Aaron Gibbons, a senior on the 2011 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his first entry of the year.
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As August rolls around the corner, there is one thought and one thought only on the minds of a UWM men’s soccer player ... Preseason.
While the majority of college students are deeply content, enjoying the perks of a long fun-filled summer, the time has come to report to captain’s practice for us Panthers. As a 5th-year senior, the content to these captains’ practices throughout the years has changed drastically.
Though captain’s practices don’t stress much formal fitness, once coaches' practice begins, players are expected to be in top-notch condition.
The first day of coaches is always the worst from a player’s perspective. The morning session consisted of a 3-mile intervals test. This consists of running three miles with a six-minute rest in between each mile; each mile must be finished before a time of 5 minutes and 30 seconds.
Though player’s fitness varies some, overall the performance was great. This enables the majority of coach’s preseason to consist of a colorful blend of possession drills, attacking/defending variations and foot skills training, all together focusing on putting the final pieces together in preparation for our first exhibition match.
The alumni game was the first on the schedule of exhibitions. While for many schools this match may be looked at as a breeze, the UWM men’s alumni consist of a bundle of professional, ex-professional and even a World Cup 2002 U.S. men’s national team starter. This year the 2011 Panthers took a quick two-goal lead, both coming from junior forward Potato Banks.
The alumni evened the score at two-all late in the match. We quickly responded when a cross was put in the box by senior defender Aaron Gibbons, sent directly to freshman midfielder Laurie Bell, who cleverly flicked the ball past alumni keeper Chris Dadian for the go-ahead and game-winning goal.
The alumni game overall proved to be a success. The three goals was a positive, but the two goals allowed and some sloppy play showed that we still had lots of work to do as the second and final exhibition approach facing Lewis University.
As the squad left the much needed air conditioning of the travel vans upon arrival of Lewis University, the sun was beaming and the legs were heavy. Fatigue was present, but never the less; it was time for the last preseason game. The match was off to a great start again thanks to another fantastic goal from junior Potato Banks. He received a ball from junior defender Ryan Whitehead, just outside the box and sent the ball flying over the Lewis goalkeeper, off the crossbar and into the net.
The second half was full of new Panther faces, as every player on the roster that was able to play, did indeed so. The flow was a bit shaky at times, but proved steady to hold onto the 1-0 advantage all the way through 90 minutes.
As preseason has come to an end, the excitement and anticipation for the home opener against IPFW is growing rapidly. All of the hard work, sweat and dedication has proven unbeaten as we will look to continue this trend into the season.
I am looking forward to sharing the UWM men’s soccer team experience with you all and hope you enjoy reading!
-Aaron
