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Team Blog
Tuesday, November 3, 2009:
We return home for our final regular season weekend to be played
in front of our home crowd of the campus and San Antonio
communities, families, friends and a special group; the Trinity
Soccer Alumini.
The girls have proven to be in great form over the course of the
season, but particularly over the past couple of weeks. After
having had to cancel a match on the road to Mary Hardin Baylor last
Monday, we departed campus very early for our flight to Atlanta on
our way to a beautiful area of Atlanta near the campus of
Oglethorpe University. After lunch and a nap, we made our way to
Oglethorpe and had one of our best sessions of the season...on and
off the field in just under an hour. The girls were sharp and
focused. Just before hopping back on the bus for the hotel, I was
able to paint a picture that showed two wins on the trip meant an
SCAC Conference Championship...something they have been seeking
with vigor after falling short of our expectations in '08. A
comfortable evening back in the hotel for dinner and a productive
conversation just before bedtime left us where we needed to be in
preparation for our match Friday afternoon.
The match got underway and so did our offensive production as we
tallied the first of our eight goals on the afternnon within 0:20
of the first whistle. As it ended, Abs had a hat-trick, Kelly had
four assists, Kristina and Alex each buried one for the first time
this season, Bri had a couple to stretch her goals in consecutive
games streak to 9, and our team defense notched another shutout. We
gave up very few opportunities on the defensive end, although our
organization and coordination of movement off the ball were issues
we felt would need to be addressed and better managed on the
Sunday. In all, we had solid performances from every player on our
roster and were pleased with the result.
Friday night highlighted our seniors as we combined with the men's
seniors and staff, as well as some family that had made the trip to
celebrate their carreers on this, their final regular season away
trip. Alex, Breezy, Julez and Beks were accompanied by Koontzy and
her family, and alum, Lisa Smith joined us at Maggiano's. It was
great to see Lisa at the match as well as more recent alum Claire
Edwards who drove up from Athens. Both are doing post-graduate work
at Emory and UGa respectively. Lisa is nearing the end of her PHd
in Psychology while Claire is pursuing her career in the physical
sciences. After we stuffed our faces and bellies it was back to the
hotel for a sound night of sleep and an early wake-up and
departure.
We decided to head about 45 minutes the opposite direction of
Sewanee's campus in Tennessee where we would play our Sunday match
in an attempt to secure the 2009 SCAC Championship as well as the
AQ to the NCAA Tournament. The detour was with the intent to
support our men's and women's cross-country teams in the conference
meet that was held just outside of Atlanta on the Saturday morning.
As it turned out we missed the men's race but made it in time to
see the women run and finish. It was pouring rain and quite chilly,
and while we weren't envious of them running in those conditions,
we remembered playing in equal or worse conditions ourselves. In
the end, it was great to be able to cheer them on while away from
home...fans on the road are great to have!!
A couple of movies and a lunch at Cracker Barrell later we arrived
at Sewanee Mountain. The views along the road between locations
were truly beautiful, but The Mountain at that time of year was
breathtaking. Our bi-yearly trip to the WWII memorial and photo ops
with the players overlooking the valley below is always a
favorite...so very serene. Another meal catered back to the hotel
and a costume contest, as it was Halloween, left us with a solid
night of rest to be had.
Sunday arrived and it was off to a nice team breakfast and then we
headed down to watch the first half of our men's game. We got to
see them play out their opportunity to lock up conference in their
match, and then attempt to do the same. That is exactly what we
did. Going into the match, Sewanee were guaranteed at least a
second place finish in conference going into the match, but a win
against us could put them in great position to get the AQ and leave
us with a lot of work to do to dig out of a hole. Warm-up was a
little concerning as we looked lethargic and were not sharp. As the
first whistle went, I was not put to ease, but it was a little
better than I thought it would be. it would take a quarter of an
hour to put ourselves in the lead as Lindsay would get on the board
redirecting a ball off a corner from close range. Before a half
hour would pass, Kelly played a fantastic ball into Bri who did
well to collect and finish past the keeper, but the half would see
no more goals from either side. The concern at halftime was to
ensure our quality stayed high and that we continued to apply
pressure on both sides of the ball. It had been very physical to
that point and we expected more of the same. A minute into the
second half Kelly was chopped down in the box and Dan stretched the
lead to three. Apparently we were still patting ourselves on the
back as we gave up only our fourth goal of the season not twenty
0:20 later. As if that weren't enough of a concern, we committed a
foul inside our box and faced a penalty only a minute after it went
3-1. Sewanee didn't capitalize and we proceeded to withstand a
little more pressure before we got ahold of the game with two
consecutive goals from Abs and sealed it off with Lips serving a
ball to Lauren for her their first assist and goal of the campaign.
90:00 expired and we had won the match as well as the conference.
We guaranteed our position in the tournament with two games still
to be played, which is the first time we had done that so early in
quite some time.
Leaving the mountain for the Nashville Airport with four wins and
two conference championships for Trinity Soccer made for a
fantastic trip. We face the defending SCAC Champions in Rhodes
College on Friday evening at 8 pm, and that is as far as we will
focus our collective energy and thought. We know a solid week of
training is a necessity for us. It will be great being back home in
front of our crowd on alumni weekend as conference champions. We'll
be ready to play like it....
LK
