March 7, 2004

Lessons that seem too obvious still need to be learned. In our game against Vanderbilt, we learned that we must have the ball in order to make it do what we want. In order to have the game be played according to our momentum, we need to have the ball more often than the opponent does. When we watched game-tape this past week, one of our coaches, Jojo, had organized the clips according to possession. It was incredible to see that our possession time was about 1/10th of Vanderbilt's. This visual made us eager to take care of the ball and take pride in an ownership of the game.

This is not to say we were chasing Vanderbilt around all day. There were moments of brilliance out there. The defense held up a really solid zone that collapsed time and time again on the commodores. This was topped with a stellar performance by goalie Christina Saikus and her speedy hands. There were also some beautiful offensive plays, but what really stood out was a fast break goal scored by Sarah Bach. Bryanne Gilkinson, who carried the ball down the field with great swiftness, assisted her. And, of course, there were the usual displays of grit and grace that characterize this sport.

In our upcoming string of games, we will be keen to keep the ball, be powerful, and take control!

- Thea