Aaron's Angle

Pivotal Times

2011-11-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

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 ninth entry of the year.

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Though the past couple of weeks haven’t exactly gone as planned, with a current dry spell of scoring and a lack of wins on the schedule, we still have much to play for. As the season dwindles down, each game becomes more important, making each training session revolving around the opponent ahead.

Now placed fifth in the Horizon League, our last game is pivotal for our season's life. With a win, we most likely clinch a spot in the Horizon League tournament, where anything can happen. But, with a loss, we most likely will not go onto the postseason.

Our upcoming and last home match against Northern Illinois will act as an important test in preparation for our last conference match against UIC. Northern Illinois is currently ranked 32nd in the nation and has had a very successful year. A result against this type of opponent is exactly what we need to gain momentum and carry it into Saturday.

This season has not exactly been ideal for the players, coaches and the seniors, but with a result against UIC on Saturday, we have the opportunity to change everything. During the past week the team has truly come together and have all got our eyes on one thing, making sure that everything we do is in the best interest of the team.

After all, they say the conference tournament is the start of a new season, why not start ours a week early?

Hope to see all of you at Engelmann Stadium this Wednesday November 2nd for the last Milwaukee men’s soccer home game and for senior night!

-Aaron #8

Coming Down the Stretch

2011-10-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

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 eighth entry of the year.

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Following our tie to Detroit, this week’s practice was intense in preparation for the upcoming match, where we would face Wright State - a match that was pivotal in the leagues standings. Saturday night at Engelman Stadium we sat at the top of the league, tied with our opponents.

In front of a packed Engelman Stadium, the match proved to be a fast-paced and full of highlights. The first half was not our best performance, as we went into halftime down. Rejuvenated after a mental check, we quickly got onto the scoreboard in the second half. Senior Robert Refai tallied his 7th goal on the season, continuing his scoring form on the year. Freshman Laurie Bell also tallied his second goal of the year.

The tie was not our preferred result, but coming back in the second half and scoring two vital goals really showed some character. As we get deeper into conference each game becomes more and more important as we strive to reach our ultimate goal of winning conference and making it to the NCAA tournament.

Our next opponent is yet another conference match facing Valparaiso on October 22nd. Hopefully we will be able to come out with another conference win and return home with an important three points.

Mid-Conference Action

2011-10-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

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 seventh entry of the year.

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The last few weeks have been productive for the Panthers, as we are now into mid-conference play. There have been a few valleys to go along with some key peaks on the season that left us at the top of the tables in Horizon League standings.

Our victory over Green Bay was one of the most exciting wins the program has ever witnessed, as junior Cody Banks scored with seven seconds left in double overtime to give us the win over our in-state rivals Green Bay.

The win was only the second of my career against Green Bay and was a fantastic way to regain the Chancellor’s Cup. Now with two cup wins under our belts and two instate victories, leaves only Wisconsin left on the schedule before we are crowned the state’s best.

As conference play moved along we did take a step backwards, as we lost to Cleveland state 3-to-2. The game was not our best performance, as we went down three to zero late in the match. Some positives did come with the loss though, as we fought hard and scored two late goals that lead to an extremely exciting ending.

The next match against Michigan State ended in similar form with a decent performance that just could not get the job done. Senior Robert Refai scored the lone goal of the match for the Panthers.

His sixth goal on the season came in our most recent match facing Detroit. With this sixth goal he solidified himself as the team’s top scorer as well as one of the league leaders.

The road to the conference tournament has begun for the Panthers, as we are now sitting in second place. We will look to continue our success into the season when we face Wright State on November 15th this upcoming Saturday at Engelmann Stadium.

Hope to see you all there!

Conference Play Begins

2011-09-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

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 sixth entry of the year.

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Once conference starts, it’s the beginning of a whole new season in our eyes. Heading into our Saturday night game against our first conference opponent, we knew it would be a challenge.

Butler had not lost at their home field since 2007, and it felt great to end their streak with a convincing 3-1 victory, and a solid three points.

The game started quickly for us as sophomore Jamie Ashcroft netted his first Panther goal in just the fourth minute. Butler equalized nearly at the halftime mark.

Our second half play was exciting to say the least, as senior Robert RefaI tallied his fourth goal of the season and freshman nick Langford scored his second on the year.

The win was a fantastic confidence booster for the team and we will hope to carry our winning ways into our next conference opponent, Green Bay this Wednesday at Engelman field. H

ope to see you all there as we look for the second conference win and move closer to the ultimate goal of the conference finals.

On to Horizon League play...

2011-09-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

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 fifth entry of the year.

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We left Milwaukee Thursday morning, confident we could get things back on track after a disappointing result with Northeastern last weekend. With two new Panther opponents in Gardner-Webb and UAB, we felt up to the challenge.

Our travel was complicated by the fact that we had to fly into Atlanta and drive to Birmingham. Traveling is always a fun experience. We are treated like professionals, with the planes, food and activities. Our lengthy travel was rewarded with a really nice hotel. We had a chance to stretch our legs with a short warm-up session on Friday morning and seemed to be ready for our unknown opponent.

Friday’s game against Gardner-Webb was not our best performance. Not sure if it was the heat or our first game on grass for the year, but we struggled to get any rhythm. We could not create much attack and John Shakon again kept us in the match through some tough times.

Parts of the second half were better and a scrappy goal by Nick Langford made us feel like we could take the points. Unfortunately, we continued to lose some physical battles and gave up an equalizer within minutes. Then, a dagger free kick in the 89th minute put us behind. We left the field knowing we didn’t play very good soccer, but even more disappointed that we let the points slip away so late.

On Sunday, going into our second of the weekend we knew we would have our hands full. The host UAB was undefeated and had a big win last week against powerhouse Clemson. While it was nice to be back in warmer weather, the heat seemed to slow our legs. The first half of the game did not go according to plan. It felt like all we did was defend. Shakon kept us in the game with a couple of awesome saves and everyone pitched in to clear balls and cover mistakes.

Coming into the second half we were flying high. Langy drew a foul in the box and Saveedra drilled the PK for a 1-0 Panther lead.

We battled and had some better play in the second half, but could seem to put together a consistent attack. Shakon continued his dominate GK play, until the pressure finally got to us with an equalizing goal with less than five minutes to play. UAB’s tall and athletic defender had come forward to score an incredible far-post header from a long throw.

We were a bit shocked going into overtime - only to have the same UAB player then scored the game winning goals on a near post header five minutes into OT.

We have to find a way to put the poor play and missed chances behind us. Our early non-conference results are the highlight of the young season. Conference play begins this weekend with a game against last year’s Horizon League champion Butler Bulldogs. It won’t get any easier, but we will prepare ourselves well knowing a good result will start conference play with a bang! We will be ready for Butler on the 24th!

Panthers Claim Milwaukee Cup!

2011-09-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

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 fourth entry of the year.

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It was yet again an eventful weekend, as we came out with a very exciting victory against our biggest rivals, Marquette. It felt great to yet again win the Milwaukee Cup, taking the UWM total win tally over Marquette to 27 overall.

Though the win was a great peak for the weekend, there was a valley, as we suffered our second loss of the season due to a questionable penalty call in overtime.

The game against Marquette was electric. Always my favorite game of the year, the excitement always lives up to expectations. Playing against Marquette is the sort of game every kid dreams about playing in one day. In front of 2,000 fans, under the lights, hoisting the trophy in the air to a collaboration of UWM victory songs is truly an amazing feeling.

Though Friday was a great win, Sunday was a different story for us. It seemed as if a bit of fatigue had hit some of the lineup and our play was not the usual, as we lost 2-1 to Northeastern.

Though we scored the first goal of the game, they were able to equalize and send the game to overtime. Early in the first overtime, a penalty was awarded to Northeastern. As anyone knows who has played soccer at a high level, sometimes the difference between a win and a loss can come down to one single decision or mistake, this was very much so the case in this week’s loss.

A quick note from last week’s practice:

As a senior, I have developed quite the eye for hidden talent, and hidden talent I have seen from a few choice players on our UWM soccer team. Junior Jamie Bladen has truly developed a big soccer kick that is extremely powerful and deadly. He has been booting it very long lately and is showing good promise for the upcoming season. Sophomore Robbie Boyd has also shown some improvement as his soccer kicks are flying into the goal as well! Should be quite the weekend at UAB, and looking forward to two victories from the Panthers!

-Aaron Gibbs #8

And the Panther Invitational is ours...

2011-09-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

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 third entry of the year.

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Following a disappointing loss to IPFW, there wasn’t any better way for us to end the weekend than with two solid victories. There were numerous exciting accomplishments that the Panthers earned this weekend, both as a team and individually.

Winning the 37th Panther Invitational was definitely the overall highlight of the weekend. The last time we had accomplished this was back in 2006. It feels good to have won the first trophy of the season. And, with perhaps the most important trophy match on the line this Friday, there’s little time to sit back and enjoy this one.

Not only was winning the Panther Invitational a refreshing feeling, but the style and swagger that the team has started to play with these last two matches is even more exciting, if you ask me. The win over Western Michigan on Sunday marked the first time in my college career that we had scored four goals in a home game and came out on top. This four-goal win was also the greatest margin of a win in my college career. It just goes to show how our hard work and dedication has truly paid off in these first couple of games.

Having two great wins under our belt was a great way to end the week. Though both were exciting, there’s no comparison to the anticipation of the Milwaukee Cup coming up on Friday. Playing against Marquette is always in my opinion the best game of the year. There really nothing like it. The atmosphere and the crowd is always top notch, last year capacity coming to over two thousand.

The Milwaukee Cup not only is known as a rivalry statewide, but nationally as well. College Soccer News posted the game as the 14th-most exciting college rivalry game in the nation, in my opinion should be much higher. Friday’s game is sure to be high intensity, entertaining and a true battle.

Hopefully I will see you all there Friday at Engelman!!!

-Aaron

The Season Begins

2011-08-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

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 second entry of the year.

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The mood throughout the locker room was quiet and full of disappointment Friday night after our season-opening loss. Shock and confusion would pretty much sum up my feelings post game Friday.

Anyone who would have seen the first half and even 25-30 minutes of the second half, despite the goals, would have put their money on the Panthers coming away from the game with a comfortable victory.

We owned possession throughout the whole game, so despite only scoring one goal throughout our numerous chances, this was one positive that came from the match.

Another pleasing aspect that came from Friday's game were the fans, despite the 4:30 start, and not having many students on campus yet, the crowd definitely showed up for the Panthers.

A much welcome army of former UWM players and students did an excellent job of agitating the IPFW keeper from the bleachers behind the goal net, hopefully this group will prove to be regulars this season in accommodating our team throughout the 2011 season.

Though the first match of the season wasn’t the ideal, the season is long, with many games to come. Our next match lands on Friday, September 2nd, facing Western Michigan.

This week’s practice will surely stress the aspects of the game that were absent from our previous match such as finishing our chances, and eliminating silly defensive mistakes. This will surely prepare us for the upcoming game.

Hope to see you all there as we look to take our first victory on Engelmann Field this season!

-Aaron

Preseason Begins...

2011-08-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

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

Final Thoughts With Peter Sanger on 2010

2010-12-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, has been blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 13th and final blog entry.

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So by the time all of you read this, I’m sure that you’ve already found out that our season came to an end in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Tournament at the hands of the Loyola Ramblers, 3-0. It was a rough way to go out and thus it’s taken me awhile to finally wrap up my last blog of the season.

The game against Loyola was not a pretty game to remember. We fell behind 1-0 in the first half and in pushing everything we had forward for an equalizer, we got caught on the counter for two late second-half goals. It was a tough game to swallow, because it all became very apparent as the last five minutes ticked down, that this would be my last collegiate game, ever.

In the past, it was easier to deal with, because there was always next season. However, this time around, it was truly the final whistle. It was even harder to deal with, because it was a game where it felt like we really hadn’t left it all on the field. Furthermore, for me personally, I knew that it wasn’t my best either.

Following my aforementioned ankle injury the last time we had played Loyola, I never really felt like the same player. It was something I definitely wasn’t used to dealing with. In the past three seasons, I spent whatever time I sat on the bench thinking that I should have been playing, because I knew that when I got my chances, I could take them. Yet, now I never really knew what to expect out of myself, because one day my ankle would feel almost back to normal, only to feel like I could barely push off enough to walk up stairs at school the next day normally.

I had always imagined going out differently, on top even, but I suppose there’s a reason why those stories are called fairy tales.

Regardless, I know there’s still some people left to thank. First, I’d like to thank the Deutsch Family. It’s lucky enough to have ones own family supporting them, but to have another family doing the same is truly special. Thus, I owe a ton to not only my girlfriend Sydney, but also her parents, Rose and Dave. They’ve truly been a second family; not only attending games, but for the immeasurable support throughout all aspects of life-on and off the field.

Secondly, I’d like to thank those who’ve really been a help to me on the field, since coming to UWM. Firstly, I must thank and old coach of mine, Bob Spielmann. Coach Spielmann was the person to pull the trigger on bringing me to UWM. He convinced me that it was the right place for me to come, and regardless of spending such a short time together at UWM; I’m not foolish enough to forget the thanks owed to him for the opportunity he gave me. I’d also like to thank Chris Dadaian for his positive influence for my first two seasons at UWM. Without him being around, I’m sure that I would have walked out. But most importantly, I’d like to thank the new coaching staff that arrived for my last year of soccer: head coach Chris Whalley, and assistants Ben Shepherd and Kyle Zenoni.

A complete change-up was exactly what not only the current players needed, but the program overall. I still have my notes from our interview with Coach Whalley when he was applying for the job and the things that I wrote down that impressed me the most were his blunt honesty and ambition. I could tell right away that this would be a completely different approach from those in the past. Despite watching all of our game film from the previous year, he gave us all a clean slate-which is what I have to thank him for the most. It could have been so easy to walk into his new job with approach of giving up on the upper-classmen and focusing on the future with younger players and the players that he’d eventually be bringing in himself.

Instead of hearing, “you’re not one of my guys, I didn’t recruit you here,” which is something I had heard in the past, it was “I’m going to play the players who give me the best chance at winning the game”. I felt like I finally had something to play for again and it was a huge lift to have a coach who had your back; shouldering the responsibility when we lost, and diverting the acclaim to us when we won.

Furthermore, I’m thankful for Coach Shepherd as well for everything he brought to the team/program as well. Coming in at half time and to training sessions following games, he’d always have great insight for us players. You can really tell he has a great knowledge of the game, because when he speaks, he doesn’t usually say a lot, but the substance of those few words means more than a coach who just talks your ear off. Last, but not least, a big thanks goes out to Coach Zenoni. I’ve known Z a long time and I know there’s nobody more deserving of a coaching position at UWM than him. Nobody cares about the UWM Men’s Soccer program more than Kyle Zenoni.

When he had just finished his collegiate career, he was helping out with my club team as a favor to a skill coach of ours, Jerry Panek. Seeing first hand, what the next level demanded to be successful was extremely helpful for me and I had never forgot the advice he gave me when I asked for help about reaching my goals of getting there. His incredible work ethic, no matter if he was doing something that will continue to aid the program in the future.

