April 6, 2007

Ryan Kaufman's St. Louis Journal: Entry #1 (Thursday, April 5)

As my alarm clock blared at 8:30 AM I was initially confused as to why I was awake so early. However, as my morning stupor faded away and I noticed my packed suitcase lying on the floor, I quickly remembered why: Today we leave for St. Louis to play Lindenwood and Colorado State. Within an hour our bus was packed and headed towards Detroit Metro Airport.

Unlike our trips in the past, the team was split up into two groups for separate flights. Even though this small modification required some extra preparation, our coaches and training staff were up to the challenge, avoiding any major complications. Naturally, the younger guys were assigned to the earlier flight, and forced to wait at the St. Louis airport for roughly an hour before the second plane landed. After the bus returned to the airport to pick up some hungry teammates who'd been left behind, we made our way to the hotel - a luxurious Embassy Suites just outside of St. Louis.

Once we settled in and ate a quick lunch, the team met and concisely discussed the Lindenwood game plan. Although we already played (and beat) them during fall scrimmages, we know that LU is a quality team and that proper planning is necessary. After games like last year's conference semifinal loss to MSU, we've learned the hard way that any team can beat any other team, regardless of their ranking or overall talent. With this in mind, it is critical that each game is approached with adequate preparation and focus. For this reason these meetings are extremely important.  

Approximately three hours after this meeting adjourned, we were back on the bus and headed towards Lindenwood's field for a late practice. We filed off the bus and were met with uncharacteristically low temperatures. In fact, it was so chilly that coach allowed us to practice in sweatpants. For anyone who has ever played under Coach Paul, particularly goalies, this aberration was simply amazing. Although this probably will never happen again, the change was enthusiastically embraced with practically everybody practicing in their warm-ups.

Practice went well, but not great. Our hustle and tenacity were there, but our execution has defiantly been better. Though I would like to argue that these inconsistencies were purposeful attempts to thwart the LU personnel scouting our practice from the press box, I know this is not the case. Instead, this lackluster performance should probably be attributed to fatigue, and its resulting lack of focus. Nevertheless, with adequate rest tonight and tomorrow, I am confident that we will be ready to go for tomorrow night's game.