VARSITY ATHLETICS

September 04, 2008

Opening Weekend, Off To A Great Start!

By Sophomore Midfielder Ana Arruda (Ann Arbor, MI)

After a week of two-a-days, followed by the first week of the routine fall schedule of classes and soccer practice, we opened our season with a weekend tournament that included back-to-back games. The first one on Saturday against a team we lost to last year, Saint Mary’s, then on Sunday, a match against Saint Vincent.

Although the loss of two key players was unfortunate, a promising freshman class showed great potential prior to our opening games, and all the returning players were very excited about this new team. Wearing brand new uniforms, we stepped on to the field on Saturday and a whole new season of Case women’s soccer began. After the two consecutive games, our team holds the winning record of 2-0, with a 4-1 win against St. Mary’s College, and a 2-1 win against St. Vincent College. The win against St. Mary’s was incredible, for not only had we lost to them last year, but we dominated the game and played very well as a team. Passes were connected, combination plays developed, and everyone was simultaneously working hard, playing well, and just having fun. The win against St. Vincent was also fulfilling, as they had also won their game on Saturday, and it was a new challenge for us. We struggled a bit throughout this game, but we came off with the win and were happy with the result. The weekend games also showed our ability to use corner kicks to our advantage, as almost all corners resulted in a scoring opportunity, of which two we were able to capitalize on.

I was fortunate enough to knock the ball in the net during both games, and contribute to our team’s effort. My family had driven into town to watch the game and stay for a soccer parent picnic, so I was able to share those moments with them. Prior to the game my brother even asked that if I score, to celebrate it like Ronaldo, a Brazilian soccer player we admire. I kept that in mind going into the game, just in case I did score, but when it actually happened, I was so excited that a lot of jumping and screaming had to be incorporated into the Ronaldo celebration.

This season we have an especially tough schedule leading up to our conference games that includes match-ups against previous NCAA tournament contenders, and a national championship winner. In playing these teams we should be better prepared to face the strong teams that we play in the UAA. With the depth and motivation that our team has, I am very confident in our ability to compete against every team that comes our way. And as we hold games at our home stadium, we would love to have some more hyped-up fans adding to the drums and loud crowd we had cheering during this past weekend.

Posted by: Creg Jantz September 4, 2008 10:37 AM | Category: Women's Soccer

Posted by: cnj4 (Creg Jantz) September 4, 2008 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | Trackback