I haven't posted a blog entry in over a month and a half as our staff and soccer players have kept the site updated with all sorts of postings, but today I felt it was time for me to "resurface."

I am using a cycling metaphor to emphasize that our soccer players must continue to work hard along our season's road. The image of a cyclist, curved over his bike, pedaling against the wind, as his legs go up and down like pistons of a car engine, and with his head down to increase his aerodynamic, is a strong picture of an athlete at his working peak; a picture and an attitude that we must keep in our mind as we take our next steps.

I am saying this because we had a great season opener against Holy Cross, defeating the Saints 4 to 0, first time since 1999 the Soccer Little Giants open the season with a victory. We played good soccer, had many chances, kept our goal safe, pleased the 300 + fans we had in attendance, and received many compliments from faculty and staff.... and that scares me!
Scares me because, even though we were all pleased with the outcome, I don't take compliments and congrats too easily, I never did, I know better. And our lads should know too. We have so many excited and exciting freshmen on our team, athletes who bring in lots of enthusiasm and exuberance, and that's good, but also lacking experience and "wisdom."

We, players and staff, MUST remain with our feet secured to the ground. We MUST forget about Saturday and start focusing on Wednesday and nothing more. We have done nothing yet, and even though winning and playing well is always gratifying, we have to make sure we analyze what happened so that we don't take anything, I really mean ANYTHING, for granted.

We beat a program that is only in its third year of existence. We beat a team that had just played a hard game at DePauw less than 16 hours earlier. We beat a team that had few subs and that was dealing with bruises and injuries. Furthermore, we beat a team on the road with back-to-back games.

As we all celebrate Jennings's hat trick, West' s shut out, Andrew's and Pedersen's assists, Femi and Cassady's runs and crosses, Mark's and Jon's solid defense, Swan's and Aliaga's productive work in midfield, Kapsalis's goal and work in the air, Hegeman's and Kelly's secure performance in the back, plus Pearcy and Hall’s contribution to anchor the final result, we MUST stay humble and focused because we haven't even scratched the rusty paint (another metaphor!) that has been covering the Wabash soccer program's standings for way too long.

Lads, keep your heads down and continue to pedal hard, the road ahead is and will continue to be a tough one. We will sit up on our bike seats, pull up the zipper of our collar, fix our jersey, raise our arms in celebration, and smile for the photo takers ONLY on November 1st!