SUU SOCCER newsletter #2

Issue #2 September 2015

SUU season continues with some terrific soccer, learning opportunities and big wins

1

The team traveled out to Cali for two

games. The first game was against a

new opponent in Cal State Northridge.

Scouting reports showed that this game

was going to be a tough challenge, and

historically teams from the Big West

Conference have given the T’Birds all

we could handle. Despite our

underdog status the team came out and

dominated Northridge in the first half

with some of the best soccer the team

has played in my coaching tenure. Our

intensity was excellent, the team

defending was on point, and our attack

2

had the home team scrambling.

Heading into halftime, we were

confident that if we stayed on track and

kept on track we would be in a great

position to win the game.

Unfortunately we had a few defensive

miscues in the second half and

Northridge was able to pull ahead and

win the game 2-0. This is one of those

times when soccer is a cruel game.

Our team walked away feeling like we

had played a great game and taken a big

step forward against a top quality

opponent.

3

We had very little time to regroup as

we played an equally tough team in UC

Riverside on Sunday. Again, we played

in adverse weather conditions with the

temperature hovering around 95 – but

on the turf field it felt easily over 100.

The team came out strong and

defended in a low-pressure, organized

fashion throughout the first half. Even

though we liked the organized fashion

of our defending – especially in the

adverse conditions, we decided to

switch our style of defending to high

pressure. This switch proved to be

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 1. Trips to California and south Texas 2. Winning big 3. Lots of behind the scenes pictures of the team

Thunderbird Soccer

Issue 2 takes us on the road for 2 games in California, a quick road trip to St. George for a battle against Dixie State, a dominate win at home vs UVU and a long road trip to South Texas.

Thunderbird soccer

We’ve come a long way

One year ago …

One year ago today the team record was 3-3-1. Right now we are sitting on a record of 7-3.

Last year we won a total of three games on the road all season. This fall we have already won 4 games on the road.

This season we have scored 26 goals already. Last season we scored a total of 29 goals for the entire season.

The Conference games coming up should all be close contests. That is the nature of the Big Sky. We are determined to not repeat the mistakes of the past and instead move forward – while in some cases we TOTALLY want to have repeat performances.

Recap of last year’s results: vs PSU (h) win 2-0 vs SAC (h) win 2-1 vs UofI (h) tie 2-2 OT vs UNC (r) lose 0-1 vs UND (r) win 3-1 vs EWU (h) lose 1-2 vs Montana (h) tie 2-2 OT vs ISU (r) lose 1-2 vs WSU (r) win 2-1 OT vs NAU (r) lose 0-1

1

effective and the Riverside team

couldn’t handle the pressure. The

‘Birds dominated the second half

scoring 2 goals off the intense effort.

Kelsee Bone sniped a pass from the

other teams’ defenders and scored her

first collegiate goal and Paige Robins

added a quality composed finish of her

own. Unfortunately the difference in

the game was 2 penalty kicks awarded

to the other team and our side fell 4-2.

The result belies how the game played

out and our staff was pleased on the

whole with our effort in the game.

WINNING BIG

After returning home from California

we had a quick turn around until a

game versus Dixie State on Thursday.

Typically the team takes a day off on

2

Monday because NCAA rules dictate

that the team needs one day off per

week. But with this being a short

week, we opted to train Monday to

get ready for the game with our foes

to the south. It was a bit of a tired

two days of practice Monday and

Tuesday but by Wednesday we had

our legs back and the excitement for

the game was building.

Heading south for the game there was

a nice electricity running through the

team and we arrived in plenty of time

to enjoy music and dancing in the

locker-room. We have several players

who might have missed their calling as

dancers J

From kickoff until about the 10

minute mark, it was very clear that

SUU was the stronger side. This

Big thanks to our cali families for hosting a post

game meal at Riverside

UC

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3

didn’t lead to a goal, unfortunately,

but it was only a matter of time before

the Thunderbirds scored. We were a

little surprised to be heading into the

half tied 0-0 but we had rested a big

group of players who were dinged up

with injuries. The staff agreed that we

needed to insert a handful of those

players to take control of the game,

and sure enough it paid off and we

scored a goal coming out of the half.

Dixie tried to muster a comeback and

scored a goal off a miscommunication

in the back. This didn’t deter our

4

team and we added the game winning

goal in short order. It is always nice to

pick up a win against our neighbor to

the south.

Our next big win came against another

neighboring team – the UVU

Wolverines. Last year we didn’t have

a strong showing against UVU in

Orem and we were determined to put

together a more complete game and

play as well as we knew we could. It

would take a strong game from all of

our players to walk off the field

victorious. Helping matters was a nice

two day break between Dixie and UVU.

