Oct. 5, 2005

The Missouri soccer team travelled to Ames, Iowa, and Lincoln, Neb., for conference games against Iowa State and Nebraska last weekend. Freshmen Annie Meredith and Meghan Pfeiffer kept a diary of the trip.

THURSDAY

Pfeiffer:This was my first out of town trip with the team this year. I tore my ACL during the exibition game, so I am out for the year. Coming in as a freshman I was nervous, but everybody on the team made me feel like home and I thought things were going really well until I got hurt. I was astonished it happened to me beacuse I was the kid who would fall really hard and never get hurt. Well, I had to come back to reality and the reality was I was out for my first year. But back to the weekend. Thursday we got on the bus and traveled to Iowa State. When we got there we checked out their field, and then went back to the hotel. Besides eating, we did not really do much, just hung around.

Meredith:Thursday morning we had practice as usual at 7:00 a.m. After practice we all showered and went home and made sure we had everything packed. Then we all met at 12:30 p.m.at Mizzou Arena to board the bus, where we got Roly Poly. Yum! We had about a four hour drive to Iowa, which was pretty boring, but most of us slept, read or watched a movie.

When we got to Iowa we went directly to the game field and walked around and got a stretch in. By this time we were all starving so we dinner, I don't remember where we ate, but I think it was good. After dinner we went back to the hotel and found out who our roommates were! It's always fun to try and guess. Then most of us just hung out and watched TV or went right to sleep!

FRIDAY

Pfeiffer:We woke up and ate breakfast. I had to go to rehab but my teammates just hung around until pre-game meal. After pre-game meal we got to rest up before the game. We went to the game, and we tied 1-1. After the game, we went back to the hotel and slept.

Meredith:Friday morning we woke up and ate breakfast in our hotel, they had really good waffles. After breakfast we hade a team bonding session where we each had to tell everyone two truths and one lie about oneself. It was hard to pick out which of the three was a lie!!! Especially when people like Janelle (Cordia) and Carol (Pohl) tried to trick everyone! You joksters! After team bonding we lounged around the hotel until it was time to leave for our game which was around 5:45. We arrived at the Iowa fields a little after six and began to warm up shortly. Jennie (Nobis) forgot her white game socks but thankfully, her dad was kind enough to run to the nearest mall and buy her some. They were pretty cool looking. We started off the game pretty poorly, but began to play a little better towards the end. Ashley Hamblin (Iowa native) scored our lone goal of the night. We ended up tying the game 1-1. However, at 12:00 a.m. a new day began! We were ready to take on the Corn Huskers...or so we thought.

SATURDAY

Pfeiffer:Another fun day of rehab for me but my teammates stretched and ran. After that we ate breakfast then we left for Nebraska. When we got to Nebraska we checked out their field, then went straight to dinner. After dinner we had the whole night to do homework and hang out. It was fun because they had a Nebraska college football party in our hotel, so that was entertaining beacuse they had a band.

Meredith:Saturday morning we went on a 30 minute run with Derek (Pittman, assistant coach) and Kelly (Noonan, Director of Soccer Operations). It was challenging towards the end, but it felt great to finish it together as a team. After the run we did some stretching and ACL prevention drills...then came breakfast!! We ate at the Village Inn and it was really good. After breakfast we had some time to rest and pack because we were leaving for Nebraska around 11:30 a.m. The drive to Nebraska was not fun, but it wasn't too long before we arrived in Lincoln around four. We again, went straight to the game field to check it out, there was a football game going on and people were actually tailgating on their game field! UNBELIEVABLE! After that we ate dinner and went back to the hotel for good nights sleep.

SUNDAY

Pfeiffer:I finally got a day off! However, I still rode the bike. The team ate breakfast, packed up our stuff before leaving and then we got on the bus to play Nebraska. We lost to Nebraska 3-0, and it was quite embarrassing. I feel we learned from our mistakes, picked our heads up, and will do fine with our next games.

It is hard to be hurt because I wish I could play and make a difference. I try to cheer my teammates on as much as I can, and if any of them need help with stretching, water, etc. I am there to get things for them. I rehab everyday for about two and half hours, so that gets really old. Waking up everyday knowing I can't play soccer with the team hurts me, but I get all my anger out through intense work in rehab. On the up side, rehab is going really well and I am jumping into things really quickly. I hope to make an early come back. Being hurt has made me realize how bad I want it and I can't wait to get back to playing next year.

Meredith:Sunday morning came fast though and before we knew it we were on the bus to the game. We were all really excited to play on live television, however we didn't really show it through our playing. The Nebraska game was a disappointment to most, if not all of us, but it was a learning experience none the less. As long as we learn from our mistakes and do our best to correct them then we can't really dwell on the past. The coaches named Erica Pusch the player of the game because she gave 110% the whole time and even played forward! We didn't have the greatest weekend of soccer ever, but we learned a lot about ourselves and our teammates and hopefully these things will help us to progress and improve throughout our season. See ya next year huskers!!