Courtney Crane on ASU soccer: mid-point of the season
Well, we find ourselves here once again. It's a place we are becoming far too familiar with. You see, it's one thing to lose and know that you were the weaker team that day; it's another to lose and know that you could have and should have won...and this is the place that I am talking about.
The thing about this place is that it hurts, it truly does. I know it may sound kind of silly, but ask any of my teammates and I am sure that they will say the same. It's our passion for the game that makes it hurt so badly and it's our passion for the game that will get us through yet another disappointing loss. I am not disappointed in my team at all, just the outcome.
On a personal note, I do not feel that I played very well last night. I was having a hard time getting involved and making things happen. It was very frustrating for me and still is but anyone who is an athlete knows that we all have these days. I think that being able to overcome adversity is a very important part of being a great athlete. A question I always ask myself when I have an unsatisfactory game is, "what can I do to make sure that this doesn't happen again?" The solution can be a variety of things; staying after practice to work on specific skills, watching film and talking to the coaches or it could even be a change in mindset that can eliminate a repeat performance. However, what it really comes down to is how bad do you want it? I know that the frustrations of last night's game are going to haunt me until I do something productive about it. I want to be the best that I can be and this week I will take full advantage of the resources that I have available to me to ensure that my next game will be better.
As of right now, last night's loss still stings. It was an important game for us to win in order to attain our team goal, which is to make the playoffs. A win against USD would have helped very much, but now we just have to work twice as hard. Our goal is still achievable, the question is, how bad do we want it?
I want it bad.