Tracy Ducar's WUSA diary
By Tracy Ducar
Boston, 31 May 2001
Well, here we go...diary #2.
Last time I wrote we were heading into our long weekend break. Well, I for one had a fantastic break at home. I can report that my gardens look great and all the bird feeders are fully stocked with seed, so the birds are happy! Yes, I am quite the little happy homemaker in my spare time.
:-) It was nice to unwind at home and get away from the chaotic drivers and roads of Boston.
As for my teammates, Keri returned "Bryce-less" from Oregon. She left her son at home with her husband, Brian. She said the first few days were nice because she was able to take care of a lot of chores back here in Boston that were difficult to do while toting a two-year-old around. However, now she says she is bored and misses her adventures in the park with her playmate when she gets back from training. We all miss his antics at practice. He is so cute and is particularly fond, (okay infatuated would be a better word), of Elie Foster, so we all find that amusing since he just turned two!
"The Germs", Maren and Bettina, came back from their duties with the German National Team with a treat for us all....chocolate! For those of you who have never strayed from Hershey's, let me just tell you that you are missing out! German chocolate is so smooth and creamy, it is delicious! This becomes quite the compliment when you understand that I am not a chocolate lover, but a Skittles lover!
Finally, Jen Tissue returned from Washington bearing gifts as well. She came back with a Spokane t-shirt for me, dubbing me an honorary member of "Team Spokane". :-)
We started training again on Monday and had a strong week of practices. We were focused, battled each other all week, pushed hard in fitness, and it seemed like we were on track for a good game on Sunday versus the Charge. 'Seemed' would be the operative word. Unfortunately, much to the dismay of our coaches, what we do in practice doesn't always translate into the games.
We came out sharp and scored in the opening minutes....quickest goal in the Breaker's short history. Dagny ran onto a ball that Lil slotted in behind their defense and then she calmly knocked it into the goal as Saskia came rushing at her. Things were looking good. We continued to control the ball for the next 20 minutes or so, and then for some reason I think we got a bit relaxed and perhaps complacent. Instead of burying one of the MANY chances we created in the first half we gave them just enough room to sneak back into the game.
We started passing the ball to them and our play was frantic and ugly. Then towards the end of the half we failed to clear the ball effectively and Liu Ailing smashed in a laser on me from about 25 yards out. I wish I could have deflected the ball around the post, but I think the pace of the shot caught me off guard. It was right at the post though, so I can't be too hard on myself....good goal. However, like most goalkeepers, I wish I could make EVERY save! We entered halftime with a goal apiece, but they definitely had the momentum after that goal.
The second half was much of the same for us. We didn't use our flank players nearly as much as we should have, we had way too many unforced errors, and our back three were a bit out of sync. The Charge got in behind our defense several times and finally were rewarded when Liu Ailing had an uncontested breakaway on me from about 40 yards out. I closed her down and confronted her near the top of my 18 and hoped she would hit it into me or wide, but unfortunately she just had too much time and was able to slot it past me into the far corner. 2-1 Charge.
Fortunately, the Breakers once again proved we could come back from behind and notched the tying goal late off a free kick by Maren Meinert. However, our celebrations were short lived and the Charge surged and struck only two minutes later. Again they got in behind our defense, but this time I was able to shut down Ailing with a diving deflection save. However, they then scored off the ensuing corner kick. DRAT! Gotta hate that! They drove the ball near post and I got set to react as both Enos and Tietjen jumped and nodded at the ball. Missing both of their heads by the slim margin of a hair follicle, the ball went straight through the box to a wide- open Schwoy, who nodded the ball into the open net.
We tried valiantly to tie the game up again, but we just ran out of time and Saskia also came up with one huge save in the closing minutes to preserve their win. Philly just kept battling back and never gave up and beat us on our home field 3-2. They are a tough side and we look forward to facing them again. We are now 2-2-2 and both our losses have come on our home field. YIKES! So much for that home field advantage.
The positives in this game for our team were few, but one of the positives that I took away from this game was that we never stopped fighting. We weren't playing well, and we knew it, but our effort continued despite the fact that we didn't have our "A" game....we weren't even close to our "A" game! The other positive was our fans! They were outstanding. It was Memorial Day weekend and I know all the kids, Moms, and Dads were at tournaments all day Saturday and Sunday, but we still had over 6,000 fans even with the threat of thunderstorms! Thanks for your support, you guys are the best fans...that is why I love playing in Boston! If you guys cheer this hard when we lose I can't wait to see how loud it gets when we win! And we will get you a win at home soon...I promise!
After the game, despite being pretty frustrated with the loss I did enjoy catching up with some of my Tar Heel buddies....Laurie Schwoy, Lorrie Fair, Rakel Karvelson, Rebekah McDowell, and Kalli Kamholz. One of the neat aspects about this league is now I am playing against old teammates. It's hard to be mad after a game that you lose when your friends are there smiling at you and giving you hugs.
Well, enough about the game. Last week I told you all about my green thumb, this week I'll end my diary with a little more about who I am beyond soccer. I love the outdoors.....backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding, you name it, I'm there! Growing up in New England my parents always took the family on treks into the White Mountains of New Hampshire and along the coast of Maine. We would go canoeing, camping, hiking, and skiing together. Our vacations were always active and outdoors. That is where my love of the outdoors and nature began and it has only grown since. During college I got into backpacking, snowboarding, and rock climbing. I love the peace and quiet of the outdoors, the clean, fresh air, and I always enjoy a good game of "Where's the Wildlife."
If I had to pick a favorite I would definitely say my passion is snowboarding. I ride goofy stance on a killer Burton 156 board. I enjoy the challenge of the steeps and moguls, can pretty much ride the whole mountain, but what I love the most is fresh bowls of powder and the boarder parks. Fresh powder...'nuf said....we all crave it. And the boarder parks are a great place to experiment with new tricks and safely hit big jumps. I love going for big air and cruising rhythmically down the slopes. It is such a great feeling....all you snowboarders out there know what I mean.
Also of note...I wear a helmet, I consider it to be one of my most important pieces of equipment. It has saved me from cracking my cranium more than once. My favorite rider is Barrett Christy and some day my dream is to be like her, a pro-snowboarder on the X-Games.
This is Shred Betty signing off for now....we'll chat some more in a week!