the path of those who are pursuing their dreams. Hannah More [a 19 th century writer and philanthropist] defines obstacles as “those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” In our case, we will certainly face some large obstacles in the form of regionally and nationally ranked teams. Yet, overcoming our anxiety and fear of these teams is half the battle.
Fear will get us nowhere. Accordingly, in these moments of self doubt, we must focus even harder on our goals and pursue them with a vengeance. Each day we must prepare ourselves by using each practice session as an opportunity to make ourselves stronger, faster, wiser, and better than we were the day before. Then, when we reach these so called obstacles , with eyes focused on our goals, we will surely overcome them. Make no mistake about it, the obstacles we will face will not be easy to overcome. We may stumble and from time to time, we may fail. However, we must always remember that dreams aren't achieved over night. As long as we get back up and try again, we will succeed.
Our next matches will be this Saturday and Sunday (Sept 8 th & 9 th ). Saturday we will play Allegheny College at 5:30pm and Sunday we will play Washington University at 1:00pm . As always, don't forget to check our website for important updates and information as well as the latest team pictures. While you're there, feel free to check out the player's This or That profile in the Roster section.
Until next time, take care and….THINK CENTRE!
This week in women's soccer archives:
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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