Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

November 20, 2013

During our last bus ride together, we watched the movie Up. Up is about two kids, Carl and Ellie, who love exploring and have a dream of going to one destination - Paradise Falls. The two grow up, fall in love and get married, and spend their lives saving for this dream by putting money in a jar. However, events in life prevent the dream from coming true - they have to use the money for a car breakdown, to repair the house, and finally Ellie’s health fails and she passes away. When they were younger, Ellie had made an "adventure book" and had saved pages in the back for all of the adventures she would have when she got to Paradise Falls. At the beginning of the movie, this book brings Carl much grief because he feels he has failed Ellie, until he opens the book again and actually sees what she filled those last pages with. They were filled with pictures of the two of them, living everyday life together, and learning how to love one another unconditionally. Carl realizes that the adventure was not in the destination - it was in the journey to get there. What really mattered to Ellie was that they loved each other daily and enjoyed the ups and downs of life together.

Our team may not be going to our dream destination, but we had one unforgettable journey trying to get there. To prove it - on Saturday I got my own adventure book. Liz Cox was my secret soccer buddy (we all have a buddy that we give a note or present to before each game) and she gave me a very special book that has pictures and notes from my teammates and coaches from all four years of soccer at Cedarville. What a blessing it is to look back and see how each group of ladies has loved and impacted you in unforgettable ways. And this year, this team was something extraordinary. I will never forget the adventures I had with you all as we learned how to love one another like a family. From going in Cedar Lake, making apple pies, playing squirrel tag, cheering every time "Roar" came on during warm ups, coffee dates, watching Coach McGillivray do hand stands, wearing our puffy coats, going "out on the town" in Nashville, beating every team in our conference, going to the women’s national game, cooking and eating together all the time, praying, hugging, cuddling, crying and laughing together, and singing In Christ Alone before our games, this season was the best adventure I’ve ever had. We won together, we lost together, and we were a team who pursued Christ together as we passionately played the game of soccer and cared for each other more than any other team I know.

At the end of her adventure book, Ellie wrote to Carl "Thanks for the adventure. Now go and have a new one." I wish I really had the right words to thank everyone for these past four years. To our parents and fans - if only you could see the way my teammate’s faces light up when they know someone they love is coming to watch them play. Thanks for all of your support and cookies; they were appreciated more than you know. To the coaches - thanks for your outstanding character and care, we all respect you immensely, have so much fun joking with you, and are grateful for the way you lead our team. To my teammates - you guys know we seniors love you and cannot thank you enough for being our best friends and our family. And of course, how can we not give all the glory and praise to God for this season and this team? He has blessed us abundantly and given us the joy and love that we share with one another. This season was not only "For Him" but it was because of Him!

It’s to my teammates that the second part of Ellie’s note applies. It’s time for your new adventure. As you all look ahead to this spring and next fall, I want to leave you with this verse:

Galatians 5:6 says, "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

So continue to love one another, pray for one another, rejoice with one another, and carry one another’s burdens. And while you strive for your next dream destination, never forget that what really matters is the unforgettable journey with one another to get there.


November 12, 2013

When our team says "For Him," we don’t just mean the wins. We mean the way that we give our best as an act of worship in every situation no matter the outcome. Coach McGillivray reminded us of this after our heart-breaking loss in the G-MAC semifinal. He said that it’s easy to keep smiling and rejoicing when we win but that this loss would show where our team truly found its worth.

While we were devastated by a dream deferred, it was amazing to see the amount of love our team showed one another. I think there was a substantial increase in hugs this weekend as we surrounded our teammates with support. While we hated losing that game, it is evident that our worth is not found in that title and that our soccer family is still as close as before.

The coaches also did their part. Practice Friday included some uplifting games such as squirrel tag and a fun heading game that coach introduced to us. Shout out to Susanna for ferociously defeating me in the squirrel tag finals. That was one of the craziest moments of my life.

As we regroup, refocus, and look ahead to this week, it’s exciting to see the opportunity before us. If we win these next two games we would go to the NCCAA tournament in Florida! We will see what happens, but in the end, how can we be anything but thankful for being a part of this team? Win or lose, we have had an amazing year loving each other and playing for Him.


