Regular Season Over

We capped off the regular season yesterday with a huge win on the road over Mary Washington.  Always fun to have some special fans join us to watch the game.  MW came out firing with a quick 1-0 lead but we bounced back to tie it up before half.  I won a 50/50 ball in their box on a pass to Jalon who crossed it for a goal.  We let the hammer down in the second half with 3 more goals to win 4-1.  Now fingers crossed for an at large NCAA bid as we head into the conference tourney round 1 game this weekend.

Fall Break Travel

Got back this past weekend from a successful trip to GA.  We went 2-0 down there against two new conference opponents to wrap up our 4th regular season title.  I played solid both games - we won the first over LaGrange 6-0 and the second over Piedmont 3-2.  We were a bit tired/sore against Piedmont and made a few defense mistakes but we'll be able to fix them in the coming days as we recover and move into our next phase: the post season.  Glad to have Monday and Tuesday off from school so I could catch up on some rest.  We have a big game against Mary Wash. tomorrow on the road and then the first round of the conference tourney at home on Saturday.  National ranking, an at large bid, and hosting/seeding are all on the line.

Back to Game Mode

Tomorrow we face off against Mary Washington for our last home game of the season...senior night.  I will miss these guys, they have been an influential class and great mentors and friends to me.  We've had some good and intense practices this week including a new 4v5 shooting game.  After having off from games since last Wednesday it's time to roll tomorrow.

Short Week Rollin

This week is rolling by fast since we had no classes on Monday and Tuesday.  It was great having a break from travel and class...I was able to catch up on a lot of work and rest.  Soccer is rolling along fine...we won big last night against Shenandoah 4-0 despite a ton of rain that came down the second half.  I'm continuing to get good minutes so I can't complain.  We finish out practice this week and then have this weekend off from activity.  Our next game is on Wednesday at home versus Mary Washington under the lights.

Mediocre at Best...

Just one of those days where things don't click just right.

Woke up with a runny nose and sore throat, feeling more tired than usual. Went to morning class and then hopped on the bus to head up to the game.

Long bus ride, had a chance to do some good thinking.

Had a great warmup before the game, but felt that the team wasn't fully into it today. We had a slow start, and I came in with 10 to go in the first. Reached for a pass to intercept it and felt the leg tweak again for the first time since pre season. Went into half very sore and for the 5 minutes I was in the 2nd half it was hindering me. We pulled off a 1-0 win which was solid, but we could have done much better.

Got home late due to team meal stop. Have lots of work to finish, just have to dig in a keep plugging at this point.

Tuesday Pre Game

It was nice to get a chance to catch up with Brian today. Discussions of training and ActivEdge activities make me a little nostalgic for the summer, but nonetheless continuing to enjoy school and soccer here at CNU. Glad the BD's training has been going very well!

Afternoon rehab followed by practice:

Enjoyed the cool weather today. Warm up, followed by numerous passing drills. Small sided game, shooting drills, and ended with crossing/finishing game.

Good light day of work to get some touches on the ball, we hit the road to Mary Washington tomorrow afternoon.

Big Texas Rodeo

So much to write about and little time to do it!

In short, we had a very successful weekend in San Antonio this past weekend. After a rough flight on Thursday morning, we landed in San Antonio and trained in preparation for our games on Friday and Saturday.

Friday afternoon we faced Southwestern. We also faced temperatures we had not seen for weeks now after a seemingly permanent rain had settled in Newport News (which I might add is still here!). Our first half as a team was a very poor showing, where we went down 1-0. It is not my policy to talk negatively of others' play, but our starting center mids were not having an up-to-par game by any means. I stepped in with just under 20 minutes to go in the half and played solidly against a very physical team. In the second half, I stepped in after we had tied it 1-1 off a PK for about 5-10 minutes to give our starters a breather so they could finish the game. Also played well and happy we pulled off a 2-1 win.

Two good things came from playing so poorly on Friday: the team was motivated to work even harder against #6 Trinity, and Trinity's coaches saw a sub-par CNU squad. Trinity is a beautiful school with a great stadium and lights so it was fun to play in a big game similar to the atmosphere we have at home. It was an intense game, and we struggled in the first 15 minutes to find our rhythm. I came in with 10 to go in the half and played well again. We went into half tied 0-0. Then early in the 2nd half Winston found the far post off a through ball from our outside mid to put us up 1-0. I came in for another 8 minutes or so afterwards and played solid again. I was able to win a ball off their outside midfielder, take it up the line and cross it to our forward at the top of the box. He beat the keeper but was tripped from behind. The keeper was red-carded and we finished the game up one man. It was an exciting game and we are very happy to hold our #1 ranking for another week.

Now back to the grind of school work and practice this week. It never gets any easier, and we hit the road again on Wednesday to face a tough Mary Washington team.

On another note, keeping the family of my former team mate Zac Tigner in my prayers as I have learned of his passing this past weekend. He was a phenomenal athlete and it is a shame to see something like this happen.