Michelle's Musings: "I Feel Too Young for This To Be My Last Year"
Perspectives on Toro Women's Soccer
September 14, 2005

To tell you the truth, I feel too young for this to be my last year playing collegiate soccer. In my freshman year, the girls on the team would always tell me to "play every game as if it were your last," and now knowing that it will be the last season I play some of the schools and travel to their home field, I can now grasp the concept a little better.

We have a few new faces on our team this year, and I am sad to think that this will be the only year I will get to play with them, but I know they will all excel after this year, especially with a year of experience under their belt.

Heading into Wednesday’s match at Cal Poly Pomona, we have a record of 4-1-0. We are definitely upset with our first loss of the season against Seattle Pacific last Saturday. We were up 1-0 at halftime and playing very well. The second half looked as if we were a different team. We started the second half with a formation different than our usual 3-4-3, and unfortunately could not get it together and pull through.

Hopefully, as a team we can lift our heads and realize that there are many more games ahead of us that are just as important. We cannot change what happened, but we definitely look forward to seeing them in the NCAA playoffs!

On a winning note, our first-ever victory over Seattle University was a very big win, as the Toros had never defeated the Redhawks in the history of our program. The game was very exciting and the girls showed a lot of character and heart. After the Redhawks scored early, we went into attack mode and scored towards the end of the game, tying the game in regulation and forcing sudden-death overtime. An amazing shot by Tara Senff ended the game and we all ran onto the field to meet Tara and celebrate!

It was a great feeling to beat Seattle University, seeing that they defeated us in last season’s first and last games of 2004. Our win was well deserved.

After playing the two Seattle teams and Western Washington this season, you can say that we are off to a better start this year. Beating the #2 nationally ranked team and holding a lead late versus the 7th team in the nation, it shows we are at caliber with the top teams in the nation, and I can honestly say that I am happy with that. We will now have to prove ourselves when we play them again in the NCAA playoffs.

We have not only have our first away game (Pomona), but also our first CCAA conference game. I am very excited and also nervous. Being the defending CCAA champs, every game we face in our conference from here on out will be a tough one. Our opponents will do everything they can to defeat us in order to be that much closer to the CCAA tournament. They all know that if they make it to the finals of the CCAA they have a chance to make it to the NCAA playoffs.

This week also starts our first of eight away games. This will test our team on how we can play on different fields and after a bit of traveling. After playing at Cal Poly Pomona, we have an overnight trip to Monterey Bay this weekend. I'm sure all the girls are excited to travel, but the question is: Can we stay focused?

Overall, I am happy to have defeated the #2 team in the nation, but also unsatisfied with our loss to Seattle Pacific. We look forward to seeing you back at home on September 21 as we take on the Tritions of San Diego!

Michelle