September 10, 2009

Hey Eagle Soccer Fans!


It’s time to find out, if you haven’t already heard, if a little bit of home cooking was all we needed to score some goals and earn some wins. This last weekend was the Embassy Suites Kick-Off Classic, which included ARMY, Tennessee-Martin, Stetson and FGCU. We were favored to win the tournament—according to me anyway—but why not? It’s our field, our tournament, and our Southwest Florida heat (got to love that sun!).


We arrived to the locker room about two hours before kick-off pumped and ready to go. KC, Lindsay and Kelli set up some intense Powerade/Water games in the T.V. room to hydrate for our home opener. This team bonding tactic almost backfired when girls started trading partners due to the high levels of competitiveness. About an hour before the start time, Jim came in to talk to us. We thought it was going to be our usual pregame speech; however, he told us there was a bit of lightning and the ARMY-Stetson game had been stalled until it was safe to play again. This of course delayed our game and some of the girls became a tad hungry. If you were really quiet, you could hear stomachs rumbling throughout the back room. Jim brought us some energy bars and we were again good to go.


The game may have started late, but hopefully that wasn’t a sign as to what was to come. We definitely did not want to come out flat during our first home game of the season. Right from the whistle we controlled the ball well, passing in and out of the back, working through TM’s low pressure system. Most of the possession belonged to us and we were not looking to give it up. The half ended at 0-0, but with the shots on goal statistic in our favor. Okay, time to finally put one in the back of the net. The second half was much of the same. We held the ball, passed around very well, and increased the shot count. Towards the end of the second half, KC turned to me, telling me there were six minutes left. My smart aleck reply was, “No, twenty six.” I pessimistically added the two ten minute over times in and we had a fun little laugh in the back. But, with one minute left in regulation, the ball rolled out to the top of the box, and after a quick little conversation between Olivia and Kat as to who was going to shoot, Kat sailed the ball into the back of the net! That was it—our first goal and in dramatic fashion.


After being reminded after the game that we earned a shutout, Jim delivered on his clean sheet deal and brought donuts to our Saturday morning practice. Training was very light, just enough to get us moving around. We played a little bit of possession, then juggling skill boxes and used the rest of practice for a much needed stretching session, which also involved some eating as well. The rest of Saturday was ours to spend with family who were in town, shopping, doing homework, or whatever else we wanted to do without expending too much energy.


Tailgaters were set up for Sunday’s game ready to cheer us on to what they hoped would be another victory. The food smelled amazing, teasing us as we walked passed to the locker room. Our pregame in the back room had a couple of the same antics as before the Friday night game. Remember the “heat comment” from the first paragraph? Well, Sunday’s 1:30pm game is definitely where it came into play. We thought it was wicked hot when we stepped onto the field dressed in white, but thankful that we weren’t West Point dressed in all black. It was time to make them chase, and chase they did. Our goal that day, besides winning, was to wear them out giving us ample amounts of opportunities to score. That first goal of the day came from newcomer Dani who scored off a header a few yards out. The half ended 1-0, but we were hungry for more, and it showed. Amber scored within the first two minutes of the second half, knocking the ball in also from a few yards out after a scramble in the box. We controlled much of the possession throughout the second half weakening a strong ARMY side, running them into the ground. The last goal of the match came within the last minute of the game by freshmen forward Jess, juking a couple girls before going one on one with the keeper, thus proving that this year we are out to score goals in the last third of games instead of being scored on.


We took two on the weekend and won the tournament improving our record of 0-2-1 back to .500 at 2-2-1. Again we host a couple of teams this weekend and are looking to be successful in both games. We play Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday night at 7pm and Austin Peay on Sunday morning at 11:30am. Come on out and cheer on your favorite women’s soccer team!


Until next time—Go Eagles!