Inside The Circle - Week 8
10/25/2001 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 25, 2001
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Welcome to this week's installment of "Inside the Circle," an inside look at Maryland field hockey. Each week throughout the 2001 season, junior Kateri Simon (Fallston, Md.) and senior Autumn Welsh (Macungie, Pa.) will combine to bring you the latest Terp happenings from the student-athlete's point-of-view.
Use Kateri and Autumn's journal to follow the Terps' 2001 campaign all season long. If you would like to submit question to our authors about field hockey, the Terps or anything (within reason!), send us an e-mail.
This week Autumn talks about the Terrapins busy schedule as the team winds down the regular season. A big overtime win over North Carolina solidified the Terps' progress as a team, and now the squad looks to continue that spirit. Non-conference matches this week will culminate with Senior Day, just before the Terrapins gear up for the postseason.
Busy, Busy, Busy ... that about sums up our schedule as we wrap up the regular season.
This past weekend we re-established our standard for Maryland field hockey. We had a great busride down to UNC, with lots of laughs, as usual. When we got into Chapel Hill we headed straight to the field to prepare ourselves with the feeling of the turf for the next day's big game.
For dinner we stopped at a quaint little place on Franklin St. The theme of the restaurant was for the customers to leave their mark using markers on the wall, and so we indulged ourselves in signing autographs and drawing all over the place. We certainly left our mark.
After dinner we had some time to kill on the bus before we headed back to our hotel. We didn't have trouble entertaining ourselves with the dance party on the bus. Spirits were high, and it was a great opportunity for all of us to let loose and be goofy for a while. So much fun!!
Then, it was back to business. Saturday afternoon we stepped on the turf engulfed by the warm Carolina sun. The poor Tar Heels had no idea what was coming to them. Our unity on the field held the Heels from penetrating the goal. Our defense from the front of the field to Ashley back in the goal was solid. We put out a tremendous effort, and by that first overtime it had paid off. We played with our hearts, we played smart, and we played together. Our play strongly resembled that of last weekend's game against Old Dominion, only this time the score truly reflected the game. It was a Homecoming full of many Terp victories.
Then this Wednesday evening we set out on a new mission. Against UNC and Old Dominion we found ourselves as a team. Now we had to preserve our efforts. We came out against Delaware having some difficulty finding the back of the net. Despite many opportunities, we could only finish one goal in the first half. Then, as usual, Missy's halftime talk hit home. We had much more success in the second half. The forwards were able to threaten the Delaware defense many times. We finished the game, in regulation this time, with a 4-1 differential in favor of the Terps.
Now, we must prepare our hearts and minds to finish the regular season, and step up in postseason play. In case I don't get the opportunity to write about this again, I wanted to say how amazing it has been to play hockey here at Maryland. As Senior Day approaches I find myself with tears in my eyes quite often thinking about how much I will miss all the people in this incredible program that have influenced my life. I only hope they will all know how much I truly love them. It's been a fun four years.
Till later, Senior Autumn Welsh, #3
