Indiana University Athletics
Weekend Blog - Ali Brown
9/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 26, 2006
During the 2006 season, IUHOOSIERS.com will give women's soccer fans an insider's look at what it's like to be a member of the team. Every Tuesday, a different Hoosier will bring her view of the weekend's events to IUHOOSIERS.com. The entry for Tuesday, Sept. 26, is by senior Ali Brown.
Hello Hoosier Fans!
Wow, what a weekend! I will begin with Friday, also known as Lauren Lamping's birthday, also known as the start of the Big Ten season. All 12 of the recruits for next season were in town and placed with one of the non-sorority players on the team - unlucky for Stewie, Lamps and me.
We had our normal pre-game meal at 4 p.m. in the Metz Lounge, but I was unable to enjoy it, as my mind was on the Anatomy exam that I was about to take at 4:40. Lucky for me, it was a lot easier than I had anticipated and once I was finished I bolted out of Woodburn and headed to the Metz Lounge to start our pre-game warm-up.
Spirits were high and it definitely showed in our play against Minnesota, as we were all over them for the first three minutes of the game before it was postponed for lightning. We sat in the locker room for a while and played our usual games to keep us entertained, and then coach finally came in and informed us that we were going to try to play the game again at 9:15. Until then, we were allowed to go out to the tailgate our parents were having and hang out with the "Hoosierbago" boys, who only became women's soccer fans thanks to our team.
We finally started the game again and played with the same intensity and skill, and ended up winning the game off of a birthday goal by Lamping. We were pumped, and our efforts were rewarded at the fourth-annual Hoosierbago awards ceremony after the game.
The next day was a home football game (and my birthday), and although the weather did not cooperate, my family and some of my friends headed to the game for our usual tailgate before the game. Unfortunately, the Hoosiers were not victorious, but we decided it would be a shame for all of the food to go to waste, so we had a little birthday party for me at our friend's condo and ate all of the wonderful food, including Al Brown's beef tenderloin specialty. That was one fine piece of meat!
On Sunday, the Buckeyes came to town, and boy were we ready for them. The game was a physical battle from start to finish, but we came out strong from the start and with a minute to go in the first half, I sent a free kick into the back post looking for one of our players, but we got a home field bounce and the ball ended up in the back of the net. I was so excited to finally be able to pull out the guns and fire at the bench.
After another physical half and giving up a goal under a minute into the second half, we were able to battle it out and come up on top 2-1. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend of soccer for our team and we are so thrilled to be 2-0 to start the Big Ten. Hopefully our winning ways will continue next weekend on the road in Michigan.
Go Hoosiers!!
