Having just completed our final overnight away trip of the season this past weekend, we arrived back on campus Saturday night after a quick 36-hour trip to Storrs, Connecticut to take on the reigning National Champions, UCONN. We departed campus at 6:00 a.m. on Fridaymorning and headed north by bus. We were fortunate enough to have junior midfielder Callie Hiner’s family open up their awesome home to us for lunch. The food was great and our girls enjoyed seeing the Hiner’s dog and roasting marshmallows around their fire pit. After lunch, we continued the trek north and arrived at our hotel in Manchester with enough time to have a film and scout session on our opponents and an early dinner. After dinner, we hopped on the bus and headed to Storrs for a walk through practice. We finished up around 7:30 p.m., headed back to the hotel and were in bed by9:00 p.m. On Saturday, we were up for a dynamic warm-up and breakfast and headed back to Storrs for our match. Due to impending storms, we started the game ten minutes early.

It was a cold and wet game against a very talented Husky team. While the final score wasn’t what we had hoped for, we were proud of our team’s commitment to our game plan and discipline in our press. I felt as though the first half was fairly positive, minus the two goals we conceded on penalty corners.  We felt as though our players took our feedback from halftime and made the proper adjustments in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but any time you fall away against a talented team and you can’t get the entire team back below the ball quick enough, they will exploit you. Additionally, we’ll need to do a better job of taking advantage of counter attacking situations and taking chances in our attacking end. We allowed a few too many defensive penalty corners against a dangerous corner unit. After going back and watching the film, there were some moments of growth and as always, areas that need attention and development.

We will hit this week hard in preparation for a pair of home matches against another tough BIG EAST opponent in Providence and a non-conference opponent in St. Joseph’s. Sunday’s match will be our “Play for a Cure” game honoring the special women in our lives that have fought breast cancer. If you happen to be in the area, we’d love to see you at MSF at noon to show your support.

Thanks so much for continuing to follow us as our season progresses. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead of us over the next four weeks and we are committed to continuous improvement.

Have a great week and I look forward to following up with you after the weekend.