Lastly, I have some people to thank who were there from the beginning ... my family-not only my parents, but sisters and brother as well. I remember bothering both of my older sisters from day one and wouldn’t be who I was without them. My brother John also gave me somebody who made me feel responsible for being a role model-the verdicts still out on how I’ve done there I suppose! Then come my parents ... although we butted heads for much of high school, I can’t begin to thank them enough. Always encouraging me to follow my dreams, despite disagreeing at times the right way to achieve them, their support was paramount. And despite those disagreements on the right path, my mom has always backed and fought for me through everything; which can make all the difference. And then there’s my dad who has been the ultimate role model for me. Not only on the field, but also off. I know that if I become half the man he is, I’ll be more than content.

Well, that’s a wrap. Thanks for joining me through my final season here at UWM. Hopefully, if anything it was a good read and somewhat insightful to boot. Cheers.

Joga Bonito

On to the Postseason...

2010-11-09T10:27:00.001-08:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 12th blog entry.

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Following our win over Wright state, we had finally reached the last week of the regular season. On our plate last week was NIU for the Lewang Trophy and nationally-ranked Michigan State.

Knowing we had qualified for the conference tournament definitely put our minds at ease and we started the week off with some much needed recuperation and refocusing.

Heading into the NIU game, we knew that it was much needed that we rest some regular starters in preparation for our conference quarterfinal game the upcoming Tuesday. Unfortunately, similarly to the UW game, we seemed to lack a little bit of focus going into the match. I’m not sure if it was that we were already looking forward to the Horizon League tournament or if it was just one of those nights, but we fell behind quickly Thursday night. Luckily, Cody Banks was on hand to help level the scores midway through the second half, outworking his defender to latch on to Andrew Wiedabach’s through-ball and delicately chip the defender with his left foot for his second goal of the season. Much to our dismay, we fell behind yet again right before half time as the Huskies scored on a direct free-kick from the top of the box.

Although we had been playing well, once again we were behind due to silly defensive mistakes. Unfortunately, this time we didn’t have the great second half we’re used to. It just all fell apart and we ended up losing the game by a lopsided score despite playing some decent soccer at times. Our lack of defensive sharpness and clinical finishing was once again our downfall.

Luckily for us, Saturday was a quick turnaround and we had a top-level opponent to play against. The Spartans of Michigan State had been ranked in the top 10 of the country for most of the year and we knew we were in for a tough challenge. We held tough for the first 40 minutes or so before we went behind 1-0 on yet another set piece goal.

However, this time we didn’t implode and came out in the second half with a renewed vigor and really took the game to MSU. Despite completely dominating the second half, it looked as though we were about to finish our regular season on a sour note. We just couldn’t seem to find the back of the net, until a nice combination of flicks from Tony Maxey and Abe Gibbons found Greg Rosenthal at the far post. Finally, Rosie dispatched the ball into the back of the net with an acrobatic finish, pushing the match into extra time.

You could tell Michigan State was really on their heels and we continued to surge forward in the extra periods. Despite a number of chances, the winning goal eluded us on the day and we finished with a draw.

Later Saturday night, we discovered our fate for Tuesday night’s match. We will be taking on the Loyola Ramblers, at Loyola, kicking off at 7 p.m. On paper it’s a great draw for us, as we’ve already won there before this season, but anything can happen in the conference tournament.

If you have the night off and are looking for something to do, make the reasonable trek down to Chicago and cheer us on in our aim to head to Butler for the conference semifinals and finals.

Today, I just want to go ahead and give some much needed mention to my fellow seniors for going through the roller coaster of a career with me. Although there was only four of us mentioned on Senior Day, my opinion of the senior class includes those who came in with me my freshman year too. This includes Pedro Mejia, Robert Refai, Abe Gibbons, Greg Rosenthal, Aaron Gibbons and then more recently Sol Caceres.

I remember when I first committed to UWM; I was talking to my dad about his experience in college athletics. He told me that by the time my senior season rolled around only a handful at best of my incoming recruiting class would remain. He explained the numerous reasons for why people drop-off along the way: coaching changes, homesickness, academic struggles, the super competitive environment, drinking/drug trouble and more. Even though I could understand all of that, I couldn’t believe that somebody would allow any of that result in throwing away his or her chance at a four-year career.

Soon enough he was proved right though. People had dropped off before our freshman season even began and by the end of freshman year, nearly half of our freshman class was gone. That’s not to say I wasn’t tempted to do the same however. I had never imagined losing the will to show up at practice and to fight for our school out on the field, but slowly but surely it began to happen. The every day grind was starting to take it’s toll, along with a couple of disheartening losing seasons, increasing school load, and a growing contagious case of player discontent.

By the time I found out a shot at a fresh start was in front of me, there was still a doubt of whether I thought it was really worth it to come back for another year. However, the aforementioned senior class was a big reason why I decided to stick it out for another year. When you’re in the trenches with somebody day after day, not only do you become pretty close with people, but you also begin to feel a sense of responsibility with them; a responsibility to show up every day and put in the hard work, because they’re doing the exact same thing for you.

So in the end, not only was I coming back for my final season for me, but also for the rest of the guys that I had spent so much time working towards the same goals with. I honestly wouldn’t have made it through this four years without them, so my full-hearted thanks goes out to Abe, Aaron, Dro, Robert, Rosie and Sol for making the journey with me.

Joga Bonito

November Already?!?

2010-11-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 11th blog entry.

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Following defeat to UIC, we headed into this week with a midweek rivalry game and a must-win conference battle on Saturday night. There wasn’t much time to get working on things between games and it was more of a battle to get recovered and refreshed in time for the next game.

Heading into our game against UW, we knew that once again we’d have to rest some key players. Tony Maxey was rested due to injury and starting forward and leading point getter, Andrew Wiedabach, was left off the game roster. We headed into Madison Wednesday afternoon and by the time the game rolled around it was completely dark, dropping to frigid temperatures, all topped off by some of the strongest winds since I’ve been at UWM.

We started the game poorly and fell victim to two quick-fire counterattack goals as a result of careless turnovers in the midfield. The second half brought about a more spirited performance, but we left Madison knowing we missed a great chance to improve our record and restore some in-state dominance over the Badgers.

Following a silent bus ride back, we spent a little time in the locker room regrouping and refocusing on what’s rest of the season. Wright State became the sole focus for us and everybody knew that we had to win in order to confidently clinch a spot in the conference tournament following regular season play. For the returning players, we felt there was definitely some unfinished business with Wright State after playing to only a draw there last fall. We decided to start the game pressing them high up on the field Saturday night to make sure we came out and started the game well and the match couldn’t have started better for us. We were ahead 1-0 in a record time of around 1 minute and 16 seconds through some smooth interplay from Cody Banks and Andrew, leading to a find 1 v. 1 finish against the goalkeeper from Jordan Record.

We dominated the rest of the half and had some good chances to bury the game, but went into the locker room at 1-0 at half time. Unfortunately, it seemed as if though we let our foot off the gas in the second half and we were forced to grind out the rest of the game. However, when the final whistle blew, the scoreboard read 1-0 for Milwaukee and a win is a win. By the time we regrouped in the locker room, we found out we had punched our ticket into the postseason and were able to celebrate Halloween feeling at ease with our immediate future.

I personally spent my Halloween night out with some of the guys on the team and my girlfriend and I thought I’d attach a picture of myself and some of the guys in their respective outfits.

This week my thanks goes to all the Super Fans that come to all the games and get behind our team and heckle our opponents. This group, led by Jimmy Lemke, has been a mainstay at all home games and also a lot of away games throughout my career and their support goes largely unmentioned. It takes a lot to convince yourself to get bundled up on a Saturday night and bypass parties and local bars to come support your school’s team, but for us players it really gives us an added motivation.

Knowing that your student body is behind you is a huge confidence boost and it felt great to clinch our conference tournament berth in front of them. Thanks again and hopefully we’ll be able to get a conference tournament game at home sometime soon.

Joga Bonito

Closing Out October

2010-10-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 10th blog entry.

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Last Saturday night’s win over Loyola was a great win, but following a day off on Sunday, we had a quick turnaround for a midweek game at Oakland in Michigan on Wednesday afternoon. Our team had suffered a couple knocks, so myself and Tony Maxey were unavailable to travel, plus a lot of other players traveling were definitely struggling a bit going into the match. No matter how much work you put into your fitness and physical well being during the season, once October rolls around, the injuries tend to start mounting up. The college soccer season isn’t necessarily very long, but it’s a lot of games, backed into a short bit of time.

Thankfully, we were able to grab an early lead and boss the game, allowing some players to get some much needed rest during the match and pulled out a 2-0 result against a tough non-conference team. Despite not being there to see it, Andrew Wiedabach was the man of the match setting up our first goal to Rexy (Jordan Record) and personally supplying the insurance goal later in the game. Also, John Shakon provided some fine goalkeeping; coming up with a lot of crucial interventions which prevented a shift in the tides during the match.

Once again, Saturday was another quick turnaround. UIC has been a quality opponent that we just haven’t been able to beat since I’ve been here at UWM. They’re a side predicated on keeping possession and sitting deep behind the ball when defending. We felt pretty confident going into the game though, on the heels of a two-game winning streak. Personally, I was excited for us to get back on our home field and excited about getting back from injury. No matter how hard the work is in practice, it’s always worth it in the end when you get to play the games and there’s nothing worse than having to sit out.

The game started somewhat slowly as both teams seemed to be undergoing a bit of a feeling out process of one another. We had a couple half-chances, but went into half-time level at 0-0. Once again, we talked about how we just knew it was a matter of raising our own level and working harder to get the job done. We spent the entire second half taking the game to them. We dominated the possession, shots, shots on goal, and corners, but just couldn’t find the game winner.

Before we knew it, 90 minutes was up and overtime was beckoning. Having just won our last conference game in overtime, it was just a matter of converting one chance to put it away and clinch a berth in the conference tournament. Unfortunately, we squandered a couple golden chances and were left made to pay as our back-line dropped too far off of their striker and he converted a bending shot to win the game off of the near post.

For not the first time, we were left to look back on a game knowing we thoroughly outplayed our opponents, but dropped the result. Perhaps we’re still lacking a bit of that winning mentality. It always seems like there’s so little that divides teams in sports, but that little bit that separates the losers from the winners proves to be paramount in the end. We’ve come a long way since the 0-8 start my freshman year, but change always takes time.

Unfortunately, for myself and the other seniors, we’re rapidly running out of that. The biggest positive for us is that there are still games to play. We get another chance at in-state rivals UW-Madison on Wednesday followed by a HUGE last conference match-up against Wright State. Luckily, we’ll be playing at home and they’ll be forced to travel all the way from Ohio to play us.

So if I could please just ask one favor of the fans: please come out this upcoming Saturday night, October 30th, to support us against the Raiders of Wright State at 7 p.m. on Engelmann Field.

This week, I want to thank not only our athletic training staff, headed by John Ochsenwald, but also PT Calvin Deutsch for helping me get back and playing so quickly. It really took a cooperative effort to get me back playing so fast from my ankle injury and if Calvin hadn’t taken time out of his busy schedule to help me out, there’s no way I would’ve been on the field against UIC. For an aspiring physical therapist and an obsessed soccer fan, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to be helping me out. Just for kicks, I’m attaching a couple of pictures of what super swollen sprained ankle looks like.

The first one is of it just looking fat as can be and the other is after compressing it for a couple of hours with a horse-shoe shaped pad to attempt to push some of the swelling out of that area. Well, not to let Ashy down, until next week’s post…

Joga Bonito

P.S. Ashy-how does it feel to finally win, yet still be mired in the relegation zone? ALLEZ ARSENAL!!!

Overtime Again?!?

2010-10-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his ninth blog entry.

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Following the gut-wrenching loss to Green Bay, when Monday rolled around we knew it was time to brush ourselves off and get back to work. A good week of practice followed and we went into Saturday night’s match against Loyola feeling confident about getting back to a .500 record in Horizon League play.

The game started slow for us again, which unfortunately seems to be becoming a habit of ours. However, we got into halftime level at 0-0 and knew that we could make amends in the second half. As Coach Shepherd put it, “a couple weeks from now, nobody’s going to remember the bad first 45 minutes once we win the game in the second half.”

Starting the half with that attitude, we began to take the game to the Ramblers. Although we didn’t get a goal in regular time, we felt that we were really knocking on the door going into extra time. Finally with only about a minutes time to spare, freshman Riley Weiner used some intelligent skill on the ball to jink his way past a couple defenders at the top of the box and slotted the ball far-post and into the back of the net.

Our bench exploded onto the field in a similar fashion as we did after Robbie Boyd’s winner at Valpo earlier in the season. Personally, I fell off the bench as I kind of forgot about the fact that I was icing an injured ankle at the time, but the pain and embarrassment was worth it when getting to celebrate with the rest of the team on their field.

Once again we proved to not only ourselves but the rest of the league that in any given game, against any given team, we’re definitely a squad to be reckoned with and that the goal can come from anywhere. Furthermore, we have two conference home games to look forward to in our attempt to break into the upper echelon of the league. We’ll hope to carry this momentum forward when we face Oakland in a tough non-conference match-up on Wednesday and then UIC at home on Saturday night.

This week I just want to thank the traveling fans that have made our seemingly never-ending road games a lot easier. But in particular, I want to thank one fan who made it down this weekend that’s been not only one of the soccer team’s biggest fans, but a fan of all of the sports here at UWM: Michael Poll. If you don’t know Mike, you’re really missing out. He’s a ubiquitous presence on campus and his unwavering support towards all athletes at UWM is a huge lift. He’s one of the loudest fans at games, which really boosts your morale when you’re playing in the game.

So whether he’s shooting hoops at the Klotchke, wooing some ladies around campus, or coming into the locker room to give us the latest run-down on his latest travels of the day, Michael never fails to put a smile on your face and is truly the best 12th man we could ever have. Cheers Mike! Until next week,

Joga Bonito

The New Home Field is Ready

2010-10-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his eighth blog entry.

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Upon arriving back from Cleveland State, a sweet reward was waiting for us; a newly finished Engelmann Field. That meant we could spend our entire week practicing on campus for the first time since I’ve been at UWM. It was a great way to start preparing for one of the biggest games of the season against Green Bay.

Throughout the week we got a good chance to get a feel for the new turf field and it really is the best artificial surface I’ve ever played on. I was never a big fan of turf and was really disappointed when I first found out that Engelmann would be undergoing the switch, but I’m slowly warming up to it now.

I think a big part of that has to do with the fact that UWM went out and found the best possible surface for us to get, leaving us with a FIFA approved field, the only one of it’s kind in all of North America. Not only will this provide us with a more convenient practice location, but it will also allow us to increase the amount of playing on our home field, allow for less maintenance costs, allow us to schedule classes closer to training times, increase campus awareness of the team and even allow us to use it as a recruiting tool when showing it to potential incoming recruits. All in all, the field looks great, plays great and is definitely a positive addition to UWM Soccer.

However, that wasn’t the only exciting new development for the soccer program this week. We underwent some human performance tests this week measuring our heart rate, oxygen consumption, lactate levels, etc., and will begin to start wearing heart rate monitors during training this fall. Why is this exciting or important you might ask? Well, now during practice our coaches can have an idea of how hard they’re pushing us and whether we need to scale our practices down, increase the intensity, or continue as we are. The human body is an amazing thing and to be able to have the opportunity to use such advanced equipment will definitely only benefit our team.

