First Week of Classes

by Deena Levey '13 (nursing major from Bexley, Ohio)

Up until this week my life at Case consisted of eating, sleeping, and playing soccer. I was perfectly happy with this schedule and getting in the groove of things, but it had to come to an end. Unfortunately, my months of freedom from homework and classes were over. All week, before and after practice, the topics of discussion were schedules and professors and how many hours of work we had to do that night. Apparently, the weather is just as upset about this turn of events as I am (it has been raining all week).

Thursday the team was very excited for a break from studying. We scrimmaged Ohio Wesleyan and played very well. There were three 30-minute games. They scored in the first game off a free kick, and I have to say it was a very nice shot. We then tied it up in the second thanks to a perfect pass by Devo and a great finish by Cicy. The third 30 minutes we had a couple really good chances and played very well however, the scrimmage ended in a 1-1 tie. Many of our lovely parents came to watch the scrimmage (Thank you!) and I'm pretty sure my mom has already made a couple of new best friends.

The weather (still upset about school starting) did not allow us to practice on Friday, so Saturday we had a captain's practice. We all had a good time playing World Cup (Go China!) and Knockout, in addition to a couple other games and drills.

Our first game is coming up this Tuesday against Ashland! Can't Wait!

All-Campus Boogie

Much to the chagrin of the team, they were volunteered to participate in the First Annual All-Campus Boogie during the Provost's Hour on Friday. They were great sports and above average dancers. No embarrassing moments caught on tape as planned...

Preseason - Day Six

by Jen Soo Hoo (First-year med student, '10)

After a good five days of two-a-day practices and team bonding activities, the last day of pre-season culminated in a scrimmage against Denison University. Denison has typically been in the top 25 teams Division III teams every year so we knew it was going to be a good game. Everyone was extremely excited to put everything together and see where we were at. I was especially excited to see how the team would look in the 11 v. 11. I came in hurt to pre-season so I was able to watch and observe the entire pre-season practices. From what I had observed, we seem to be miles above where we started out last season, which is extremely exciting. Everyone seems motivated and eager to compete and play their hardest. We also have a really nice group of freshmen come in which added a lot more depth to our team.

Despite the end of two-a-day practices, we all still had to get up fairly early to make the bus, which left promptly at 9:00 AM. I’m happy to report that everyone made it on to the bus on time, including Garber (sorry, I don’t think you will ever live that one practice down). The bus ride over was a fun time. We stopped at Panera, everyone’s favorite place, to get breakfast/lunch. I swear every time we walk into a place to eat the workers there look like they’re about to faint as thirty plus people come swarming at them. We all got our food without a problem, nonetheless. The whole rest of the time was full of laughs as a bunch of us played M.A.S.H in the back of the bus. This game basically spelled out what your future was going to be ranging from who you were going to marry to how many kids you were going to have to who you your only friend was going to be. Some people’s futures unfortunately didn’t look so bright. We learned that Steph was going to marry her cousin. We also learned that Yule was going to have ten kids with one of the freshmen boy soccer players, while living in a box, with Ana as her only friend (really sorry about that one Yule). Coach Tiff, we learned was going to have twenty kids with Otto with Ronald and Donald as her only friends. It was extremely funny learning about everyone’s lives.

We arrived on Denison’s campus with plenty of time to spare. Everyone got ready and headed over to the field. After some initial controversy, we finally figured out where the field was over the hill. We ended up playing four quarters of thirty minutes. The first quarter went extremely well. We played a 4-4-2, which was a different formation from last year, but we adapted really well. We possessed the ball extremely well and switched the field. It was apparently obvious that the players on Denison were in EXTREMELY good shape. I literally thought they could run up and down the field all day long. Despite this, we held our own really well and dominated the play at some points. However, the long week of two-a-days on burning turf started to take its toll on the team as was expected. The latter parts of the scrimmage were not as fast-paced or concise as the first quarter, but it was still evident we were a good team and could move the ball around well. I was extremely excited watching us play. I couldn’t help thinking about the start of our season and how well we can do during our season and UAA’s. This scrimmage showed us our potential as a team as well as things we need to work on in order to continually improve. It was a solid end to our pre-season training, and I’m extremely pumped to see how the rest of our season turns out.

