Labor Day Weekend - by Devyn Lee '13 (State College, PA)

Devo outdueling her opposing center mid

After two hard-fought games this weekend, I think it’s safe to say that most of us members of the Case women’s soccer team will spend Labor Day attempting to do anything but labor…

The weekend began with a trip to Panera in Strongsville on the way to Kenyon. Everyone loaded up with various bagels and sandwiches, much t o the chagrin of the employees. Upon arriving at Kenyon, everyone was awed by the beautiful new athletic center on campus, but being that we arrived a little later than we would have liked, we did not have time to explore. After an initial mixup that would have had us sharing a locker room with the Oberlin football team, we all changed quickly and trekked down to the field for a somewhat abbreviated warmup.

Heading into the match, I think we were all eager to improve upon a disappointing performance at Wooster, so there was definitely a lot of excitement, and from the opening tap, it was clear that this was going to be a very different game. We were proved right, when about 20 minutes in, a sophomore midfielder netted her first collegiate goal, poking the ball into the net after sliding in between the keeper and a defender. Haha, so I was the one who scored, much to the excitement of my teammates and parents, who made the trip to Gambier from PA. At halftime the score remained 1-0, though we did have several other close opportunities.

The second half was a little tighter than the first. Kenyon came out full of fire, and certainly had a few chances that made us all nervous, but our excellent back line and keeper managed to keep the ball out of our own net. Finally, Kendra scored on a beautiful shot with about 10 minutes left, and the nail was all but pounded into the proverbial coffin for Kenyon. Notably, Woj saw her first collegiate game action, if only for a few seconds at the end of the match. But she did get a touch on the ball!

After showering, we headed to the Leveys’ house in Bexley, some of us on the bus, and some riding with our parents for the chance to catch up. The Leveys’ house offered tons of yummy food, excellent conversation, and a chance to play with their adorable Bernese Mountain Dog, appropriately named “Moose.” It was a great chance to relax and allowed parents, siblings, coaches, and players to mingle and enjoy each other’s company. A select few of us even learned Buddy’s middle name, which out of consideration for him will not be repeated here.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we had a chance to flop onto our beds and check out the wireless internet connection before we gathered in a conference room for some team-building. We played “Two Truths and a Lie,” where we learned, among other things, Maeve is not allergic to iodine, Vaci has never kissed a hamster on the lips, and Coach Taylor hates to swim. After that, we did an exercise in which everyone put their name on a sheet of paper, and then we passed them around the circle, and you wrote down something you love about each person on the team. It was a good bonding experience, and left everyone with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. The Carnegie Mellon team was actually staying at the same hotel, and after some consideration, we decided it would probably be a bit classless to vandalize their bus, so we refrained.

After some much needed rest, we met up on Sunday morning for a scenic stroll on a path along the highway, ate some of the splendid continental breakfast, then headed to Denison.

A stirring pep talk from Coach helped to get us psyched for the match against Denison, and if that didn’t prepare us enough, the first few minutes of the game showed us what a good team they were, and if we didn’t get our act together, they were going to dominate us. It was a tough contest all the way through, with close chances coming from both sides, and some very physical play. We had to forget our tired legs from the previous match and put everything possible into the game.

Our efforts were rewarded somewhat when it was still 0-0 at the end of regulation, but that meant that we still had 20 minutes left to finish a chance and earn the win. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find the net during overtime, but neither was Denison, so it worked out ok. We came away partially satisfied that we held our own against such a good team, but also angry that we weren’t able to pull out a win. That shows just how hungry everyone on our team is to have a great season this year, and I think this weekend showed us glimpses of our true potential.

Devo with her parents at last year's Parent Picnic.