Going into Saturday’s game we spent a lot of time at practice focusing on keeping our tempo high on offense and moving the ball a lot all around the field when in possession. Against Cleveland State we had a lot of success when we limited our touches and worked the ball around, ultimately tiring them out, allowing us to score the game winner in overtime. Furthermore, we knew Green Bay was a quality side, possessing a true match-winner in the form of All-American JC Banks.

We went into the game knowing that if we played our game well, we could get a positive result, so we were really confident going into our first home game Saturday night. Saturday was a beautiful day and come 7 p.m., there was a huge crowd, clear skies and an overall electric atmosphere.

We started the game with a lot of desire, but spent the majority of the first half playing far too direct and found ourselves heading into the locker room down 1-0 off of a goal from JC following a corner. We didn’t stay with our marks and really only had ourselves to blame. We weren’t ready to throw in the towel however, and after a productive half-time talk, we came out playing our soccer in the second half.

Much more passing and movement on the ball resulted in a much-deserved equalizer not too long into the half. I was able to cut inside of my defender on the left side, slide in a cross to Andrew Wiedabach, who flicked it on for Cody Banks to stab home from the six-yard box. It was a great goal and we really started to feel the momentum turn for us. Unfortunately, late in the second half, we were reduced to ten men. Freshman defender James Ashcroft was ruled to have taken down JC Banks as the last defender and shown a red card for his offense. It looked to me like minimal contact, but JC went down leaving the ref with a game-changing decision to make.

Much to our dismay, he went straight into his pocket for the red and we found ourselves at a numerical disadvantage. We made it to overtime at 1-1 and decided we weren’t going to let the numbers game hold us back and vowed to continue attacking when possible, because we knew only a win would get us the Chancellor's Cup back. We created the most dangerous of the chances in overtime, but a mistake in the back allowed JC to slip in his second goal of the match, ending the game in the second overtime.

It was a tough result to handle, as we had put so much into the game, dominated the second half, and then lost in front of our home crowd, on a play we could have prevented. It just goes to show that you have to be mentally switched on to play a full 90, and sometimes 110 minutes if you’re going to succeed at this level. It’s something we’re still working on and will continue to do for the rest of the season.

Fortunately, now we have a week to recover and regroup before heading to Loyola this Saturday night with a chance to get back in the win column.

For this week, I want to make sure to thank all of those supporting us in the Athletic Department at UWM. This includes Kathy Litzau, Tom Vollman, Kevin Fitzgerald, Chris Zills, as well as former Athletic Director George Koonce and the many more that I might be forgetting to mention. The first three years here for me was a bit of a mess at times, but when the Athletic Department stepped in and brought us an excellent new coaching staff and a brand new state of the art field, it really showed us players their commitment to making UWM Men’s soccer something that we’d be proud to be a part of. I know that the program is only going to continue to improve from now on and I just wanted to make sure to thank all of those who have and continue to play a huge part in that.

A Return to Engelmann Awaits...

2010-10-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his seventh blog entry.

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Our second week of Horizon League play brought the dreaded bus rides from Milwaukee to Detroit, Detroit to Cleveland and then from Cleveland back to Milwaukee. They were two winnable conference games to elevate our status in the league. Following our loss to Butler, we talked about needing to cut out needless mistakes in the back and provide more clinical finishing up front. Training was pretty good throughout the week and we left Milwaukee on Thursday afternoon feeling confident about our chances of collecting six points from the weekend.

If you’ve never been to Detroit, let me save you the trip and let you know right now it’s nothing to write home about. Hit hard by the recession, there were tons of empty buildings without businesses to fill them. At one point Rosie counted a liquor store on 10 straight blocks. Going into the match we knew Detroit was a hard working team who looked to make up for a lack of talent with an abundance of fight. The game started flat from both teams and another costly mistake in the back saw us head into half time 1-0 down.

The coaching staff obviously wasn’t pleased and we headed into the second half with 45 minutes to rescue the game. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes into the second half we found ourselves down 2-0 and in a bit of disbelief. Finally, the fight kicked in and we started playing like the team we are. We pulled a goal back via Tony Maxey’s fine header off of a nicely struck free kick from Ross. However, it was too little too late. We couldn’t find an equalizer despite a couple of great chances and could only blame ourselves when the final whistle blew.

The type of urgency we showed towards the end of the game is the type of energy we need to bring at the beginning of the games, not just when falling behind a goal or two. The only positive was that we knew we had another game just two days later to make amends for such a poor showing. We hopped on the bus and headed to Cleveland.

Saturday was spent recovering and focusing on what we needed to do better. A pool workout in the morning was followed by some tactics talk in the meeting room of the hotel. We didn’t focus too much on what Cleveland State would be bringing on Sunday, because we knew that as long as we do what we do well, the rest would take care of itself.

Following dinner that night, we went as a team to see the film The Social Network. Being an admittedly avid facebook user myself, it was a pretty interesting movie and a good alternative to spending the night sitting in our hotel rooms watching bad television.

On Sunday we packed up all of our stuff and got on the bus for our game against CSU. A much better start by us had CSU on the defensive from the beginning. We spent almost the entire first half in their end and it felt like it was only a matter of time before we scored. The Vikings provided a couple of scares on some counter attacks, but we were definitely in the driver’s seat. The second half was more of the same.

I remember specifically a 15-minute period, or so, where it’s hard to remember our opponents possessing the ball at all. Yet we still couldn’t find a goal, so we headed back towards our respective benches after 90 minutes squared at 0-0. In the first period of overtime, Andrew turned his defender nicely and got down the end line, pulling back the ball to Jordan Record, only for him to send his shot just high. We believed, though, and went into the second overtime just as confident about scoring the game-winning goal.

Finally we reaped our reward for our dominance in the game when Ross chipped a ball across the box to me and I squared it for Rexy (Jordan Record) to tap-in for the victory. Knowing that we ended their 17 game home-unbeaten streak made it all that much sweeter. Although we only came away with three of the six possible points for the weekend, it was a good way to end the weekend and definitely made the long ride home more bearable.

Sitting at 3-5-2 (2-2-0 in conference) might not be what we were aiming for, but if you consider that we have yet to play a real home game this season, it’s not all bad. We’ve already equaled our wins total from last season, so now it’s all about continuing to show how far we’ve come from last year. We’ll be looking to continue doing so come next Saturday, October 9. We take on UW-Green Bay at 7 p.m. at the newly-redone Engelmann field for our real home opener. We’ll be counting on a lot of fans to come out and support us as we look to start a little momentum within the Horizon League.

This week my thank you is for our Athletic Trainer John Ochsenwald. Not only has he provided me with tons of assistance via treatment, but also he’s been the one constant positive staff member throughout my career at UWM. Every season is a grind physically, but the mental and emotional tax can be the greatest. Having a staff member who constantly has your best interests in mind can make all the difference. The training room is somewhat of a safe haven at Engelmann, where you can go to get away from the stress and enjoy a laugh with John and fellow players. I can honestly say that if it weren’t for his positive influence, myself and the other seniors probably would not have made it through the past three years. Thus, whether it’s joking around with him in the back of the bus on a long road trip or trying to figure out the best way to get you back on the field after an injury, either way you know he’s got your back. So here’s to you “Ox”!

Until next time,

Joga Bonito

League Play Begins...

2010-09-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his sixth blog entry.

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Riding the momentum of our encouraging tie against San Diego State, we went into training feeling confident, but still with much to prove. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to pull of a tie against a top-quality team, but winning is the motivation behind all the hard work we put in. We know we can play quality, attractive soccer with the best of them, but there comes a point where everyone needs to see results, which is exactly what was on the agenda for us at Valparaiso Friday night.

The start of conference play is similar to starting a new season. There’s a renewed buzz of excitement overtaking the teams as you’ve followed other conference teams results so far, but now there’s finally a chance to get a look first hand. Going into the game on Friday, Valpo was undefeated and had only conceded one goal in six games. Instead of fearing their regional ranking, we knew it was a golden opportunity to get off on the right foot in Horizon League play.

We started the game with a long spell of possession and within the first 10 minutes we were ahead 1-0 courtesy of a teasing delivery from Ross van Osdol from a set piece, finished superbly by Greg Rosenthal via his head. Our confidence was high and we all felt Valpo was probably considering themselves lucky to hear the half-time whistle with the scoreboard at only 1-0. About 13 minutes into the second half however, Valpo struck back. A through ball caught us exposed at the back and Bryce Boyd had no chance but to take their striker out in the area on a breakaway. The Crusaders tied it up 1-1 on the resulting penalty kick and the real battle began.

From then on was a perfect example of a typical conference game. End to end soccer, which was only intensified with some fireworks going off in the near distance. We ended regulation at 1-1, but all believed we’d be grabbing our first conference ‘W’ in the overtime. Robbie Boyd was the man to deliver some fireworks of his own towards the end of the first overtime. A great ball from Ryan Whitehead found him in the corner, with two defenders closing in. He somehow turned the corner and despite my pleas with him from the sideline to go down, he carried a defender on his back for a couple yards before blasting a left footed shot below last year's Conference Goalkeeper of the year. Our sideline exploded, with Coach Shepherd leading the charge, nothing felt better than celebrating our first conference win, on their field, especially following some unfortunate events that unfolded last year at the same location in the conference tournament.

Saturday brought a recovery day and more English Premier League action. Unfortunately, Arsenal chose to turn in an uninspired performance resulting in a home loss to West Brom. Without Cesc Fabregas, they looked a bit lost and lacking leadership and focus on the field against a lesser opponent. Time will tell if it will prove costly, but this is the type of game Champions win, especially considering Chelsea’s shock loss to Man City earlier that morning. Thankfully, Man United also drew, keeping Arsenal near the top of the table with a lot of football left to be played.

Butler came to town on Sunday, boasting an undefeated record and a national ranking of No. 17. We played at nearby Concordia, due to Engelmann’s lack of a finished playing surface. It wasn’t an ideal first home game, but it was nice to travel to a field within half an hour van ride.

We started the game a little bit slow, but ended the first half feeling the dominant of the two sides. Andrew had a brilliant chipped goal called back due to a dubious offside call and Butler’s opportunities were few and far between. They seemed content to settle for long throws and corner kicks, while we were trying to get the ball down and play. Early in the second half we paid the price for not having put away any of our chances in the first 45 minutes and coming out flat after half time. A set piece was the result of their first goal and a penalty kick provided their insurance goal. We spent the remaining 25 minutes of the half chasing the game, but in the end we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.

It was a frustrating way to end the weekend, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes. We left the game knowing we can play with and beat them, yet there’s plenty reasons why they’ve started the season so well. We still need to be more ruthless in front of the goal and translate our dominating possession and play into more goals and wins. All in all, it was still an acceptable start to conference play and we’ll be headed into our road trip to Detroit and Cleveland State next weekend with two wins on our mind.

For this weeks shout-out, I’d like to give a big thanks to all of you who made it out to our game Sunday and those who made the trek down to Valley Fields for our game against Marquette on September 1st. Although neither have been real home games, all of the fans who have come out to support us have made it feel like it. Although I spend the majority of the game tuned out from the crowd, there’s something special about when it’s late in the game and you’re chasing after a 50/50 ball with your opponent and you can hear your fans cheering your name. I really hope that what we do on the field can continue to warrant such support from you and that you’ll all feel implored to continue to come out and cheer us on. Engelmann Field should be done and ready come October 9th when we take on UW-Green Bay for the Chancellor’s Cup at our real home opener and we’re hoping for another electric atmosphere come kickoff. Until next time,

Joga Bonito

Home Sweet Home...

2010-09-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his fifth blog entry.

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Following our trip to the East Coast, we knew were still in for a rough couple of games as we hit the road again to IPFW, Madison and then Valpo before getting a home game. Things didn’t exactly get going on the right foot at IPFW and we lost a game to a team we should have been able to play off the pitch. It was a physical, ugly game and a towering header from their center forward proved the difference in the match.

The one pro of the trip was to see a familiar face in Fort Wayne. A fellow senior from my incoming class at UWM, Raphy Martinez, now plays there and despite the loss and him not being able to play because of injury, it was good to see an old friend.

We immediately put the game behind us and started focusing on what was ahead: Madison’s tournament. Madison’s tournament has brought mixed results for us in the past, but what we knew for certain was there would be two quality opponents waiting for us. Friday’s match against Dayton was one of those games where you’re doing everything right, but you just can’t quite get a finished product. We started the game on our front foot and really had the Flyers pinned back for the opening 20 minutes, but one costly defensive error accounted for another goal against and we found ourselves behind again. We knew it was an uphill battle from there, but we continued to play our brand of soccer and felt like we were knocking on the door before an unfortunate drop of the ball gifted Dayton the insurance goal they were looking for. For the rest of the game we attacked and attacked, but the final ball just wasn’t there. Our service was not good enough or when it was, the finishing wasn’t there to match it. The game ended at 2-0 and with a sour tastes in our mouths once again.

Saturday was all about recovering and refocusing. We went to the Union for some bowling to take our minds off the rough stretch we were enduring. It was a good way to relax and have some fun again. Andrew Wiedabach was the bowler of the day, bowling something like six strikes in a row at one point. He finished somewhere in the 200’s, but I have to make sure you all know I was a close 2nd-coming in at 187. I’ve attached a picture, but my phone’s camera doesn’t really do it justice.

Sunday was all about just going out and enjoying ourselves on the field. We talked about how we know we’re a talented team and that even the best teams go through ebbs and flows during seasons, it’s just about believing in what you’re doing out on the field. San Diego State came into the game receiving votes in the national polls and figured to be the best team we’ve played so far this season. Once again however, we started quick. Yet this time our fast start came with reward; not long into the game we found ourselves up 1-0 off of some slick wing interplay between Cody and Rosie, leading to a cross and class finish by Weedy. SDSU is a tough team though and we knew they’d have a rebuttal. Unfortunately, we conceded off of a corner in the dying minutes of the first half to even things up.

Still, as the game progressed we continued to believe and it seemed as if though it had finally paid off when we were awarded a penalty kick in the second overtime after Weedy was fouled in the box. The build-up to the play was perfect soccer; intricate, penetrating passing, leaving the keeper no choice but to take Andrew down in the penalty area. Much to our dismay, the crossbar denied Cody’s penalty and we were left with a draw at the final whistle.

It’s frustrating, because I thought their keeper should have been sent-off and you never know what would have happened had another keeper had to come in cold from the bench for that shot. Their keeper was the last man back and he fouled Andrew, denying a goal-scoring opportunity, which in the laws of the game calls for a red card ... but hey, that’s officiating for you, right? You love it when a ref makes a mistake for you and hate them when they get something wrong. All in all, it was an encouraging weekend for us. We put an end to a losing streak and have started to produce the best soccer yet this season.

This week brings the start of the conference season for us and we’re chomping at the bit to get after it. Friday is all about unfinished business in Valpo; followed by a chance to give Butler it’s first loss of the season. The slates are wiped clean and we have a real chance at making some noise.

This week I just want to take a moment to thank the Sweeney family. They were the people to introduce me to competitive soccer and provided me with countless rides along the way. A great family and great soccer people, thanks John-O, Barb, Danny, Mikes, Thomas, and of course Maggie. Until next time…

Joga Bonito

Back to Business...

2010-09-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his fourth blog entry.

