A day off on Sunday, from our North Carolina tournament, felt great as everyone was pretty tired from the long weekend. Once Sunday evening rolled around, we all realized we had to get up at 5:30 AM Monday morning for 6 AM lifting! After lifting, we had a short team meeting about what practice would consist of since we left the balls on the bus at the tournament. At first, Coach was going to give us the day off, but he decided to have a running session. So we walk out to practice that afternoon with nothing but our running shoes. The sun was out and it was about 85 degrees. It just had to be the one day it was hot in Bridgewater. The weather here is a little different; you see, one day it is scorching hot, and the next day you have to pull out your winter coat. We did some interval training, a pyramid run and some suicides. It was hard work but we used it as motivation for ourselves to get prepared for ODACs. We will never leave the equipment behind again!
Wednesday’s game versus Mary Baldwin was what we needed after the game on Saturday. Our confidence and winning came back as we beat them 9-0. Many of girls contributed in the game with goals and assists. It was truly a team effort and no one was selfish when they easily could have been. After the game we packed up the Bridgewater vans and headed to Ashley Andes’ house for a team dinner. Her parents had lasagna, fruit, bread and more. It was so delicious. It makes you never want to eat in the KCC again.
Thursday and Friday were regular practices as we were getting ready for our first ODAC game against Emory and Henry. Last year we won 1-0 and this year we were expecting to do a lot better. Saturday’s game quickly came as we stepped on the turf field in Emory, Va.
The game started and almost immediately we gained possession. We settled into our passing game, working it around the field back and forth, getting in crosses and taking shots- we just weren’t finishing. The second half came and it was the same deal; possession, possession, and more possession with no goals. Time was winding down and we were about to go into overtime when we got our last corner of the game. We had everyone in the box. Jacey gave a short pass to Kathy, she served it into the box, and Britt Harris headed it over the goalie to give us our only goal of the game with 12.2 seconds left. Every player on our team went crazy! Our first ODAC victory was accomplished, along with another shutout. That makes us 6-1-1, with 7 shutouts in 8 games.
Our next ODAC challenge is Roanoke, but we are pumped and ready to bring it on the field!
- Jess Palmer
- Jess Palmer
