Our Season to Date

My last post was after our preseason tournament. We are now a little less then half way through our season and our record does not even begin to represent the talent we have on our team. After the frustration of the Gettysburg tournament the girls banded together and came at McDaniel with vengeance. Our senior captain Allison Humphries netted two goals, a freshman Catherine Madden had her first goal of her collegiate career off a beautiful long ball from Julie Dempsey in the Back, and Steph Eyler was able to get her first goal for this season. Overall, the teams spirits were high, everyone was communicating and enjoyed the game. This energy carried over into our next game vs conference rival York College. The battle with the Spartans was by far the most exciting game so far of our season. They came out extremely intense but our girls stood strong. After two halves of physical, exhausting play the score was tied 0-0. Just three minutes into the first overtime freshman midfielder Mackenzie Calhoun made a beautiful over lapping run and Steph found her feet splitting the defense for the game winning goal. We all cleared the bench in celebration of such a hard fought victory. I was extremely proud of my girls as they were of themselves. This game truly showed us how good we are when we play as a unit.


Next came #6 Nationally Ranked Johns Hopkins University. We had a couple great opportunities to score one on one with their goalie that we could not quite finish on hence we ended up losing two nill. We however, were happy with our play and came into our next conference game vs St. Mary's overly confident and asleep. Even without the necessary intensity we still battled and had many quality attempts to score, but the Seahawks played hard and got the best of us.

The girls were frustrated and took time to themselves to figure out what was missing from the game. Once again we were faced with knowing that we were the better team and had just not done what was necessary to win. In true Mustang style, however, the girls came out on fire against Catholic possesing the ball beautifully and finishing three golden opportunites. Heather Redding found the back of the net twice, and Freshman Shannon McGuire hit a 30 yard bomb to the far post scoring her first collegiate goal.

This past Saturday we suffered a heartbreaking loss to Elizabethtown. I have a hard time finding words to describe this game as we possesed the ball again far more then they did. They scored off of breakdowns on set pieces and we once again just did not finish our opportunities. We have to keep our spirits up and remember that yes every loss hurts and should not be taken lightly. However, if we can figure out our issues now and come together in time for post season play, the playoffs are all that truely matter in the end. Our girls spirits are still high and they are determined every day to work hard and continue getting better. I'm positive they will come out against Hood on Wednesday and perform.
On our last bus ride the girls made signs with their names in the middle. Each player signed everyone elses sign writing their favorite thing about their teammate or even just a funny memory. I must say the signs were hilarious and something I'm sure the girls will treasure forever. I recently read a quote that I loved that says "A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are." And while our record today is currently who we are I hope I've done my job showing the girls that they can and should be 2010 CAC champs, so let's see how things turn out!

THE MAKING OF OUR TEAM

It has been a while since I last posted but I think the time could not be more right to talk about our team. We are now three weeks into the season since preseason started on a wet Wednesday morning on the Owings Mills Turf. After three games, we are at point where we must come together as a team. We have felt heartbreak and disappointment early in the season but we must not dwell on the past. No offense to Susquehanna or Bridgewater but if you were at any of these game you would realize the better team lost on both occasions. As a coach and a great supporter of the beautiful game, we play the game the right way. We possess the ball, we pass and move, and we attack as a team with creativity and skill. We do not 'bunker' in and just defend in numbers and hope for a counter attacking goal by just kicking the ball up the field, that is boring soccer but can be successful if the team your playing against is struggling in front of goal. That is the story of our season so far.

I hate losing but even worse is knowing that the better team lost. I am not going to make excuses, I take full responsibility for our 1-2 record to date. I will though make a promise that you have not seen the last of the Stevenson women's soccer team this year. We will work even harder to get better and I know that every player on our team is ready to step up and rise to the challenges ahead. We do not give up, we support each other and we will overcome adversity. We are ready for the games ahead and one game at a time, we will battle for every minute of every game.

"Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."