To be honest, this break concerned the

staff a little bit because the last time we

had a two day break between games was

actually last year around the same time

versus UVU ironically. And as we just

mentioned that game was less than our

best. So we kept a close eye on how the

players were responding to the break this

time and tried very hard to make sure we

got the most of it. I would say that we

sure did because we laid a smack down on

the Wolverines!!

Scoring 2 goals in the first half was a good

change of pace for the team because we

had previously been very ho-hum in the

first half of games. But in our pregame

speech we emphasized the importance of

the first 5 minutes of this game. Scouting

reports revealed that UVU started out

sluggish and it was important that we

jumped on them early. The team

responded to the challenge and scored a

goal at about the 5:30 mark. A second

insurance goal was added by Shelby Green

and the team headed into the half up 2-0.

Most people will tell you that the most

dangerous scoreline in soccer is 2-0 and so

as a staff we knew that it would take a big

COMMUNITY FAVORITES AGAIN OUR TEAM SHOWS OFF ITS WONDERFUL

CONNECTION TO THE COMMUNITY AS A YOUTH TEAM FROM MESQUITE DROVE UP SO THEY COULD WATCH THE

THUNDERBIRDS TAKE ON DIXIE STATE. THIS YOUTH GROUP CAME UP TO A SUMMER CAMP AND BEFRIENDED SEVERAL OF THE T’BIRDS. IT IS REALLY AWESOME WHAT

GREAT MENTORS AND EXAMPLES OUR PLAYERS ARE. THE WAY THEY CARRY THEMSELVES ON AND OFF THE FIELD IS A

TESTAMENT TO HOW INCREDIBLE THEY ARE. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY A BLAST TO HEAR THOSE LITTLE PLAYERS

CHEERING FOR THEIR IDOLS.

Thunderbird Soccer Issue #2 September 2015

effort to secure the win … needing to

either score again or play exceptional

defense in the second half. While we

didn’t score that third goal, the team

played with tremendous passion and

intensity and despite UVU scoring a

goal the team held on to capture a huge

victory against an in-state rival team.

WINNING WAYS CONTINUED …

The Thunderbirds took the two game

winning streak on the road to McAllen,

Texas where the weather conditions

were going to be less than favorable,

and the opponents would be unknown.

Little did we know just how

unfortunate the weather would be!

Friday night’s game was set to kick off

at 4pm, but due to lightening delays we

were only able to play about 22 minutes

before the field was cleared due to

lightening strikes being within the

allowable 10 mile radius. At the time

we were losing 1-0 to Houston Baptist

University after our players hesitated,

thinking an offside call was eminent.

Both teams sat around for almost 4

hours before the decision was made to

replay the game the next day. This was

in our favor because it erased the 1-0

deficit and gave us a chance to start over

fresh. We have preached the mantra of

“there are no do-overs” to the players

all fall as we have attempted to instill

the idea that they can’t save anything up

for a later time so the irony was not lost

on anybody that we actually got to have

a re-do.

So after sitting around for 4 hours

Friday night it was a quick turn around

to play at 1 pm on Saturday but our

players do an excellent job of resting by

making the most of the recovery time

and amenities available to them.

Typically this consists of ice baths in

their hotel tubs, or using contrast

techniques in the pool and hot tub.

Our athletic trainer Katy Ballard does a

phenomenal job helping patch up our

kids and get them ready to compete. In

fact, I am pleased to tell you that this is

one area where your donations have

made an immediate impact. With the

donations we have already received we

have been able to purchase KT tape

(kinesiology tape) for the players and

moving forward will have a collection

of heating pads to warm their muscles

before the game.

Saturday the players came out to play

and it was a different squad on the pitch

than what was out there Friday. This is

semi-literal as we changed up 6 starters

for the game… but overall the

mentality reflected a different team.

We were flying around and competing

at a high level – typical of how we have

been in games where we come out

victorious.

It proved to be more than HBU could

handle and we came away with a 2-1

victory.

This took up most of our day and so we

went back to the food area across the

way from our hotel and ate a nice

dinner, then came back to rest and

prepare for a game the next morning. A

game that originally was slated to be

played at 11, but in keeping with the

tradition of the weekend – it got moved

at the last minute to a 1pm kickoff. But

wait … it gets even more complicated

as the game before us went into double

overtime and we had to wait even

longer to kickoff. It was 1:45 when the

whistle actually blew for our game!!

