First Take with Courtney Alexander
Sept. 6, 2006
September 5, 2006
This past weekend was my first road trip with the team! We flew on what some people call a “crop duster” to Greensboro, N.C. Let’s just say that it was full of adventures!
I am not quite warmed up to the fact that “TT” (Tricia Time) means ten minutes earlier than regular time. For example: If Tricia says we are leaving for the airport at 5:30 p.m., that means be there on the bus at 5:20 p.m. Little do all of us freshmen know that Tricia is NOT joking around about time, which is completely understandable.
Our trip did not start off too smoothly with the plane being overbooked. Tricia and Jeff (Freeman) had to volunteer to get off the plane so that two of us could get on. (Yes, we have dedicated coaches!) This allowed our assistant coach, Matt (Hawkey), and our lovely trainer, Ron (LeClair), to become our “babysitters”.
The plane ride was everything but comfortable and relaxing. Picture this: Twenty soccer players on a plane the size of my dorm room (a little exaggerated) for two long and enduring hours. We still had fun and allowed our flight attendant, John, to explore our rather “ebullient personalities”.
The plane ride was worth the neck and stomach aches.
This weekend was a great experience for me as a freshman and as a soccer player. Going into this weekend, we had an undefeated record of 2-0. Our spirits were high, yet we knew what we had to do; keep an undefeated season and play Miami soccer.
Our first day was spent preparing for our first game that night. We did the usual walk and stretch around the city of Greensboro. In our first game we played Highpoint University. We did not play as well as we had hoped, and even though we came away with a 2-1 victory, we put our heads down due to the disappointment of our play.
We came out on Sunday and played one of our best games this season. The atmosphere was amazing. The sky was blue, the temperature was a little too hot for comfort, but we prevailed against the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
The game was a reminder of how high our potential as a team has become over the past month of training. Our shots were on, the creativity was present, and everything seemed to fit. We beat UNCG 3-1, allowing us to win the tournament! Our first tournament win with hopefully more to come (the ACC and NCAA tournaments of course).
Overall, this weekend was a success. We kept our goals of an undefeated season and are off to the second best start ever in Miami women’s soccer history.
My first road trip was one that I will remember by its charm. We played down our first game but in the end we played beautiful soccer.
We have two more games this week, both in-state rivalries. Wish us luck as we continue on our undefeated season!
GO CANES!
