Sept. 1, 2006

Hi all,

This is my first installment to the journal entries and I just want to say that I am extremely excited about the upcoming season. With coach Wiese leading us through the season and our extremely deep and talented team, I honestly believe that we can, and will, go farther than we have in my past three years here.

Our preparation for the season has been tremendous, with our team being more fit than we have been in the past. Preseason was productive, yet difficult. We had three extremely tough scrimmages playing two of the best teams in the country in Maryland and Virginia and a very competitive Towson side. Coach Wiese used these games as "small tests" for our team. We saw them as practice games because they were just that, for practice. This allowed Coach Wiese to get a good look at everyone on the team, knowing each players ins and outs by the beginning of the season.

The D.C. Cup was exciting to say the least. In our season opener against GW, we quickly found ourselves down 2-0 at halftime. To be honest, we played very well that first half and just gave up a couple of fluke goals. At halftime of that game, frustration was setting in with our team facing an uphill battle in the second half. Coach Wiese made it clear that we were not going to lose that game. He kept us very composed, making sure that in the second half we continued to play smart soccer instead of worrying about the score of the game. I strongly believe that this strategy was what allowed us to come back in the second half from the 2-0 deficit and come out of the game on top. We scored a total of five goals in the second half, ensuring the win by around the 80th minute.

In our second game of the tournament we faced a skillful American team. We were optimistic from the get go, with the confidence to know that we should not come out of that game with anything less than a win. Again, we played well from the start but missed a couple of key opportunities that might have put American out of reach. Instead, we went down a goal before the end of the first half. We tied it up relatively quickly at the beginning of the second half, but fell short in the end losing two to one.

After the game, as I walked with my Dad back to the vans feeling defeated after the loss, my Dad said to me "at least it was exciting." So, from a fans stand point it was a great game to watch with it becoming a track meet in the second half right down to the wire. It was a fun game to play in, I just wish we could have come out on top. That's all I have for now. It should be a great season for the Hoyas to say the least.

Go Hoyas,
Tim Convey (RIP #19)