Player Perspective: Entry for the Week of September 8th

As of Sunday, September 7th, the team now has a 2-2 record. Our first two matches against Rice University and Boise State at the Oregon Fall Classic resulted in two wins and the tournament title. Before our first game against Rice, there were so many emotions. For the rookies, it was their first collegiate game as a Don. The rest of us were really anxious to start things off the right way. The beginning of a new season has so many possibilities. However, we took a 1-0 victory and demonstrated solid versatility as the coaches switched up the formation throughout the game. Ashley Davies scored a sweet goal and we played pretty well together. Four rookies started; Chelsea Hunt and Shuree Hyatt at forward with junior transfer Annika Schmidt and Kate Nelson playing together at center midfield. It was a good start but only the beginning.

In the second game, the team played with a great rhythm and everything just flowed as we crushed the Broncos 6-0. Six different players scored for us. After the game everybody was just so relieved to have gotten the results we wanted. Also, it was nice to get the wins we deserved.

The following week of training went by quickly and we left for Oregon again, ready for the real test against two Pac-10 teams; Oregon State and Oregon. The Oregon State game was an ugly battle. The Beavers used some pretty nasty tactics. We lost the match and Kate Nelson after she took an elbow to the face. The greatest revenge would have been a victory but we didn't walk away empty handed. It would have been so easy to unleash and retaliate, but our team has too much class for that. It wasn't easy to exercise self-control with Kate sitting on the sideline with blood dripping from her nose and a black eye, but we made it through the game without retaliating. Everyone was glad to leave Corvallis after it was over.

The Oregon game got off to a much better start. We scored early and kept threatening their goal. They missed a penalty kick early in the first half, keeping us ahead for the time being. Throughout the whole game we set up so many offensive opportunities but we struggled to finish them off. There were shining moments for us, but Oregon also exposed some of our vulnerabilities. They eventually put two goals away on two defensive mistakes. Nobody on this team wants to accept a loss of any kind and it's never easy to lose two games in a row, but I hope that we take the frustrations from the losses and turn them into energy to throw at San Jose State and Pacific in our next two home games.

Join us for our next home match Friday, September 26 against Cal State Northridge. Game time is at 5:00 PM at Negoesco Stadium.

The USF women's soccer team can be reached for questions and/or comments at: LadyDonsSoccer@yahoo.com.