November 5, 2013

It was a great first week of post season for the CUWS team!

With the temperature most of the days being cold and the wind being crazy, we got good use out of our puffy and rain coats. We also had a fun time sliding in the mud (sometimes intentionally, and for those of us less coordinated, many times unintentionally).
Last Wednesday night many of us went to the U.S. Women’s National Team game against New Zealand. You know what we discovered? We’re basically the same team. We do the same warm up drills, both have puffy coats, and they were even announced to our favorite warm-up song "Roar." It was a great night of inspiration as we watched some amazing talent from our nation’s best.

Saturday was our first playoff game against Ohio Valley. We were able to win 3-0 with some great goals by Grace, Liz, and Elise (all assisted by Jacoby). This win meant that we are officially hosting the rest of the tournament this Thursday and Saturday. It also was our 14^th win which is the most any CUWS team has ever gotten. And in addition it was Hanna Harris’ 8^th shutout, which is also a record! What an amazing goalie (and defense) we have!

It’s hard to believe that this is finally the week for the G-MAC semi and final! Be sure to watch as we take on Ursuline this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. After our double-comeback win in the rainstorm against them a couple weeks ago, I am sure that they will be ready to give us a tough game. But our team has worked so hard to get here and we are striving to finish well! No matter what happens, I hope that we can leave the field knowing that we gave absolutely everything we had and for all the right reasons.

Let’s go CUWS!


October 28, 2013

It’s hard to believe that we have officially finished the regular season. As a senior, I never wanted it to come to an end, especially with this team. But since it had to happen, I know that it couldn’t have ended any better way.

A close loss against Trevecca last Thursday meant that Saturday’s game against Kentucky Wesleyan would determine our fate in the conference. If we won, we would take first and host the next three games of the tournament. If we lost, we would have to travel to West Virginia for those games. Saturday was also Senior Night and I don’t know if I have ever been so nervous and excited for a game! You could feel the intensity and excitement in the air as our team truly wanted this win and to host a tournament for the first time ever. You could also feel the crazy love that our team has for one another. As the three seniors walked into the locker room together, we were greeted by all our amazing teammates who had decorated the locker room, made us posters, and given us the sweetest gifts. There were also some delicious snacks for celebrating after the game, courtesy of my mom. Each senior was given a book with a note from every person on the team. We didn’t read through them then - we were already way too emotional. But when I read mine later that night, I laughed so hard and shed a few tears as I reminisced the many memories I had with my 27 teammates and best friends.

But enough sentimentality for now; back to the game. Coach gave us a great pump up speech in the locker room about how we had the opportunity to win a game that really meant something against a quality team. We were challenged to not come out flat like the last game and you could tell that that was definitely not going to happen!

Before the game, the seniors were recognized and we walked out to hug our three coaches that meant so much to us. As we walked back to the bench, our team ran out and surrounded us in a huge group hug. It was a moment I’ll never forget.

Then soon enough, the whistle blew and the game was underway. Our team came out with great energy and we fought hard for every ball. At the end of the first half however, it was still 0-0. Then, with 22 minutes left, the senior Elizabeth Cox (also known as the Brazilian Wonder) had one of the most beautiful goals we’ve seen all season! We went absolutely crazy (as did Liz’s huge fan section). And then we never backed down for the next 22 minutes to win the game! When the final whistle blew, we went crazy again - hugging and yelling and smiling a ridiculous amount. It was an amazing feeling to work so hard to win a game that meant so much, with a team that we love so much, and for a purpose that is greater than ourselves.

After the game, Coach McGillivray led us in a beautiful prayer thanking God for our season. He also challenged us with something that Kaleigh had said earlier in the day. Kaleigh had prayed that if we were able to host the tournament, that it would be used as a way for more people to see Cedarville and to see the love of our God. This is the mindset we want to have as we take hold of this amazing opportunity we have before us beginning with our first round game against Ohio Valley on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.!

