The season has officially begun. We had our first non-conference game against Stevenson University on Tuesday. This was a new and exciting experience for me and the rest of the team. For me, this was my first college soccer game and I was so nervous. All through warm up, you can see the anticipation and anxiety across all the players’ faces; not just the freshman.
This year Bridgewater women's soccer has a lot to prove. Our motto is not Witness the Rising for no reason. Warm up went as usual, the team did our jogging, possession drills and shooting like any normal soccer warm up. But one thing in particular that I found interesting was our coach. As he pulled us in to get us going, he told us one thing, "I tried to think of something inspirational to say to you guys but the only thing I could think of was, 'Let’s witness the rise.'" Just that phrase itself got the whole team pumped and we all knew it was game time.
The game was a lot faster paced than I was used t o. The sports psychology sessions with Dr. Gano-Overway really came into play. Focus was a big part of this game. The Eagles held their own through most of the game as we had possession of the ball for the better part of both halves. Our passes were connecting, and we were getting opportunities to score. Meghan Groos and Ashley Andes had two prime opportunities to score but the keeper was just quick on her feet. The game ended with a 0-0 tie and the team had to go into two golden goal overtimes.
I thought I was tired before the overtimes, but this was completely different. I now know why we worked so hard in preseason and ran so much. The physical and mental part of the game kicked in. Our team never gave up and we ended overtime with a 0-0 tie.
I came off the field feeling very accomplished. The team and I never gave up. We played 110 minutes with heart and a desire to win the game. This was just the first game of the season but already we have shown so much potential. There were two things that were evident in Tuesday's game. First, we will always outwork our opponent and secondly we will “WITNESS THE RISE”.
Megan Ryan
