Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

November 7, 2012

Many may think that this is a blog like any other: A blog full of jokes about Coach Mac, description of the tasty treats that we received for the long bus rides away, and recapping memories from practices. It might even be a blog raving about the new coats that we got just weeks ago, which came in perfect timing for the untimely snow on Halloween. But this is not a blog like every other, because it is the last blog of the season. I will try to avoid being sappy, but with the amount of love on the Cedarville women’s soccer team, it will be hard not to express it!

Our last week together began like any other: a Monday practice that no one wanted to have. After having a week full of snow flurries, rain, sleet, and wind, we were worn out and ready for a nap or two. The practice did not conclude well, as we found out that we were doing a fitness assessment… the day before a game! The only thing rarer than fitness the day before a game is equivalent to the amount of times that we get to Chuck’s after practice and actually get a good meal (normally all of the rotisserie chicken is gone!)

Tuesday was a day we all had some mixed feelings for: Senior Night! We love celebrating the girls that we love, but we don’t love this last game, because it signifies the last home game ever with the graduating girls. It was an extremely unorthodox game, as it had been raining and snowing, forcing the game to be moved to Wright State. The game was miserable, and we had to huddle in the men’s bathroom during half time, surprising a few men who only wanted to use the restroom! Luckily we made it out alive, celebrating four of our favorite girls, and winning the game 5-1! It was a great game, as it showed how hard this team will work, under any circumstances.

Thursday afternoon we took off for yet ANOTHER trip to Nashville, but this time we were hoping to spot some famous country stars! Unfortunately, although the CMA’s were in Nashville at the same time as we were - the closest thing to a celebrity we saw was our own Reba-look-a-like. Friday morning, we woke up bright and early (to the dismay of many girls), to head out to our least favorite type of grass: Bermuda style. Although some may see the word “Bermuda” and think about a warm, luxurious vacation - the Cedarville women’s soccer team thinks: We’ve never won a game on this grass! We were convinced that after a great practice it was going to be the day to beat our Bermuda curse!

Unfortunately, we were unable to pull off the win, losing 1-0 to Ursuline. This game was a harder loss than any other, for several obvious reasons. Because we did not win, we did not advance to the G-MAC championship, nor did we have the option to make it into the NCCAA tournament - making this game the last game our team would ever play together.

The bus ride home from Tennessee was a long one, filled with plenty of emotion. To say that the ride was tearless would be a lie. The last few months together left us less like a team, and more like a family. From team dinners, to camping trips, to movie nights, and more, this team was unified like we haven’t been in the past. Although we thought the addition of nine new players would create some “cliques” with new girls versus returning players, we could not have thought wrong. We were brought together this year, and I am thankful for every girl on the team. The team drama was non-existent, and even if I was not in the mood to attend a cold, windy practice, I was always in the mood to see the girls.

I could not be happier to have spent this last year with the 21 girls on the team… and of course with Coach and Bri. This season really flew by, filled with ups and downs, laughs and tears, and most of all, lots of love. As a pseudo-senior, I am forced to hold back tears in imagining that this may be my last year with such an incredible group of girls. It may be my last year hearing my name announced by Mr. Clark, or simply singing “Red Hot” in the locker room. It’s hard to imagine not lacing up my Copa’s again and playing UNC bogies, or fighting with Coach about if the pennies are “pink” or “coral” colored. As this is my second day of not having any sort of practice or game, it is finally starting to sink in that I don’t get to see my 21 best friends every day. I can honestly say that this was the most team-oriented group of girls that have been together in my last three years, and I am proud to call each girl a great friend.

Although this season did not end the way that we had hoped, it has certainly showed the direction that we will be headed in next year! This season was a huge step, as we had a number of important additions to the team, as well as into NCAA Division II. I anticipate next year being a great season, and I hope to see the team make it to the NCAA playoffs.

Thanks for reading! It has been a great season and we appreciate all of our fans, whether they were able to support us at the game or simply through our live stats or video stream. We’d like to thank Mr. Clark and Mr. Womack for their support for the team during the season, as well as Coach Mac and Bri for helping us make it to where we did this season! And not to forget our favorite athletic training staff, Amanda and Kaitlyn!

And if you’re a parent and reading this blog - we didn’t forget about you either! Thank you for helping us make it this far! We would have never made it to this level without your excellent mini-van driving when we were late for a game, orange slices at half time, and of course financial help when we wanted those new cleats ;) We love you!


October 29, 2012

As the Cedarville women’s soccer season comes to an end, we’re only gaining momentum in our play, as well as the activities that go on during the week. I feel as if there are way too many things to highlight for such a short blog, but I will try my best!