This has been a season truly from Him and for Him. Glad it isn’t truly over just yet. :)


October 22, 2013

As we were running our cool down lap after our 1-0 victory at Salem International last Tuesday, we ran through a pile of crunchy, beautifully colored leaves. Everyone cheered and laughed and it seemed to be the picturesque start to our perfect week of fall.

Wednesday we had our annual camp out at Carly’s house. And while no gorillas from the boys team were tackled this year, it was still a night of great memories. At the onset of the night, Liz confiscated all of our phones so we spent the night disconnected to the world but completely focused on one another. I know that I talk about food a lot in this blog, but the food at the cookout was amazing and perfect for fall! We enjoyed grilling hot dogs and brats in the fire. We also had baked beans, chips, mac and cheese, caramel corn, apple cider, and caramel apples! Not to mention the s’mores we cooked later on.

Besides eating, we also had a wonderful time of Bible study, led by Bri, and worship, led by Katie. We sat around the fire playing games such as pterodactyl, the adverb game, and peel the onion. These produced some hilarious moments. I am continually amazed at how funny our team is. Our team is good at soccer, beautiful, and funny? No wonder so many of my teammates (and Bri) have recently gotten some shout-outs on the CU Crushes Facebook page. But anyways, back on topic: the camp out was the best and we are so thankful to the Gregory’s for hosting us once again!

Friday was another fall break tradition that we like to call "Fall Day." This began with a trip to the orchard where we celebrated the fact that we were wearing normal clothes (as opposed to our standard t-shirts/sweats combo) by taking a ton of pictures in the pumpkin patch. We then bought some delicious apples and supplies for making pies that night. Next we headed over to Young’s and ate Pumpkin Bumpkins. For those of you who are not Cedarville natives, a Pumpkin Bumpkin is a milkshake that is created with a whole piece of pumpkin pie blended in. Next was soccer practice and then we headed over to Coach Bri’s house. There we successfully made four apple pies and chai tea lattes and only nearly burned the house down once. Melissa and Molly also baked a pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup from a real pumpkin! After our creations were cooled off, we enjoyed them and watched a movie. It was the perfect mix of rest and great food to fuel us for the important game ahead.

Even though Saturday’s game against Ursuline was in the pouring rain, it was probably the most exciting game yet. We came back from behind twice to win the game 4-2. As freezing as it was, at each exciting goal, layers of puffy coats flew everywhere as our whole team jumped to our feet and celebrated with hugs and fist pumps. On the way home we got Chick-fil-A! And we got to watch the Lizzie McGuire Movie! I couldn’t help but look around the bus and sing with Lizzie "This is what dreams are made of." Because that day and this season with this team - definitely what dreams are made of.

It was certainly a successful week. We broke our curse of never winning on Tuesdays and of never coming back after being a goal down. We are now 12-4 overall and 8-0 in our conference. We are one game away from having the best record in CUWS history. But in the midst of this greatness, we must not lose sight of our mission.

I was reading the book Radical this week and the author talks about how sometimes we can become caught up in the American dream and begin to think that greatness is accomplished by our own hard work and ability. However, God desires for us to live in a way that is so completely dependent on him that whatever success we do have unmistakably gives Him glory. I pray that as we finish our regular season and begin whatever comes next, we will continue to be a team that sees our dependence on God and our purpose in making His name great.


October 15, 2013

There are always some interesting things that happen during our time in the locker room. For instance, one game Melissa found a harmless beetle that was pulling a piece of hair. Instinctively, she kept moving everyone and everything out of the way while yelling, "he’s on a journey!" On Monday we arrived in the locker room to find that it had been covered in cookie crumbs from one of our teammates who accidently fell on a container of cookies while trying to change. The locker room experience before Tuesday’s game was no exception. As we started to put on our socks, we figured out that about half of the socks had been switched with the guys’ socks! We love the equipment room workers (props to people who can get all those grass stains out of our white jerseys), so I’m not trying to complain. I’m just saying how amusing it was seeing our teammates with little sock-tails coming out of the back of their cleats.

This past week was another one full of games. Tuesday’s 1-0 loss at Tiffin was a frustrating one because we had numerous quality chances but could not seem to come back after they scored on us in the first two minutes.

