May 11, 2013
EVANSTON, Ill. - Coming off a historic victory in the NCAA Tournament, sophomore defender Chinna O'Suji blogs about the team's first tournament win in program history and preparing for its rematch against Northwestern:
I just want to start off by saying that yesterday was historic - from beginning to end.
We began this historic sequence of events with a pregame lunch at Whole Foods, which was pretty much every player's dream. Aisles upon aisles upon aisles of the greatest foods you can imagine, plus a coffee bar where religious pregame coffee drinkers like Nina Swanson were able to get their coffee drink of choice.
While in Whole Foods yesterday we struck a bargain with the coaches that after we all "ate to win" - one of [head coach] Amy Bokker's newest catch phrases - we decided we should instate a new motto: "win to eat" in which we could eat wherever we wanted, whatever we wanted (within reason) after the Notre Dame game.
This small feat was epic in and of itself, and, for a team that loves to eat, it was a great additional bit of inspiration in our game against Notre Dame.
After our pre game meal we went back to the hotel where we watched an amazing video put together by Mrs. Adam (Elizabeth Adam's mom). The video encapsulated our team's evolution from the fall to now, reminding us how amazing we all are both individually and together.
We went into the game yesterday knowing we had grown into an amazing team together with high expectations for ourselves. Friday night we used the game against Notre Dame to show that when we work together and believe in ourselves and each other, we can accomplish anything - including making history by advancing past the first round of the NCAA tournament (for the first time in program history).
In our second back-to-back nail-biter victory, we made history by defeating an opponent that not only stood between us and advancing, but also had won in our prior encounter. We were beyond excited, and any on-looker could definitely tell (we were so excited jumping around - and into each other - that when I attempted to hug Hannah Farr I somehow ended up tackling her).
Not only were we excited to have added to the history books after some epic plays by Hannah Farr in the last minute of the game, but as we all sat together and stretched, we all celebrated again remembering that we got to eat wherever we wanted!
Soon after, our whole team ended up completely taking over the closest Chipotle.
After a great postgame celebratory meal, we immediately started switching gears, recovering with team ice baths and zoning in for our next rematch against Northwestern. As Lerner reminded us on the bus on the way back to the hotel, we're currently 3-3 on rematches this year, and we hope to keep that trend going in our huge game against Northwestern tomorrow.
We know every game from here on out is historic for our program and for our team. We have the chance tomorrow to not only catapult our program so much further than it's ever been before, but also to get one step closer to reaching our second team goal, one game at a time. In our scouting session this morning before pregame practice, our coaches shared a quote with us from the ultimate athlete, the ultimate champion, Michael Jordan:
"There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is in the end their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."
With another focused pregame practice under our belts, along with a centering visualization session with head coach Amy Bokker, we feel more prepared than ever to face Northwestern.
One draw at a time, one play at a time, we know that we're making history, and we can't wait to make the most of it together!