I’m writing this from a bus on my way back from Toronto. My fiancé moved to Canada this summer and I’ve been visiting her as much as i can these past few months. Not easy but definitely worth it! I think Canada is very underrated, but perhaps I am biased and simply enjoy seeing a familiar face on the currency.

I left New York last Thursday, after our soccer season ended on Wednesday afternoon.

My last post left off during the build-up to our crucial match against Bridgeport University, which ended up being postponed and moved from Saturday at home, to Sunday at Bridgeport due to the weather and its effect on our pitch. This made it even more of a challenge as our opponents are far more of a threat in their own back yard, and we would have to put in a solid performance to come away with the result we needed. A win or tie would see us through.

With 70 or so minutes gone, and trailing Bridgeport 1-0, I must admit the shit had hit the fan in a big way. We had not played badly, but were struggling to keep up with their attacking play and not creating many chances of our own. We pulled it back though, and forced overtime with the score level at 1-1. It was simple. Keep them out for 20 minutes and we make the playoffs!

We made it, and could even have won with a bit of luck! It was a bitterly cold night but after the final whistle we didn’t feel a thing. One of the best moments of my college career. I felt both proud of my teammates and grateful to the 15 or so travelling fans (made up of our women’s soccer and volleyball teams, along with some other amazing people). This result meant so much, and a rematch with C.W. Post was on the cards, as we were set to travel to Old Westbury the following Wednesday and face off in the semi-finals of the conference championship.

It’s still slightly painful to think about, so I’ll keep this quite brief. In a nutshell, we lost against Post 1-0, after falling behind during the first half and dominating the rest of the game. It was not the scoreline itself but the nature of the loss that hurt so much. We had so many chances to go level but just couldn’t seem to put the ball into the net. I believe we outshot them by around 10 in the second half, and were denied a clear cut penalty in the dying minutes by an otherwise fair referee. It was devastating, especially as a mistake of my own led to their goal. Soccer is like life in many ways. You win some battles, you lose others, and learning from your mistakes makes it all worthwhile.

Looking back on the season, I’m very proud of what we achieved. Predicted by most to finish in last place (out of 8), we finished 4th and ranked well both offensively and defensively. Plenty of low points, but in the end more high as we surprised some tough opponents and fought hard as a real “team.” For the seniors who are now finished with their college careers, I’m sorry we couldn’t do it for you. However,  we have gained some respect this year that will take the program forward, and I know we’ll keep on improving. Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all.