However, our game on Thursday against Davis and Elkins (ranked second in our conference at the time) raised our spirits in a way we had not anticipated. Jacoby and Grace were on fire, scoring a hat trick each, and Elise also scored, bringing us to 7 goals against their 1.

Our third game against Alderson Broaddus began with a fun game we invented called "where are the refs?" Two of the referees were running late and while we waited for their arrival, the starters were told to pass in a circle. We decided that whenever someone made a pass they had to make up a reason why the refs were late. I think the best ones were "they were attacked by dinosaurs," "they got lost in a cornfield," and "they went back to put on matching headbands." Matching headbands are all the rage on our team these days.
This game prepared us well for the intense match that ensued. Though we had numerous amazing shots (many saved by their very talented keeper and others rejected by the crossbar) we were only able to pull out the victory when Liz Cox finally got the ball in the back of the net! Her Brazilian determination and perfect timing never cease to astound us.

Other highlights from the week include the birthdays of Christine and Chloe (everyone is growing up!!), Susanna catching a bee at lunch, and Coach Mac sharing his testimony during our Bible study. Coach made sure that we understood how his life story evidences the protection and grace of God. It is such a blessing to be led by coaches who are so honest and Christ-centered.

As our team continues to count our blessings, we look with excitement to the week ahead. We have two more conference games, a camp out, and amazing fall activities to look forward to!

Fall Break here we come!


October 7, 2013

This past week, filled with three games, was a busy one for CUWS. Each of these games was an extremely different experience that was accompanied by its own set of challenges and victories.

Tuesday’s overtime loss against Findlay was a heartbreaker. There’s not much else I can say except that we were still very proud of the effort our team put forth despite the gloomy ending.

At Wednesday’s Bible study, we were led in a time of worship by the musical abilities of Molly on the violin, Melissa on the flute, and Katie on the guitar. This worship night was a peaceful time of encouragement and focus in the middle of a crazy week. It also inspired Coach McGillivray to have us sing in the locker room before each game. So on Thursday and Saturday we sang a verse of "In Christ Alone" before we headed out to the field. Our team actually sounds quite beautiful together, which may surprise any of you who have heard our rendition of Happy Birthday.

Thursday’s game at Ohio Valley presented us with many different circumstances. The field was a terrain that we were definitely unfamiliar with, there were only two referees, and the other team almost ended up wearing the same color jerseys as us. Despite the uniqueness of it all, we were able to pull away with a 1-0 victory due to a goal by Jacoby off an amazing cross from Elise.

Saturday was Homecoming - the day when legacy is remembered! It was so great to catch up with the alumni who have had a lasting impact on me and the other upperclassmen on the team, along with meeting players who were a part of CUWS long ago. The wonderful Emily Niedermayer (who graduated last year) was able to commentate on our game against Ohio Mid-Western. She’s hilarious and brilliant, so I’m sure all who watched the live video streaming were blessed by her work. She had lots to talk about as we scored eight goals and, more importantly, everyone on our team was able to contribute major minutes to the game.

Afterwards, many of the families were able to join us for a potluck. It was amazing to meet the parents and siblings of so many of our teammates. It helped us understand each other even better and it became apparent that our support and encouragement from these people is a huge reason why CUWS is the way that it is!

We are halfway through the season and it’s remarkable to see that our record has more wins than we had the whole entire season last year. Our worth is not found in the number of wins or losses we have, but I think our record is evidence of the joy, work ethic, and focus that the players and coaches have brought to each practice and each game.

As coach explained to us before we sang "In Christ Alone" in the locker room Saturday, we do not say these phrases, prayers, and songs in order that God will bless us with a victory. We say these phrases, prayers, and songs so that we will continue to keep our focus on what is most important - and that is honoring God with the way that we play and the way we live. This is our prayer as we begin another busy week of soccer starting with our match at Tiffin on Tuesday!


September 30, 2013

Monday mornings can be a rough time in a person’s life, but being with your teammates can make them a little more enjoyable. For Carly’s birthday on Monday, Elise had us surprise her at 7:15 in the morning with our beautiful voices singing Happy Birthday and with the smell of a delicious breakfast. It was a fun way to start off the week.

