It seemed that everything this last week was leading to a big Sunday showdown against La Salle. They have been in the spotlight all season. They entered our match undefeated, and our scouting report showed few faults in their game. No doubt that La Salle is the team to beat in the Atlantic 10. Anytime you play an undefeated team, you want to be the one that knocks them off their win-streak. Just the prospect of beating a top ranked team is exciting and this motivated everyone. I personally was nervous all week. Its games like the one against La Salle that you live for as a soccer player. Every play counts, every challenge is more critical, but every mistake gets punished. Unfortunately we didn’t end up on top - losing 3-2 in overtime. I don’t think we necessarily outplayed LaSalle, but we proved we could compete with them, and I really hope that we will get another shot at them in three weeks.
With a game as big as La Salle at the end of the weekend, it was hard to not overlook Friday’s match against Fordham. I’ll admit that with the number of games and practices that we have in a season; it’s challenging to get equally motivated for every competition. Not every game has a huge and vocal crowd, or the sparkle of being a breast cancer benefit, or the CBS-3 news crew to broadcast it live like the La Salle game. However, every point is just as important as another one and every win gets us that much closer to a date in Dayton and the A-10 Championships. So here is the message we heard all week, and took to heart: In order for the La Salle game to be “huge”, we first had to take care of Fordham and not take them lightly. To make it more interesting, Fordham was a very good team. They were fast and physical, and certainly the type of team that could come into our home stadium and cause us some trouble. However, we took an early lead, got up by two goals and pretty much cruised in for a win and three more points
With that win under our belts, we could then finally devote all of our attention to La Salle. Sunday had picture perfect weather and our fans were great. It was the first time all year that our student section was full and it made a big difference. I hope we get that type of support at our final two home games…especially the horns!!
With a game as big as La Salle at the end of the weekend, it was hard to not overlook Friday’s match against Fordham. I’ll admit that with the number of games and practices that we have in a season; it’s challenging to get equally motivated for every competition. Not every game has a huge and vocal crowd, or the sparkle of being a breast cancer benefit, or the CBS-3 news crew to broadcast it live like the La Salle game. However, every point is just as important as another one and every win gets us that much closer to a date in Dayton and the A-10 Championships. So here is the message we heard all week, and took to heart: In order for the La Salle game to be “huge”, we first had to take care of Fordham and not take them lightly. To make it more interesting, Fordham was a very good team. They were fast and physical, and certainly the type of team that could come into our home stadium and cause us some trouble. However, we took an early lead, got up by two goals and pretty much cruised in for a win and three more points
With that win under our belts, we could then finally devote all of our attention to La Salle. Sunday had picture perfect weather and our fans were great. It was the first time all year that our student section was full and it made a big difference. I hope we get that type of support at our final two home games…especially the horns!!
It is, of course, disappointing to lose, especially at this point in our season. Overall, the La Salle game exposed some weaknesses, but at this point we can only accept the constructive criticism about our performances and use the feedback to improve. I still believe that every week our team gets better. We not only improve on the field, but we continue to become closer off the field and therefore all the more willing to do whatever it takes to help our teammates. It’s the willingness to sacrifice yourself for the team that makes a champion - and even in a loss I can tell that we are getting there!
We all may complain about being soar and exhausted. Welcome to the closing stretch of a college season. But there are things that can make the bumps, bruises, aches and strains a little easier to face. One is the motivation of playing for others, whether it’s a little girl fighting a battle with cancer or my new big sisters that face the ends of their college playing days. The other day in the locker room the seniors were talking about how crazy it is that we can count on one hand the number of regular season games that remain and that the amount of practices left are in single digits. This is when it really hit me that after the season the seniors will be done and a huge part of my new extended family will be gone. This is why we go out every game and play for our seniors. They don’t have the luxury of having three more years in Amherst to make something happen. Sometimes it’s pretty easy for we freshmen to think “I have a long career left” but we all know that these four years fly by way too fast. I learned this in high school. This year could be it, and this season’s opportunity to win a conference title acts to inspire everyone.
We all may complain about being soar and exhausted. Welcome to the closing stretch of a college season. But there are things that can make the bumps, bruises, aches and strains a little easier to face. One is the motivation of playing for others, whether it’s a little girl fighting a battle with cancer or my new big sisters that face the ends of their college playing days. The other day in the locker room the seniors were talking about how crazy it is that we can count on one hand the number of regular season games that remain and that the amount of practices left are in single digits. This is when it really hit me that after the season the seniors will be done and a huge part of my new extended family will be gone. This is why we go out every game and play for our seniors. They don’t have the luxury of having three more years in Amherst to make something happen. Sometimes it’s pretty easy for we freshmen to think “I have a long career left” but we all know that these four years fly by way too fast. I learned this in high school. This year could be it, and this season’s opportunity to win a conference title acts to inspire everyone.
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