The ride back was much more uneventful. We stopped at McDonald’s for food and arrived back to Case around 8:30 pm exhausted but happy. Pre-season is officially over. Great job girls!!!!

The Men, The Myth, The Legend

Case Athletics has been lucky enough to have the support of twins Ronald and Donald for a long time. They are regulars at football practices and have worked the sidelines during football games for many, many years. They are even very proud owners of UAA championship rings, courtesy of the football parents. In the past three years, the women's soccer program has been able to sway them to our practices and games when the football team is on the road or when football practice is getting a little boring. I speak for the girls and the entire coaching staff when I say how much we enjoy having the two around for practices and games.

During preseason they provided one of the highlights of the week when they danced to the King of Pop's "Beat It" prior to one of our training sessions. Big Thanks to Coach Debeljak for being the deejay!! Enjoy!!

Preseason - Day Five

by Kendra Simmons '13 (Medina, Ohio)

Preseason is over! After a full day with our soccer teammates for the sixth day in a row, we finally end the two-a-days, quick naps between sessions, and early breakfast dates. Now we move on to scrimmages, practices after class, and preparation for games! Today, we started the day with 8:00 breakfast (just like every day this week), then met in the locker room by 10:00 to start the team building activity, an exciting scavenger hunt. Since I am only a freshman, I was not lucky enough to experience last year’s scavenger hunt, but supposedly this year we completed it a little differently. Instead of having the activity center around fitness, we were allowed to have cars to make transportation easier. Because of the access to cars, the destinations on our extensive list of locations to find weremuch more vast. So basically, the entire Case women’s soccer team was frantically driving and running around all of Cleveland taking pictures of specific things (a vendor at the West Side Market, a “Greenie” driver, the oldest traffic light, Playhouse, Willard Park, The Science Center, Lebron’s huge poster, and various signs, buildings, and statues all the way from downtown Cleveland to Case’s campus). Since different pictures were worth different amounts of points, each group of five players figured out their own strategy and quickly drove away to find their first object (under the legal speed limit of course). My group, consisting of Sammy, Ana, Froms, and Selser, dodged buses, cars, and pedestrians to rapidly navigate through Cleveland. Unfortunately, with only 30 minutes left, Selser lost her wallet somewhere, so Ana, Sammy, and I were left to finish as much of the scavenger hunt as possible on foot. The three of us sprinted all around campus trying to gain as many last minute points as possible then hurried to make it back to the locker room by 12:00. All the other girls were completely dry and calm while Ana, Sammy, and I were dripping sweat and breathing heavily. I guess you could say we got just a little more fitness than the rest of the team. After Coach Taylor, Coach Tiff, and Coach Emily tallied up the scores and looked through the pictures, they decided on a winner. With 248 points, Yule’s team came out with the victory. After relaxing for some time, we headed to Leutner for lunch.

Three o’clock came around way too fast as we all found ourselves right back in the locker room ready for the second part of the day. We piled in the baseball stadium and listened to the AD give us a talk about drugs and things like that to look out for. After filling out some forms, we went to the field to start practice. We started with our usual warm up, then we did some “pre-practice” fitness. Everyone pushed themselves through several sets of sprints, then geared up to play 11 v 11. Since I am currently injured, I am able to watch everything from the side lines. Of course I would much rather be on the field, but since I’m not able to right now, it is great to see everyone improving in even a week. The other day, the forwards worked on their runs toward the ball while the midfield worked on distributing and making runs off of them. Even though we struggled at first when practicing that, everyone has already executed those runs and passes while scrimmaging. With this work rate and improvement, it looks like we could have a very successful season. Tomorrow we head to Denison for a scrimmage, and hopefully we can continue to think about everything we have learned so far and apply those things when playing against outside opponents.

(L to R): Devyn Lee '13, Maeve Goede '13, and Frannie Hogan '11

By Popular Demand...

The non-award winning, yet still highly entertaining synchronized swimming routines...