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From the beaches on the East Coast, we headed back to classrooms on the East Side. A week off of games gave us plenty of time to recover and prepare for the upcoming week of action. In the classroom, it was a bit of a wake-up call as professors doled out the first homework assignments. Personally, I’m still struggling to remember my schedule and find my self constantly pulling out my laptop to check where I need to be and when.

It was a good week of practice though. We got a chance to talk over what went right and wrong during the weekend and trained accordingly. This week called for a heavy dose of crossing and finishing drills and some conditioning. For me, there’s nothing better. As a winger, it’s what I do every game, so the opportunity to fine-tune my game is always a plus.

On Friday night, a lot of us players got to head to Pantherfest for the first time. Since I’ve been at UWM, we always missed it due to having games, so it was a pretty cool experience. The Marcus Amphitheater was packed and the performances were pretty cool. I’m not a huge fan of the type of music that went down in the first act, but seeing Kid Cudi perform was sweet. I saw him at the Rave last winter and he did a lot of music off his new album, so that was a good change of pace.

The one good part about school starting is that it’s soccer season in Europe as well. So on Saturday’s, I spend about as much time as the typical American spends watching college football watching soccer games played in England’s Premier League and Italy’s Serie A. Thankfully Fox Soccer Channel was broadcasting Arsenal’s game this week, so I got a chance to watch my favorite club simply outclass Bolton Wanderers in a 4-1 thrashing. They’re only two points off of the leaders Chelsea, so this season looks promising. Something that made me even happier was to watch the other so called title contenders: Man United, Tottenham and Man City, all tie. Every season everybody says that Arsenal will be the team knocked out of the "Big 4" because they don’t spend a lot of money, but it just goes to show you that money doesn’t always buy success.

Going into this next week of games, I’m feeling pretty good about our chances. Tuesday will give us a good chance to test ourselves on the road again against IPFW and the Madison Tournament is always a good acid test for where your team stands going into conference play. Hopefully we’ll come away with three wins this week and be going into Horizon League play on a high. Furthermore, they got a new layer down on the turf field this past week at Engelmann, so hopefully come September 26 we’ll have a brand new field to play on in front of all our fans against defending regular-season champs Butler.

To finish this entry off, I’ve decided to start throwing in some thank you’s to the people who’ve helped me get to where I am today, whether they read this or not. Tonight I just want to give a shout-out to a lot of former Panthers who helped me make it through some of the tougher times. So a big-ups goes to Kenny Ogorzalek, Elliott Dunn, Calvin Mai, Van Hong, Evan Bartzis and Sam Alexander. With the amount of time you spend with your team, it’s not hard to believe that some of your teammates become your better friends, so here’s to those of mine who’ve since graduated or moved on to other schools. Until next week,

Joga Bonito

On to the East Coast...

2010-09-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his third blog entry.

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Giving up your social life, pushing through that last set of sprints, fighting through injuries and overall body pain ... it’s all worth it when you win. And since I’ve been at UWM, I’ve never enjoyed a win quite like our dominant 4-2 win over Marquette last Wednesday.

It was a perfect night to play; it was as if the rain gods knew we had an important game to play as the stormy weather we had been experiencing transformed into a beautiful evening. Just warming up you could feel the heightened atmosphere from our other exhibition games so far. Not only was this our regular season opener, but also it was against our cross-town rivals; fighting for the bragging rights of Milwaukee.

We started the game well and it felt like it was only a matter of time until we scored. We just kept throwing attack after attack at Marquette as they resorted to booting hopeful long balls to their center forwards. Finally a fine passing combination from Robert Jarosz and Cody Banks slotted Andrew Wiedabach through into the box. He brushed off the center back and made no mistake with a clinical left-footed finish at the keepers near post. Our players exploded, it felt as if there was no way we could lose. Even though we made a silly mistake at the end of the first half, allowing Marquette an equalizer, it never felt as if the game was out of our hands. We survived a bit of a scare with a Marquette shot off the post, but a moment of brilliance from Ross Van Osdol put us back on top. After receiving the ball just inside of midfield, he surveyed his options and saw nobody was on him, took a touch and let fly from about 30 yards out, putting it in off the upright.

The Marquette fans who had finally come to life following their tying goal in the first half were stunned silent. Two late goals from Edison Crespo were just the icing on the cake as he showed composure beyond his years to land us the Milwaukee Cup. As the final whistle blew, I can’t even describe the emotions that went through me. I just wanted to soak it all in. I’ve been here, putting so much work in with the other seniors since our freshman year, yet we had never won like this. I was overjoyed, yet on the verge of tears at the same time. In front of my city, it finally went like it was supposed to; Milwaukee was the best team in town.

Waking up on Thursday morning was pretty brutal. Class started for the semester and it really hit me by surprise. For so long, all we had been doing was soccer-related and now the school year began. We had a light practice, mostly focused on getting our bodies recovered. We knew we had to start looking forward to the weekend.

Friday morning we all gathered at Engelmann at 5:30 a.m. to catch an early flight out to New Hampshire. We lucked out as Hurricane Earl decided to hold off until after we landed in Boston. An hour drive to New Hampshire awaited us and all I could think about was getting into our hotel beds when we finally arrived at our Hampton Inn. Following a much-needed nap, we drove a couple minutes to the University of New Hampshire to get in a light practice on their game field. What awaited us there was quite a surprise; a very odd turf field. It was really spongy, short, and had faint dark blue lines for soccer.

Saturday, during the day, we went as a team to go mini-golfing. It was a great time and a good way to get loose and relaxed before our first game vs. University of New Hampshire. All of my memories of mini-golf as a kid involved a lot of fighting and ended in tears with my family. I grew up in a pretty competitive family where we fought to the death over everything, whether it was the first one into the car or who could drink their milk the fastest. Saturday night was our first game and it was definitely a battle. UNH was a very physical team, similar to Marquette, but probably better at it. They put us under pressure every time we had the ball and it took us awhile to get going. Eventually we fashioned some pretty good chances, but in the end we tied 0-0.

Sunday was a recovery day and we went pretty light at training. We also took a trip to the beach, which was a fun change of pace and went out to eat for a good dinner. Monday morning we woke up early and took on Vermont in our final game of the tournament. It was another hard-fought battle and we went down early due to some mental errors. However, Weedy got us back into it with an awesome goal and we had the run of play for most of the first half. Eventually we went to overtime and lost on another set piece. It was definitely disappointing, but during the season you have to move on and start getting ready for the next game. So that’s what we’ll do, we’ll get back to Milwaukee and start gearing up for IPFW a week from this Wednesday. Until next time,

Joga Bonito

Game Day is Here!

2010-09-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his second blog entry.

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As we creep closer and closer to September 1st, the anticipation is definitely growing. Since my last post, we started Coaches Preseason and the three-a-days have now come and gone. Having only done two-a-days in the past, this preseason has really been a full emersion of soccer.

Each morning begins with the alarm going off and wondering where the night went. Following that, you crawl out of bed and make your way over to Engelmann, where the coaches have provided us with some light breakfast food to get you through the morning session. The potential treatment session with our head trainer John Ochsenwald is thrown in there too before you even get underway with any soccer. A short jog over to Shorewood High School around 9:30am gets your legs warmed and we usually the next hour and a half is spent refining the technical aspects to our game. Crossing, finishing, passing, dribbling; all areas are covered. Next, lunch is delivered to the locker room from either Qdoba, Noodles or Jimmy Johns is usually on tap to refuel our bodies with some much needed energy. I usually spend the next hour off passed out on the couch in the locker room, only to wake up for the afternoon session at 2:00pm. I look forward to the afternoon sessions though, because the majority of it is pure playing soccer. From small-sided to full field 11v11 games, the quality of play is improving daily and it really gets me excited to get our season going. Following the completion of the afternoon session, we usually take a ride over to local Downer restaurant VIA for some delicious pasta and pizza. With an evening fitness session looming, it’s always tough to know when to cut yourself off at the dinner table. The wait for the 8:00 p.m. fitness session is pretty painful, you don’t know exactly what’s coming, but you know it’s going to be painful. Upon completing the final team activity of the night, you just about have enough energy to crawl back to your apartment, house, dorm, etc., to crash for the night until you start it all back up again the next morning…

Tonight finally brings our first real opportunity to showcase all of the hard work we’ve been putting in since the beginning of August. Convincing wins over the Alumni and Whitewater were steps in the right direction, but the hunger to test ourselves against another fit, well prepared, Division I team is at an all-time high.

Marquette is one of the biggest names on the schedule every year, as we prepare to do battle for the Milwaukee Cup. Unfortunately, this season we’ll be playing away for the second year in a row, but hoisting the cup on their field will make the victory that much sweeter. Thus, I implore any of you who read this to make your way down to Valley Fields for a 7:05 p.m. kick-off to the 2010 season for the UWM Men’s soccer team.

Joga Bonito

Preseason is here...

2010-08-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his first blog entry.

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As August approached, I knew what was looming just around the corner. August is the month of sweat, pain, fatigue and grit. Together, all of us players make the trek back to UWM after enjoying summers of beaches, free time and carefree living. Yet our social lives are now over, the next month will be spent either drenched in sweat and breathing heavy on the field or resting and recuperating between practices.

Going into my senior year, I have to admit that I might miss a very tiny portion of pre-season, but the majority of me will be glad to be done with it. For a week before we start with the coaches, two–a-days begin as player’s preseason commences. Morning sessions of pure playing soccer, followed by dreaded evenings of pounding pavement on runs.

The purpose of player’s preseason is to increase fitness, build team camaraderie and start playing together. Everyone wants to be sharp when we start with the coaches, so intensity is always high. This year we’re lucky enough to have a quality pitch to play on near campus at Shorewood High School, so the mornings are much easier than I remember freshmen, sophomore and junior year. I still remember showing up as a freshmen and having to run miles just to get to a horrendous field that we could get kicked off of at any moment by a team that had reserved it ahead of time. Playing on the turf of Shorewood, where we know the field’s schedule is a breath of fresh air.

No bad bounces to blame for a bad touch or rolled ankles are just a few of the perks of playing on a flat surface. Furthermore, our quality of play is immediately much higher due to the turf. The fitness sessions are still a leg killer though. Whether it’s running to St. Mary’s Hill to do sprints up the stairs and hill, running back to back to back to back to back 6-minute miles around the track, or doing sprint relays on Bradford Beach, you’re going to be spent.

This year is definitely different though, there’s a bigger sense of unity among the players, with the incoming freshmen already gelling with us returning players. We’re turning from a team into a family. There’s a sense of something special on the horizon and everybody knows that it will take every single player being on board in order to achieve it.

I’m looking forward to keeping you updated more as the season progresses, but it’s time for me to catch a nap before the next session!

All Things Must Pass

2009-11-15T19:11:00.000-08:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, blogged all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 14th and final blog entry for the year.

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A bleak and overcast sky greeted our arrival in Valparaiso, a foreboding omen for the upcoming contest. We stayed Monday night and awoke early for the noon kickoff. Following breakfast and our pregame discussion, we piled into the bus and solemnly rode the few miles to the field. Valparaiso recently moved their soccer pitch to their football stadium, exchanging grass for all too familiar turf, similar to what we were used to at Bradley Tech. The stadium sits in the middle of campus, nestled into a hillside, and the stands, made out of concrete, suggest a nearby Orwellian authority watching over the scenes below.

Despite a strong push at kickoff we gave up an unfortunate goal about ten minutes in when a botched clearance was converted by a Valparaiso player at the top of the box. This galvanized us for the rest of the first half and we maintained an impenetrable defensive front, not allowing a single shot after the goal. We achieved some great scoring chances, yet the pattern of poor finishing continued and we ended the half 1-0 down.

The second half would prove to be one of the most ill-fated and incendiary periods of soccer I’ve been a part of. We gave up a penalty kick in the first 10 minutes and despite (John) Shakon’s initial block of the spot kick, the attacker finished his own rebound and we were down 2-0 before we even had a chance to develop some coherent movement. A few minutes later passions and aggression boiled over and a scuffle ensued at the edge of our box, resulting in a red card for each team. The game certainly opened up for the rest of the half. With both teams playing down a man open space and quick transitions characterized much of the remaining play. We pushed hard to try and gain a foothold on the scoreboard, however, the back of the net remained an elusive figment of fantasy in our last match of the season. Our bolstered attacking formation pushed more players into the final third, yet it also left us vulnerable to counter-attacks in the back. We ended up succumbing to two more goals in these circumstances, shamefully finishing the game four goals down. The only glimmer of hope in this mess of a second half remained Nkuti’s (Ndely) redirected header that sailed past the Valparaiso goalie and into the net. Mockingly, the referee halted my potential celebration (at this point I would’ve given anything for some semblance of positive action to revel in) by calling the play back for offside, consigning us to another goalless, unsatisfying defeat.

Following a shower and the traditional postgame meeting, we returned to the bus for our long ride home. Silence often reigns for much of these trips, particularly after losses. The noises of traffic and the passing outside world remain the only incursions into one’s music, homework, or mental meditation. More than often we travel home in darkness, so the ambience of outside light remains muted, almost surreal. Washed out glows of orange, flashing construction signs, the flickering of cars changing lanes and the omnipresent, stark glare of red brake lights hauntingly operate in a world that simultaneously feels so close, yet also far removed. The illuminated green highway signs offer the only representation of pastel shades in the enclosed, subdued hues of nightlife. Sporadic reds and blues of cop cars and ambulances splash light off of the various objects within the bus, penetrating the internal world of darkness, sleep and silent ruminations.

Strange reflections on this lonesome Tuesday night. Has it really been four years? X number of games, Y number of practices, Z number of hours on a bus. X times Y times Z equals the end product, the summary of my experience. I can’t comprehend the countless hours of my life, all irretrievable, that have been devoted to the pursuit of athletic glory. Was this some entrenched, selfish desire, an egotistical attempt at furthering one’s own interests above all else? Or was there some broader, more universal justification behind those lost hours? Perhaps I’m meaninglessly digressing, yet it seems both fitting and natural to revisit the last four years and attempt to place them in the proper perspective.

It’s interesting how youthful optimism, the conviction that anything is possible, slowly fades or matures with age. I can recall numerous points during high school where I felt completely convinced that I would inevitably pursue a professional career in soccer, no matter the circumstances. To admit defeat, to acknowledge that the dream might not happen never entered my mind, not until the maturity and reality of the real world sobered my unfettered optimism. This is of course, completely natural. In youth we often find ourselves invincible, and only through experience, trials, and antagonism do we come to the realization that there are distinct limits in this world, that progress is not infinite. The universe does not operate on a linear scale; it never has and never will. There’s no economic graph with a steadily rising profit arrow, no cure-all fountain of youth that magically grants immortality. Eventually we all come to terms with these things, but that confrontation often takes time and is neither pleasant nor avoidable.

In many ways, my generation is having difficulty grasping these conclusions and can you blame them? Our current society is apathetic towards politics, skeptical towards religion and indifferent to suffering, violence and injustice. Were we raised to question everything? If so, shouldn’t there be demonstrations in the streets, volatile activism and organization, campaigning and leafleting? We lack a cause to rally around, despite the multitude of problems, issues, and inequities worthy of struggle, publicity and aid.

