Sept. 9, 2010
Senior defender Megan Jamieson will be providing written and video highlights from Northwestern's 2010 regular season in her blog, Jamieson's Journal. Below is entry No. 4 in the series.
Read NU Field Hockey's 2010 Fall Newsletter
Mark Twain once quipped that there is no surer way to determine your feelings for another person than to travel with them. With eight games on the road to start the season, Northwestern has had plenty of time to get time to know one another and, as Megan Jamieson writes in her fourth blog entry, the 'Cats couldn't be happier with the outcome.
Hiya Wildcat fans!
I am writing this blog entry from the comfort of my own home and bed, something that has actually been quite foreign to me the past two weeks. If you haven't been following us (shame on you!) we have been gone for a huge chunk of time on extensive trips to the east coast: six days in New York and then five days in Virginia.
Our life on the road has been a fun, interesting and long journey and will continue again this weekend as we head south to St. Louis for a pair of games Saturday and Sunday. The excitement of finding out who you sit next to on the plane or who your roommates will be never seems to get old, and our stomachs never seem to be empty having restaurant expert Carla Tagliente pick fabulous restaurants for us to eat at. But with all the luxury on the road there also are challenges and adversity. We play on new fields, play on back-to-back days, go from meeting to meeting, and hotel to hotel, all of which will make us mentally and physically tougher for all the games to come throughout the season.
We learned a lot about ourselves during this past trip in Virginia. In our first contest against VCU, we learned we need to come to play every day. They beat us to the ball and straight-up outplayed us, handing us a 4-1 loss. The next day in Williamsburg against William and Mary we came out to play some of the best possession hockey so far this season, executed corners and collectively pulled out a great 4-1 victory against the Tribe. In our final match against No. 3 Virginia we learned just how good we are and can be this season. In all but a minute's difference (they scored both goals within a minute) the game was evenly matched. The loss was nothing for us to hang our heads about, but rather has gotten us extremely excited for the weeks to come leading up to Big Ten play and we will take that enthusiasm to our games vs. SLU and Missouri State this weekend.
As we finish up the last of our eight-game road trip, I think I speak for everyone in that it has been a true learning experience and something none of us upperclassmen have experienced before. St. Louis will be another great opportunity to play Wildcat hockey, and will bring us one step closer to that glorious home opener on Sept. 17!
Go Cats!
Megan
P.S.: I do not think I can thank our excellent fan base of parents enough for all of their support on the road. Many have traveled from near and far to see us play and set up delicious tailgates after our games. Seeing familiar, smiling faces on the road makes all the difference and it means a lot to have you as a part of our Wildcat Field Hockey Family!