The week started out like none other, creating high spirits amongst the entire team: We got our long-anticipated winter coats. To some, this would not create much excitement, but we have been waiting for these jackets for months. We have envied the boys soccer team as they prance around in their winter coats, flaunting them as the cold weather has approached. Coach Bri (spreads false hopes sometimes) Barnes had claimed they were coming; however, it was taking so long that we were wondering if she had ordered them at all! Luckily, Monday we were treated with these coats, which might be the best thing to happen to our team. The girls raved about them, especially Sarah (Free Felicia) Storkel…I’m surprised she was even willing to take it off for practice! Rumor has it that there were girls, whose names will not be named, that even slept in their new coats.

It must have been the new jackets for the Lady Jackets that set us into the high spirits for our game against Campbellsville. We came out hard, winning the game 3-1 due to a hat-trick thanks to Jacoby (looks like an eskimo) Ziegler. We played Campbellsville on their Senior Night, but even their high hopes for a last win for the Campbellsville seniors could not bring down our desire to beat them!

Later in the week, we headed out to Xenia to serve by participating in Feed My Starving Children, which is an organization which sends food that we package to other countries for children who need it. We were broken up into different groups, in order to package as much food as we were able to in the two hours. During that time, it got a little rowdy as we chanted cheers, raced to finish the most packages, and ended up even getting a show, thanks to Coach - We had the luxury of teaching Coach Mac how to do the YMCA. One would think that after all his years, he would be a pro. Instead, Kylie (Alexis-wanna-be) Faxon, Chloe (just trying to get outta this boot) West, and myself were able to direct Coach in the correct way of which to make the “C”. It was quite the experience, that I never expected… to say the least!

After packaging food for the starving children, we were ravenous ourselves, and headed to our favorite spot: Chipotle. We ended up eating a similar type of food that we had just packaged: rice, beans, “chicken”, and vegetables. Before we got there, however, Coach had a mid-drive idea of how to make a better system of how to get to Chipotle, and instead of using his smart phone (who would’ve thought) to call the other drivers, got off the bus in order to flag the others down. It was dark, lightly raining, and in the middle of Xenia - we weren’t sure that we were ever going to see Coach again…

This took us to Saturday, where we were not the happiest of campers, leaving Cedarville at 6:30 a.m. for Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. That was not without a few fiascos beforehand. Elise (Elsie) Hurley was nowhere to be found, which left three girls to run to her room in order to wake her up! This included some window banging, which ended up scaring her poor roommate. After those girls were on the way, we found that Hannah (just trying to sleep in) Lyons was also not on the bus! Luckily, we somehow managed to get both girls to the bus, and on our way to the game. Another fiasco hit us on the way, as we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a light breakfast. Instead of a quick in-and-out trip, four of the girls meals got lost before making it to the table. We ended up leaving the restaurant pretty late, and putting poor Coach into a panic.

When we finally got to the game, we were extremely exhausted from the drive and did not come out playing our best. Unfortunately, we lost the game 3-1. We really scored another goal, which would have made our loss 3-2. Liz Cox scored our first goal which really boosted our spirits considering we were down 3-0. Just moments later we scored another goal which got called back due to a “handball” - which I believe, was called back due to poor officiating. It ended up being a close game, although not indicated by the score.

On the way back, our spirits were lifted by watching Bri fall flat on her face as we were pulling into Cedarville. They always say not to stand when the bus is in motion…

We have Senior Night game on Tuesday 10/30! We hope that ya’ll come out to see us get a W!


October 22, 2012

While the rest of the school was enjoying their families this past week, the Cedarville Women’s Soccer team was stuck on campus. Instead of enjoying home-cooked meals, catching up with friends and families, and having a five day break from Ohio, we were having soccer practices, bible studies, and team bonding. Although at first glance the break from Cedarville seems like every students dream; however, due to our action packed week, we were glad to stay on campus and have each other.

Thanks to the hospitality of Carly (not the only football player) Gregory and her family, we were able to spend one of our evenings camping out in their backyard. The night was full of hot dogs and brats, along with cookies, brownies, and other tasty treats. We played plenty of games including the adverb game (which can turn out to be a pretty offensive game… Katie). We thought the night was over, but as we were cuddling up against each other, we heard some rustling in the bushes. Naturally, Captain Morgan was brave enough to step out of the tent, in order to check out the situation. Thanks to her inductive reasoning, she determined that the rustling was actually boys! Out of nowhere, boys dressed up as chickens, gorillas, and loaded with water balloon ammo bombarded the tent.

Most girls would hover in the tent, afraid of what the outside world was bringing. However, thanks to the tough competition that we have had so far this season, these dressed-up boys were not much of a challenge. With one “Let’s get ‘em!” we were on our way out of the tent. Thanks to Coach Mac’s recent fitness assessments, we were in terrific shape to chase down these costumed animals. After hunting these boys, Morgan (not afraid of a challenge) Ziegler shouted to “Tackle them!” and with that Christine (newest member of the football team) Faulds took this advice to heart and tackled one of the gorillas to the ground. The rest of the not-so-loyal gorillas and chickens ran away, and with that we were able to unmask the tackled gorilla and reveal his true identity: Christian Alexander from the men’s soccer team. We should probably call ourselves the Cedarville Women’s Football Team! Don’t mess with us…

After we finally settled down and headed back into the tent, we were once again startled by flashing red and blue lights: The police had come to the scene! Apparently, the neighbors had called the police after hearing the commotion outside. This caused a very frazzled Carly to explain to the police what was really going on.

