2010 WOMEN'S SOCCER BLOG
NOVEMBER 2010
(Seniors)
CJ Balstad: Coming into CWU, I didn't really know what to expect when it came to soccer or school. The soccer team was so accepting and welcoming; I have made so many life long friends since I've been here. Soccer has taught me to never give up on my dreams. I went through a lot while I was here; my freshman year I didn't really get to play as much as I had wanted to. My sophomore and junior years, I was injured due to an ACL injury. This taught me to be patient and taught me how to be a supportive teammate. I was there at every practice and every game. I supported the team so much and that taught me that it would come right back at me. The team supported me so much for doing what I did, and rooted for me to get back in action and play. Once I played the team always had my back and always pushed confidence my way when I needed it. Overall, I love my experience here at CWU and I learned lessons that will forever be with me to help me in the future.
Amanda Biggs: Being a part of the CWU women's soccer team has been an amazing experience for me. Coming in as a freshman (which seems like years and years ago) I had no idea what to expect. The first day of camp was probably one of the most nervous times I have ever had in my life. Thankfully, as soon as we got started, the girls and the coaching staff made me feel like I was already a part of the team. From then on, I knew this team was the best fit for me. This senior year has definitely been my favorite. We were finally seniors and every game we played was fast approaching our last. While this season may not have gone how we wished, it was the last time five of us got to play college soccer, and finishing together made it that much better.
Four years later, I look back on the times I had and am grateful. While there were many tough times, the good times are what I will take away from this experience. The friends I have made and the experiences I have had because of being a part of this team are irreplaceable and I am so happy to have been a part of CWU women's soccer.
Ellie Eckroth: Central Washington soccer has been a big part of my life for the past four years. I have had some great memories and have learned a lot through the various experiences I have been through. I have made some my great friends that will mean a lot to me for the rest of my life.
Some of the biggest highlights of my career have been from the different places we have traveled. My freshman year we got to spend a week in Hawaii, which was a great experience. It was really fun because I did not know any of the girls very well, and I developed some friendships that I have had for the past four years. Our many trips to California were also fun experiences, as we got to go to the beach, Disneyland, spend some time on the peer in San Francisco. We also played in Utah this last pre-season and were able to spend a night in Las Vegas. All of these trips have developed memories that I will never forget.
Through all of this I was fortunate enough to play a lot of soccer, which I have always loved, and is something I will miss a lot. Although we have never been on top of our conference, our team has always worked hard together while having a lot of fun at the same time. One of the biggest memories for myself as I’m sure it is for the other girls as well, is beating SPU last season. This is something that we can always brag about for CWU soccer. Most of all, though, I am going to miss being a part of something that includes doing what I love and doing it with a lot of good friends.
Kaycie Hutchins: As my senior year comes to a end it brings back a lot of memories over these past four years. From freshman year being scared and worried about all the fitness tests, having to pick up all the gear, and not knowing anyone -- to senior year when the tests were not that bad, being able to tell the freshmen what to do, and knowing almost everyone! It's going to be weird going from playing soccer my whole life to not playing daily. It will be a huge change of pace from having to work out to stay in shape to just being able to go to the gym and do whatever I want! These past four years went by fast and I have learned a lot. I learned how to be a successful college student-athlete, which can be very difficult during season. I learned that waking up at 6 a.m. to work out is not as bad as it sounds, and I learned that these girls I have met, have played with, and have spent the last four years of my life with are going to be a huge part of my life forever, and I have come to realize that 10 years from now, the scores to the games will not matter but the memories we made will. It was a privilege to be able to play here at Central. I was able to do many things and travel many places because of it! Going to Hawaii and playing will be a memory I remember forever.
Annie Weisbeck: It's hard to put how I feel about my years here on the soccer team in this blog. This team has been a huge part of my life for the last four years, and it's had its ups and downs, but overall I have loved it! The friendships and memories I have made will be with me forever! I love the girls and I am going to miss the game!
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010
(Hillary Franks)
The Wildcats are back on track!!! After losing our first two season games against Montana State Billings and Northwest Nazarene, the team decided these are not the results we want or deserve after working so hard during preseason. As a team, we have managed to stay positive and keep focused on the next game ahead of us which helped to our first victory against WOU. We then played again this last Saturday in Olympia against Saint Martin's University and had a 4-2 vistory. Junior Serena Tamoso had her first hat trick her at Central and played like a BALLER and dribbled through SMU's backline as if there was nothing stopping her from putting the ball in the back of the net! Carson McKole, who in my opinion is the team's firecracker and won't let anyone push her around, also helped seal the deal on Saturday with a goal of her own. The team is now getting prepared for our game thursday against Simon Fraser. Our goal is to get our third league win against SFU and play with confidence knowing we have the potential to do big things this year! Come out and support us Thursday at 3 p.m., again this Saturday at 12 p.m., and another home game next Saturday the 9th of October!! Hope to see you at our games and wish us luck!!!!!!!! Until next time.....meow
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2010
(Brittany Franks)
We are currently on our second big road trip of the season down in Southern Utah, we flew into Las Vegas on Friday the 10th and drove two hours to St. George, Utah. We spent most of our day traveling so we finished off with a light practice and ordered dinner into our hotel. Saturday was game day against Mesa State -- who was staying at the same hotel as us -- so we had breakfast at the same time and got to size up our competition while still in their pajamas. We considered car pooling with the other team to "Go Green" and save some gas but coach didn't like the idea as much. Kick off was 11:15, and we played on Dixie State's turf stadium field. The game started off a little slow but as time went on we all came together and we were able to put a ball in the back of the net, as Kaycie (Hutchins) beat the outside defenders and made a perfect ball twelve yards out and I was able to finish it side netting. This goal really pumped up our team and we were able to dominate the remainder of the first half. The second half started out slow for us and Mesa scored off of a free kick, we then came back and Amy Pate contested the keeper and scored but the referee called it back as a foul. We went into overtime, where we dominated the entire time and put up the best fight we could and Carson McKole scored a goal which was again called off, this time citing offsides. The outcome was a tie, for which we were disappointed because it wasn't a win, but we stayed positive.
