On the road again, just can’t wait to be on the road again…okay, I took that a little too far. Thursday morning, September 24, we boarded the bus bright and early at eight in the morning to drive to Macon, Georgia. As always we started the trip with a movie. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past was shown. I couldn’t tell you how it was, however, because I fell asleep before the opening scene and awoke after the credits rolled. After several hours, we bombarded a Publix in Ocala to pick up subs for lunch. Back on the bus most everyone listened to their iPods, started weekend homework, or slept some more. Finally around dinner time we arrived to the La Quinta, dropped our belongings into our rooms and walked up a very large hill to Outback. Talk about getting a workout after a wicked long bus ride.
Friday morning we ate breakfast around 8:30 and travelled to Mercer for a light training soon after. We played our lucky circle game, did some shooting and worked on heading because yet again, we were going to play giants in both games. McAllister’s hosted us for lunch, which was a fantastic pregame meal. Pumped and ready to go, we took off to Mercer University for our first conference game. It was definitely time to start the season off with a major win. Because Mercer and Kennesaw played each other previously, Mercer was already 0-1 in conference also seeking their first win. That night was a game of heart and which team had more.
As soon as the whistle blew, we took control of the game. We were working as a fine tuned machine, passing well, making the correct runs and executing our plan perfectly. After stringing a few passes together Olivia received the ball, took a couple of touches and sailed a shot into the back of the net, hitting the fingertips of the keeper’s outstretched hands. Six minutes later the Bears’ right midfielder raced down the end line, crossed the ball and Critter put it in the back of the net. Rookie mistake. Just kidding! Our energy was still high going into halftime and by the time the second half started it was so easy to see how much we wanted to win. In the 63rd minute, Amber scored our second goal of the night which also happened to be our winning goal. We celebrated big on their field—our win and of course Critter’s first college goal!
With a big win under our belt we awoke Saturday morning to donuts provided by Mrs. Haemmelmann. Thank you again! Soon after breakfast and a short jog and stretch around the hotel, we boarded the bus again to journey to Kennesaw. Quiznos provided us with a quick lunch while the Georgia rain fell. Between showers we quickly drove to the field to get in a light training. We did the usual, trying not to wreck the already wet and partially muddy field. A few hours later we ate at Olive Garden to carb up for an even more important game the following afternoon. I swear, all we do on these trips is eat. I’m not complaining though! That night Mrs. Ciesielczyk set up an ice cream social for us during our pregame meeting. It was amazing, thanks again! Later, Jim did his random room checks, but Such and I didn’t hear about that until the following morning. Apparently he forgot about us. Thanks Jim. We were in the only room on the first floor of the hotel, and thankfully we weren’t on the side that had been flooded.
The same buzz from the Friday night lights carried over to the Sunday afternoon sunshine at Kennesaw State University. The warm up music KSU played seemed to pump up our girls more than theirs. If anybody looked over towards our bench before the game, they would have seen some girls just dancing. The energy was unbelievable and none of us could wait until the game started. Again we dominated, passing around the KSU defense, creating opportunities right off the bat. In the 34th minute, Amber put her second goal of the weekend passed the keeper from inside the penalty box. The scoreboard at halftime read 1-0, and even though KSU had one or two good chances in the second half, that’s what it read when the final whistle blew. We were 2-0 in conference, beating the top two teams! Jim threw a set of keys at the end of the game he was so excited.
Because of the two amazing wins, the bus ride all the way home didn’t seem too long. Well, maybe it did, but it would have been longer had we not gotten the results we earned. We arrived back at school early Monday morning around 3 o’clock in the morning, and yes, everyone went to classes the next day, even those at 8 am. It was a great start to the final portion of our season and we are very much looking forward to the next weekend and staying atop of the pack.
Until next time—Go Eagles!
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