In this is the monumental failure of our generation, a lack of resolve, an absence of a standard or rallying point. What is there to fight for we ask? Why should we care? If progress and optimism eventually run their course why should we be concerned with reality? Politically, we’re forced to make a decision between taking either the red or the blue pill, both of which carry the litany of negative side effects generally found on the back of any over-the-counter medication. It’s a lesser of two evils choice and if neither option in this realm of true or false represents your views, it’s no wonder disillusionment and alienation run rampant in young people.

Perhaps it’s overwork that undermines the hope of youth. From an early age we’re inundated with images, expectations and ideals. Imagination is stifled, fantasy is destroyed and discovery is rendered superfluous. Some school districts now have children watch a virtual tour of a museum or nature center on a large screen in the classroom rather than take them to the actual site, simply because it saves money. This is the beginning of the death rattle for childhood exploration and individualistic learning from the world around you. Experiencing something, the actual “doing,” is far more important than pedantic studying. We should all learn through action, rather than receive things second hand, whether it be religion, music, literature, politics, or otherwise. Thoreau found out that he could live comfortably on his own physical labor working six weeks per year. He stated, “I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely.” The rest of his time could be spent experiencing his surroundings and thinking about that interaction. He was unchained from the pressures of industrial life, absconded from the hectic pace of modernity and I greatly admire him for that. Perhaps Voltaire has the greatest advice for finding contentment and happiness in this world: “We must all cultivate our garden.”

The familiar Milwaukee skyline greets us as we travel up from the south. The illuminated windows of the skyscrapers, in their formulaic rows, gives an impression of austere regularity, yet the shimmering reflections from the panes themselves constantly change as the bus nears and finally passes under, evoking a sense of wonder at man’s engineering and architectural feats. The lake’s cold, dark mass provides a fitting contrast to the glare of downtown, completing the image of Milwaukee I’ve come to expect at the end of numerous journeys elsewhere. After four years it almost feels like home.

I appreciate everyone that’s read and enjoyed my creative output over the last few months. I’d love to hear any comments, concerns, or other responses you may have. Just send me an email at GERARDL2@uwm.edu. Thanks for taking the time to experience the random outbursts, digressions and thoughts I’ve put in this blog. It’s been a pleasure.
-GL

Playoffs on the Horizon

2009-11-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 13th blog entry.

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The external conditions for our final regular season game couldn’t have been more pristine. For several days leading up to the game, the weather had remained encouragingly warm and sunny, and Thursday night continued the unorthodox trend. A fairly large crowd gradually surrounded Engelmann Field, beckoned by the unexpected November mildness and the promise of an exciting in-state rivalry match. The wind proved itself complicit in maintaining a comfortable atmosphere, never rising above a slight, congenial breeze. By this time of year our field is generally pockmarked with deep ruts of exposed soil, like a vicious acne bout on some adolescent’s face. But this year the clumps of dead grass are mostly confined to the goalmouth, and as we took the field on Thursday night the towering lights above us properly completed my conception of a near perfect atmosphere.

The game held special significance for me, serving as the appropriate finale to my career on Engelmann Field. If the fates turned out hostile it would exist as my final collegiate match, so I approached the normal rigmarole of preparation with far more severity and appreciation, attempting to savor even the trivial aspects of our pre-match rituals. The announcement of our starting lineup triggered an interesting and contradictory collage of nostalgic memories and optimistic future endeavors, sentiments that continued to arise spontaneously throughout the course of the game.

I generally dwell on some soccer-related theme during the playing of the national anthem, yet this time I reveled in patriotic fervor, softly repeating each verse and relishing every historical connection, proving my college education’s useful capacity. I became transported to the American past: Gettysburg, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Selma, Haight-Ashbury. So many events, people, groups, identities, all claiming to represent America and its proper ideals. In the popular imagination every one of these historically pivotal events seems to exist in a bubble, a sanitized and untouchable safe haven, where the national anthem constantly plays, giving the scene a distinctly climatic and movie-like quality. Unfortunately, history rarely lives up to these idealistic depictions. But I allowed myself to endorse this unhistorical notion, albeit temporarily, since it’s far more entertaining and far more appropriate for the scene at hand. For that brief moment in time I became American History’s preeminent archetype: revolutionary, Minuteman, Union soldier, Doughboy, Marine, protestor, revivalist, Black Panther, activist, Olympian, citizen. Francis Scott Key’s 1814 poem, modeled off of a popular British drinking song, became my soundtrack.

Reality quickly returned with the short burst of a whistle and the game began. Madison had beaten us the last few times we played, both in the fall and spring, so we started the match with a determined resolve not to let it happen again. Both teams gained their fair share of chances in the first half, but neither side converted. We began the second half a little sluggish, but were able to avoid a goal during this period of temporary torpor, responding with several strong attacking surges as the half dragged into the closing minutes. Our defensive efforts finally proved insufficient as we helplessly allowed a Madison goal with a little over a minute left. The game ended with a 1-0 score line, another unlucky, yet certainly avoidable, defeat.

Luck would return to our team’s aid, however, on Saturday. Despite going down 1-0 in the first half, Butler rallied in the second to defeat Wright State and ensure us a place in the Horizon League playoffs. Our season continues with a match against Valparaiso on Tuesday, offering all the optimistic hopes and prospects of a championship run.

Autumnal Changes

2009-11-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 12th blog entry.

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The wear and tear of this sport is really starting to get to me. As the season progresses those little nagging injuries that seem trivial at first begin to multiply. A few sore muscles on their own are generally easy to cope with, but when you combine this with a strained groin, perpetually re-opening scrapes from turf, and chronic tendonitis in one’s ankles it tends to conjure up various self-loathing, fatalistic conclusions about your body’s future well-being. This feeling consistently grows as the seasons accumulate, festering in the back of your mind as a constant reminder of time’s relentless toll on each of us. Now, towards the end of my fourth season, my body seems increasingly in turmoil, conflicted between maintaining the relentless, standardized form of self-destruction this sport requires and longing for a welcome, languorous respite.

The last four years have been a testament to what the body is capable of enduring. During the summer before my freshman year I underwent the first of three hernia surgeries, all resulting from strenuous athletic activity. Although these sort of procedures may seem odd in someone my age, they are fairly common among hockey, football, and soccer players. An ailment appropriately titled the “sports hernia” involves a gradual weakening of the various groin muscles, often caused by repetitive tears and strains and can lead to a more traditional hernia if not treated properly. The surgeon makes a small incision in the skin and reinforces the torn muscles with a supportive mesh to avoid further straining. Following the end of my junior season I again went under the knife for a second sports hernia surgery, this time on the other side of my body. I somehow developed an additional, more rare condition later in the off season called a Spigelian hernia, which is located under the oblique and lower abdominal muscles. My third procedure proved successful and I was able to rehabilitate almost fully for the start of my senior season.

Autumn continues to fade quickly into winter. The once colorful leaves now blanket portions of the sidewalk, offering a comfortable carpet for pedestrians to walk on, almost like a temporary yellow brick road. The air even smells colder, full of a dryness and expectant chill that foreshadows the coming snow and ice. Most of our team bundles up for practice now, bolstering the body’s warming mechanisms with hats, gloves and other thermal layers of insulation. We’ve yet to see a definitive snowfall, but I know Mother Nature will soon indulge those of us that long for a change of pace.

Our last conference game of the year brought us northward to face UW-Green Bay. The Friday game had to be postponed twenty-four hours due to poor field conditions, much to the chagrin of everyone’s trick-or-treating fancies. Despite the delay Green Bay’s field remained extremely soft and sodden, requiring metal studs to properly keep one’s footing. Appropriately, the style and overall feel of the game remained sloppy for its entirety. We aggressively fought hard at certain points to get some strong attacking chances, while also allowing our effort to lapse into a lackluster affair at times. A botched clearance led to a Green Bay goal in the first half and poor marking brought another in the second half. We ruefully ended the game 2-0 down and suffered another bus ride home in defeat. Our playoff hopes hinge on Wright State losing to Butler in their final game next Saturday, otherwise our last game of the year, and my last career outing, will be next Thursday at home against Madison.

The Bitter Side of Fate

2009-10-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 11th blog entry.

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I used to think music had hit its all-time low with the boy band manias and pop diva obsessions in the nineties, but current songs on popular radio suggest that the nadir of the music industry is still to come. The conglomeration of MTV, Clear Channel radio and the entertainment leviathan, Hollywood, continues to mass produce a sound that is gaudy, unoriginal and full of self-perpetuating stereotypes. The robotically manicured voices and rigid requirements for what constitutes a proper “image” eliminate any chance of these so-called artists actually creating something aesthetically or artistically pleasing. Sadly, they are doomed to be remembered as expendable commodities within an industry that cares more about commercial success and advertising than the pursuit of ingenuity and the progress of music as an art form.

Don’t misinterpret this as a hopeless relinquishing of modern music. Every age features dismal pop sellouts bloated with fluff, money and comprised values, as well as truly profound innovators committed to musical integrity and experimental exploration. Commercial success rarely reflects the overall worth of the music’s content, although there are certainly a number of successful artists that have achieved both financial gain and laudable artistic renderings. To find good music, in any era, you need to dig below the surface. It’s also always relevant to go to the source and uncover what a current artist listened to, reinterpreted and used for inspiration.

I don’t want to overemphasize the debt owed to the past when it comes to music for fear of appearing overly nostalgic. Every praiseworthy musician endeavors in some way to disconnect from the past and create an individual, original sound. Yet, some periods of music offer a Renaissance of sorts that bring generation after generation back to the genesis of that particular sound or attitude. Modern music, even the pop stench (yes, it crosses sensory boundaries), can be connected to these strands of innovation and revival. Black jazz from the turn of the twentieth century established improvisation and unique, individualistic phrasing. Delta Blues during the Depression era, with its percussiveness, call-and-response rhythms and penetrating pathos, set the stage for rock and roll. The mythological status of this generation of blues artists is embodied in the tale of Robert Johnson meeting the devil at a crossroads somewhere in the South and agreeing to sell his soul for unrivaled guitar skill. Listen to “Ramblin’ on My Mind” and it’s hard to argue with his allegedly hellish inspiration.

The 1960’s incorporated both of these eras, relying heavily on the blues, and spawned a movement unparalleled in human history. The palpable energy of activism and conflict were reflected in the music, from folk protest ballads to psychedelic acid rock, the theme of sex, drugs, rock and roll certainly characterized that epoch. Appropriately, good modern music draws heavily from this era and a revival in hippie apparel, albeit devoid of egalitarian values, continues to demonstrate our generation’s affinity with the ‘60s culture.

The bone I have to pick with modern pop music centers on the excess of the genre, elements that have emerged at almost all stages in the development of this phenomenon. You know something is skewed when the image is more important than the sound, especially if the topic is music. It appears that rap stars care more about their cars, money and women than originality in rhyming or staying creative in their adaptations of jazz and blues beats. Stars like Hannah Montana focus their energies on television ratings and commercial brand names, not what content is being inundated into impressionable young minds. “Emo” groups, given the title for their alleged obsession with emotionalism, clearly believe that dark clothing, unintelligible screams for lyrics and destructive, mosh-pit mentalities show everyone that their feelings (and therefore their music) are worthy of artistic admiration. If you need all these suggestive elements to convey your message, it’s obvious the music is severely lacking.

Our locker room tends to frequently feature the bass vibrations of sundry rap and hip hop songs, some of which are the worst representations of reality or musical talent and others that are incredibly ingenious and effective in their lyrical pursuits. I tend to freely and openly criticize those songs that really threaten my sense of decency or musical decorum, although at time it’s best just to laugh at the outrageous sets of words these artists string together. Although I portray myself as an ardent and implacable critic with unappeasable expectations and standards, I continue to find worthy music from almost all genres and the ever-increasing size of my musical library is testament to my openness in this endeavor.

Here I’ll retain my obligation of describing our team’s soccer-related events, although I warn you, it was not a very pleasant week for UWM. On Tuesday we traveled south to engage in a border battle with Northern Illinois University at DeKalb. The victor would win the spoils of the John LeWang Trophy, a prize that hasn’t been in our possession my entire tenure here. If I continue the battle analogy further it will unfortunately result in a summary of the game as a “total annihilation,” so I’ll dispense from that comparison to maintain some semblance of dignity for our team.

We started the game fairly well, stringing together a number of passes and attacking the NIU net with speed and audacity. After about the first twenty minutes we appeared to get frustrated and impatient and allowed ourselves to fall listlessly into laziness in the defensive third. We gave up two goals to poor defensive marking on corners and free kicks, leaving us 2-0 down at halftime. Despite the excitement and resolve apparent as we entered the second half, we quickly dug ourselves deeper into an ever-expanding hole when NIU was given a penalty kick within the first two minutes of the whistle, making the score 3-0. We seemed to indifferently confront the next forty-five minutes, watching despairingly as the hole we occupied expanded into a subterranean chasm of five goals against. Thankfully, (Peter) Sanger netted an excellently placed free kick to give us a very small bit of encouragement, and the game ended 5-1. Unsurprisingly, the bus ride home was void of anything resembling a cheerful disposition.

We worked hard in the practices following our dismal effort at NIU, resolving to make up that loss with a strong showing against Valparaiso on Saturday. The weather proved unexpectedly mild and at game time a beautiful autumn night awaited the pending action of an exciting conference match. The first half saw both sides trading several penetrating attacks, although we maintained more possession than our opposition. Neither side could capitalize on their chances and at halftime we entered the locker room tied 0-0. We started the second half better than almost any I’ve experienced this year, achieving numerous chances on the opposing net, while maintaining a tight defensive structure that impeded all early Valparaiso attacks. The Valpo goalie truly outdid himself in stopping several point-blank blasts from our forwards and midfielders. Despite the overwhelming number of strong attacking opportunities, we were unable to finish. A fateful bit of misfortune in our box resulted in an own goal and the game ended in a 1-0 loss. It was a bitter end to a fairly depressing week. However, there’s no time to dwell on this recent string of losses. We travel north to Green Bay on Friday for our final conference game, giving this match incomparable gravity for the emerging playoff picture.

Stressful Times Call for Stressful Measures

2009-10-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his 10th blog entry.

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We’re about halfway through the semester and the tell-tale signs of overwork, stress and fatigue are becoming increasingly apparent. It’s at this stage that everyone generally realizes how much work needs to be completed in the next eight to nine weeks when classes end. In my case, it’s grasping the daunting task of researching and writing three major history papers, one of which needs to be at least twenty-five pages. In addition to the increasing demands of the academic realm I work three jobs on campus, spend two to three hours a day at practice and still manage to roughly throw together a few random comments, ideas, and observations for this blog.

Don’t ask me how it all gets done. My drug of choice, coffee, offers a valuable hand in completing this veritable fury of tasks. It’s a testament to the volume I consume when I no longer shake after drinking a pot of French Roast in the morning. I can’t imagine this lifestyle is very healthy, so I’m looking forward to the day I won’t need such a caffeine boost just to operate normally. However, that day increasingly looks far out of sight. The nine to five workforce looms ever closer on my horizon, gnashing its teeth in preparation for yet another victim. But let’s face it, that’s the trajectory for most of us and griping about it won’t change anything.