Class of 2012

Class of 2011

Class of 2010

Preseason - Day Four

contributed by Frannie Hogan '11

TGIF! Day 4 of preseason is over, and the team is getting more in sync every day. While the freshmen attended a mandatory "Meet Your Advisor" session, the rest of the team enjoyed a short and sweet morning practice. Jammin' tunes were provided by Kristina Vaci, (the most popular of which was probably the infamous "Discovery Channel") much to the chagrin of sleepy Village Apartment residents who preferred their sleep without a soundtrack. Yet I can't manage to find sympathy for those who stayed in their air-conditioned rooms while we got our sweat on in the heat.
First came small (5 vs 2) and large (12 vs 7) possession games, then skill ladders with Coach Taylor. After dividing the team between the sophomores and the upperclassmen, girls partnered up and tried to complete as many back-and-forth skill sets as possible to earn points. Trapping, heading and juggling skills were the main focus. While the sophomores made a valiant effort, the upperclassmen were victorious in all the challenges. But any sadness over the loss quickly dissolved when Coach Tiff informed us she would provide dinner from Chipotle. We all know meals that contain over 1,000 calories of goodness are the best.

The afternoon practice began with a heated game of handball. Although Coach offered up extra points for unique or humorous goal celebrations, cool and exciting ones were noticeably absent. She took mercy on our weary legs by working on near-post, far-post and slot runs to the goal with crosses from the outside. Getting the timing down took some work, but the team worked well putting the drill into practice when we transitioned into 5 v 5 games. Still working on possession and transition, the small-sided games helped create an environment where taking shots and scoring goals was the focus.

Our final evening session was a "Team Effectiveness Workshop" led by Tiff's former college roommate and teammate. With Patrick Lencioni's "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" as a guideline, the team learned more about potential roadblocks to success - Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability and Inattention to Results. A "Vision Web" exercise had the team split in two, with some players coaching others to complete a task that only the coachers could see. Communication was vital, and some of the problems the team encountered gave insight into how it can improve. While the issues and their solutions aren't of rocket science material, it was helpful for us to learn about being open with each other to create a foundation of trust, write down solid, realistic goals, remember to put the good of the team before ourselves individually and to keep in mind that, ultimately, we need to hold each other accountable if the team wants to improve and grow. The 2 hour session was insightful, as we learned that future dentist/orthodontist Ana Arruda grew up with part of her front tooth missing; that we have several former high school Quizbowl members; that Cecilia loves Giraffes; and that Coach Tiff used to be a unibrow kid.

Preseason - Day Three

contributed by Caroline Garber '10 (Biology)

Here we go again! It’s day three of preseason and the physical and mental demands of the two-a-day routine are in high gear. Practice started at 10:00 am this morning with direction from creative soccer warm-up enthusiast, Coach Taylor. The practice focused on the 3 aspects of the game our team will be striving to master throughout this season: defense, possession, and transition. Specifically, this mornings practice drove home the importance of opening up your hips when receiving a ball to better see the field and your options, as well as movement that provides the teammate with possession two passing options… always. We ended this practice with one of my all time favorite things, RELAY RACES!! I am proud to say that my team (Baumann, Deena, Devyn, Sammy, and myself) crushed the competition with eleven points! We’re still waiting for our reward; bragging rights will do for now.

We had a big break between the end of practice 1 and the start of practice 2. Coach Tiff held brief meetings with each individual athlete during this time. Everybody else enjoyed the napping opportunity. As Coach Tiff kindly spelled out for me in a voicemail, practice was going to be moved up to six instead of seven that evening – Thursday the 20th of August, not Friday the 21st of August (She must think I’m scatterbrained… psshhh me?!). At 6:00, the team was ready to go but the weather was not allowing. We waited about 30 minutes in the locker room watching Katie Froms and Anna Selser attempt to teach us moves for the boogie dance our team will be performing for the Case campus later this month. Ana strung toilet paper in Soo Hoo’s locker. Sorry if you are finding out this way Soo Hoo. FINALLY we were free to head out to the field.

