University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL DIARIES - ELLEN DEAN
August 26, 2002 | Soccer
Aug. 26, 2002
Senior goalkeeper Ellen Dean shares her thoughts on the Lady Vol soccer team's first road trip, an exhibition match against the University of Alabama at Birmingham at the Alabama Shootout in Huntsville, Ala.
Fri., Aug. 23, 2002
Everyone on the team and in the travel party met at the soccer field to depart for our preseason match against UAB in Huntsville, Alabama. We settled down on the bus for the four-hour ride. The bus trip consisted of back-to-back episodes of American Idol provided by (assistant coach) Sam (Baggett). Watching these reruns fueled an intense debate over who really should have been eliminated. Once we arrived in Huntsville, we received our room assignments and were able to attend to various pre-game rituals. Mine include shaving, polishing my cleats, and talking to my dad. After these were done it was time to head to the field.
As we boarded the bus, there was an air of excitement. We were finally going to be able to play a game. We all had been individually training hard all summer long and had spent the previous two weeks intensely practicing as a team. So, it was extremely exciting to put our hard work to the test and hopefully see the fruits of our labors. As we were warming up, there was a bit of nervousness but those butterflies quickly disappeared when the opening whistle sounded.
At first, it was a little hectic. There was some confusion as we tried to settle into the run of play. Soon we got a little rhythm and scored early. Jen (Laughridge) finished a ball that Rhian (Wilkinson) slotted a few yards off of the goal line. This goal was followed by more scoring opportunities developed by the speed and athleticism of the frontrunners and the creativity of the midfield. It was pretty quiet in our goal, which is a good thing. I think I only had to make a save or two.
At the half, we were up 1-0 and we knew that we would have to bury the Blazers in the second half. We kept pounding their goal but were having a hard time putting one away. Then UAB got on the scoreboard with a rocket from about 30 yards out. That shook us up a little and we realized we were going to have to step it up a notch. Rhian managed to finish a ball that had pinged around the box to put us up 2-1 with about 12 minutes left. We were hungry for another goal when the lights turned off. They must have been on a timer and they wouldn't warm up for another thirty minutes so they had to call the game with about eight minutes left to play.
It was great to be able to play an exhibition game like this to work out some of the kinks and expose some of our weaknesses. It will definitely help in preparing for Duke this Friday. UAB was a good team that has improved a lot over the past couple of years. They were a physical team that challenged us. After the game, we went back to the hotel and cleaned up. By that time, it was about midnight Knoxville-time and everyone was pretty beat so we all headed to bed.
Sat., Aug. 24, 2002
The people who put on the tournament were incredibly hospitable. They had a brunch for us before we hit the road. On the way back to Knoxville, we stopped at Talia Wright's house in Chattanooga for one of the best meals ever. Her parents are the nicest people ever had cooked tons and tons of food - ribs, chicken, mac and cheese, casseroles, fruit and lots more. A home-cooked meal like that doesn't come around very often so it was very much appreciated. We stayed at Talia's house for a few hours and watched Carolina defeat Washington in the final game of the Founder's Cup II (the WUSA Championship). After the game, we got back on the bus for the final leg of our trip. We were all happy to roll back into Knoxville and start preparing for our season opener against Duke on Friday.