Not that I’m opposed to working hard or being successful in the economic world that confronts us, although the magnitude and gravity of this system certainly humbles even my self-assured, hubristic ego. Factors like increasing conglomeration, intensified job competition and exported businesses and industries abroad continue to rattle my sense of hope and optimism for the future, and all of these fears inauspiciously loom larger as I (and everyone around me for that matter) get closer to plunging directly into a system with such stark inadequacies. I apologize for appearing so pessimistic. This is not the time or the place to elaborate upon all the grossly pressing economic problems manifesting themselves in our country, let alone those facing the world at large. Yet, it helps to discuss these things. Simply by engendering debate, regardless of whether it’s politically or economically palatable with your views, aids everyone’s understanding of particular issues, and maybe that, more than anything, can help place my general outlook in a far more optimistic light.

Perhaps I haven’t articulated myself well enough, but I’ve wasted enough time on such mundane and trivial subjects, so it’s back to the workings of our team. Our four game unbeaten streak continues to keep morale high, despite the depressing effects of overcast skies and cold rain. Many of our recent practices have focused on attacking patterns, which involve long sessions of hammering home positional particulars and individual expectations in building the attack. Although at times these drills tend to become a bit formulaic and uncreative, they succeed in establishing a rigid framework for our offensive mindset.

Our only game of the week involved a short trip south to downtown Chicago. University of Illinois at Chicago’s field is situated right below the monolithic, black Sears Tower (recently renamed the Willis Tower). It provides a fitting backdrop for a soccer match, making the game feel more emphatic and exciting. Their pitch is short, fast-running grass and is excellently maintained, even for our game’s position towards the end of the season. UIC generally has a rowdy, slightly obnoxious crowd yelling every number of obscenities behind the opposing team’s goal and our game on Saturday was no exception. I’ll neglect to repeat most of the insulting swill pelted at (John) Shakon from behind his net.

The last few years saw UIC ascend to one of the top teams in both the Horizon League and the country, with the Flames reaching the NCAA Tournament for the last three seasons. They tend to recruit a fair amount of foreign players and are generally a very strong possession team. Although this year’s squad definitely lacks some of the brilliance of previous seasons, they kept possession for long periods and were moderately successful at penetrating our final third. Defensively, we played very well and limited the number of strong opportunities UIC had directly on goal. Although we gave up a large amount of corner kicks and set pieces, almost every chance was easily turned away from our net.

On the offensive side of things we developed some exciting patterns that led to great attempts on goal. Two such chances in the second half came close to giving us the lead. (Matthew) Bewley fired a close range blast after getting free from UIC’s defensive backline, but it was parried away by their goalie. The UIC keeper came up big a few minutes later when a low, driven cross was sent into the box. A UIC defender tried to clear the ball, only to redirect it towards his own goal. We agonizingly watched as the goalie made an excellent, last-minute reaction to touch the ball over the net and keep the score level. In the closing seconds of regular time a UIC corner kick finally succeeded, putting the home team up 1-0 with twenty-nine seconds remaining. We couldn’t capitalize in those last moments and found ourselves suffering a bitter, one-goal loss. We had played fairly well, but in conference games scoring becomes rare, emphatic and absolutely cutthroat. The result leaves us at 2-2-2 in the Horizon League with two games remaining. Strong results in those matches can give us home field advantage for the first round of the conference tournament, something that has eluded our team for the last two seasons.

We Heat Up as the Weather Cools Down

2009-10-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his ninth blog entry.

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This week has been windier than almost any I can recollect. I’m talking about some serious gales, not the usual wimpy 20 miles-per-hour headwinds. Serious gusts whip up loose debris and fallen leaves, never in one consistent effort, but instead in vast desultory efforts of momentous natural power. As I biked back to my house one night I was nearly committed airborne by the whirling twisters emerging around me. I started humming the Wicked Witch of the West’s song in mock tribute to the Wizard of Oz, hoping to avoid a falling house and a descending pack of flying monkeys. I could almost hear the wind whisper, “I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too.” Needless to say, I made it home without any red slippers.

Saturday marked my 22nd year on earth and I feel it’s appropriate to share a few trivial insights. Ironically, Brett Favre turned 40 on the same day. Looking back, that makes him 18 the day I gasped my first breath. I wonder how he celebrated becoming an adult the very day I emerged into this chaotic universe. Some superficial research brings up an interesting story. Favre gained the starting position at Southern Mississippi in mid-September of 1987, as a 17-year-old freshman. He had assumed he’d be redshirting and the night before the game got excessively drunk. Despite vomiting as he ran out onto the field Favre led his team to a come-from-behind victory over Tulane, securing his position. A few weeks later on October 10th, his 18th birthday and my beginning, Favre lost handily to number four Florida State. All this information was taken out of an article by Gary D’Amato called “Life of the Party,” and can be accessed on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website.

It was an exciting day for sports, back in 1987, as the Minnesota Twins played their third game in the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers. They lost the game on the 10th, but won the rest of their games to advance and eventually win the World Series. I’m told that my father and other family members occasionally peeked out of the delivery room to check the score, something my mother would hold against them for years to come.

Saturday also featured our only game of the week with us hosting the Loyola Ramblers at home. The temperature had been dropping consistently throughout the week and at game time the thermometer hovered around a cool forty degrees. Most of our players sported long sleeve under armor shirts and gloves to combat the cold. As a native Minnesotan from Duluth, a port on Lake Superior several hours south of Thunder Bay, Canada, I’ve been unusually trained in cold weather tactics, so the conditions on Saturday seemed subjectively frivolous. The only real concern around this time of year, when the air turns cool and dry, is the impact it has on one’s breathing. Extensive exposure to the late fall and early winter air, especially for the first time during that particular season, brings chest aches and rattling, painful coughs. This generally goes away after training a few times in these conditions and the gradual drop of temperature during the week succeeded in tempering most of these traditional weather-induced ailments.

We started the game with intensity and excitement, gaining a couple of very strong chances in the first ten to fifteen minutes. We were rewarded for our hard work around the twenty-minute mark when (Andrew) Wiedebach slipped a shot by the Loyola goalie to put us up 1-0. We maintained good pressure for most of the half, excluding the last ten minutes, where we allowed a Loyola free kick to be re-directed into our goal, leveling the game at 1-1.

At half time I noticed that my knees had stiffened far more drastically than normal. Rejecting the urge to blame this on my recently achieved milestone in age, I concluded that the cold weather had in fact made its mark on my body. In such temperatures it is imperative to bundle up whenever one is idle and then properly warm-up the body again before resuming athletic activity. Appropriately, I indulged in these practices before the start of the second half and felt confident my body would hold up for another forty-five minutes.

We resurged at the onset of the second half, pushing hard to gain the go-ahead goal that had been equalized in the first. The situation arose in a little over five minutes into the half as (Cody) Banks flicked a header into the net to put us in the driver’s seat once again. Despite several harrowing moments in our defensive third we kept the lead and achieved our second straight conference victory. We aptly celebrated with the traditional team anthems in the showers. A full entourage of family members greeted me after the game and helped me finish off an excellent birthday with a succulent dinner of filet mignon at the Mason Street Grill.

Overtime Antics

2009-10-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his eighth blog entry.

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We experienced another downpour at practice on Thursday night. A veritable gale accompanied the constant onslaught of heavy rain particles, succeeding in keeping visibility to a minimum. Under these conditions it only takes a short training session to turn the grass on Engelmann into a sloppy, pockmarked battlefield, reminiscent of the fields in the movie Braveheart. I could easily make some broad comparison between athletic competition and warfare, but I think such an association is specious at best.

I acknowledge that sport certainly requires a great degree of discipline and rigor. At times I feel more like a repressed private at boot camp than a sovereign, freethinking individual. Yet soccer, more than most other sports, necessitates creativity, autonomy, and mutability. The game only stops for a limited number of situations, making most strict, drawing-board plays of X’s and O’s impossible to implement. Outside of set pieces like corners and free kicks, the coach has a fairly restricted role in explicitly “calling” for a particular play, since the focal point of action, namely where the ball moves, is almost entirely transitory. Good players must inherently understand this mobility of the game and be able to adequately think, react and respond to unique and changing situations, without the help of timeouts and the complimentary coaching specifics of other sports.

Soccer is not a game of numbers. It is not a game of statistics. This probably demonstrates, at least in part, why the U.S. has taken so long to warm up to the game. The sport lacks baseball’s litany of pitching and batting stats and differs greatly from basketball’s obsession with fouls and triple-digit scores. One number is often enough to capture the essence of a game, and this realm of subtlety, clearly foreign to many Americans, has only recently gained a small foothold on the other four major sports in the country.

Promisingly, this year ESPN has picked up games from arguably the top two leagues in the world, the English Premier League and the Spanish top division, La Liga, making first-class soccer far more accessible to American audiences. In past years ESPN has broadcast Champions League, World Cup qualifying and U.S. National Team games, but the arrival of consistent weekend broadcasts of these prestigious leagues promises to provide an even more comprehensive picture of Europe’s dominance on the worldwide club level. Most of our players acknowledge the continued development of the American counterpart, Major League Soccer, yet we pay far more attention to the European leagues, simply because the quality and excitement is unparalleled.

As our season progresses I may make incidental references to European games, both to illustrate our team’s enthusiasm for high level soccer and to chauvinistically promote my squad, Arsenal. Don’t expect an unbiased discussion when the Gunners are involved. Despite some significant injuries and two dropped decisions against the top teams, Arsenal remains on the upper end of the Premier League table and has maintained their style of exciting attacking soccer and beautifully scripted possession.

The autumn air was cold as we warmed up for our first home feature of the weekend on Friday night. Following our routine set of drills we headed into the locker room to change into our jerseys and run through any final idiosyncratic preparations. As I ran back onto the field when my name was announced for the starting lineup I felt the cold sweat under my jersey evaporate from being exposed to the chilled night. This temporary shiver was quickly replaced by the warmth and satisfaction of kinetic activity as we started the first half. Our opponents, Cleveland State, traditionally occupied the lower dregs of the Horizon League almost every season. However, in the past two years they’ve drastically improved their program and are now considered one of the better squads of the conference. With a team of thirteen seniors they certainly played with a high level of experience and consistency for the entire game.

The pivotal moment of the game came a short time after the twenty-minute mark when (Zach) Funk got free on a breakaway and was taken down deliberately by the Cleveland State keeper. The goalie was rightfully shown red and Cleveland played down a man the rest of the game. Unfortunately, their newly substituted back-up keeper saved the penalty kick and regrettably set a precedent for the rest of the match. We created an absolute flurry of attacking chances while staying very strong on the defensive end, yet none of our efforts led to a goal. (Cody) Banks hit the post with a wonderfully placed header in the first part of overtime for arguably our best chance on goal. In the closing seconds of the second overtime period Cleveland’s goalie came off his line and swatted a ball out that bounced directly towards my feet. I attempted to chip the overstretched keeper and his backpedaling defenders only to watch my shot bounce off the crossbar, denying our last hope for a final go-ahead goal. Despite having an extra player for the majority of the game we were unable to capitalize on our advantage and settled for the 0-0 tie. It was an improvement from many of our past games, even though we certainly should have emerged with a victory.

The second fixture of the weekend featured Detroit Mercy and felt oddly similar to the Cleveland State game. Although we didn’t harbor a man advantage it felt like we exhibited the higher level of stability and possession that comes with playing 11 on 10. Detroit lacked the organization of Cleveland State and their backline was fairly slow and unpredictable. We gained numerous chances from playing balls to the corners and through progressions up the sidelines that led to crosses. Unluckily, we found ourselves tied 0-0 at the end of regulation, prompting our third straight overtime battle. Only minutes into the first overtime period however, our luck changed. (Matthew) Bewley struck a shot off of a cleared corner kick that wove through the scrum of players in the six-yard box and bounced directly off the post onto the happy and willing foot of Ross Van Osdol. He didn’t miss from that range. We enthusiastically tackled the goal scorer in celebration of our sudden death victory. Perhaps our luck, if such an elusive and arbitrary entity can be blamed for misfortunes, is finally changing.

Into the Heartland...

2009-09-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his seventh blog entry.

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I notice myself constantly commenting on the weather and nearby surroundings, no matter what time of day it is or where I’m located. I tend to include some of these discussions in my blog, simply because I feel they are relatively important talking points when trying to describe our team’s activity. I wonder if I’m merely articulating an inherent aspect of human nature, an evolutionary impulse to absorb and respond to one’s immediate environment. On the other hand, I’m also responsible for narrating our team’s movements and general outlook, and descriptions like these are necessary for creating the proper setting.

Take for example a recent practice that was conducted in a complete downpour. The field was saturated, and with field turf this often results in standing water on the pitch, about an inch of it in our case. Every step was greeted with an oozing gush of water, both out of the inside of one’s cleats and from the ground itself. Sliding for a loose ball resulted in an uncomfortable flood of liquid up one’s shorts, reaching the only places that had formerly kept dry from the torrential onslaught. While our basic reasoning for being out in such weather was to practice, I found myself dwelling on the altered, irregular surroundings. These moments of seemingly sudden enlightenment or creative conceptualization don’t happen on a regular basis. They arise only through scenes of abnormality, and the weather tends to succeed in offering the most significant examples of such variation and tumult. So you’ll have to forgive me if I seem to have a superfluous preoccupation with the weather. It’s not because I’m overly intrigued by cloud patterns or temperature variants. I’m simply depicting what’s pertinent.

The drive to Indianapolis was fairly mundane, with Chicago’s skyline offering the only slight bit of scenic attraction on the five-hour route south. Mile after mile we passed old, forlorn industrial yards, endless corn fields, and intermittently placed freeway “villages,” full of all the fine amenities a 300 pound trucker could desire. I imagine before the highway system was put in place these sort of drives were far more charming and entertaining. But we’ve sacrificed picturesque views for efficiency and speed, a trend that pertains to numerous other facets of modern life.

Butler is situated in a very arboreal part of Indianapolis; lush, deciduous green encroaches on the nearby campus buildings and roads, making you feel like you’re in a dense, rural forest rather than a budding metropolis. The sense of being on the fringe of the wilderness and in an old frontier community is reinforced by the neighborhood next to the campus. Antebellum manors with bleached white Roman columns adorning their facades border enormous French-style estates, complete with built-in turrets and lavish fountains. Hedges trimmed to perfection reach high enough to keep unwanted pedestrians from peeping into the grounds, while simultaneously allowing people in passing vehicles to admire the pretentious opulence. It feels like an old colonial village, accessible only by horse and covered wagon, and these houses represent the land, wealth, and privilege of the aristocracy. I half-expected to see women in homespun bonnets and whalebone corsets, laughing with each other as they drink earl grey tea and read Emile BrontÎ.

The trend of overcast clouds and rain didn’t fail to change as we began our game Friday night in the Butler Bowl. This stadium is built into a slight depression in the middle of the campus, bordered by student housing on one side and the renowned Hinkle Fieldhouse, featured in the movie “Hoosiers,” on the other. In the first few minutes it appeared we would face an uphill battle as one of the Butler players was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty kick. But John Shakon, in a trend that would define him for the entire game, stepped up and made a huge save, deflecting the spot kick over the bar for a corner. We battled hard the rest of the first half, getting a few strong chances on goal without seriously challenging the opposing keeper. With about thirty seconds left in the half we were caught on a breakaway on the left side and the Butler forward slotted the ball into the right corner for the game’s only goal.