Tuesday’s 2-1 loss against Youngstown State was tough in many ways, but it was great to see the passion and encouragement that our team brought no matter what the score. We do play for a higher purpose and this was seen that night. Youngstown’s assistant coach emailed Coach McGillivray and commented on the high level of sportsmanship that we played with. Coach was able to email her back and tell her why we played the way that we did. Coach always encourages us to "be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have," (1 Peter 3:15). Our team has incredible leadership in all of our coaches and it is always encouraging to see them lead us with such boldness and focus on Christ.

After every game, we each give one player on the other team a note with a verse in it. One of our girls gave a note with 1 John 2:17: "The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." The girl who received this note told our player how much of an encouragement this verse was to her as she was struggling but seeking to follow God. The two exchanged emails and continue to talk. We are humbled by the way God uses our team.

When we went into the locker room, it was completely filled with delicious snacks such as cider, pumpkin bread, and s’mores brownies to name a few. Our parents seem to console us with so many delicious snacks after we lose. It is ideal timing.

Speaking of ideal timing… When boarding the bus back to Cedarville, poor, unsuspecting Kaitlyn went to grab her books from the overhead compartments. To her surprise, Liz had hidden herself up there and scared Kaitlyn. This created a sheer look of terror and distress on Kaitlyn’s face that is incomparable to anything I have ever seen before. My words cannot do this moment justice, but there is a nice video of the whole ordeal on Facebook. We have all watched it an unhealthy amount of times.

Thursday was a day of pure joy for our team. Not only did Coach Mac have us sing the precious "bind us together" song at practice, but we also received our PUFFY COATS! If you haven’t heard about the puffy coats (which is not likely since we talk about them all the time) I will try to explain how beautiful they truly are. They are everything you could ever want and more in a coat. They are durable, water and wind proof, and incredibly classy. We will soon wear them every part of every day of the week no matter what outfit we are wearing beneath. But the coat is not only for shielding from the elements; it serves as a blanket, a bed, and a way to readily identify the other soccer girls from miles away. It may seem that the greatest thing about puffy coats is the looks of pure jealousy from all others on campus who do not own a puffy coat, however this is not the case. The best part of all is what we like to call the "puffy coat hug." There is nothing quite so fluffy and full of love than the moments in which we embrace each other within the warmth and comfort of our puffy coats.

I may have rambled about the puffy coats for a bit too long, so I will wrap up this blog by saying that our week ended with a close, but solid 2-1 win over Ursuline to make us 3-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. It was another great game day with our team. :)

We are now entering the two weeks of Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday games so please pray that we have strength and focus through it all. First up is Findlay on Tuesday!

Let’s go Jackets!


September 24, 2013

Last Wednesday night we piled into the vans for our road trip to Tennessee and Kentucky and what was about to be one of the greatest weekends in CUWS history. Now that might sound like an overstatement. However, as a senior, I’ve been on this team for quite a while, and every year we’ve traveled to great places. During these trips, we have longingly hoped to see beyond the soccer fields of the schools we were visiting; but this wish never came true. But this year was different. This year we got to go out on the town! However, I am getting ahead of myself, so let me backtrack to the beginning of the trip.

Wednesday was the birthday of the wonderful Kaleigh Rowlands. So on the bus ride to our first hotel, we ate some delicious birthday cake that was beautifully baked and decorated by Christine. Bus rides are an important part of these trips. This is when we get to see the true personalities of our teammates through conversations, games, riddles, and other shenanigans that take place. It is also when we have maximum time for cuddling, hair braiding, snacking, and singing of camp songs (led by Melissa the "Camp Counselor" of course).

Another significant part of these trips is the time at the hotel. People did so many different things while at the hotel I found it simplest to provide you with categories that sum up what my teammates chose to do. There were:

The gamers - those involved in the games of Euchre, Settlers of Catan, or Dutch Blitz that seemed to be going on at all times.

The sleepers - those who took full advantage of the comfy hotel beds and caught up on some sleep.