After surviving this ordeal, we were pumped up for our game against Salem International on Saturday. This showed during our 12-0 win against Salem! Never in our history have we had a game with this amount of goals scored. Not only was it the quantity of goals scored, but it was the quantity of girls that scored the goals. There were eight different players that scored the twelve, with almost every midfielder and forward scoring a goal. Not only that, but there was an own goal as well - talk about diversity!

During our earlier game in the week, which we unfortunately tied Urbana in double overtime (a CUWS favorite), Deanne (girl’s got some elbows) Bradshaw was in for a real treat, as her boyfriend, the infamous Jon (best ball-boy around) Wilke won the halftime special, as well as a Cousin Vinny’s Pizza! And with that, Deanne’s got a hot date comin’!

We had a great, relaxing week and can’t wait for our week to come! We’ve got two away games this upcoming week so we’d appreciate your thoughts as we travel! Wish us luck!


October 15, 2012

“Better step it up, or wait it up” were the words shouted to our team from Coach Bri as we headed into the Walsh tunnel. Many may think these words were part of an inspirational speech about how we needed to pick up our game…but really they were in reference to the near traffic jam that our team was about to have with the Walsh football team. Luckily, due to our recent increase in fitness days at soccer practice, we were speedy enough to cut off the massive line of football boys in order to make it to the locker room in a promptly manner.

After finally getting changed and making it out to the field, we quickly realized that we had left all of our means for hydration in the locker room, which forced Chloe (still-a-gimp) West to trek her way back to the Walsh campus to bring us some refreshments (on her birthday, none-the-less). Thanks to Chloe, we were properly prepared for the game. Unfortunately, all of our preparation, hard work, and perseverance were unable to help us pull out a win against Walsh. We’re not sure how the ball did not get put away, especially considering the number of shots taken by our aggressive forwards. On the bright side to this disappointing game, our triangle of midfielders was able to out play the Walsh midfield and completely possess the ball the entire game.

If you have read the women’s soccer blog before, you may tend to see a common theme - if we don’t win the game, at least our stomachs tend to win. Thanks to Sarah (still on the cookie fast?) Storkel’s delightful baker of a mom, we were treated with delicious homemade pumpkin bread. If you have never tasted this treat, you are missing out! The moist “bread” was really more like cake - like than anything else. If this wasn’t enough, she provided us with apple cider! If we weren’t in the mood for Fall, we certainly were after this ride home!

The dynamics of this team have changed as the season progresses, and with the changing season, we are able to see changing personalities as well! Kylie (still crying for mama) Faxon’s “mean girl” attitude came out when she made a massive cupcake for Chloe’s birthday, only to find out that after leaving it in the Willet’s fridge, someone had ignored her sign of “Do Not Touch!” As Kylie would explain it, someone dug into the cupcake with their bare fingers, leaving only cupcake remains. She was pathetically forced to present Chloe with the half-eaten cupcake; however, if you think this is where the story ends, you are wrong! Kylie not only wrote a note on the fridge about the mean girl who ate it and posted a Facebook status, but she also made her RA talk with the RD about this issue. What we learned from this: Don’t mess with Kylie, especially when baked goods are involved!

Apparently the entire team caught an aggressive attitude this past week, as sweet Ashlee (that’s so good) Wilson shouted that the winners should “Pick up the field!” after she was fed up from losing a game during practice. Those who may not know Ashlee might just think she is always sassy, but this phrase came from the girl who earlier in the week answered the question: “What’s your favorite Bible verse?” with the response, “The Bible.” I’m not sure what was going on this week to give such spunky attitudes, but clearly it was something in the water, most likely from Cedar Lake! I’m pretty sure coach got a little cheeky too!

We had a great week this past week, tarnished by one tough loss, but we plan on shinning up for our two games this week! Come support us on Tuesday 10/16/12 for our Breast Cancer Awareness game!

See you then!


October 8, 2012

After a wild week, with three home games in five days, two overtimes, and one homecoming game, I can without doubt say that the Cedarville women’s soccer team is exhausted! Our week of games began on Tuesday after a six-game away streak, against Wheeling Jesuit. We thought we were in for a win when Carly (gave up my Queen crown) Gregory scored her first collegiate goal (from defense, nonetheless)!