The second half saw a renewed push from both teams and Shakon truly showed his stellar abilities, coming up big with numerous acrobatic saves. Shots from close quarters, set pieces, crosses and blasts from outside of the box were all turned away from our goal due to Shakon’s brilliance. We fought hard for our few chances on goal, but were unable to finish, and the game ended in an unsatisfying 1-0 loss.

Unsatisfying ended up being the word of the day, as our post game meal featured the chemically altered, MSG saturated swill of McDonalds. No virulent strain of criticism is comprehensive or accurate enough to brand food of this quality. A double cheeseburger value meal, including fries and a drink, is now being advertised at $2.99, the recession special so it seems. I can’t imagine the quality of a product that is offered at this price, since undoubtedly it must cost around twenty-five or thirty cents to produce. My gourmet chicken BLT sandwich, one of the company’s scaled-up feature meals, had a large, conspicuous piece of clear, rubbery fat across the middle of the breast, giving me the added pleasure of chewing it multiple times before allowing the condensed, slippery morsel to slide down my gagging throat.

We awoke the next morning to find out about a third of our team was sick, either with a stomach virus or some other flu or throat issue. I fought back the urge to blame it on McDonalds, reminding myself that these symptoms have been circulating both the school and our team. I’m certainly not one to buy into the current hysteria on swine flu, but it seems like we may have an endemic within our squad.

We drove through downtown Indianapolis on our way to Dayton and I was pleasantly surprised by the aesthetics of the area. Several large parks run through the business district and provide a welcomed relief from the steel and glass of the numerous financial skyscrapers. Several large monuments, most of them war memorials, offer beautiful sculptures of stone and iron, depicting soldiers comforting children and the personified female figure of “justice,” brandishing the symbolic scales, sword, and blindfold. We passed an enormous obelisk, fittingly marking the center of the downtown area and merged onto the freeway just below the Colts stadium to head eastward.

I succumbed to the trend of an upset stomach Saturday night, spending much of the late evening huddled over a toilet watching each distinct course from our earlier dinner resurface in a far more liquid form. The next morning I felt drained, emptied of nutrients and extremely fatigued. I ate some yogurt and fruit for breakfast, allowing the light meal to settle my stomach enough to play by early afternoon.

Wright State’s field was in exceedingly poor shape due to steady rainfall the previous week. The six-yard boxes and corners of the field resembled well-trodden cart paths from the olden days with large swaths of loose grass poking up from the muddy soil. The sloppy conditions carried over to the style of play on the rest of the field and we found ourselves down 2-0 at the end of the first half. We rallied during the second half and converted two well built-up plays to even the scoreboard and push the game into overtime. Goal line heroics towards the end of the second half salvaged the chance at an overtime victory as several of our players threw themselves into a scrum in the six-yard box to stop a Wright State go-ahead goal inches from the line. Overtime proved fairly uneventful and we ended the game in a 2-2 tie, giving us a much needed point in the conference standings. I spent most of the ride home doing homework and attempting to sleep, hoping to avoid another flu-related “outburst.”

Cloudy With a Chance of Defeat

2009-09-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his sixth blog entry.

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It’s hard to concentrate on anything noteworthy when the September weather continues to outlive all previous expectations. I suppose Nature feels that she owes us some extra weeks of summer, since June and July were so notoriously cool this year. It’s doubtful the temperature will remain this mild until the end of the month, but we can certainly hope for the best. Here’s my prediction. Just to retain the reputation of erratic unpredictability the weather will stay sunny, calm, and relatively warm for another week or so, and then suddenly, without the typical warning colors of red, yellow, and orange appearing in the foliage, we’ll wake up to two feet of snow.

We opened our home season with a very strong opponent, nationally ranked University of California-Santa Barbara. UCSB has consistently been ranked in the top ten this season and a good result against them would be a major breakthrough for our squad. Their team possessed players with excellent ball control, and they were collectively able to move the ball forward very quickly. Although Santa Barbara controlled a larger portion of the possession, we were able to achieve several very good chances in the first half. Defensively we maintained a very tight and disciplined structure, forcing many of their attacking plays wide. Indeed, the two goals Santa Barbara ended up scoring came off of extremely well-placed shots, and there was very little our backline or goalie John Shakon could do to prevent the 2-0 final score. There certainly was room for improvement, however it is obvious we’ve come a long way in our defensive confidence, and when our top defenders play well it is very difficult for the opposing team to penetrate and score.

Our biggest attacking problem, as expected, is simply putting the ball in the back of the net. Our forwards and midfielders continue to work hard and generate opportunities, yet we lack the finishing acumen in our opponents’ final third. Tactically, I believe we have improved from the beginning of the season, although our ability to attack efficiently is marred with inconsistency. We continue to have one strong half of attacking play in our games, but in college soccer, especially at the NCAA Division I level, this is not enough to attain a positive final result.

The second game of the weekend drew Oakland University and there were high expectations that we would be able to get a much-needed victory. This optimism was reflected in the ideal weather conditions, 75 degrees and brilliantly sunny; I practically felt like I needed to lather up with sunscreen. Inauspiciously however, as we were changing into our uniforms and preparing ourselves mentally for the match, clouds slowly blew in off the lake and the temperature began dropping. By kickoff our surroundings had ominously transformed and the overcast sky boded ill for the upcoming contest.

From the starting whistle our play seemed languid and predictable. Our team appeared lethargic and unenthusiastic, almost as if the weather itself had drained our hopeful morale. Collectively, our output lacked the necessary effort and we struggled to connect passes from one third of the field to another. At halftime we found ourselves down 2-0 to a team that truthfully hadn’t earned either goal. Oakland’s personnel had very little to offer individually, outside one strong forward up top, and as a whole their squad seemed equally despondent and tired. They must have been surprisingly elated to find themselves up at the half.

We responded well in the opening salvoes of the second half, scoring one goal in the first few minutes to put the tally at 2-1. Palpably the mood had changed from kickoff and at times it seemed like our optimism had returned. Appropriately, we buried an equalizer with about ten minutes to go and it appeared as though the momentum was inexorably behind our squad. However, this sentiment was short-lived as we despairingly allowed Oakland to gain the go ahead goal approximately one minute after the equalizer. We pushed hard in the final ten minutes for a third goal, but were unable to capitalize on our few chances. Another one goal deficit and our sixth loss of the year, certainly not a result to be proud of.

The West is the Best

2009-09-14T09:54:00.001-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his fifth blog entry.

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California has always held a very significant, even mythical attraction for me. Indeed, our country’s history is steeped in this utopian longing for the West, hopelessly enamored with the prospect of infinite expansion. Early settlers were pulled by gold rushes, cheap land and frontier mentalities of limitless freedom. In most cases this optimism was quickly replaced with hardship, disillusion and pessimism.

In many ways the draw of California remains the same in today’s age. Numerous attractive enough young people migrate west to the Hollywood slaughterhouse, searching for similar rewards of fame, glory, and wealth. And, similarly, they meet reality’s unfortunate and brutal fate. But a small number of these dreamers succeed, and it's that hope for victory, what Hunter S. Thompson termed “humping the American dream,” that keeps these unknown faces streaming westward.

We arrived in LAX late Wednesday evening and went straight to the hotel for a much-needed night’s sleep. After breakfast the next morning we drove to Cal State Northridge, about 20 minutes away, for a light practice and a chance to check out their stadium. The temperature hovered around 100 degrees, but completely lacked any humidity. Normally my body sweats profusely, even in mildly warm conditions. However, the dryness of the San Fernando Valley, coupled with the triple digit temperatures, seemed to instantly transform any nascent sweat particles directly into secluded water vapor. The overwhelming sense of perpetually dry cottonmouth was reinforced by the low, arid mountains surrounding the valley, enclosing the region with stark and barren outcroppings of brittle, dying trees and isolated cacti.

Our game the next day harbored very similar weather conditions, although they were slightly tempered by the introduction of a calm breeze. Cal State Fullerton fulfilled the traditional West Coast style of flashy, attacking movement and strong individual skill on the ball. They proved dangerous in the attacking third for most of the game and only through some heroics from our goalie and backline did we avoid a more unequal outcome. This is not to say that we were outmatched, in fact, very much the opposite. We were able to put some strong attacking patterns together and had several very good opportunities, especially in the second half. Cody Banks completed the proper conclusion of an intricately built-up series of plays in the first half to give us our only goal, however this was not enough. Fullerton scored a goal in each half, with their second coming from a blistering shot outside the eighteen. Although the heat and fatigue was certainly a factor for us, we maintained strong attacking schematics, simply lacking the final finish to provide us with a better result.

I spent much of the evening after our first game with my relatives in Santa Monica, enjoying some of the most pristine surroundings California has to offer. It’s interesting how so many streets in the area are given the title boulevard instead of road or avenue. This suggests a much more scenic and sweeping route, reinforcing the nature of Californian relaxation and style. These communities, nestled into the canyons and lush jungle-like undergrowth along the Pacific coastline, pervade individuality and esoteric exclusiveness. Many of the smaller dwellings, built directly into the hillside, offer a flurry of artistic shapes, colors and designs and demonstrate the originality of the region’s architecture. One moment you’re transported back to the bohemian bungalows of the 1960’s and another you’re cruising along a row of ornate, gated mansions surely owned by some Hollywood celebrity.

We had a very light session in a park next to our hotel on Saturday, enjoying a slight drop in temperature from the previous day. Later in the afternoon we spent about an hour experiencing Venice Beach, although unfortunately the sun stayed hidden behind an overcast sky. Little boutique shops and eclectic food stands characterize this well-known tourist hub. It’s full of diverse characters: old hobos sporting military surplus gear and carrying dirty sleeping bags, long-haired surfers still wet from the tide speaking in the typical West coast vernacular of “gnarly” and “bro,” bikini-clad teens wearing sunglasses five times the size of their eyes and strutting around like modern day Aphrodites. I can almost see Jim Morrison meandering along the beach, deep in some psychedelic stupor, dreaming up the next bit of poetry he and the Doors would turn into penetrating, ethereal vibrations.

The climax of the excursion brought us to the Home Depot Center where we watched the Los Angeles Galaxy host FC Dallas in what proved to be one of the most exciting games of soccer I’ve witnessed. We had excellent seats, about three rows up near one of the corners to watch Tony Sanneh, one of our most distinguished alumni who ended up seeing the field for the Galaxy in the second half. Along with the rest of the stadium we marveled at Major League Soccer’s proverbial golden child, David Beckham, as he swung in several corners with his typical bending brilliance. Unfortunately, this was not nearly enough for the Galaxy. In what must have been one of the highest scoring games in MLS history, Dallas emerged on top of a colossal 6-3 result. We exited the stadium still reveling in the atmosphere of such an unspeakable and exciting spectacle.

Our game the next day would prove disappointing to anyone expecting similar antics as the night previous, although it’s hard to imagine any match that would rival the nine goal exhibit we had experienced. Cal State Northridge had visited our tournament last year and been handed a tough 1-0 loss, and expectedly, they came out looking to avenge their past misfortunes. However, we struck first when (Eric) Frazier crossed in an early free kick that found Ross Van Osdol’s head, giving us a one goal advantage in the second minute of play. Despite several other strong chances throughout the game we were unable to capitalize on any other opportunities. In the second half Northridge took advantage of a questionable penalty kick to put in the equalizer and achieved the go-ahead goal shortly after to make it 2-1 against us. Missed scoring prospects and unfortunate breaks in the defensive third cost us yet another one goal defeat.

We toured a bit of Hollywood’s walk of fame on our way to the airport after the game, observing the multitude of characters attempting to mimic celebrity stars in order to make a buck or two. A bunch of the guys took some great pictures with a Jimi Hendrix look-a-like as he strummed out “All Along the Watchtower” for our enjoyment. The tasteless and gaudy souvenir shops quickly lost their novelty and we headed to the airport after only about an hour or two in the area. Our trip home involved a slight detour to Atlanta, where we spent a few hours sleeping or aimlessly frittering around, before arriving back in Milwaukee around ten thirty Monday morning; quite a trek without a concrete result from either game. Nevertheless, our play has consistently improved over the course of the last few games and we can look forward to the upcoming Panther Invitational, hoping for a more cohesive performance and a much deserved second win.

Back to the Classroom

2009-09-08T06:12:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his fourth blog entry.

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Our campus is showing the unmistakable signs of the first week of classes. Freshmen in their multi-colored striped polo shirts or lurid jean mini-skirts strut around the quad reveling in their newly realized freedom. The air is palpably full of surging hormones. Remnants of high school adolescence still brand these creatures sophomoric teens, easily recognizable by their fits of giggles and overcompensating outbursts of insecure masculinity. It’s the fragile male ego in its natural habitat. I guess insecurity should be expected, given the self-perpetuating identity crisis imposed on eighteen-year-olds by cultural stagnation, tawdry MTV notions of “cool,” and the whole other host of manipulative images shoved down our throats by the technological monsters at large. Take one look at a college campus and you’ll see these agents at work, keeping the brand name products popular and the easily disposable goods streaming in off the boat from China.

I am, of course, a profound hypocrite. Our team is sponsored by Puma. You don’t see me selflessly renouncing these free possessions or replacing my Hanes, Dr. Martens, and Billabong merchandise with homespun, environmentally friendly hemp alternatives. Instead, I’ll gripe and moan about the increased imposing of commercialist culture on all aspects of life, while I secretly suck down a latte from Starbucks and bathe myself in 50 Cent’s new cologne.

In all seriousness, I abhor using brand names and products as ways of defining oneself or showing one’s true character. But I’ve found it’s difficult, especially as a collegiate athlete, to make some sort of bold, courageous stand against status symbols and American materialism. It’s simply a conflict of interest, one in which free cleats and ostentatious new clothing win out over my compromised values. Fortunately, the NCAA has strict rules on what types of logos and advertising can be used on collegiate uniforms, so our jerseys merely have little Puma emblems on their seams or sides. We’re not the walking billboards seen in many professional games.

Our first regular season game featured our crosstown rivals, Marquette, and was full of all the bravado and excitement of a typical rivalry game. Each year, regardless of whether the game is played at home or away, a sizeable crowd turns out to witness who gains the bragging rights for the city of Milwaukee. The fixture is highly anticipated on both sides and its position as the season opener this year created an even more energized atmosphere.

Marquette’s stadium complex, Valley Fields, is located directly south of their campus, inopportunely squeezed between the Potawatomi Bingo Casino and the dirty Menomenee River. Additionally, it’s bordered by numerous industrial buildings, warehouses, and rundown railroad tracks. An ever-present stench of damp, fermenting grain greets the nostrils when you arrive here, although after about half an hour you get accustomed to this smell of burnt Malt-O-Meal. I silently relish the placement of this acclaimed, private school’s sports complex, reminding myself of the clean, odor-free air we breathe in around our publicly funded field.

As usual, the game turned within a few minutes of the opening whistle. One of the Marquette center backs dived late into a tackle on (Peter) Sanger, sparking outrage from our bench, and was rightfully booked. Our players responded with equally vigorous challenges, yet most of them remained fairly clean.

