October 26, 2009

On a more serious note and as our season winds down, I would personally like to say thank you to a wonderful group of six girls that my fellow teammates and I have had the pleasure of playing with. On October 20th, we celebrated the careers of Stephanie Day, Nicole Day, Emily Pratt, Damarys Mendez, Danielle Boyes, and Michelle Tarasiuk. All six players have had their own impact on our program here at Barry University, and needless to say, all of our careers would not be the same without them. It has been a true blessing sharing the pitch with you and we wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Bringing you up to speed, we have had a bit of a rollercoaster ride the past couple of weeks. Coming off a heart-breaking loss to Saint Leo, we traveled to Tampa for a clutch match-up at their stadium. After a heated 90-plus minute battle, we came away with a win in an overtime golden goal. The celebration that followed left us all with a hunger for more; so, we extended our win streak to two for the first time all season.
After a night of goodbyes and hugs, we went on to demolish Palm Beach Atlantic with an astounding 5-0 result. It was a perfect way to end our final home game at Buccaneer Field. As a team, we were extremely pleased with the result, and if any fan could have shared the excitement on the field that night, they would have agreed. It was magical to watch, and even more enjoyable to play.

Sadly, the same could not be said for our match against Rollins as we dropped to 5-11 for the season and lost 4-0. If we have learned anything from this past season, the game isn’t over until the final whistle so we’ll be looking to redeem ourselves in the final make-or-break game of the season against Lynn at their home field on Wednesday October 28th.
The season itself has taught me as a player that every minute requires a constant focus on the importance of the fight, and that is exactly what this final game comes down to. With the loss of several key players due to injuries, these final 90 minutes are our last hopes to continue into post-season.
“It’s why we play the game. Anything is possible, anything can happen, and we are here to prove that.”

Until next half….
Haley Struthers

October 11, 2009
Hello all! So after a temporary hiatus, the women’s soccer team is back to its winning ways and I figured now, on a high from the win, I would bring you all up to speed on our recent antics and adventures.

While I don’t want to dwell too much on the soccer portion, I will say that after a bit of a slump, we are excited for the next few conference matches. The win against Eckerd was a nice breath of fresh air, but we are well aware of the battle that is ahead.

So now that we’ve touched on our win, and I definitely don’t want to focus on the losses, I am going to move on to the next best subject. That would be… FOOD! Now, as an athlete, you would hope that I know the importance of feeding myself well-balanced meals and avoiding too many bad treats. However, the fact in lies is that I am a college student on a tight budget who will take any free meal thrown at them. So, a quick recap of the meals that we as a team have feasted on:

The best, by far, was on our way out of town from Atlanta; a unanimous decision led us to a Teppanyaki style restaurant that left us all wanting a wheelbarrow to sit in while we rolled out of the joint. Might I add, my side of the table won in a competition to see who could catch more pieces of shrimp in their mouth. As they were hefted into the air by our chef using his cooking utensils, we saw that us soccer players are just as skilled catching out of the air using our mouths as we are with our feet. Nicole Day, all I can say is that it must have been a male shrimp.

Our second meal I want to talk about was at a lovely shindig called Cracker Barrel. After a delayed flight from Fort Lauderdale into Atlanta, we arrived starving and ready for any sort of sustenance late one evening. Our laundry list of restaurants being what it was, we chose said place, and sat down for a feast. After a disappointing announcement by our waitress that they were out of biscuits, potatoes, and broccoli (and with that, half the menu went down) we all made our final decisions and settled on our meals. Highlight of the evening was most definitely an exclamation made by our dear Swede Joanna, who was just so excited for 3 sides… fist pound… 3 SIDES!!

A final meal, although it was not so much that as it was a Pig-Out, came late, late one evening after a long day. A decision was made to raid the vending machines in our hotel (yes, we did use our own money, and yes, it was worth every penny) and resulted in the most intense gorge I have enjoyed in ages. Among our snacks were M&Ms, trail mix, pixy stixs, popcorn, the most glorious cupcakes I have ever sank my teeth into, 3 musketeers, and Reese’s cups, which our freshman Swede Sofia had never encountered and we had to change that. After a heated attempt at Mad Gab, some YouTube videos, and salad finger impersonations, we called it a night with some very painful stomachaches. Definitely one for the record books…

The following night, we kept up the fat intake with a gift of a half-dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts that magically appeared in my hands, and obviously could not go to waste. I have to say a job well done to my entire crew of fatty partners-in-crime.
Despite all the sugar probably still running through my system, I have tried to curb the late night treatsies, and so far I think we are keeping a good track record as a binge- eating-avoiding crew. We are, however, looking to turn things around in the coming few games as we enter the final countdown in our conference play. The season seems to have flown by, and I look forward to reporting back with even more quips and anecdotes about the Barry women’s team before the end.

And finally, a quick shout out and thank you to all the relatives that showed up these past few games for a fantastic “pseudo-parents weekend”. Without you guys, we wouldn’t have delicious chocolate covered fruits, yummy cupcakes or a generally great support system (win or lose).  Above all, you all remind us of the reasons why we keep fighting and loving this sport that is soccer.
Until next half….
Haley Struthers

August 28, 2009
As preseason draws to a close and we buckle down for our season, there are many reflections I would like to share with my mother and the few others that will be reading this. While the wonders of three-a-days and falling asleep at 8 pm may not sound like a blast, we have definitely enjoyed our first few weeks overall. Despite the rain-soaked practices and coach’s refusal to buy us dinner after a late practice, it has been an excellent start. Don’t worry Coach, we still enjoyed stuffing our faces at Steve’s and doing the interval set the next morning…

The incoming crew and returners alike have bonded very well, and we’re looking forward to a season of laughs, fun, and success. Sadly, we can no longer walk around campus as if we are the only ones here (due to the arrival of the massive freshman class) nor can we enjoy our banquet table in the cafeteria, the odd napkin bouquet of flowers from the Resident Assistant’s table, and an elevator that’s always waiting for us at our floor. However, we still have the privilege of opening a season with high hopes and enjoying each other, especially with the upcoming trip to Tampa to play North Georgia in our first game. We’re looking to continue our strong start of 2-0 in exhibition play and are working hard for a season with something to prove.

While I cannot offer too many funny stories yet (we’re a work in progress… just wait until we start traveling) I do have to say the highlight of preseason has to have been the nicknames Stephanie Day seems to be so fond of giving everyone. For some reason, she has decided male names suit us all best, as we have trained ourselves to only respond to Steven, Melvin, Alfonso, and a few others that have no connection to our real names whatsoever. We’ll see just how far this goes.

Until next half….
Haley Struthers