This week we had to put the Rutgers win…as good as it was, behind us, and focus on preparing for our next two Big East away games - Syracuse and St. John’s. These are two tough places to play and no one was looking forward to the 9-hour bus ride to Syracuse. We only had two practices this week on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then left on Thursday at 1 PM for Syracuse. We learned that apart from Philly, there is absolutely nothing in Pennsylvania… and it is a really big state. We traveled six hours to an Olive Garden in Binghamton, New York. After last week’s miserably long bus ride to Seton Hall with no food, I bought two bags of snacks for … just me. But of course this time Naomi had ample sandwiches and more snacks than I could imagine. The ride to Olive Garden wasn’t all that bad. We actually have never been to an Olive Garden as a team in my four years at Georgetown, which is sad because I love it. Everyone fills up on the breadsticks and salad and then has no room for their $8.95 ‘Never Ending Pasta Bowl.’ After this we loaded up the bus and headed to an Embassy Suites in Syracuse to stay the night.
We only play Syracuse and St. John’s away once every four years since they are on the other side of the Big East Conference. We had a walk through session on Friday morning before the game to get our legs loose after the long bus ride. We had never been up to Syracuse but the stadium and game field looked really sweet… I didn’t think we’d have an issue playing on this field… it was a big grass field which suited us well because it is similar to our home field. Syracuse’s facilities were pretty nice and we got to see the Manley Field House that they play in when the field is snow-covered. It was raining as we took the field to warm up… about 5 minutes into the game we had to clear the field because of lightning. No one saw the lightning and my mom was convinced it was her camera flash… We had to stay warm for 30 minutes inside. This was the second time we have had a weather delay this year and we really don’t like them. When we returned to the field, we were still focused and excited to come out with the same momentum we started the game with. We scored once in the first half which was a relief. Lately we have gotten into the habit of coming out slow, getting scored on, and having to come back from behind.
Going into the second half 1-0, we knew the next goal was crucial. If they scored one, all of a sudden Syracuse would be back in the game. With a physical team like Syracuse, who plays with great emotion, a 1-1 tie with a caliber team like Georgetown is dangerous. If we let them back in the game, they would scrap and fight for the win. We needed to be the next to score and make it 2-0 to put them away. We came out strong and scored a great second goal by connecting about six passes and finding Daphne Corboz who remained composed in the box and slipped the ball past the keeper. About five minutes later, we scored again; Camille Trujillo showed her individual skill as she ran past a few Syracuse defenders and somehow found the back of the net. I don’t know how but she always finds a way to finish the most ridiculous goals. After this goal we sat back a bit and tried to keep our lead, all balls went long and to the corner. I give Syracuse credit; they kept fighting until the very end. Unfortunately, we let our guard down in the last 10 or 15 minutes and made a mistake defensively, which lost us our shutout. But, the game ended 3-1 and I couldn’t of been happier about getting a “W” on the road to start the weekend. We had a tailgate at the hotel at around 10 PM with pasta, sandwiches, salad, and more desserts than we needed. I filled my plate with about 5 cookies and 5 pieces of my dad’s pumpkin bread (he uses Egg Beaters not real eggs so its actually healthy… ) It’s so funny to watch the girls eat the pumpkin bread. They take one piece; I tell them its made with Egg Beaters, and then they take about three more. We’re watching our girlish figures.
We only play Syracuse and St. John’s away once every four years since they are on the other side of the Big East Conference. We had a walk through session on Friday morning before the game to get our legs loose after the long bus ride. We had never been up to Syracuse but the stadium and game field looked really sweet… I didn’t think we’d have an issue playing on this field… it was a big grass field which suited us well because it is similar to our home field. Syracuse’s facilities were pretty nice and we got to see the Manley Field House that they play in when the field is snow-covered. It was raining as we took the field to warm up… about 5 minutes into the game we had to clear the field because of lightning. No one saw the lightning and my mom was convinced it was her camera flash… We had to stay warm for 30 minutes inside. This was the second time we have had a weather delay this year and we really don’t like them. When we returned to the field, we were still focused and excited to come out with the same momentum we started the game with. We scored once in the first half which was a relief. Lately we have gotten into the habit of coming out slow, getting scored on, and having to come back from behind.
Going into the second half 1-0, we knew the next goal was crucial. If they scored one, all of a sudden Syracuse would be back in the game. With a physical team like Syracuse, who plays with great emotion, a 1-1 tie with a caliber team like Georgetown is dangerous. If we let them back in the game, they would scrap and fight for the win. We needed to be the next to score and make it 2-0 to put them away. We came out strong and scored a great second goal by connecting about six passes and finding Daphne Corboz who remained composed in the box and slipped the ball past the keeper. About five minutes later, we scored again; Camille Trujillo showed her individual skill as she ran past a few Syracuse defenders and somehow found the back of the net. I don’t know how but she always finds a way to finish the most ridiculous goals. After this goal we sat back a bit and tried to keep our lead, all balls went long and to the corner. I give Syracuse credit; they kept fighting until the very end. Unfortunately, we let our guard down in the last 10 or 15 minutes and made a mistake defensively, which lost us our shutout. But, the game ended 3-1 and I couldn’t of been happier about getting a “W” on the road to start the weekend. We had a tailgate at the hotel at around 10 PM with pasta, sandwiches, salad, and more desserts than we needed. I filled my plate with about 5 cookies and 5 pieces of my dad’s pumpkin bread (he uses Egg Beaters not real eggs so its actually healthy… ) It’s so funny to watch the girls eat the pumpkin bread. They take one piece; I tell them its made with Egg Beaters, and then they take about three more. We’re watching our girlish figures.
