@CanesFutbol Captain's Corner: Oct. 8, 2015
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The captains of the University of Miami soccer team for the 2015 season are writing a blog for HurricaneSports.com this year called Captain’s Corner.
Thursday, in advance of the team’s 7 p.m. match against Duke, redshirt junior Shannon McCarthy checks in with her latest entry. The defender from Brighton, Mich. details the emotions from last week’s thrilling victory over No. 14/4 Notre Dame and the Hurricanes’ preparation for this week’s matches . . .
Greetings, Canes fans! WE DEFEATED NO. 14/4-RANKED NOTRE DAME ON FRIDAY NIGHT IN DOUBLE OVERTIME!!! Friday night’s game is one of the best wins I’ve ever been a part of. I am so proud of this team for playing with intensity and executing the game plan.
Winning on Friday night was a team effort. Each line of our tactical formation performed brilliantly and it gave us a winning result. The dog pile after Gracie [Lachowecki] scored was exhilarating. I actually stated crying! Tears of joy were streaming down my face! I was so proud of our team for capturing the victory we so desperately needed. I remember yelling, “We did it! We did it! We did it!” over and over again.
The atmosphere on Friday night was electric. The crowd was invested in the game for the 106 minutes we played. I am so grateful for the families of my teammates who made the trip to Coral Gables to support us. My boyfriend came all the way from Michigan to watch me play and I am so glad he got to see a thrilling victory. I gave him a big, sweaty hug after the game! I speak for the entire team when I say we greatly appreciate the support of the fans at our home games.
Gracie earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week after her performance against Notre Dame, and rightfully so. Catalina Perez earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week, [Top Drawer Soccer] Goalkeeper of the Week and [College Soccer 360] National Player of the Week too! It is outstanding for both ACC weekly awards to be given to players on our team and I am so proud of both of them. Gracie and Catalina deserve the recognition they were awarded.
Training this week is focused around maintaining the intensity and energy from Friday. We want to build on that positive result going into Duke on Thursday and North Carolina State on Sunday. Confidence comes from preparation.
Monday’s training session was all about competing with fitness at the end. Sustaining a high level of fitness helps us to have high energy in games that go into overtime or double overtime like last Friday. Tuesday’s session focused on what we need to do to beat Duke. We also had a good weightlifting session after training. After weights, we watched game film on Duke and our game against Notre Dame. Some players came back to the field on Tuesday for an extra session and some also watched individual game clips to learn from last game. Wednesday’s session was typical for our pregame practice.
We are in a great position heading into tonight’s game. This team is excited to compete, execute the game plan and make big plays. Thank you again for reading and I hope you make your way to Cobb Stadium tonight at 7 p.m. to watch a great game! Thanks again for reading and, as always, GO CANES!