Unfortunately, just three minutes later, Jesuit struck back with a goal. The game went back and forth with goals scored by each team. Kristie (passed the girdle on) Wolff was able to score our second goal by taking the ball the entire way down the left flank, and sent a beautiful shot to the far side netting. The game was tied up as we ended regulation, and so we were forced to head into overtime against Jesuit. Luckily, we were able to have a freshman tag team by Jacoby and Sara, which ended up in a game-winning goal!

Just two days later, we were back on our home turf for another game, but against Shepherd this time. We should have known that the bee stinging Alysia (“stop giving them break-aways”) Bennett was a bad omen for the game to come. In ninety minutes of regulation time, we were unable to score against Shepherd, which I believe can only be attributed due to the 96 hard-played minutes of just two days before. This took us into overtime, and then into one more overtime! We managed to put pressure on Shepherd for 110 minutes straight; however, we came up short with a 0-0 tie.

If this disappointment wasn’t enough, mid-regulation time, the team looked over to see Liz (“I don’t remember which way we’re going”) Cox dazed and confused on the field. Our normally very astute Liz was instead questioning what position she was playing, and even which way on the field we were going. After removing her from the field to diagnose her with a bad concussion due to falling and hitting her head on the ground, we were left with a loopy Liz. Although a scary moment for everyone, the team was not about to let this opportunity escape us. Coach Kevin (always got my camera) Roper was very ready to take advantage of this situation, and proceeded to film Liz and the wild things she was saying. I choose to believe her real personality was coming out of the shell, while others would say she was completely out of her mind. On the bright side, we were able to learn that she loves caramel apples, although she still does not remember eating one that day...

The final game of our week our Saturday Homecoming game. We were pumped for this game for so many reasons. I believe the excitement first began for the girls who attended the parade and were full of sugary sweets that were thrown out. We were then greeted in Chuck’s with fresh fruit, pita chips, and hummus (thanks to the many Alumni that Cedarville had to impress this weekend). If that wasn’t good enough, we headed back to the locker room to change only to find freshly baked chocolate chip cookies from Kelly (I’m finally not a Wise) Bender. As if even THIS wasn’t good enough, the image of Jacoby (hick or hobo) Ziegler duct-taping her farm boots together will forever be ingrained into our minds. Our convincing that she probably needed a new pair of boots was to no avail, as she told us that she “couldn’t just find these anywhere”….Apparently, Chubbs is the new team fashionista.

We headed out to the field to be greeted by our good friends, alumni, and old players as they were just finishing up their own Alumni Game (and let me tell you, by the look of the red faces, and plentiful use of inhalers, it appears that our alumni did not stay in the best shape).

Luckily, all of these pre-game events led to the main event: A sister-sister show put on by the Zieglers. Our 2-0 win over Ursuline was due to an assist from Jacoby to Morgan, and then an assist from Morgan to Jacoby. We couldn’t have asked for a better Homecoming game!

By the way, we did get a practice or two… I’m not quite sure if you could call Wednesdays practice a “practice”, but rather THE practice of the year. Due to our intense game schedule for the week, Coach John (Vroooom, Vroooom) McGillivray went easy on us and split the girls into two teams: Freshmen and Seniors vs. Sophomores and Juniors for an intense kickball game. I’m not even sure if “intense” fully encompasses how wild the game was played. We were sent confused looks from the baseball and softball teams as we yelled at bad calls from the ump (Coach Mac), and tried to kick our way to victory. I will not say which team won, but I will say that the umpiring appeared to be a little bit biased, if you ask me. I guess you could say we were all winners that day…    

We ended our week with 2 wins, and 1 tie… and most importantly an undefeated week! Thanks for the support! We will see you out on the pitch on October 16 for our next home game!


October 1, 2012

It seems as if we have been all over the map these last few weeks, traveling from Indiana, to Tennessee, and to West Virginia! The Buckeye Charter drivers know us well, and thanks to our good looks and dazzling personalities, we have made new friends with Judy, Phyllis, and Dave.

We have found that there’s no better way to our bus drivers’ hearts than through homemade cookies (as it is to our own CUWS team). But, like I said, the drivers’ like us not for the cookies, but rather for the great girls that we really are. Dave took us to Youngstown State on Tuesday, as we played our first-ever Division I game. Although Coach Bri (or is it Coach Brooks) Barnes gave us an extremely inspiring remake of the “Miracle” speech, telling us that “If we played ‘em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight.”

Unfortunately, it turned out that it was not the one time that we might win. Although it was a disappointing 3-1 loss, it was a great game! Youngstown came at us aggressive, just as we expected. Their speed, however, was a little more than we were used to! We thought we had played against some speedy girls, but it turned out that the entire Youngstown team was full of speedy girls!

On the bright side to our loss, Jacoby (Twitter is the way to my heart) Ziegler was able to place a penalty kick in the lower left corner, just out of the goalie’s reach, in order to eliminate Youngstown’s shut out against us!

