October 26, 2009
Continuing technical problems have kept me from writing on a regular basis, but it appears that they have been fixed and we can continue with our banter.
We have almost come full circle with our season. When we talked last we had just climbed to an 8-4-1 record and tallied a win streak of four. Now, coming off three more big wins we claim our spot at 3rd in the conference and increase our win streak to seven. All three wins were important, but our conference wins against Saint Leo University and Rollins College will go down as the two wins that put us in the position we set out to find just four weeks ago.
On our senior night, we had the opportunity to play against Saint Leo University. In front of a supportive home crowd, everyone got to pay their respects to our three seniors (Ryan Alexander, Bacheler Jean Pierre, & Juan Mantilla). I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for everything you have achieved and stood for during your time at Barry University. Your influence will continue to have a positive impact on this program for years to come. We will miss you. Godspeed in all your future endeavors.
On this night, fuelled by emotion and a hunger that words cannot describe, we sank the lions in a 3-1 victory. Moving away from our home of Miami Shores, we headed north to Winter Park Florida to face the Tars of Rollins College. Once again, a team would be celebrating their senior night, just not in the same manner as us. With just 14 minutes to play, Sascha Koettig maneuvered past five Rollins defenders and slipped the ball by a very astonished Rollins keeper. The nail hit the coffin just as Sascha floated the ball over the Rollins keeper from 45 yards out. With just 30 seconds left, the game was over. What happened after that is just another memory for the history books.
We are now in preparation mode looking forward to conference rival Lynn University. We intend to entertain Lynn, on their senior night, in the same fashion as Rollins.
Until Next Time,
Mark Ryan Kilpatrick
October 11, 2009
I know this post comes late in our season and for that I am sorry. Technical difficulties have kept me from posting on a weekly basis, which is the reason why my first post came out weeks after it was actually written. Due to this, everyone is a little behind on the magic that is becoming the Barry University Men’s Soccer team.
Let’s catch up.
Our season has been a rollercoaster ride from the very beginning. In our first eight games we landed a 4-4-1 record. Won a game. Lost a game. Won a game. Lost a game. That pattern continued, beginning with our win against Georgia Southwestern and finishing with a loss to University of Tampa. Since then we have stomped that rollercoaster trend, as it was unhealthy and was likely to end our season early. The fear was that like a cancer, the disease had spread too far and at 4-4-1 we didn’t know the extent of the damage. Luckily, after much testing and analysis, we realized that the cancer has been caught in the early stages, with plenty of time to correct the damage. Now, sitting at 8-4-1, and coming off our fourth win in a row, we are looking to finish our regular season with four more wins.
Injuries that plagued our team early on seemed to have been healed simultaneously. In the last couple of weeks we have seen Rocky Mancenido, Sean Trinidad, Johnny Rodrigues, Joe Conkleton, and Daniel Walsh all bounce back from their ailments into form. As with all athletics it is hard to see injuries that end a player’s season. In this regard, we have been very thankful to have a full squad through the majority of the season.
Over the past few weeks we have had many great experiences. Traveling to South Carolina with the team was memorable for everyone. I am sure no one will forget Sean Trinidad’s boy band extravaganza, Kendall Sealy’s moonwalk, or Randy Taylor’s expressive dancing. While those will live on forever, so will Houghton Kinsman and his tale of living the life of “no worries” (Hakuna Matata). I am sure I speak for the entire team in saying we would all like to forget Daniel Allen’s “Everybody Dance Now” performance and that Johnny Rodrigues just scared us.
Let me say that traveling and eating with the Barry University team is an amazing experience. Being able to represent the University in public is fulfilling. When people see us they automatically want to know when, where, how, and why. Leaving a positive impression on Barry University strangers is always our aim. Eating at Chili’s, Olive Garden, and small Italian restaurants will never get old when traveling with Barry University. Even more than that, though, is the fact that I managed to eat at Chili’s three times in a span of three days (The last time being by choice. Something no one should attempt, and yet, I still wanted Chili’s when I got back to Barry). Eating at Olive Garden was great, but what made it better was Randy Taylor asking me to watch the discovery channel with him on his iPhone (Randy, I never took you for such an animal enthusiast). We find ways to entertain ourselves during the travel. For instance, we try to stray from the norm of large scale vans. Riding in Cadillac’s, fully equipped minivans, suburbans, explorers, and other types of cars that I’ve forgotten over the years have made travel even better.
Our game time experiences cannot go without mention. Such as watching Mark Anderson hit the back of the net from 60 yards out and witnessing the reaction on the St. Thomas goal keepers face as the ball floated over his head. Or, watching Sascha Koettig skin six Lander defenders and slide it past the keeper who was left in awe and on his heels. And I believe it would be wrong to leave out Randy Taylor’s laser against Florida Southern from 35 yards out that nicked the crossbar and dropped to the back of the net. That was fantastic, but watching Randy dance in place made it all the better.
While all of these memories will live for each of us in one way or another, it is the small things that truly make the experience memorable. Such as stepping on a plane and having the flight attendant announce that Slim Shady would be joining us (Thanks guys). Having birthday shout-outs on the flights, watching Joao Garcia get kicked out of first class, singing along at restaurants for customers’ birthdays, watching Mark Anderson try to find a goal celebration that works, and not to mention or leave myself exempt – getting drilled in the face by Tito Sabat while playing soccer tennis. These are the things that have helped make our journey meaningful and worthwhile.
Until Next Time,
Mark Ryan Kilpatrick
September 8, 2009
Having the opportunity to play soccer for two weeks with nothing to worry about may be the best part of training camp. But what most people do not get to see is what happens behind the scenes. Many things occurred off the pitch that helped build a bond among our newly formed team. Even three weeks in, you could feel family pride growing at a rapid pace. I will never forget sitting down for breakfast one morning this training camp and hearing Mark Anderson tell the tale of Gerardo Sabat coming to his room looking for a place to sleep. It wasn’t because he did not have a room; it was because he was lonely. Not that he wanted me to share this story with the Barry Community, but I think this situation shows how quickly we have created a bond.
This season we have made a habit of eating every meal together at one big table. This has been a fantastic experience for everyone, unless of course you are the one left to clean up the mess! I will keep the game a secret, but let’s just say it came down to chance. The big winners being returner Joao Garcia and newcomer Christian Yidios, who got the opportunity to pick up all of our trays. Joao still claims his loss was from a miscount, but either way, he picked up the trays.
One major advantage of going to school in Miami is the convenient location of beaches. Due to this, we have taken it upon ourselves to have two beach sessions. The first session was spent on fitness and eventually a heading contest in the ocean with the waves adding a very unfamiliar aspect to our heading technique. The second session was spent on two beach volleyball courts where we went head to head at soccer volley. During this adventure we discovered that Daniel Allan and I were more of a threat to our own team than anyone else! The sand was most likely the reason for our extreme misfortune in attempting headers.
While two-a-days and 7 AM practices have been our prime focus for the past few weeks, we have come to the realization that our season has crept up quickly. After playing in our season opener tonight against Georgia Southwestern University (2-0 win) our training camp has officially come to an end. We have begun our journey and this win helped us start out on the right foot. We have many memories to make in a season we are all hungry to take by storm.
Until next time,
Mark Kilpatrick |
