Aug. 30, 2000

By Debbie Lieberman

So, now I know why we do 120's. What a rush! What excitement!

What a unit of individuals coming together to accomplish something unthinkable to some, but not by us. Last night, WE BEAT "State"...Penn State that is. The fourth ranked team in the country.

The day started with our team lunch at The Jungle Grill. Nothing like eating good food before a big game. Some team bonding time too.

We had our pre-game talks at the team house, in the locker room. The team was up. You could feel the energy in the air as the radio was pumping Backstreet Boys, NSync and Dixie Chicks and the team was singing along. Head coach Shannon Higgins-Cirovski gave us our "talk"-- basically what we needed to hear before the game. We talked a little bit about Penn State, but mostly we talked about "US". "That's what's important" Shannon would say.

We headed up to the field with a vengeance, ready to play. We had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Ninety minutes to be played and only one team would come out on top. Our goal was for that one team to be us.

It felt like a flash, oh too sudden-but not... we scored right away!!! The bench leaped to its feet, the field was filled with half the players, half a foot off the ground and the other half with their hearts in their hands. Sara Gustafson put one in the back of the net when it counted!

Before we could realize that we were up one goal, Gus scored again. One could hear the roar of the crowd from the field. The feeling was much the same as well. Up 2-0 and 80 minutes left to play. A shaky position, but none the less, a good position.

Our defense played amazing, our offense finished incredibly well, and we continued to build our unit and climb towards our goal.

Gus finished the game, the final goal and her hat trick in the last minutes of the game to clinch our win, 3-1. Following the game, the most used phrases were: "Wow!" and "Amazing!"

A feeling not to be forgotten, but to be tucked away in our memory bank, to remind us why we run the 120's, and work hard, and do fitness. This feeling makes it all worth it. This is one of the reasons we play the game- not only for the win, but for the team unity, the demonstration of what we practice, and the connection of energy felt by all on the team during the good times and the bad.

We Are Maryland Soccer!