If you have ever seen a church dessert potluck before, we were able to top it after our game at Youngstown! One would think that we were having a massive celebration, rather than mourning over another loss. We were greeted after the game by deluxe marshmallow brownies, butterscotch cookies, and three different types of chocolate chip cookies! The CUWS would like to express our thanks to the parents! I guess you could say we were in grieving…cookies are our comfort foods!

After the game at Youngstown, we left in search of somewhere to eat. Unfortunately, considering it was after 10:00 p.m. on a Tuesday night, there was not much open for us. It seemed as if everywhere we went was a dead end! As a last resort, we headed to Walmart, where we were each able to spend $7.00 for dinner of our choice. It was interesting to see what various girls had when they were leaving the store!

Carly (it’s my birthday!!) Gregory and Sara (I’ve always wanted to be in the blog) Rogers were spotted with an entire loaf of bread, brick of cheese, and some sort of meat in order to make some massive subs. Arianna (#23 for the 23 flavors of Dr. Pepper) Pepper and Kaitlyn (ditchin’ out on away trips! ) Styles were chowing down on some charcuterie which Arianna was conveniently able to use later to double up for pepperoni pizza! Unfortunately, Coach Bri who decided to choose the healthy option of a Caesar salad quickly spilled her entire dinner over the bus floor, before she could even get a bite to eat! This led for an interesting supper as she was forced to beg for morsels of food from all of the girls.

Our last game played was at University of Charleston on Saturday, and we were discouraged by a 2-0 loss. We did not play as well as we have played before, and we left West Virginia very low on morale. We were even more down-in-the-dumps when we learned that the bus’ DVD player was broken, making a four-hour trip seem very, very long. We all could not help but laugh as Kristie (drama-queen) Wolff suddenly exclaimed, “OHHH, this headache! Lord, take it away!” We have never seen this side of Kristie before… but to say the least, we were very amused!

As we end September, we’re ending our streak of away games, and hope to end our losing streak as well! We’re kicking off October with three home games this upcoming week! Can’t wait to see you there!


September 24, 2012

Another day, another away trip…

As we have now had almost an entire month of away trips, the team is getting pretty close. What with hours of bus driving, sharing rooms, eating pretty much every waking meal together - other students may wonder if the soccer girls have any other friends but each other!

This past week we played Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) and then drove all the way down to Nashville, Tennessee to play our first G-MAC conference game against Trevecca Nazarene. Our longtime rivals, Mount Vernon was first up in the week, as we have played very competitively with them for the last few years. The freshmen got an intense history speech not only from Coach, but what seemed to be from every upperclassman! They heard it all from, “We beat them in double overtime” to “Mt. Vernon beat us in double overtime, shootouts” to “They gave me Donjoy (concussion headgear)”, and with these words, the team was ready for a win! The freshmen were clearly inspired from our spiels, as freshman, Jacoby (maybe one day I will go on a date) Ziegler scored the game-winning goal with just ten minutes left in the game! This led to a anxiety-filled fight down to the last second, as we were all having some post-traumatic stress from our ODU game where they scored with just two seconds left in the game.

Thanks to our newest addition to the team, video-taper Kelly, we were able to watch footage of the game, over, and over, and over again in order to see “coaching points” which usually end poorly for one or more girls on the team.

After just another quick day of practice, we headed down to Tennessee early Friday in hopes of getting on the practice field before the game. This allowed us to meet our new favorite lady, Driver (we were all thankful it wasn’t Coach driving) Judy. We knew she would be a great lady when she started the morning off with a speech about women power, right on sister! Friday started out well: leaving campus early from classes, getting Subway on the way down, and only had to stop once for a bathroom break in our six-hour trek.

The moment we pulled into the Trevecca parking lot, we all started to reconsider why we chose to attend college in Ohio. The Tennessee air was beautiful! At seven o’clock at night, it was a lovely 70-degrees, which we haven’t seen in a few weeks. Suddenly, the girls were making plans to move to Nashville post-graduation! We had a great practice that night, inspired by finally making it off the bus.

The hotel we stayed at surprised us by the massive indoor whirlpool that Bri had promised us…It actually existed! We were relaxed until some synchronized swimming by Morgan (MRSA-less, it’s only a staph infection) Ziegler in the hot tub led to an open wound, and the fear that we would all come out with another infection. The whole Haitian Staph Infection Epidemic of 2012 has got us all scared, and assuming that any mosquito bite is MRSA. This led to our immediate evacuation of the whirlpool for the night, only to wake up the next morning to find out we were going to everyone’s favorite restaurant - Cracker Barrel! We thought the day could not get any better, but then we got to the Trevecca campus in time to see the Urbana boys play their game. Destined to find a husband, Sara (tryin’ to find a man) Rogers, was eager to watch the game, and the rest of the team was not opposed either. Rumors of trying to share a bus on the way back with the boys circulated; however, the rumors were found out to be false.

