Coming to an end

We always end the year with a team dinner and gifts are given, awards are received and the end of the year highlights DVD is shown! This year we went to Coach Bliss's house to grill out and get everyone together one last time before the school year was over. It was an absolute blast, however it wouldn't be right if we didn't have our usual mishaps.

Senior Gifts!

We thought that grilling out would be a great idea so the seniors brought over our grill from our house. Within the first three minutes of grilling the propane tank ran out, so no problem we would go get another one. Well, that didn't work either and we ended up having to grill the hamburgers and hot dogs on the stove. They were still devoured within minutes and everyone was very happy with their meal. After that we did our traditional t-shirt exchange. Everyone on the team is given a girl who they must give one of their t-shirts to for a specific reason. It can be because it reminds you of her or because you love that t-shirt, it's for whatever reason. Some good ones were given out including a neon green t-shirt with a mullet on it. I  have to say I was a little bit jealous of that one.

Kate Keim receiving her award

Ellen and Emily rapping our thank you to our trainer Ryan

Once dinner and the t-shirt exchange was done it was time for gifts! Everyone received a keychain with a picture of the team on it. The freshman get their varsity letter with a lacrosse stick pin, the sophomores and juniors received their bar pin for their year of playing and the seniors were given special gifts. We got a blanket from the school and really cute picture frame from the coaches and team. Then awards were given out for Most Valuable Attacker, Defender, Most Improved and Unsung Hero. Most Valuable Attacker  was given to Paige, a sophomore. Unsung Hero was given to Emily Harman, a senior. Most Improved was given to Kate Keim. Most Valuable Defender was given to Erin McDonnell, a senior. After all of this the highly anticipated season highlights DVD was shown! Hilarious pictures, action shots and group pictures are shown of us throughout the season. It was absolutely hilarious and there was a ton of laughter when it was shown. Everyone had a really fun awesome time and the seniors were really sad to go knowing they won't be back next year.

Four years on the hill....

               The four years that I have spent here at McDaniel College have been some of the best years of my life. The friendships that I have formed with so many people are ones that I will cherish and never forget. I came in as a really somewhat shy freshman, though that is not at all who I am, from the start my team welcomed me right in and I was able to come out of my shell fairly quickly. You wouldn’t think that seniors become very close with their freshman, but I still keep in touch with those seniors from my first year and they’re great friends of mine. This team becomes an instant set of best friends and they will always have your back and best interest at heart no matter what.
           I have learned so much about myself as a person on and off the lacrosse field. I was taught to be independent, take risks, voice your opinion, make up for your mistakes, work hard when you want something and never give up when reaching for your goals. Those translated off the field into my classes. Though the education minor is not a light load I think that I received the best education that I could. My professors were there for me at all hours of the day and completely understood that I was an athlete. They only wanted to see me succeed and gave me their best advice through four years.             Most of the best friends that I have, I met here at McDaniel and I know for a fact that I will not lose touch with any of them as I graduate. Not only are they on the team, but also they are from classes and even in my sorority. As a D3 athlete I was able to join a sorority on campus and take an executive position to help lead the sorority. The other four seniors have been my roommates for the  past two years and are the best friends that I could have ever asked for. These people mean so much to me, and I literally cannot begin to count the number of hysterically fun times that we have had.              I wouldn’t take back a single minute of my time here at McDaniel and I would recommend this college to any person who ever asked. There are so many different things to do on campus that absolutely everyone finds a niche here. I’m extremely happy this college was recommended to me because I have had the best college experience.

Senior Year Team 

Junior Year Team

Sophomore Year Team 

Freshman Year Team 

Tailgates!

                   Tailgates could quite possibly be one of my favorite things that happen during season. They take place after every weekend home game that we have and occasionally during the week and some away games. This is when it shows just how close we crucial and important they are to us. There are team moms from each class that organize what food is being brought and by whom. Every family contributes something and once it’s all set up...it’s a free for all! The food is always delicious and the team moms do a phenomenal job of organizing everything.

                     This is the time where our families get to mingle with everyone. It’s great when the out of town families travel all the way to Westminster for a game and then have a little bit of down time after a game to meet everyone and put names and numbers to faces. This, in my opinion, is where the Green Terror family really is formed. Families and friends and the support from them is something that is so important to the team and we could not get through a season without it. So having these tailgates is just a way to say thank you and get together with everyone as often as we can. I can honestly say that the tailgates are something that I am really, really, really going to miss.