At halftime the game was still scoreless. The play remained aggressive for most of the second half, with both teams visibly starting to tire towards the last 15 to 20 minutes. With about five minutes remaining we got caught out of position with many of our players pushing forward into the attack. As Marquette quickly transitioned into the counter-attack we gave up a foul just outside of the eighteen in order to stymie any further progress into our box. We watched helplessly as the Marquette player rifled a well-placed free kick into the upper left corner. The last five minutes saw us franticly push forward, but to no avail. The game ended in a 1-0 loss.
We played Western Illinois in the first game of Madison’s weekend tournament and the game turned out to be a hard-fought, scrappy contest. We opened the scoring early when Sanger took a beautiful free kick with his left foot that hit the post and was redirected into the net by Rosey (Greg Rosenthal), putting us up 1-0. The score didn’t change for the rest of the game, although both sides ended up having a fair amount of good chances. I feel bad for any neutral spectator watching this match, because it turned out to be one of the ugliest college games I’ve been a part of. There was limited, inconsistent possession and a lot of defensive errors from both teams. But we maintained enough defensive resilience to keep the shutout, aided greatly by the acrobatics of our backline and particularly goalie John Shakon.

The second match of the weekend proved to be far more exciting and attractive to watch. Our opponents, Virginia Tech, moved the ball well and were dangerous in the final third. Some defensive mishaps, coupled with Virginia Tech’s strong offensive play, cost us two goals, one early on in the first half, and another later in the second. We were much more effective with our possession and attacking chances than in the Western Illinois game, and after a number of strong opportunities throughout the game we were finally rewarded with a goal by Robert Refai in the final two minutes. Our overall play was much improved from the previous game, despite giving up two goals. As we left Madison’s stadium morale remained fairly high, and it was obvious everyone looked forward to the upcoming trip to California.

Final Preparations

2009-08-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his third blog entry.

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It’s weeks like these that make me feel twice my age. I’ll walk up a flight of stairs and it sounds like someone jumping on those sheets of soft, plastic packaging used to protect valuables. Each ascending stair is greeted by a pronounced snap or crack. Normally, this noise is oddly satisfying, especially when you’re the one lightly popping the little bubbles on the sheets. But when your bones begin making these sounds it serves as a fitting and accurate testament to the heightened activity they’ve recently been put through.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not complaining. I’ve been through this feeling of temporary, accelerated aging before ... many times in fact. However, every preseason it seems to get more distinct and inauspiciously more permanent. The wear and tear is in many ways unavoidable, since we rapidly need to prepare our bodies for the fast approaching regular season. Over the years I’ve utilized several effective techniques to slow this inexorable aging process. Hydration remains one of the seminal practices to avoid exhaustion, overheating, and cumulative fatigue. Eating a well-balanced diet, high in protein, fiber, and fruits and vegetables also greatly aids the body in recovery and reconstruction. (Wow, this sounds like some mandatory dietary explanation on those cereal commercials.) Ice baths, with their initial pangs of stabbing chills leading to that blissful numbness bordering on slight warmth, suggestive of the early stages of hypothermia, comprehensively invigorate the lower limbs. Individual ice bags also often soothe acutely sore areas of the body and I’ve seen some players, Nkuti (Ndely) in particular, with a veritable multitude of plastic bags strapped onto various injuries.

This year’s training schedule differs from most other years in that we have our second sessions very late at night. We eat as a group around five and then rest a few hours before reporting to training at eight or eight-thirty. While this allows us to avoid the heat and humidity, it does make for some fairly late nights. It’s the price we need to pay in order to train on turf, so few players are complaining. These practices tend to create an atmosphere of heightened urgency and emphasis. Playing under lights, with the darkness thick and enclosing, establishes a far more radiant and almost claustrophobic arena. The sounds of practice become sharp, more emphatic, and surreal. Once you get over the initial tiredness of practicing at this hour, your body responds with a growing sense of purpose, a realization somewhere along the lines of, “Well, what the hell, I’m out here anyway so why not make this good?”

Our second exhibition was played at home and featured a number of similarities with the first game. Our opponent, Wisconsin-Whitewater, is a Division III program, but one that is consistently competitive at both the regional and national level. We started out the first half with some good movement and passing, yet we allowed ourselves to stoop into Whitewater’s slower speed of play and nervous, erratic possession. Despite having far more dangerous chances, we found ourselves down 1-0 at half. The second half saw revitalized movement and an increased sense of urgency, resulting in two unanswered goals within a period of 38 seconds. (Eric) Frazier converted a penalty kick and (Zach) Funk blasted another goal past the Whitewater goalie to give us a 2-1 lead. The score stood the rest of the half, giving us another slim and well-deserved victory.

Later in the week we played our final exhibition against a very strong alumni team. This game is always a good test, since our program has seen a multitude of players ascend to the professional levels all across the country and globe. We showed signs of improvement in terms of defensive shape and transition. However, a few mistakes in our defensive third hurt us in the long run. The alumni team, with their greater collective experience, adeptly moved the ball with speed and consistency. A penalty kick against us in the first half, coupled with two unanswered goals in the second, left us 3-0 down before Abe Gibbons put us on the scoreboard. The game ended in a 3-1 loss, yet we made important improvements in organization and transitioning, both on offense and defense.

We always have an annual barbeque at Doc Middleton’s house during preseason and this year’s meal was another delightful (and tasty) experience. Doc and his family graciously invite thirty starving, worn-out individuals into their house and provide us with an amazing spread of burgers, brats, salad, and deserts. It’s a refreshing relief from our regular, rather mundane diet and helps nourish our depleted, calorie-craving bodies.

Unsurprisingly, our last preseason practice began under discouraging weather conditions. We ran from our locker room north about a mile to Shorewood through a steadily increasing drizzle. The night air was cool and dense, and the wind picked up as we reached the white glow of the stadium lights. It looked and felt as if it might snow. The rain was coming down in slow, compact clouds of condensed moisture, almost like a visible and perpetually forming dew. We were already soaked from the run, but seeing the rain illuminated under the glaring lights made the wetness that much more tangible.

Despite the slick field conditions and drenched clothing plastered against our chilled frames, the practice was a success. Once you accept the feeling of total and unavoidable saturation as your body’s normal state, it isn’t difficult to focus on defensive transitions or switching the point of attack. In fact, you begin to relish the turbulent elements around you, almost wishing for some new form of chaotic interference from the heavens, like some twisted taunt to the Almighty.

We played a possession game for our warm-up and than progressed directly into 11 versus 11, starting out with smaller dimensions and steadily increasing the size up to a full field scrimmage. The slippery surface caused numerous passes to skid out of bounds and succeeded in upending several players making moves too aggressive for such conditions. The level of play may not have been pretty, but it certainly was honest and dynamic. Exhausted, sodden, and humbled by nature’s capabilities, we retired to the showers, happy to be sheltered and finished with another preseason.

Exhibitions, Excursions and Excitement

2009-08-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his second blog entry.

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This year’s preseason exhibition games started even earlier than usual with two matches slotted in the first week. After only two initial days of practice we commenced with our Black and Gold inter-squad scrimmage. This game is always a competitive contest as players battle it out for upcoming starting spots. The match mimics most of the structure and hype of a regular season game, offering a preview of this year’s squad in a spirited and aggressive environment.

Our practices leading up to the Black and Gold match focused on individual defending and defensive structure. We progressed from small-sided games to more expansive drills on defensive organization, eventually advancing to full 11 versus 11. Our fitness sessions earlier in August seem to have paid off and, although it will certainly take longer to regain match level stamina, on the whole the team appears fit and ready for real opposition.

In previous years we’ve been forced to practice down on the lakefront, a pitch that’s renowned for unevenness and ankle-breaking potential, despite the excellent view of Lake Michigan. Instead, we’ve relocated to the nearby artificial turfs of Shorewood High School and Bradley Tech, replacing the dreadful grass surface of the lakefront with smooth, fast-running synthetic fields. Although sliding and falling on turf tends to perniciously affect one’s skin, the positive results of having a consistent and even surface underfoot are more than worth the perpetual scrape on one’s vulnerable “cheeks”.

The first half of the Black and Gold game saw both squads maintain a fairly disciplined defensive structure, while simultaneously trying to probe the opposition for potential weak links in backline organization. The Gold team struck first when Evan (Bartzis) intercepted an errant pass out of the back and neatly slotted the ball into the left corner. By the end of the first half it was obvious our match fitness wasn’t quite up to par. Weariness and disorganization led to sloppy shape, but neither side was able to capitalize further.

Fans that stuck around for the full 90 minutes were rewarded with a flurry of goals towards the end of the game. The score remained 1-0 far into the second half before Evan netted his second off a well-placed cross from Pedro (Mejia). Shortly after, Ross (Van Osdol) struck a shot right outside the eighteen which took a menacing deflection off a Black player and sailed into the net, putting the Gold team three goals up. In the last minute of play the Black team gained some level of consolation as (Eric) Frazier was taken down in the box and converted the penalty kick, stealing the shutout from the Gold team with about 15 seconds left on the clock. Overall, the effort and excitement on both sides was promising, and positive aspects, offensively and defensively, can be taken from our outing under the lights.

After a light session the following morning we departed for southern Illinois. We watched footage of the Black and Gold game on the six-hour bus ride, reaching Edwardsville in the early evening. Our session planned for that night at the game field was canceled due to electrical difficulties, so we enjoyed an unexpected chance to relax.

The next day’s build-up to game time exemplified our customary rituals leading up to kick-off. Following an early morning breakfast we tour the field, than return to the hotel to sleep, eat our pregame meal and indulge in any other individual idiosyncrasies. Personally, I enjoy clearing my head by reading a good book or listening to music, usually something introspective like Bob Dylan or The Arcade Fire. Appropriately, as game time nears my music selection changes. Something a little more upbeat gets me ready for the field, more along the lines of The Doors, Metallica or The Who.

SIU Edwardsville only became Division I in the last two years, but their quality of play certainly proves they’re worthy of the highest collegiate level. They are a strong possession team, capable of keeping the ball for long periods of time in their defensive third. However, they struggle going forward and many times their fixation with possession becomes detrimental. They spent much of the first half knocking the ball around with short, quick passes, yet failed to penetrate more than a few times. Unfortunately, one such attempt succeeded and we found ourselves down 1-0 at halftime.

In the second half we reestablished our defensive tenacity and organization, denying SIUE from hitting even one shot on goal. Offensively, we were able to capitalize on a veritable flurry of opportunities. (Andrew) Wiedebach hit the equalizer in emphatic fashion with a diving header, audaciously throwing himself into the scrum of defenders and flying cleats at the top of the six. A few cuts under the eye were well worth the effort. The goal seemed to galvanize us further and we dominated play for the rest of the game. Shortly after the first goal, Evan connected with a beautiful cross from Aaron Gibbons that put us up 2-1. We missed a few late chances that could have given us a more resounding victory, but the result was well earned.

We emerged from the postgame showers to an ominous looking sky. Clouds coalesced into ever-larger masses, contrasting sharply with the light gray backdrop of the oncoming night. The stadium lights, now highlighting emptiness and silence, still gleamed bright on the field; the previous activity that shook this small, illuminated rectangle in the expansive ocean of darkness surrounding it had abated. The faint outlines of nearby fields enclosed the stadium and the distant downtown of St. Louis shone with the hazy ambience of smog and electricity.

I wonder how many places around the country I’ve stood outside an idling coach bus, with its warning lights flashing as we load up our gear, and reflected on the game that’s just completed. I always call my parents and my girlfriend, letting them know how the game went and how I played. Usually, there are a dozen or so other players, all dressed in our matching traveling garb, doing exactly the same thing. From a rural grass field surrounded by standing corn or picked soybeans to a decrepit parking lot in some downtown metropolis, it’s always the same. The scene would seem strange and surreal if I hadn’t become accustomed to it over the past three years. Individuals, clad in all black, their hands stuck to their ears drowning out the background noise and sheltering the garbled phone call of some far-away voice, each stamping out a five by five circle of grass or gravel or pavement. It looks like some strange cultish ritual, a choreographed dance to appease the gods. Random gesticulations and erratic rises in volume or tone reinforce this picture, although I know we’re merely describing the past two hours with any remaining bit of energy. Eventually, each person ends their conversation and slowly trickles into the waiting bus to collapse on the multi-colored, musty seats.

The ride home after a victory is always more lively and enjoyable. Sometimes we sing chauvinistic school anthems or watch some sophomoric, lighthearted comedy, reveling in the simplistic, slapstick humor that allows us to simply lie back and tacitly absorb. It’s difficult to get comfortable on these seats, especially with multiple areas of your body begging for a soft, forgiving place to rest. I crumple up my UWM sweatshirt to serve as a pillow and hope the overwhelming desire to sleep can overcome the persistent aching in my limbs. My ipod serves as both nightlight and bedtime story, and I’m able to gradually drift off into the arms of mindless sleep…

“I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail,
Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail,

Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn.

Come in, she said, I’ll give you, shelter from the storm.”
-Bob Dylan

Welcoming the 2009 season...

2009-08-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Gerard-Larson, a senior on the 2009 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his first blog entry.

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It’s August and the fun is all over. Languid days on the beach and late nights at outdoor music festivals are things of the past. It’s preseason, and our previous boredom and nonchalance has quickly been replaced.

While the rest of the nation argues over economic decisions, health care reform and Michael Jackson’s drug overdose, we turn our thinking to far more simplistic issues. Our immediate problems tend to be confined to completing six-mile runs without getting lost or fighting back the ever-increasing urge to vomit during a stair and hill workout. We’ve already been here for several weeks, sweating out the inactivity of the summer months and preparing for the approaching season.

Captains’ practice generally begins at the end of July and serves as a fitting precursor to the start of regular training with the coaches. While much of our workouts focus on regaining and boosting fitness, in particular stamina and speed, we also try to begin laying down the foundations of structure and team dynamics that accompany our training sessions throughout the season. Some of the players may grumble about long fitness days or early wake-ups, but few argue when we play a full game of 90 minutes, whether or not it’s at the crack of dawn.

No matter the fitness plan for the day, I usually keep a fairly sanguine outlook. I’m one of those undeniably strange characters that gets up at 6 a.m. to run 10 miles as the sun comes up. Or takes his dog for a three-hour bike ride in a nearby park during the middle of a tumultuous downpour. Exercise and strenuous activity keep me sane. I don’t know how else to explain it. There’s nothing more satisfying than pushing the body and mind to exhaustion and collapse. While this may seem unnatural, even deranged, I encourage those of you who don’t understand the inner exploration and extensive self-reflection of extended activity to give the experience a chance. Anyways, returning to Milwaukee at preseason time never really struck me as something to dread or worry about, but rather simply signaled the start of another season of effort and self-sacrifice.

August is also an excellent time for the incoming freshmen to start the process of college acculturation. This can be hostile and unforgiving at times, but arriving here a month early tends to properly prepare most of our rookies. Important tasks like laundry duty and equipment transportation greatly aid in building character. It is a necessary and unavoidable experience and all of us have gone through this period of adaptation and realignment.

The arrival of organized and disciplined practices with the coaches is widely greeted with both relief and trepidation. While strictly fitness sessions are now figments of the past and ball work occupies significant portions of each practice, even more of our lives fall under the cracking whip of Panther soccer. Sessions get longer, team meals and tactics meetings intrude on spare time and the body undergoes increasingly merciless beatings at the hands of one’s teammates.

But it’s all worth it when you step onto Engelmann Field, with the clean-cut grass glistening under newly-formed dew, under the lights, in front of several thousand fans, with a cool breeze blowing up off the lake, reminding you why you submit to the purgatory of preseason every year.