After such a great week and weekend leading up to our game, we were discouraged by the intensity that Trevecca brought to the field. Trevecca ended up beating us 2-0 on Saturday, although there were tremendous efforts put out on the field. Every girl played in the game (other than our recently injured Kaitlyn (we thought you had a full-90 to prevent this) Stiles and Chloe (stress fracture, really?) West, and I was impressed by everything I saw on the field. Although we lost our game Saturday, we are eager to play our first NCAA Division I team Tuesday at Youngstown State.

Wish us luck, and see you October 2nd for our first home game of October!


September 17, 2012

“Just blazin’ the trail” were the words that spouted out of Coach Bri (I have MRSA now, didn’t Coach tell you that) Barnes mouth as we left our tiny town of Cedarville to head towards the great city of Indianapolis. Bri exclaimed these words as she evaluated our Athletic Trainer, Amanda (I bought enough snacks to feed an army) Burger’s, driving skills in action. Once Bri was assured that Amanda would be able to follow the quality driving by herself and Coach, we were on our way to an exciting weekend, with high hopes to destroy both Marian and Taylor (especially Taylor, who has seemed to have been able to wreak havoc on our team for the past few years!)

A few hours later, we were pulling into Marian, desperate for our first win of the season. Turns out, an away game was all we needed, because we ended up pulling out a 3-2 win over Marian University. The game began well, with our first goal scored by Kristie (I had to put on make-up to make sure that I looked better than everyone on my team, under any circumstances) Wolff. However, we were quickly discouraged by a questionable hand-ball in the box, which led to a PK, almost saved by our amazing goalie, Alysia (seriously, two PK’s in one weekend) Bennett.

As if this wasn’t discouraging enough, Marian sent another goal into the net within the first half. With our heads hanging low at halftime, it took an inspirational pep-talk by Coach Bri to pump us up and ensure that we were 45 minutes away from our first win of the season. With this challenge, (Coach) D sailed a classic floater over the keepers’ head and into the net to tie the game up. Our intensity picked up, and with just ten minutes left, Jacoby (I hate school) Ziegler volleyed the game winning goal into the net due to a beautiful cross by Chloe (where does she come up with her material) West.

Our win helped to create a joyful evening of team bonding, even if there was false advertisement about a hot tub (Thanks Bri…). What really brought us together though, was the factual rumor that the CU boys soccer team had been “tweeting” it up about one of our own freshmen… Thanks to tweet-experts (Emily & Sarah) we were able to find some valuable information, thanks to the not-so-clever code name for the only red-head on our team #Reba. Meanwhile, while Connor J. Gilmour believed that he had suddenly become the most popular boy at Cedarville, due to the entire CUWS Facebook friend requests, he failed to realize this was because #wewereontohim. As the bonding proceeded, we were able to humiliate Connor (my gurl #Reba?) Gilmour through numerous tweets to him, as well as other soccer boys. Connor: If you are reading this, I hope you still have some self-confidence after this blog. On a positive note, #Reba is still single.

Back to soccer, while the boys were getting PK’s called in their favor… it seems as if we haven’t been able to catch a break in the penalty kick world. Just twenty minutes into our heated game with Taylor University, we had ANOTHER questionable penalty kick called against us, as the ref claimed someone “went for her ankles”. Unfortunately, it seems as if every team we play has been practicing their PK’s, as Cheats hasn’t had a chance at these well-placed kicks. This left Taylor up 1-0 at the half. Although Coach Bri tried to give us another encouraging speech at halftime, our efforts were not enough to break down Taylor this year. After an exhausting 90 minutes of play, we left the field at the end of the game, with a very disappointing 1-0 loss. Although we lost to Taylor this year, we plan to come back with a vengeance next year!

Overall, our weekend in Indiana was a great one, with plenty of team bonding and great games played. We want to express our thanks to the great hosts that we had over the weekend. I can honestly say, best puppy chow I have ever eaten thanks to Sara (keep my secret buddy’s gifts coming) Roger’s mom, great brownies by Morgan & Jacoby (gotta love Aunt Connie) Ziegler’s Aunt & Friends, and Kaitlyn (homeschooler) Stiles’ mom’s goodie-bags! We love you all!

Can’t wait to see you at our next game!!

Also, a shout-out to the CU women’s basketball team for the encouraging notes and endless supply of chocolate chip cookies for our away trip!

**Please note: Other Cedarville Athletic Teams - We thoroughly enjoy cookies, brownies, and any other treat you can imagine (we’re not picky).


September 10, 2012

“Are you ready for some soccer?!?”

