After a well deserved break from soccer and school the Scotties are back on campus. The girls have been working hard since break to stay in shape and get better as a team.

                This Tuesday the team was honored at halftime of the Agnes Scott basketball game with their Championship rings. The girls made history this year going to the NCAA tournament for the first time in any team sport at Agnes Scott. The team was very happy with their new rings, and they don’t look that bad out of their jerseys!

What a weekend! The Scotties had a great time. We started on our trip up I-75 on Friday morning. Around Knoxville we stopped at one of our players homes for an Olive Garden lunch. After getting our bellies full we got back on the bus to finish our trip up to Centre. We had a productive training session that night and went back to the hotel before a team dinner.

Saturday finally came. The game we have been working towards this entire season. The level of excitement was up all day. Centre was a good side, 7^th in the nation. We were playing with them for about the first 30 minutes until our senior keeper, Ashley Watts, came down hard on her ankle and dropped the ball. Centre scored off the rebound, and we had to unfortunately take Ashley out of the game due to her injury.

Losing focus dealing with a teammate injury, Centre found the back of the net again a minute later. Our team came together, and Centre did not score again the rest of the game. However, we could not get much offense against their defense. We ended up losing 2 -0. Our girls received their medals after the games. There was a mix of smiles and tears, but overall this season was successful for the Scotties. We made history by winning our conference tournament for the first time in school’s history in any team sport, and we made the NCAA tournament for the first time in school’s history in a team sport.

After the game Coach Bergin took the girls out for a steak dinner, which was his promise all season if we made it to the dance. The six seniors are going to be hard to replace, but they have help set the new higher standard for the program.

Monday – Thursday (Nov 5 – Nov 8, 2012)

It's so hard to start this in a way that communicates the surreal feeling of waking up over and over every day knowing that we are conference champions. We put in the work. We achieved our dream, our goal. We did what no team before us has done. Like coach jokes about the day after any big win: “The sun shines a little brighter and the birds are a little chirpier”. Both have certainly been true this past week of practicing before leaving for the first round of the NCAA Championship (AAHH!!!!). The sense of unrestrained bliss is hard to miss if you're around any of us. Not the ever-competitve soccer-tennis rematch on Monday nor the classic (and dreaded) Kim phrase, “On the line; gimme an up and back...or five” throughout the week could get our spirits down.  A few too many times Coach has had to draw our attention back to him while explaining a drill or walking us through a play because it's so hard to keep down our excited chatter about the new pictures that just came out from the championship game and subsequent celebration--“Did you see [insert team member]'s face in that one picture?!...My legs looked awesome in that action shot!--or how excited we are about getting steak dinners or the scouting reports we've hard about our next opponent, already planning which weak links to exploit on the road to our next win. We're just so excited; it's hard to contain. Knowing how far we've come, starting out with a 9-0 loss in our first game, and how far we can go (final four, anyone?), is keeping us going strong, despite the aching muscles, numerous blisters, and creaking joints. But we'll survive, and we'll win. Or we'll leave every bit of our soccer beings on the field trying. First, though, is the 6-hour coach bus trip. Until then...ALL WE DO IS WIN. - Dana Smith