What can happen at tailgates...Coach Mattson in the blue, myself on the right. 

Bliss and Mattson

               Our head coach Muffie Bliss has been at McDaniel for going on her tenth season. Meagan Mattson has assisted her for going on five seasons. These two bring a sense of discipline and fun into a team that creates a family like atmosphere for all of the girls. Coach Bliss is like the mother and coach to everyone, she really has a personality that shows she would do and give anything for her players and that is a vital characteristic that a coach needs to have. She knows when to get down to business and get the job done, but without laughter and fun she knows that it will be lost on her team. Her patience is never ending and the only thing she wants to do is to teach and watch her players succeed. She loves to win and as a player you want your coach to have that passion and not be satisfied with losses. Coach Bliss is also very honest and true to who she is as a coach. She will tell you if you’re doing something wrong or need to improve in a certain area, but on the flipside of that she will also let you know when you have done things right and have contributed in a positive way. She is a fair coach in that playing time is earned at practice and if you earn that playing time she will give it to you. That can be from a freshman point of view and all the way up to a senior spot. 

Nichols, Bliss and me right before a game!

             Coach Mattson is the assistant coach, she played lacrosse for four years and soccer for two years at McDaniel and that gives her an insight into each player’s head each year as they progress. She is a fun coach who expects her players to bring their game to everyday. Like Coach Bliss she also knows that as a team you can progress or learn without having fun and she definitely adds that humor to each day. Having gone to McDaniel she knows how the classes are and how schedules conflict and your day can be completely busy from start to finish. She also knows the type of team that is run so it makes her very relatable and very easy to talk to. You can be very honest with her, but you also have to expect that honesty back because she will give it to you. She will tell you exactly what you need to fix, why and when in games that changing your area for growth will help you. She also is a P.E. teacher at a Carroll County Middle School so teaching new things to players is just second nature for her. She sees everyone on an even playing field on the team, just as Coach Bliss does.

Mattson teaching Rachel a play

              While they both are very much alike in their coaching style they also have evident differences, which makes our team have the best of both worlds. They will do anything they can for the girls on this team and have helped make me into the lacrosse player I am. I can honestly say being coached by these two my past four years at McDaniel College I couldn’t have asked for anyone better!  

 

During a freezing night practice!

From Start to Finish...

April 16^th, the forecast was to be pouring rain all day right through our game….and of course it was senior day! Our locker room was decked out and we received really sweet and cute gifts. It was a complete surprise and we were not allowed to know about anything. The game was versus Ursinus, who was 3^rd in the conference, and our team was ready to go. Everyone could feel that today was the day that we would go out and win. We had a “nothing to lose” attitude and I don’t think we were ever as ready as we were Saturday.

           

The seniors, #1 Lisa Jurd, #11 Emily Harman, #17 Lauren Vilkas, #20, and #13 me, each walked on the field with their family with a nice little blurb about us and a few inside jokes to go along with it. The rain surprisingly slowed down for about 20 minutes during the senior introduction. It was all so sweet, a few tears were shed, but the main feeling was excitement because we wanted to win that day. We’d worked so hard all season and many of the outcomes of the games we played didn’t necessarily show that, but today was our day.

             

Then it was game time! It felt like from the second the first whistle blew            the rain just began to pour…and it did not stop. It was a close game the entire time and each girl stepped up their own play to get the job done. Every single one of them played their role on the team to the best of their ability. With about 5 minutes left we were down by two. No one on the team began to panic; everyone stayed calm and made sure they just kept playing without chaos. We held them to no goals and scored two, the 60 minutes finished with a tie. Then it was onto a 6 minute overtime play, 3 minute halves. The first three minutes there were no goals made by either team. Then with around 35 seconds, in the second half of overtime, Paige Messersmith, a sophomore, scored the winning goal off of a free position. The defense then held the other team to no goals for the remainder of the game and…we won!! Celebrating was such a great feeling, and having overcome our obstacle on senior day was the best gift that we could have received. We have had a lot to overcome as a team this year and I think during this game we let go of everything and just played.