Adversity didn’t seem to faze the team

and we came out looking like the

stronger team from the beginning. But

as our staff told the team: some of the

hardest games to win are the ones

you’re supposed to win. In this case

though, we won and it was awesome!

Thunderbirds behind the scenes

From top left to bottom right: Away game to UNLV, at Santa Monica Pier between Northridge and UC Riverside game, in the van after our flight home from south Texas was canceled, and two pictures of our girls on campus – both as students and athletes!!

Payton Bonino #6

What is your major? Marketing Why did you choose SUU? Felt it was the perfect fit for me. What do you like to do in your free time? Nap Who was your childhood idol? My mom What is your favorite sport to play besides soccer? Football What is your favorite movie? Marley & Me or Forrest Gump What is your favorite TV show? Friends Do you have any hidden talents? I can play the ukulele. What are three things that most people don't know about you? I'm extremely ticklish, I was born in South Dakota, I hate spiders. Give us three things from your bucket list: Go skydiving, travel the world, save a life.

Logan Harker #18

What is your major? Exercise science Why did you choose SUU? I chose suu because of distance from home so family could come to games and because of the small class size. Like the benefit that added to my education. What do you like to do in your free time? I enjoy spending time with friends at social activities such as BBQs, games nights or random adventures. Who was your childhood idol? Colette Jepson who was a forward at UNLV then at BYU (her dad is a family friend) What is your favorite sport to play besides soccer? Basketball What is your favorite movie? Guardians of the Galaxy What is your favorite TV show? How I met your mother Do you have any hidden talents? I have played the piano for 15 years and I also love doing hair What are 3 things most people don’t know about you? I took 1st attendant in a beauty pageant my freshman year of high school, I was on the 5a state championship winning bball team my junior year of high school, and this last spring I got to go to Costa Rica on a service trip Give us 3 things from your bucket list: Go watch an incredible lightening storm in Arizona, become an occupational therapist, go to the east coast and visit Virginia where I was born

Over the course of this newsletter and the 6 games that were played we have had several notable performances.

In the match against UC Riverside Kelsee Bone scored her first career goal. This feisty player has made the move this season from defender to attacking player. Her intensity and commitment to pressuring opponents has wrecked havoc on the other teams and has inspired the T’Bird players to give it their all.

Also scoring their first career goal was Devri “Stix” Hartle. In the rematch vs Houston Baptist she absolutely crushed a ball, scoring her first goal in stunning fashion. This goal adds to her game winning assist versus UVU. We expect great things from this Utah native. She is the fittest player on our team and we count on her to apply massive amounts of pressure all game long.

Sophomore forward Ally Thimsen netting Thunderbird athlete of the week honors by scoring 2 goals against South Dakota. This feat is made most incredible because of the fact that she was playing at about 75% all weekend on a bad ankle sprain. But this injury didn’t deter her, and in fact one of her goals was a stunning no look back heel into the net.

Freshman defender Kristy Johnson has logged a team high 536 minutes, besting the next closest player by 131 minutes. She has started every game this fall and played nearly every minute. This past weekend in Texas she logged an incredible 205 minutes of action (including the partial game vs HBU Friday, rematch vs HBU Saturday and the game Sunday vs South Dakota.

We would again like to thank all of those who have sponsored the team thus far. We will be sending out letters this week, as

promised. I am happy to tell you that in addition to the previously mentioned KT Tape and Heating pads for our athletes

performance, your donations directly impacted the team in another important way. With the additional funds raised so far we

were able to travel 21 players to Texas versus 18. This addition of players gave us a competitive advantage on the field, truly

helping the team come away with 2 victories. Please don’t ever doubt that your money is going to a good cause. We need ALL

of us chipping in to make a championship possible, and for those who have already made a contribution I want to say a sincere

thank you for helping these young women achieve their dreams and goals. You made 3 girls who got to travel very happy.

**Minus of course the canceled flight and the weather delayed game ;)

If you would like to donate online please click on and select soccer, which will take you to a page where you can

create an account and make a tax deductible donation.

We would also like to thank CAMP Building Better Athletes and Andrew Harestead for help in programming fitness and

conditioning sessions for our team, and also for the generous donation of heart rate monitors. Those who live in the Salt Lake

Valley should check them out if you need any fitness and conditioning services. They are a top notch organization and have

helped our team tremendously. [email protected]

These are your Thunderbirds!

Top left is Shelby Green post fitness test (her favorite days), the team at a concert in SLC, again at the Santa Monica Pier, and a total team pic on GAME DAY at home.

Between very hard training sessions and intense game days, I’m proud of these young women and the memories they are creating together. These will be looked back on as some of the best times of their lives.

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