Ponderings from the Pitch with Head Coach Phil Wheddon
9/3/2010 10:29:59 AM | Women's Soccer
Since we started preseason, the Syracuse women's soccer team has been competing on a daily basis to make our program better and better. I have to tell you, we have an incredible group of young women on the roster who, no matter what has been asked, have really gone above and beyond to get our program to where it needs to go.
Preseason went very quickly and, before we knew it, we were in Virginia playing our opening games. Our first weekend was a disappointment to the team. Not so much in the way that we played but in the results. We outshot both William & Mary and ODU and lost, 1-0, to William & Mary and tied ODU, 0-0. I do have to say though, I couldn't have been more proud of our squad. We had one training session in between games and the players applied EVERYTHING we asked of them and, in all fairness, we could have won 4-0 had it not been for some inspired goalkeeping and some untimely intervention from the uprights. One of the highlights of the trip was a performance on the bus from Jenna (Rickan), Casey (Ramirez) and Erin (Quinlan) or our very own version of the SU "Dynamite". It was awesome but I don't think Taio Cruz is worried yet.
Having doubled the opponents shot total at ODU, we came back for our first home games of the 2010 season. Our preparation for the weekend was excellent, despite the distractions of "Moving Day" and orientation etc. We opened the 2010 home season with Lehigh who, after a good season last year, proved to be a physical and worthy opponent. After a thrilling match in which we outshot them 24-10, we came away with a 1-1 tie. There were so many positives to be taken from the match, most obviously was the feeling that we should have and could have won. The demeanor of the players was one of a loss which proves that we are not going to be satisfied with anything other than winning.
On Sunday we played Colgate, our local rivals and came away with a 2-1 victory. It was another hard fought game where we dominated for most of the time but still let them find a way through us. Despite giving up a goal, the ladies rallied and came back in awesome fashion and deserved to win by more.
In all of our games we have made a lot of changes and have used, on average, six substitutes a half, which shows you the kind of competition and depth that we have. We are so proud of the players and their commitment to each other and to getting better and putting this program back on the map.
We are now in Seattle where, for all of our coffee-aholics, you will find an abundance of Starbucks, Seattle's Best and "you name it" coffee shops. We took a wander down to Pike's Place this morning to watch the local fish tossing and do some shopping (Yes, it's great shopping here). Many in the group were going to go to the aquarium, which is amazing. Megan (Bellingham) has already become a regular at the original Starbucks - they know her by name.
We will train tonight in preparation for a very tough weekend. The University of Washington, our opponent on Friday, has a rich history in soccer and has a very good team this year. Game time is 7 p.m. PST and should be a good test for us. On Sunday we play Portland. It is ALWAYS a great team and will allow us to have a crack at a top 10 team. If we want to be the best and compete nationally, we have to play the top teams. We are excited to go head-to-head with such great competition. It will be invaluable as we move towards the BIG EAST schedule in late September.
Well, it's almost time to go to training and, if I'm quick, I can drag Megan out of Starbucks and get Rosie (Callisto) out of Nordstrom before the vans leave.
Before I sign off I want to thank all of the parents and fans that came to our games. It is awesome to see such support.
Thank you.
Phil