The evening practice focused on our forwards! Checking runs, accurate passes, playing to feet, angles, maintaining possession… I could go on. After a rough start to practice, the level of play started to pick up. By the time we moved on to play 11 v 11 full field, the kinks were out and I think both the Coaches and the team were very encouraged by how well we were playing together so soon into preseason. I have been able to be a part of this program as it has changed and grown over the past 4 years. Truthfully, I am so proud of the team we have right now. The work ethic is high, the talent is present, and the will to win is stronger than ever. I am so ready to see this season start to unfold. Stay Tuned!!!!

Preseason - Day Two

contributed by Cicy Fusco '11

We started with a morning practice at 10:00 on NRV and much to everyone's dismay the cones were missing. Despite excellent detective work by Caroline no one could figure out where the cones could be. As it turned out, today we were playing 11 a side so the cones were not in high demand. The scrimmage looked pretty good, and everyone was playing with intensity and purpose trying to live up to the 'three pillars of our teams identity' (as Alex phrased it). While there were no goals, we showed a promising start for the season to come and the freshman blended into the team well. However, after the game was done it was time for some fitness. Today was the day for the much dreaded 6 corners; this is when we run around the field six times and increase the distance we sprint each time until we sprint the final lap. Sounds like torture right? As it turned out everyone finished and did well and now we have that behind us.

In the afternoon we had our swim practice or our annual synchronized swimming competition. In this competition each class goes against each other to try and have the best synchronized swimming routine. This year Coach brought in some guest judges to make the results unbiased. Everyone dedicated a lot of time to work on their routines but there could only be one winner. The class of 2011 was trying for their third win in a row, but this year the freshman won with an inspiring performance. The juniors came in second, followed by the seniors and then the sophomores.

After the pool "work out" the team got together to help with Move-In. We, along with other teams and groups from Case help the incoming freshmen lug their stuff to their dorm rooms. We helped many people move in, but Kennedy takes the prize for carrying a T.V. up the stairs to someone's room. At dinner we learned that Caroline, through her excellent deductive skills, had learned that our cones were in the boys locker room. They were promptly retrieved.

The Class of 2013's winning synchronized swimming routine!!

Preseason - Day One

by Alex Litofsky '12...centermidfielder from Columbia, Missouri

When she stepped onto the field this morning, Coach Taylor declared with her cheery inflection that she could cut the tension on the turf with a knife. Jumping in place, nervously murmuring, doing a few last-minute sprints on the sideline, or silently focusing, each of the players on the Women’s Soccer team prepared for the much-anticipated Beep Test in her own way. This grueling fitness test serves as the annual opener for Fall Preseason.

Upon completion of the test, the nervous energy of the group began to dissipate. 1 v 1 contests immediately followed, much to the chagrin of my tired legs. However, I fully recovered in time for some fast-paced 2 v 2 and 3 v 3 that involved shooting on goal. To my delight—especially so early into preseason—I discovered that the eagerly-awaited freshman class was indeed a promising bunch. Also, over the summer, returning players had found even more energy and focus to bring to practice, charging the air with enthusiasm and determination.

After lunch and a few hours of rest, the afternoon session gave every aspiring Spartan a second opportunity to show off her skills. On the grass of Van Horn field, Coach Taylor led us through a new warm-up, followed by Coach Tiff’s drill, Windows, which hones our touches. The remainder of practice was dedicated to the pursuit of possession, one of the three pillars of our team identity, as proclaimed by Coach Tiff: 1) defense, 2) possession, and 3) transition. As practice drew to a close, the Relay for Life dragon paid a visit to the field in a futile search for more peasants to eat. He only managed to get a hold of Kristina, who poked him in the eye with a trident and effectively scared him away…if only for today.

The only disappointment of the day was the absence of our beloved goalkeeper coach, Buddy. He will be noticeably missing from practice for the next few weeks because of a serious injury. We send him all the positive thoughts we can, and look forward to his recovery so he can help us through training again.

Finally comfortable and clean this evening, enjoying a few hours of relaxation in the suite that I share with five fellow sophomores, I can breathe a sigh of relief; we have now all survived the first day of preseason. Though we have plenty work to do this week—and in the coming months—there is also much to be excited about. This first day may have begun with anxiety, but it ended with eager anticipation of what the season would bring.

I’m already looking forward to a soccer-filled second day….