Women's Soccer Blog: Emily Hutchins Recaps Last Week
9/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Each week a different Gonzaga University women's soccer player will recap the week prior. This week Emily Hutchins , a junior forward/midfielder, shares the highlights from the past week.
Blog September 19, 2011
Monday: Today was a hard practice. We worked on possession and then split into attackers and defenders to work on more functional training. The attackers worked on finishing and the defenders worked on shape and staying connected. Associate head coach Derek Pittman literally tied our defenders together with a rope to physically keep them connected. Then as a team we worked on team shape and moving the ball around. We worked on our formation and pressing. Overall today was a good training session; we were focused and worked hard.
Tuesday: Today we had off! It was a nice relaxing day to recuperate and reenergize our bodies and minds.
Wednesday: Today we watched film of our Eastern Washington game. The attackers watched the runs off the ball and paid attention to timing of when to step and press and when to cut off passing lanes. We went out to the field for a short and sweet practice. We continued to work on shape and restraining lines.
Thursday: Its GAME DAY! We play Washington State at 4 p.m. today. Everyone on the team was getting excited to play; it was going to be a hard game no matter what. We started coming to the locker room around 2 p.m., the music was playing, and we were dancing and singing, we were excited to say the least. Everyone did her own thing to get mentally prepared for the game. For example, I like to socialize with everyone and anyone before the game. On the other hand, some players on the team like Katey and Casey like to put their headphones in and tune the world out before a game. A little after 3 p.m. we all head out to the field. The warm up CD is playing and it just gets our team in the mood to play. At 4 p.m. it was game time. We came out hard and played with more passion and fight than I had ever seen in this group. It was exciting to see our potential and hard work come to life. We went up 1-0 off of a set piece by Sarah Rhodes, a deflection off Emma and then a goal, headed past the keeper by me. We won that half, but we knew the Cougs would come out hard in the second half.
In the second half, they had a sweet shot in the right upper 90, unfortunately it went in. But that didn't slow us down; we fought hard to get another goal. Ali had at least one extremely close attempt. The game was a nail biter. It ended up going into double OT. In the 109th minute, the Cougs were able to take advantage of an opportunity and scored. It was heart breaking. As a team we played so well, our defense was more organized than ever, and we possessed just as we had been practicing, we played our game. The result was disappointing, but we made so many improvements and strides forward that I can't help but be so excited and motivated by my team.
Friday: Today we had a quick practice. Part of the team went out on the field and then we all did a swim recovery. William Raymond (Coach Billy) surprised us with a highlight video that pumped us all up for the game on Sunday.
Saturday: Today was a quick practice that involved set pieces and a quick passing drill. Set pieces would be a major factor in the game on Sunday.
Sunday: Once again it's GAME DAY!!! We play Washington today at 1 p.m. As a team we had breakfast and then relaxed and focused until we started warm-up. Our pregame routine was very similar to the one on Thursday. This game would not be easy and we were prepared. We could have come out down and out due to our loss on Thursday, but we didn't, we came out together as a team and took it to the Huskies. We gave them a run for their money. Unfortunately, they took advantage and scored a few minutes before half time. At the half, we were all ready to go; we had the fight that was needed. They scored again, but we quickly came back with a goal of our own scored by Ali off a long throw from Morgan. In my opinion UW had three chances to score and they were able to capitalize. If we had been able to do the same (we outshot them 18-10), I have no doubt in my mind that the score would have been much different. Once again we played so well and the score did not represent the way we played.
Overall this weekend gave disappointing and unfortunate results, but the team showed passion for the game and for their team every minute played; something that wasn't always there in the past. As a whole group we came together and wanted this. As Emma mentioned in the locker room today, this weekend was a completely different feeling from past weekends with similar results. Yes we lost, but we put everything on the field and fought till the end. I have to say that it was still a good week to be a Zag.
"Hutch" Emily Hutchins
Previous Blogs
Blog 1 - Aug. 30
Blog 2 - Sept. 6
Blog 3 - Sept. 13