Those were the inspiring words said by Coach Mac that set us into action for our third match of the season. Although it made the team giggle as we yelled back that we were, indeed, “Ready for some soccer!” the words clearly had the effect that Coach wanted. Fired up for the game, we scored our first goal of the season thanks to Jacoby (can’t tame that mane) Ziegler within the first five minutes of the game. We had Ohio Dominican on their heels, in what seemed like the first time in the history of Cedarville soccer. We have been known to be set into a Tower of Babel state of confusion due to Ohio Dominican’s turf. Luckily, we finally had a chance to host ODU on our perfectly trimmed field (shout-out to the Cedarville field maintenance staff).

The entire first half seemed to be going our way, with several chances on goal. However, ODU also had their fair share of opportunities, but thanks to Ashlee (she’s so nice) Wilson, Arianna (our team is what?) Pepper, Carly (I’m a football placekicker, no big deal) Gregory, Alysia (wait, her name isn’t Cheats) Bennett, along with myself, the dangerous plays by ODU were stopped. We were fired up exiting the field at half time, greeted by much needed Gatorade from our Athletic Training Staff.

As we entered into the second half, we were just as pumped as the first (maybe a little more tired, though). Unfortunately, ODU scored off a free kick, which would turn out to be the last goal of regulation time. We then headed into sudden-death overtime, knowing that the next goal would determine the end of the game, and the winner. After 19:58 seconds of overtime, we thought the game would end in a tie. However, off of a flip-throw by ODU, which turned into a cross that was volleyed in by ODU, we were defeated with two seconds remaining on the clock. This devastating goal was displayed not only by the scoreboard, but also by the tears on many of the girls’ faces.

Although this disappointing loss leaves us 0-3 on the season, it was encouraging at the same time. This was easily the best game that the CUWS team has played, with efforts extended by so many different players. This game really showed the determination of our team, and I am extremely proud of the game that we played Saturday night. I know that this upcoming weekend in Indiana will really show who we are!

On a lighter note….The week was a little less intense than our Saturday game (thank goodness). Due to a thunderstorm which made our hair stand up on ends (literally), and two cancelled practices, we ended up practicing only three days of the week. Although we were only together for a few days out of the week, we found out plenty about each other. For example, one would not think that Katie (loves to ask questions) Wormald ever sported bright blue hair. However, it turns out that she once did, claiming it was “a camp thing.” The disbelief spread around the locker room as the common comment of “Katie!? I cannot picture you doing that!” escaped many a mouth of the soccer girls. Apparently, Katie is the wild child of the CUWS team…

We also found out that Kristie (I can fit a whole burrito in my mouth) Wolff decided to bring back a look she wore often on the soccer field in high school: a black “girdle”. We had heard rumor of her “girdle” when she first had her groin injury in the beginning of the season. But since her injury has grown increasingly worse, her loving Dad decided to bring it out to the game so that Kristie could wear it once again. If I could only post pictures on this blog, you would be able to see the full photo shoot of Kristie trying to get her tight scuba-looking “girdle” on prior to the game. If locker rooms could talk….


September 3, 2012

Another day, another blog…

Another eventful week has passed, and we kicked the week off right with our favorite day of the whole season: picture day. It’s the only day of the season where the girls soccer team looks even mildly like ladies. Coach Bri (got a new boyfriend ) Barnes was looking especially spiffed up that day, as she was trying to snag herself a new man as the season started up. Our excitement only increased as we ended up having a full on photo shoot on the field thanks to Coach Kevin (SNIPE!) Roper.

Although we thought that was going to be the best part of our week, we were pleasantly surprised to find our new game bags, along with Captain Morgan’s surprise that we were each going to get a secret soccer buddy. We listed out a few of our favorite candies and treats, but Sarah (I’m on a cookie fast, so I’ll eat a brownie) Storkel took the liberty to add a few extra lines to make sure her secret buddy got her exactly what she wanted. Needless to say, if the CUWS team looks a little plump this season, it’s safe to blame the secret soccer buddies for providing the endless candies each game.

If you thought this was week was eventful enough, as is… you wouldn’t believe the night Christine (I like to hike in the dark) Faulds had in the Clifton Gorge. After what appeared to be a casual run through the Gorge, she dropped her keys, leaving her stranded as dusk approached, without her phone to call for help. As if this doesn’t sound like a repeat of a scary movie, she had to wander down the road to a farm house to look for help. As the sky turned dark, Christine found the house of an elderly couple… who conveniently didn’t have internet. This left her having to go old-school and search the phone book for a name that she knew. Good thing Coach Mac has been coaching since the prohibition (or at least it seems like he has!), because she found his name, and figuring she was finally going to be rescued, she called him. Unfortunately Coach John McGillivray could not give her a ride back to campus in fear of violating a NCAA rule. Instead he called Kristie (I match my boyfriend’s soccer number) Wolff to pick her up. This led Kristie, Sarah, Chubbs, and I on a wild goose chase to pick her up. After aimlessly wandering around the Gorge area, Christine called to say a nice Clifton citizen found her keys and she was on her way back to campus. If that’s not a wild Cedarville-ish night, I don’t know what is!