            Myself, and the rest of the seniors, couldn’t have been prouder of all of those girls more than that day. Everyone did a phenomenal job whether they were on the field, cheering on the sidelines or coaching…every single person contributed to that win. It was the best senior day that we could have asked for and we wouldn’t change a single thing about it…not even the rain.

Thank you girls for making it such a great senior day!!

*Photos courtesy of MG!*

Sticking Together

So we have not been having the best winning season a team could have, and being a senior that can be something very hard to accept. However, with this team it makes moving onto the next game and the next opponent that much easier. This team sticks together, picks each other up, never gives up and has not through this entire season. When you have a team like that it can be hard for me or even anyone else to get down on themselves or each other.

             I can honestly say, we go into each game taking what we’ve learned from the previous game, wanting a win and ready and willing to work our butts off in order to get that win. Our recent game versus Dickinson did not go our way, but the efforts that were put forward by every single person who went out on that field and even those who didn't were phenomenal. It was a very close game, back and forth the entire time. Towards the end Dickinson pulled away which gave them the win this time. 

            The way everyone comforts and picks each other up consistently is something that has never been as strong in the four years that I’ve played than this one. No one lets anyone dwell on what they did “wrong” or "could’ve done better" for long. This team really understands that we win as a team and we lose as a team. Our goal is for us to win out the rest of our season and I know for a fact that it is absolutely doable. Senior day is being celebrated this Saturday with a home game versus Ursinus. Check out the next post about that later in the weekend!

"Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost."

                                                                                                             -Helen Keller 

Our Champion!

This past Thursday was the annual Tournament of Champions that McDaniel hosts. We invite schools with special needs programs from all around the county to bring their students on campus for a day of fun, games, foods and medals. This year there were about 90 participants and just about the same amount of student athletes from McDaniel. Each athlete is matched up with a child with a special need and they are "buddies" for the day. Each McDaniel athlete wears a shirt, practice uniform, pinny, etc to represent their sport. In addition to being a buddy, you can also be in charge of the different stations. There is baseball, basketball shooting, bowling, bean bag toss, scooter races, lacrosse shooting, golf and so much more.

Our own Ellen Nicely graced the cover of the Carroll County Times with an adorable picture of her congratulating a participant on the bean bag toss. So cute!! Though, this was not her buddy, Ellen was running the bean bag toss station and took a liking to this little boy when he started to play. I saw him around all day and he was the cutest thing.

Ellen is a sophomore on the team and a two sport athlete, also playing soccer. She is actually wearing a soccer shirt in this picture, but I can get over that . She plays in a defensive midi position and has come up with some important caused turnovers already this season. She defines herself as just plain "awkward" which I think a lot of the team would agree with, but in the best and funniest way possible. She can make you laugh in an instant and you won't stop laughing for a while. She is a vital member of our team and everyone is very proud that she is the one representing McDaniel on the cover of Carroll County Newspaper! Congratulations Ellen!!

*Credit for the picture goes to the Carroll County Times*

Spring Break Destination: Westmonster

This year we opted to say in the beautiful town of Westminster for our Spring Break trip. We had a relaxing 50 degree average temperature... Under Armour still needed. However the highlight of the break would have to have been our trip to Terrapin Adventures!
We caravanned ourselves to Columbia, Maryland and gathered in a room to begin "warming up" with different types of minds games. After my team was finished schooling the other one we headed outside to start working on team bonding, communication, problem solving and laughing until we died (which was not on the original itinerary).

Our first task was the human knot... now, this is supposed to be a little bit challenging, but ultimately doable. Though, when you have a large circle of 25 women, short and tall, who can't even reach over the top to grab other people's hands, there is going to be a serious problem. We were all very optimistic when we first started, thinking we could do it, but about 15 seconds in everyone let go. So we figured out another way to go at it and tried again. The second try was a complete disaster. I was shoved to ground on top of my roommate and fell next to a freshman who was being stampeded into the ground. She was then stepped on and got a muddy shoe to the face. After a few minutes of yelling and screaming, this was the end result of that poor freshman...

                                                                                         ... needless to say we did not complete that task.

Onto the "dangerous lava beneath you swing". We had the goal of getting our entire team from one tree stump to another using solely a rope swing, but we had to be sooo careful because there were "human eating alligators in dangerously hot lava"-I know, intimidating. This was a generally easy task and we got everyone over safely with the exception of a few lost legs.