The talkers - those who enjoyed great conversation, usually while drinking the hotel’s free (but great) hot chocolate.

The academically disciplined - those who ignored the distractions and diligently worked on their school work (parents you should be proud).

But of course the highlight of our trip was the Friday we were able to spend in downtown Nashville! We were split up into a bunch of different groups as we walked around the city, but activities of the day included: hula hooping in the streets, hanging out with a tin man, getting ice cream, dancing on the street with a one-man band, secretly gaining access to the top floor of the Renaissance Hotel, taking lots of pictures, getting coffee at Starbucks, writing CUWS on the street in chalk (literally leaving a legacy), studying at Panera, jewelry shopping, listening to country music, and of course, trying on cowboy boots and hats.

It should also be noted that we were there the same time as the Taylor Swift and Luke Bryan concert so some of us got free Taylor Swift shoelaces (basically as good as actually being at the concert)! After hours of adventuring the streets of Nashville, we all met up and had dinner together at a delicious Italian restaurant called Demo’s. It was a great end to an incredible and memorable day.

This trip not only brought our team closer relationally, it also brought us closer to our team goal of being number one in our conference. We played two great games against Trevecca and Kentucky Wesleyan making us 2-0 in G-MAC play. In the Trevecca game we were able to reach our lucky number four. Hannah Velloney’s early goal off a corner created the fun fact that we had scored within the first three minutes in all of our first four wins. Jacoby had two great goals by flicking the ball skillfully over the keeper and Kaitlyn brought us to number four by beating the keeper on a breakaway like a pro.

Our game against Kentucky Weslyan was a little more suspenseful, but we survived their long throw-in (well done defense and Hanna) and came out with a victory thanks to two goals from Jacoby and one from Grace.

We love this team and are so thankful we were able to have this amazing week full of bonding and soccer. Our team is excited that we are 5-1, but we know that we still have much we can improve on.

We are looking forward to working hard as we prepare for and play D1 Youngstown State on Tuesday and another conference match against Ursuline on Saturday! All for Him!


September 17, 2013

"We are one" is this year’s new catchy slogan that we say in our huddle at practice and during the games. We are one team - made up of 28 players and three coaches who are all striving towards one goal and purpose. And because we are one, we get to own the phrase that people always say: "we win together; we lose together." And this week, we got the opportunity to do just that.

I was actually kind of curious to see how our team would respond if we did lose this season. The devastating overtime loss to ODU showed us the answer. And I don’t know if it was the plentiful amount of cookies and brownies that people gave us for the bus ride back, or the fact that we are very good at giving hugs, but after an appropriate time of sincere sadness, our team seemed to live in the fact that our identity is not found in the end result of our games. This was good because we were stuck on the bus for quite a few hours after our loss as the result of traffic from the USA vs. Mexico game in Columbus. Many of us on the bus played the "onion game" which is a get to know you sort of question game. I learned some very interesting things about my teammates such as the fact that Liz feels very strongly about her choice of being a fish over a bird and that Katie always wanted to be a super hero so she could be super fast and super strong (we can pretty much say this dream has come true).

Wednesday at Bible study we were able to hear testimonies from the ministries/mission trips that many of our teammates were a part of this past summer. It was amazing to see how God worked in and through the girls on our team in so many different ways. Though each experience was so diverse, there was a common theme through all of the testimonies - when the girls went to serve God, they ended up being incredibly blessed and changed themselves.

Wednesday we also celebrated Liz and Kristie’s birthdays by singing so harmoniously as we always do. More brownie treats were made by Kaitlyn to add to the festivities. (An endless amount of brownies and cookies is definitely one of the best reasons for being on our team).

Thursday night was incredibly precious and delicious. Kaleigh and Hanna Harris were challenged by a message they heard at church the previous Sunday, so they generously made a pasta dinner for our whole team. When we arrived in the Willetts lounge, the tables were all set so nicely and the smell of pasta and garlic bread was delightful. We had a great meal together, which ended, once again, with brownies. :) Apparently they almost burned the Willetts kitchen down… but Roper the firefighter was there anyways, so it turned out alright.

