Today is her second entry of the campaign as she chronicles the adventures of the team during her senior season.
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Hello again Panther fans! We’ve had a big week on the field and another big weekend coming up. So I’ll get right to it!
Oakland—What a game! Our first overnight road trip in what has felt like a long time began with a very long bus ride to Oakland, Michigan. We finally made it there and settled in to the hotel. The Haitian Women’s National soccer team actually stayed at the same hotel, following their game in Detroit, which was part of the USWNT’s Victory Tour. Though we probably would have been more excited to see Alex Morgan or Carli Lloyd on our way to breakfast, it was still really cool to see the team. The beds were also stellar, and with a 7PM game, we were well-rested and ready to go.
We did not come out as strong as we had hoped against a solid Oakland team, but as they say, all is well that ends well. Maria Stephans, (your reigning Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week!!) stole the show capitalizing on a PK in regulation and the winner in overtime. We walked off the field very happy with a 1-0 start to conference. The men’s team was able to watch the game as they were in Oakland for their game the next day. Since they also took home a win in overtime, we’d like to think we set a pretty good example for them. In all seriousness, it was really fun to have some UWM support all the way in Oakland.
Loyola—I’d first like to personally apologize for the bigheads of my face you may have seen at the game on Sunday. If you weren’t at the game, but were somewhere in the state of Wisconsin, you likely would still be able to see them. It was my 23rd (I told you I am old!) birthday on Sunday, so my dear friend Morgan wanted to make it special/SUPER embarrassing…whichever way you want to look at it. After not speaking to her for about 24 hours, trust me, it won’t happen again!
Though we let in an early goal, we felt we started the game very strong. We scored two nice goals in the run of play and showed some offensive threat. Unfortunately, turnovers and missed clearances cost us three goals, and we dropped the game 3-2. We didn’t have much time to dwell on this game, as our second Wisconsin rival came to Engelmann Stadium on Wednesday night.
Marquette—The Marquette—UWM rivalry is special. It is rare to have two very competitive teams, on both the men’s and women’s side of the game, just a few miles away from each other. It’s really special to be able to represent your school in this kind of rivalry, knowing that your teammates and so many other Panthers share the same competitiveness and passion. After another double-overtime game, we settled for a tie with Marquette. Callie O’Donnell scored a great goal for her fifth of the season. At the end of the day, it was a beautiful night, both teams competed extremely hard, we had some great stretches of soccer, and our 5th-largest crowd in program history was there to cheer us on. Of course, we wanted that win, but we also hope that games like these will prepare us for high-stakes games down the road.
We travel to Wright State this weekend for our second conference game and will be making an annual stop in my hometown for some food on the road! Pictures of my dog to follow :)
Go Panthers and Happy Weekend! Kelsey
