September 06, 2005
Well I must say it's good to be back in Texas. Don't get me wrong, the north was nice with its crisp, cool air and pretty fall trees - and yet for some reason the hot, humid heat of home sure feels good today.
It was a long weekend for us in the great state of Michigan. The MSU game proved to be a hard lesson, but a lesson well learned and a lesson we are all better off learning now. Friday night's 1-0 overtime loss was frustrating for all of us. I guarantee that there is not a single person on this team who would not replay that game if given the chance. But, of course, it's over and that's how it goes. We are left with only the memories of what we could have done differently. It's a tough game for me to figure out because it started out so well. The first 20 minutes we came out very much alive and into the match. We dominated the play and set the pace for our opponents. I was confident that we would find success by the end. And yet somehow Michigan State weathered our storm, kept the ball out of the net, and found a way to turn the momentum. I think we all got frustrated when halftime rolled around and it was still scoreless, and I think that we got caught waiting for someone to step up and change the game, rather than looking to ourselves to do just that. Even though we possessed the ball for most of the 90 minutes, we somehow found ourselves in an overtime period that ended quickly on one of Michigan State's few scoring chances.
And, of course, we all hate losing. This I know for sure. But I think that there is a lot for us to take away from that game. We came together as a team afterwards and we discussed what had happened. We agreed to resolve it, and leave it there. It was a lesson well learned; we cannot just put on a maroon jersey, carry the name of Aggies across our chest and expect to be handed a victory.
We must fight for it.
And fight is exactly what we did on Sunday afternoon. The University of Michigan had just come off a Friday night 3-2 victory over t.u. (insert horse's laugh here) and they were feeling confident. We needed a good battle to restore our spirits. I think we played extremely well. We fought for 110 minutes. We tackled hard, went in for every ball, and really gave Michigan a hard match. After a somewhat lackadaisical performance on Friday, it felt good to see so much emotion go into the game. It was obvious by the (was it nine? 10? I lost count!) yellow cards the ref dished out to the Aggies during the game that things were not just going to fall into place for us. We had to fight twice as hard to stay in the match, and though we deserved a victory and are not satisfied with a tie, I think that the heart of the team was in the right place. I sure hope we get a chance to see that team again.
The best part is, were back. And we get to play Friday night on our field in front of our fans. After a weekend on the road, I think we all appreciate that just a little bit more. Let me be the first Coloradoan to ever say God Bless Texas!
See you Friday night,
Laura
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