Off the Field With Anik Huffman and Lindsay Curtin
Sept. 23, 2004
Anik scores her first goal of the season in the Hurricanes’ win over Jacksonville following a 2-1 win over ACC rival Maryland.
Friday, September 17
Tonight we played NC State in our second ACC game of the season. We ended up losing the game 1-0. You should know that we played a man down for probably all but two minutes of the second half. Alex Alford was making her debut for us in goal this season, starting in the second half. She has done an awesome job battling back from her injury while providing positive support for the whole team this season so we were all really excited to have her back. She made the right play as she came out on a girl from NC State who was on a breakaway. She went for the ball, and got the girl and the ball and the ref gave her a red card.
Our team rallied well, and held it together the best we could. Finishing the game 1-0 was disappointing because we know it is a game we could have won, but it shows our character and flexibility in dealing with a hard situation. We now look forward to Maryland on Sunday.
Sunday, September 19
Maryland paid us a visit today and we came away with our first win of the season!! It was a great feeling and we are all very relieved and feel like we can finally get into a positive rhythm. It’s kind of like the floodgates opened up, and now we will be unstoppable!! It put a lot of confidence and momentum back into the team morale.
We won the game 2-1 and Curty (Lindsey Curtin) and Dongo (Cynthia Dongo) scored their first goals of the season and their first ever as college players!! Way to go guys!! We were all so happy for them, and it is good we are getting offensive production out of the younger girls on the team since they are the future of the program. Tricia was really excited because Maryland was the school she played at so we were all happy to give her such a great win.
We had a barbecue with all the players, their families and coaches after the game. It was awesome and reminded me of club teams back in the day when everyone is a really close-knit unit. I remember when we would take turns in club bringing the post-game snack and you would get sodas or Capri suns and cupcakes after soccer games. The barbecue was great and I went straight for the cookies (ha-ha!!). It was fun to have almost everyone’s parents in town at one time and have our families bond.
Tuesday September 21
Our second win of the season!! We beat JU (Jacksonville University) 3-1 today. It was a windy game, but we didn’t let that affect us.
We came out hard and had a good offensive push, but fell flat by the end of the first half and had nothing to show for our efforts because the game was tied 0-0 going into the second half.
We knew we needed to set a goal as a team and remain focused because we really needed this game. Before the start of the second half we all got in a huddle and committed to winning the game 3-0. So as the second half got underway, we wasted little time in accomplishing our goal.
I scored my first goal of the season (yeah!!) on a perfect cross from JMack (Jyene Mack). She took the ball endline and slotted it back to me and all I had to do was make the right run through the defense and tap it in.
Our next goal came from a PK by Yach (Lindsey Yach). Butcher (Britney Butcher) was fouled in the box while she was on a breakaway so credit to her for getting us that goal too.
The third goal was this incredibly amazing shot from Brit from probably 30 yards out. She chipped it over the goalie’s head to the upper right post and it hit the top post and bounced in – gosh was it pretty!! The ref also gave them a PK which they capitalized on to give them their one goal.
I am so proud of us for finding a way to get the job done. Little steps at a time, we were humbled by our first four games of the season and are now focusing on one game at a time to rebound back to where we need to be.
Our next challenge, and it’s a big one, is FSU next Monday night. We rescheduled the game due to one of the earlier Hurricanes, Frances I think, but I can’t keep track of all of them anymore!!
All of us seniors really want this game because we have never beat them in our time at Miami. This is the most talented team we have ever had and I think we have a great chance. The momentum we have built with the past two games will carry us into Monday night and will be very important to maintain. That would be HUGE for us since they are a highly regarded team and also an ACC opponent. So wish us luck and check back on Monday night!!
– Anik
Lindsay balances school and soccer while enjoying the first goal of her career.
Wednesday, Sept. 22
After about two months in Miami and one month of school under my belt, I am starting to realize how hard being a student athlete truly is. This week was an especially tough one for me. After a week of intense practice we had our first home ACC game against NC State.
I was very excited because one of my best friends plays for them and it was nice to see her, and beat her. Once again we came out hard and played very well, but despite out shooting NC State, we came up short in the end. Even so, we showed what we were made after a red card forced us to play with only 10 players. We continued to put forth incredible effort and played very competitively, despite being a player down and continued to create opportunities although we were not able to convert. After this tough loss, we were NOT going to lose another game.
We had a light practice Saturday to get ready for Sunday’s game against Maryland. We were ready to play and we were ready to win. After many opportunities throughout the game we finally netted one in the second half. Actually I scored! I was so excited it was my first college goal ever!! Not long after mine, Maryland tied it up with a nice goal of their own, but we were not going to lose this game and with about five minutes left, Dongo (Cynthia Dongo), another freshman, scored a great goal, to give us our first ACC win. We were pumped! I didn’t have much time to celebrate as I had to get some work done for my Monday classes.
The next day I had class in the morning and then we left for Jacksonville for a Tuesday afternoon game. We were busy. The freshman did two hours of study hall in our hotel Monday night and Jess (Jessica Gillman) and I had to take a Math test as well.
We stayed the night in Jacksonville and had a light jog and stretch in the morning before our game. Although we did not come out playing our best soccer in Jacksonville, we were are to pull out a solid 3-1 win with goals by upperclassmen Anik (Anik Huffman), Yach (Lindsey Yach), and BB (Britney Butcher) to continue our winning streak. We were once again excited but had to catch a quick flight back to Ft. Lauderdale.
After getting back to my dorm at 11:30 I stayed up and studied for two exams the next day. They were difficult but hopefully I did well, even on very little sleep.
Now that I have taken my tests, and finished writing my English paper, I am ready for a competitive week of practice before we play FSU Monday. FSU should be a very big game for us, not only because they are an in-state rival and a very good soccer team, but also because we have a winning streak to uphold, and we will hold it up. We will win. We are on a roll and I hope the ACC is ready for us, but now I must get some sleep before practice tomorrow because in college, sleep is precious, especially when you are competing in the ACC.
– Lindsay