The only thing I really remember about Friday was when Coach was demonstrating shielding form by shielding the ball from Sara Rogers. In the middle of the demonstration, Kristie comes out of nowhere and just takes Sara out! Definitely one of the funniest moments I’ve ever witnessed at practice. Coach turned around, seeing Sara on the ground, and thanked her for making him look so good at shielding. Real thanks should be given to Kristie for that incredibly funny situation.

To finish off the week, we were able to pull out a win against a great opponent - Roberts Wesleyan. The first goal (by Jacoby) was another one of those brilliant under-one minute goals, which we seem to be so fond of this year. The second was another one of Carly’s classic field goal free kicks right over the goalie’s head. And the third goal still has people talking. It was an incredible pass from Jacoby to Liz who laid it off perfectly for Grace to finish the goal! We celebrated with more cookies.

While last week was fun, we cannot wait for our trip to Nashville, TN and Owensboro, KY this week! Word is that we are leaving Wednesday night for our games on Thursday and Saturday. This means we will have all of Friday to hang out with each other and maybe even go into the city??

Whatever happens it should be a great time to spend with our soccer family! :)


September 10, 2013

My roommate (The Great #8 Ashlee Wilson) and I like to use the phrase "Is this real life?" whenever life throws us something that seems completely unreal. I think this week presented us and our team with a record number of those moments. Some are serious, some smelly, and some just seemed too wonderful to be true. So enjoy and take part of the real life of the CU women's soccer team.

#1 "Is this real life" Moment: The Car Accident (disclaimer: everyone is okay!)

If you haven’t heard, last Saturday I was driving Christine, Katie, and Liz back from a bridal shower of one of our former teammates when we hydroplaned down a hill into a guardrail. Thankfully, Christine and I only had slight concussions and Liz and Katie ended up with only a few bruises. However, it was one of the scariest moments of our lives and definitely caused us to consider the brevity of life and the great protection of our God. During this week, we were so blessed by our teammates who surrounded us immediately and consistently with prayer and encouragement. This team is honestly a true and beautiful family.

#2 "Is this real life" Moment: The 22-Second Goal

Our team doesn’t seem to do anything half-heartedly this year. So it makes sense that only a mere 22 seconds into our first game, Grace hit the ball perfectly into the upper 90's for one of the fastest and most beautiful goals of CUWS history. But let’s not give Grace all the credit, I think this goal may be in part due to Jacoby leading us in some harmonious singing of T-Swift’s "I don’t know about you…. But I’m feeling 22…" on the bus ride to Wheeling Jesuit. What an incredible way to start our season- with a 22-second goal and four more to win our first game 5-0! And all from different players too! God has truly blessed our team.

#3 "Is this real life" Moment: The Plunge Into Cedar Lake

So this girl named Kylie - she’s kind of a big deal- definitely the most famous person on our team now. And yes, she is an amazing forward with a killer pullback, but her fame comes from her new title as "the girl who threw her wallet into Cedar Lake." While describing with excitement the 22-second goal, she flung her arm and her keychain broke resulting in her wallet flying into Cedar Lake. First she called campus safety who came with a rake but told her there was nothing they could do. CU soccer players aren’t used to being so easily defeated, so Sara Rogers convinced Joe Davison, Jarrett Kersten and me to join her and Kylie in pursuit of the the wallet. As we made our way down into the putrid, dark, murky lake, crowds began to form and haters and fans alike yelled their thoughts out to us. Ethan Lee passed and came back with goggles to help the search party. After 45 minutes of trying to not get caught in seaweed (which was inevitable), trying to avoid the floating dead fish, and posing for many pictures that ended up on Overhead (some with over 100 likes!), we still had not found the wallet. Campus Safety told us that we would have to get out soon, and many people told us to give up before we were diseased, so the six of us gathered to pray. "Dear God, please help us find this wallet," we pleaded. About a minute later Ethan Lee felt the wallet with his foot and pulled it triumphantly out of the water! With his fist holding it in the air, the crowds began to cheer! We posed for a victory picture and then went back to our dorms to shower for a very long time. We may still smell, but no one can question how crazy, but also dedicated, CU soccer players are.