Saturday we traveled five hours to St. Johns, got off the bus feeling pretty sore and tight. We stepped on their rock hard turf located on top of a parking garage and our legs just hated us after that. We needed to get used to the surface, it was so hard and bouncy, so difficult to control the ball. We had a special treat on Saturday night; we went to Emily Menges’ house in Garden City for dinner! We love having a team dinner at someone’s house and feeling that homey atmosphere that we don’t get too much of in the dorms or messy disheveled apartments at school. The food was delicious and the banana and pumpkin bread dessert was gone in about 5 minutes… not to worry, we went on the bus to bring out more leftover desserts from Friday’s tailgate. We sat around the table finishing the food and then went downstairs to watch some film; it’s always a struggle to keep our eyes open in film in a dark room after a huge meal.
We knew what to expect from St. John’s, they were a big physical team whose biggest threat was their home field advantage. Playing on the field two years ago, we knew the surface would make it difficult to be technically sound and to maintain secure control of the ball. We came out strong and had plenty of opportunities yet we still had trouble finding the back of the net. There was a scramble in the box in the beginning of the second half and Camille Trujillo was able to scrap up a goal. Unfortunately, St. John’s came back to score one late in the second half. Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie but about three minutes into the OT there was a PK called and Ingrid Wells took it and scored. We won 2-1 and came away from the weekend with two wins feeling unstoppable… Of course not quite as unstoppable as the University of Bridgeport Purple Knights and Magnus Nilerud, who were ranked No. 1 in the country. (Magnus paid me to mention that in this blog…) I can’t say I’m surprised, that team is stacked with kids from the CFC Trailblazers.
We knew what to expect from St. John’s, they were a big physical team whose biggest threat was their home field advantage. Playing on the field two years ago, we knew the surface would make it difficult to be technically sound and to maintain secure control of the ball. We came out strong and had plenty of opportunities yet we still had trouble finding the back of the net. There was a scramble in the box in the beginning of the second half and Camille Trujillo was able to scrap up a goal. Unfortunately, St. John’s came back to score one late in the second half. Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie but about three minutes into the OT there was a PK called and Ingrid Wells took it and scored. We won 2-1 and came away from the weekend with two wins feeling unstoppable… Of course not quite as unstoppable as the University of Bridgeport Purple Knights and Magnus Nilerud, who were ranked No. 1 in the country. (Magnus paid me to mention that in this blog…) I can’t say I’m surprised, that team is stacked with kids from the CFC Trailblazers.
This week we had off Monday as usual and the starters had a very light session on Tuesday as well, just some technical work and soccer tennis. It’s getting to the point in the season where our legs are heavy and sore constantly. In order to avoid injuries, we need to have some lighter days to recover. On Wednesday and Thursday, we focused on preparing for West Virginia… we watched film and practiced defending against their personality players. I wanted to beat WVA more than anything, this was the most important game on our schedule, and if we wanted to prove ourselves in Big East play this was our chance. West Virginia came out flying and scored a goal in the first minute of the game… we know giving up an early goal against a good team like WVA makes it more difficult to even out the score. Near the end of the half, WVA finished another opportunity making it 2-0 at halftime. We knew it’d be tough to come back from this deficit, but we still believed we were the better team. In the second half we outplayed them, had millions of chances, but couldn’t finish until there were 4 minutes left, making it 2-1. Again, right after the restart WVA scored again and the final score was 3-1. This was devastating, WVA beating us like that on our home field. I was disappointed because this year, I didn’t feel that they were as solid as they usually are and we had them at home. If we didn’t give up that goal in the first 45 seconds, it would have been a much different game.
Now, we had to try and forget about the loss and focus on Pitt. Here we had a chance to redeem ourselves and handle a team, who has caused us some problems in the past on their turf, but not on our home field. We were all dying for a win; we wanted to put the WVA game out of our minds. We came out very strong against Pitt and went up 2-0 in the first five minutes. The final score was 6-0; a lot of people got playing time toward the end of the game, which is always good. We needed this win to get our confidence back and to sharpen our focus on our remaining conference games. Now we still have a shot at a Big East division title, it would be the first one in the history of Georgetown Women’s Soccer, but as always, our attention will remain with the task at hand, our next match home against Cincinnati.
Now, we had to try and forget about the loss and focus on Pitt. Here we had a chance to redeem ourselves and handle a team, who has caused us some problems in the past on their turf, but not on our home field. We were all dying for a win; we wanted to put the WVA game out of our minds. We came out very strong against Pitt and went up 2-0 in the first five minutes. The final score was 6-0; a lot of people got playing time toward the end of the game, which is always good. We needed this win to get our confidence back and to sharpen our focus on our remaining conference games. Now we still have a shot at a Big East division title, it would be the first one in the history of Georgetown Women’s Soccer, but as always, our attention will remain with the task at hand, our next match home against Cincinnati.
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