As not to neglect soccer, we had a full week of practice which ended with our home opener. Prior to practice one day, a few of us waltzed into the training room to see Chloe (African Princess) West in her natural habitat. She had recruited two freshmen athletic training boys to rub ice on her shins, as she lounged and watched TV. After taking enough pictures to post on Facebook and Twitter, we headed out to the fields, only to find out we were doing fitness that day. We had another “We’re going to Quiznos, but I really mean Subway” incident by Coach Bri, where we were informed we were doing just two 120’s and really ended up doing triple! These are the things we will never forget, Bri…

As I mentioned, we had our first game on Friday, August 31st against Davis & Elkins. We were eager to play them, as last year we were snowed out at their campus. In my humble opinion, soccer games should not take place in months with wintery-goodness on the ground - just sayin. After ninety minutes of hard work, and a fifteen minute half time that just did not seem long enough, we ended up losing the game 1-0. This is not to say that we did not see some incredible work out on the field. I have not seen a CUWS team consistently work as hard for an entire game for quite some time. The game was a huge encouragement of the prospect of what this season can become!

Not only were those on the field an encouragement, but if you were at our last game, had you seen that there was more than one tarp laid out on the track. That may not seem significant, but lack of fan support has plagued the CUWS program for quite some time. This time, students (probably freshmen boys scouting who their next cute prospect was going to be) filled up a lot of the track! #Occupythetarp. It was quite the unexpected turn-out! We hope to see all of you out there again, and we promise we’ll score next time!

See you for our next home game, September 4th, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. against Tiffin!!


August 27, 2012

Hi! My name is Emily Niedermayer, and I am the new blogger for the CU Women’s Soccer Team. This is an exciting task to have, as I will be able to provide more than just a look at the roster and results. My hopes are that I am able to show you what kind of young women represent your Cedarville University Lady Jacket soccer program. I will highlight many aspects of our season as well as insight to how strange/awesome/funny this group really is.
 
This year started out different than many others for several reasons. First, several of the girls (Elise, Sarah, and Morgan) accompanied both Brie and Coach Mac to Haiti for a missions trip where they were able to help build facilities, play soccer with Haitians, play with orphans, as well as several other activities for over a week. The team was supposed to return on Saturday in time for Sunday physicals and meetings. However, Coach Mac and Morgan were left behind for an additional day due to a luggage mix-up in the Dominican Republic. I can only imagine the type of conversation that took place with Mo and Coach Mac! #whathappensinHaiti… Needless to say, the luggage fiasco left both Coach and Morgan exhausted for the week of pre-season to come!

Another reason why this preseason was a little different than the past was simply due to missing our old teammates. After graduating five seniors - Dresden, Jill, Rachel, Sarah, and Kelsey - we were left missing not just great players, but some of our best friends. Although this is an occurrence that happens every year, it is hard coming back without seeing the familiar faces that I had seen for the past few years. Although it is always a big change without our seniors, our returning players were overwhelmed by the nine new freshmen. These freshmen include: Jacoby, Carly, Carissa, Hannah, Katie, Kaitlyn, Sara, Kylie, and Chloe. Although drastically different, I have no doubt our team will step up and fill the gaps left by our graduating seniors.
 
This preseason has been an adventurous one! After a week full of two-a-days, three-a-days, fitness testing, and meetings, we were spent to say the least.  One thing that got everyone through the hectic schedule was the thought of “Christian-school hazing” that would take place the Friday that preseason workouts ended. The upperclassmen had quite the itinerary planned for our new freshmen teammates that included dressing them up like chickens and sending them on a scavenger hunt during the Getting Started Party - an event that is held every year for ALL incoming freshmen to Cedarville University. I’m talking well over 800 new students. To those parents reading this, it was completely innocent fun and no one was harmed - physically at least, I cannot attest to their emotional state at this time (they were SO embarrassed!) Some of the shenanigans included sending your daughters off with beaks on their faces, and clothed in garbage bags full of balloons. The freshmen also got to experience their first ice baths, and after the shrieking and calling out for their mommas (Kylie), our first bonding activity was complete.

You may think that we never actually get down to business and play soccer, but in reality, we’ve put in a lot of work these last few weeks! We have had three scrimmages to help us get ready for the upcoming season.

We begin our regular season with the home opener on Friday, August 31 at 7:00 p.m.! We are very excited to start this year up and we have big hopes for the rest of our season! We are happy to officially be a part of NCAA Division II.

I’m sure all my teammates would LOVE if we had some solid fans cheering for us this year (hint hint, boys!)  We can’t wait to see you at our game!! 

Emily Niedermayer is a junior allied health major from Buffalo Grove, Ill. She is in her third season with the Lady Jackets as a defender.