Monday, October 25, 2010

CAC Regular Season Champs!


One Step Closer to our Goal! This is our second year in a row ending the year as regular season champs. Last year we were tied with Salisbury and had to share the title, but this year it is us at the top! Our next game will be the CAC semi-finals Tuesday Nov 2, against the winner of Salisbury vs York's quarter final match.
Our game against Frostburg was exactly the battle I knew it would be. They have two deadly scorers but our girls were able to stand strong defensively and we found the back of the net twice on offense. Heather Redding and Jamie Matlock both hit side netting with perfectly placed shots. It was a fight the entire 90 minutes and so exciting to seal the victory. After so many hard fought games in a row the girls came out flat against non-conference rival Swarthmore and ended up losing 2-0 in a pretty uneventful game. We talked about how it is hard to be great everyday but if we want to be the best we need to expect that of ourselves at all times. Even when playing out of conference games, they are still in our region and we should have played with much more intensity. That being said the girls brought the intensity against Mary Wash and Marymount. If we lost either game then we wouldn't have been the regular season champs. Against Mary Wash, freshman Amanda Marston score her first collegiate goal. Later, however, we were actually losing 2-1 the girls battled back and senior captain Allison Humphries was able to tie the game 2-2 with a header from Julie Dempsey's beautifully placed corner kick.
Our bus ride to Marymount was a disaster. We hit multiple accidents, were basically sitting on the highway parked and arrived to the field with little time before kickoff. We started the game 15 minutes late, but the girls still were able to get the job done, winning 4-1.
As Playoffs approach we are going to have a fun but intense week of practice. We are trying to line up an extra game to break up the week and keep us playing our best. Keep your fingers crossed that the ball bounces in our favor and we play to the best of our ability in the Semi-finals. Becuase we want to win the CAC championship completley, regular season and playoffs! That has been our goal from day one and I know we can achieve it.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Victory is so Sweet!

Just like I knew they would, the girls have banded together and are playing better then ever. We have won the last 4 games in a row since my last post! Our goal keepers Brittany Ross and Lauren Weitzman have both been playing so well that they have been splitting time equally and have not let in a goal in any of these games! Three of these wins were in conference games, which sits us currently tied for first in the CAC.

We stormed out against Hood College on their home field in Frederick, MD. Freshman Dani Pulliman scored her first collegiate goal, and junior Sam Novy finished a beauty off an assist from another freshman Catherine Madden. Then came Wesley and our scoring continued as we defeated them 3-0 on our home field. Heather Redding netted another beauty to start us off with an assist from defender Brittany Bangert. Steph Eyler scored the second and Freshman Jamie Matlock got her first collegiate goal. I guess Jamie decided she loved the feeling, because she scored the game winning goal the next game against Gettysburg. The Gettysburg game was a battle throughout the midfield they only got 9 shots on goal to our 7 and we both only had 1 corner kick attempt. However, the girls came out completley focused and fought hard all over the field. Steph Eyler found some room and ripped a shot that the goalie was able to block, but Jamie showed incredible hustle and beat everyone to the ball for the rebound!

All of these wins have felt wonderful, but by far the best feeling came this past Saturday. We traveled three hours to Salisbury University to play a team that our women's soccer program has never beaten in the schools history. We have tied but never conquered...until now! 90 minutes in we were clearly the better team but we could not find the back of the net. Two minutes into overtime play Sophmore defender, Taylor Zimmerman lofted a beautiful free kick into the box where sophmore Kayla Curry headed the ball perfectly down to Allison Humphries left foot. Alli struck the ball one touch, and launched one of the prettiest goals I've ever seen just out of Salisbury's Goal Keepers reach for the win. I nearly had a heart attack as the entire team rushed the field! Afterwards we sat on the field and basked in the moment :0).

I can't believe we only have 4 games left in regular season play. This is Frostburg's first season in the CAC and they are tied for first in the Conference with us...this is a MUST WIN. Two local area highschools are coming to support us so hopefully we will show up and play our best. When we do this, no one is better. I'll keep you posted.