The next life or death situation we had to tackle involved nothing but a rolling wheel about 6 feet off the ground. We had to get each teammate over safely without touching the sides of the wheel to help propel ourselves over. We got our first girl over using safety girls on the other side, but from then on we were by ourselves. I was a lifter throwing girls up and sending them over the wheel, then I went and became the "hugger" on the other side. Yes, you had to hug them and pull them over in order for a safe landing. We accomplished this task with flying colors, even getting our two nervous coaches over.

Now came the mission that took over 45 minutes to finish. A single wire, about 10 large poles connecting the wire, 25 girls, and 1 coach... not the easiest thing in the world. And yes there was more "lava" beneath us, so falling was not an option. I was second in line and after about 15 minutes of discussion on how to try to figure this out we decided the less girls on one stretch of wire was the way to go. So after 20 minutes I finally got off the wire, but there were still 23 girls to go. 45 minutes later, we were ready to stuff our faces with pizza, and we did.

After lunch we put on the real gear and started swinging. This huge swing is lifted up about 50 feet in the air and it is your job to pull the plug to let it go. I went up with Emily, another senior, and Mattson. Great combo, Emily talks a lot when she is nervous and Mattson got too scared to pull the string, so it was in my hands. As nerve racking as it was, the swing was the best part. A few people tackled their fears, there was a lot of screaming and a TON of laughter from the girls watching the others go. Here are  some looks of pure happiness...

Top Left:Kerry, Goldstein, and Mahoney
Top Right: Mattson, me and Emily
Bottom Left: Bliss, Lisa and Ellen
Bottom Right: Monica, Anna and Chelsea



The zip line was next, nothing special, except an extremely annoying guide who I swear was not a fan of anyone who didn't understand his dumb summer camp jokes. You had to climb across just a single wire to get to the zip line, while getting heckled by the guide who thought he was a riot. Luckily we met a nicer guide right before the zip line who helped you through everything and then it was a good time. Whoever finished earlier headed off to go round two on the swings.

Our day came to an end and I have never been more tired. We headed back the hour commute to Westminster, grabbed our money for dinner, took a little nap and then went out for more food-shocker.

25 Strong

This year the 2011 Women’s Lacrosse Team consists of 25 loud, fun, hard working, “ready for anything” girls. We are a very young team with 11 freshmen, 7 sophomores, 2 juniors and 5 seniors. We began our preseason on February 1^st with a ready to do our best attitude. Upperclassmen, though a small group, were ready to take everything that they had learned from the past 2 and 3 years and pass it down to our freshman and sophomores, who we knew needed to step up to the plate. We worked hard all through preseason and by the beginning of March we were ready to play against some new numbers other than our own. 

Freshman

This is by far the biggest class that I have seen make the cut for the lacrosse team. They are a CLOSE knit group of girls who came into the program with open minds and fresh new attitude that I think we all needed. To be honest, they are a little bit of a cult (in a good way). Each girl rooms with another freshman, except for one. They have an all for one, one for all attitudes that has helped them to stick together through our season. They are loud and fun which are two essential points in order to fit in with this team. Every one of the girls I believe has stepped up to roles which freshman, in the past, have

never had to step up to. Their willingness to listen and learn will allow them to be great leaders as they get older.

Sophomores

This class consists of 7 girls whose positions range all over the field. They go from goalie to center and low offense to low defense. Though the curse of the sophomore slump is always looming with collegiate sports, these girls, in my opinion, have proven that wrong. They are a group that never gives up and will put their best efforts forward for the best of the team. Yet again, these girls contain the elements that allow them to perfectly fit into our team. They are a smart group of girls, who definitely also help the team off the field and have the smarts for on the field.

Juniors

Our smallest class on the team, yet they are extremely solid and dependable. They play at a defensive position and a center/midi position. These two are some of our best communicators and have been put into the position of almost seniors because of the small number of upperclassmen. A lot of pressure has been put on them because of their small class, yet they have continually answered the call and done a phenomenal job.

Seniors

I think this is by far my favorite class…yet I can say that I am a little biased. The five of us have stuck together through everything, including losing a few members of our class. We live together, which one would think could be a potential disaster, but it makes us even closer off the field and translates on the field. I think that the five seniors do a great job of leading the team, even though there are an abundant amount of underclassmen. I could not have asked a better group of girls to go out with this season!