After Marquette and Notre Dame last week, our team was ready to rectify those losses with some wins. Our first game was against Minnesota, a team that has done very well the past couple seasons. We knew it would not be an easy game, and of course, it was not. Minnesota put the pressure on us by scoring first, and we were left trying to catch up all game. Although we did have our chances, Minnesota proved the victor in a 3-2 outcome after finishing their opportunities well. The goals we had were great, and we had many chances to score, but it was frustrating to lose again, and at our practice on Saturday we put in a lot of focused energy for a good practice and looked ahead towards Sunday.
On Friday, there were a lot of recruits that visited and got to see the team atmosphere before the game and then stayed over night in the dorms with the freshman. It’s a neat opportunity to get to share with the incoming players what our life is like, and what it’s like to be a part of the Panther family. I can say from past experience that this is the most enjoyable team to play on—all the girls have great personalities and we work hard and have fun together. Any player would be lucky to come to UWM to play soccer.
Sunday came and with it our game against Iowa. It’s a bit painful to talk about that game because none of us like how it went down, but it is a lesson to learn from and move forward from. I know from the past that we are more than a team, we are a family, and we work out the difficulties that we have and move forward together.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents on our team. No matter what happens at a game, all of you are always there with a smile and words of encouragement. The goodie bags we receive after the games are phenomenal, and the way you drive hundreds of miles to watch us play means so much. None of us would be here if not for you, and it is truly a pleasure to play for you each and every game. Thank you all so much for your support, and I know we will see many of you next weekend when we have two more tough games with Purdue and Illinois!
Louise Vraney is a senior with the Panthers. She is the second Panther to contribute to the player blog this season.