After the game we went into Las Vegas, this was a very fun trip and many of us have never seen Las Vegas before. We did some shopping and got to walk around all of the giant hotels. Sunday we was an easy day for us but we decided to put our hotel's tennis courts to use and have a intense tournament of SOCCER TENNIS! This was an exciting and competitive way to get some touches on the ball and still have some fun. Tomorrow is game day we play at 1 against Dixie State and we are determined and confident we will produce results to bring home a Win!
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010
(Ellie Eckroth)
After a long road trip in Cali, we finally arrived back late last night (Monday) in Ellensburg. It was a tough road trip as we lost both our games to Chico (2-1) and San Francisco State (1-0). Although both games were very close, we had a difficult time pulling out the wins. Kaycie scored 37 seconds into the game at Chico, which gave us the momentum to score another goal that was unfortunately called offsides. Chico came back and scored a goal, and the suddenly we were playing a frantic game of ping-pong. We battled hard, but couldn’t keep the tie as Chico scored another goal in the second half.
Although the loss in Chico was hard, we shook it off and spent an awesome day in San Francisco. We finished out the day off with a team dinner at Bubba Gumps, and headed back to the hotel to get a good night sleep before our game at San Francisco State. After a 90-minute battle and fifteen minutes of overtime, the Gators scored the golden goal to win 1-0. Both losses were hard, as we know we could have played better and come away with better results, but now that we are home we are back to two-a-days trying to work out all the kinks. Hopefully we can pull together as a team and prepare well for our game against Mesa State in Utah this coming Saturday. Go Cats!
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
(Hillary Franks)
Well we finished our game against CBC with a 6-0 win. Ellie Eckroth, Brittany Franks, Carson McKole, and Mackenzie Meyers all were able to put the ball in the back of the net. We connected passes through the defensive half and found some great opportunities in the final third. We finally started to play "our game" and bit and pieces of "tiko-tiko". We are now in Chico, California, where we will play our first non-league game against Chico State tomorrow at 5 p.m.
Our trip started with a bang when we met the Seattle Sounders soccer team and got our picture with them! WHOOP WHOOP! We then arrived at the airport drove three hours to watch Chico vs. Western (Washington) on Thursday, which was very beneficial. It gave us an idea of how they play, what to expect, and the confidence to know that we have the ability to do some great things down here on our first road trip of the season. We are staying focused, knowing that we are down here to get business done with the Ws, but with 18 girls and just one coach, it's always an entertaining time! Wish us luck!! Until next time.............meow(Wildcat).
TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2010
(Hillary Franks)
We had our first scrimmage last Thursday against Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC) and had a 3-0 outcome. Carson McKole scored the first goal, and freshmen stepped up and scored her first collegiate goal, while senior Ellie Eckroth sealed the deal with a final goal in the second half. Overall the game was a little bit of a struggle for us, but we managed to work together and get the outcome we were looking for. We have been training hard, getting ready for our next scrimmage this Wednesday at 2 p.m. against Columbia Basin College (CBC). Our team goal is to connect passes, win balls out of the air, and play "our game". We will then leave Thursday morning to start our first road trip in California where we will play Chico, and San Francisco State. We have been training to do what we need to do so that we are ready to play and compete with these teams and get the wins were looking for! Come support us Wednesday against CBC and stay tuned for game results while we are in California! GOOOO WILDCATS!
TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2010
(Kaycie Hutchins)
Week 2 begins!
After a good day off last week by floating the river, and a restful weekend with a day off on Sunday, we start our second week of three-a-days. Our scrimmage against Shoreline Community College was canceled last minute for tomorrow. However, our scrimmage for Friday against Columbia Basin College is still on for 3 p.m. We are excited to actually put all our hard work against someone other than ourselves.
This week our focus is working hard for each other and to start focusing on the importance of these first games that we play in California. We are getting to play more against each other to work on our formation and closing patterns. We are all excited for us to finally start playing games and showing all our hard work that we have been working on since last winter.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2010
(Kaycie Hutchins)
Fitness tests are finally over!
After 3 days of fitness tests our bodies can take a break! Monday we ran "the Nicholson", which is a 1 1/3 mile, Tuesday we ran our sprint test which is 10 120s in 18 seconds, and today (Wednesday) was the cal test -- it's is the most difficult of all our tests. It takes a lot of mental toughness to succeed through these first days. Everyone is doing really well this year. It's a huge relief that they are finally over, and no major injuries yet! Most girls did really well this year so we are really excited for what this year holds for us. After playing a little bit these last few days we are really anxious for how we are coming together. Our returners are going to play a huge role for us this year, and some of the freshmen are going to make a big impact with our formation.
Tomorrow is our first day off after we do our first crossfit training. We are going to float the river which is a really good team bonding experience for us. We are really excited to rest our bodies, but we are also excited to play our first scrimmage next week to get this season underway and start on our way to a conference championship!
