TCU Football Goes Bowling Tonight Live on ESPN!

Tonight at 7:00 Central the #11 ranked TCU Horned Frog Football team will take on the #9 ranked Boise State Broncos in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. The team will be visited by former TCU star and current NFL Star San Diego Charger Ladanian Tomlinson.

This is sure to be one of the best bowl games of the year and can be watched live on ESPN.

U2 Christmas Song

I'm a huge U2 fan going way back to junior high-yes that's a long time, in fact it came up with the team this past year that I actually saw Flavor Flav, performing with Public Enemy opening at a U2 concert-not one of our players had any idea who Public Enemy was and only new Flavor Flav from his Flavor of Love show-so I guess I am starting to get dated. But the beauty of U2 is they are the greatest band of all time and transcend generations.

So to get you into the holiday Spirit here's a link for the greatest Christmas song of all time :http://www.u2.com/highlights/?hid=507&utm_source=Publicaster&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EMLU2OS_DecUpdate_Free_121808

I've got this in the loop of U2 songs that play for my son Zak in his room and have convinced him that Santa Claus only comes for TCU Horned Frog fans and U2 fans!

TCU Loses a Legend

One of the great things about the college experience is the atmosphere created on a campus with Big Time Athletics. We're lucky here at TCU that we've got one of the top college football programs in the country, currently ranked #11 in the nation, with a long list of greats. This morning we learned that we lost one of the all-time TCU and College Football greats with the passing of Sam Baugh. Baugh stared for the Frogs in the 30's and led to TCU to a National Championship, before moving on to revolutionize the NFL in a career with the Washington Redskins.

Any list of college football greats always has Baugh right on top. Last year TCU honored Baugh with the dedication and opening of the Sam Baugh Indoor Practice Facility. So every time you step into one of those electric Saturday afternoons in Amon Carter Stadium, you'll know that Sam Baugh is one of the greats that paved the way for that experience.

WPS Combine

This past weekend I had the opportunity to help out the Los Angeles Sol of the newly formed Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league at their west coast combine. In all, 72 players were invited in for the weekend at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego. The level was extremely high and included players that had just finished up their college careers in the final four, all the way to players that stared for the US National Team in the 90's. It was a great event and certainly an encouraging pulse for women's soccer. I'm looking forward to seeing the league kick off this March with a game in LA versus Washington at the Home Depot Center. The opportunity that now exists for players to continue their career is an exciting one and I'm looking forward to seeing some of our current Horned Frogs in a WPS uniform in the near future!

Finals Week

This week is a pretty important week for the Frogs. The team has worked hard this semester to put themselves in a good position in the classroom. And now with classes behind them for the fall semester, all the focus for the team has been on preparation for finals which start today and run through Friday. Through study hall sessions, tutor sessions, review sessions, writing papers in the computer lab, and group study sessions, the team is ready to do its best this finals week to make sure we reach the goal the team set for an overall team GPA of 3.3.

Good luck ladies!!

Christmas Party 2008

Last night was our party for Christmas 2008! The girls all showed up in Christmas sweaters and ready to exchange gifts. Every year we do a white elephant gift exchange that the girls buy gifts for. However, this year the team decided to put their money towards gifts for others. Each of the classes donated two gifts for Toys for Tots. They also raised money to adopt two families in order for each family to have a wonderful Christmas! Toys for Tots is something that we have always participated in at TCU and we thought it was a wonderful gesture for them to also raise the money for two deserving families!

Nevertheless, the girls still didn’t miss out on the gift exchange; they brought a gift that was something they had laying around the house! There was a wide range of gifts from the interesting to the creative. Ideas were things like homemade cookies, whoopee cushions, Dallas Maverick souvenirs, socks, athletic tape, self made paintings and many many more! Now the girls are off getting ready for finals next week and then they will be home for the Holidays!!!

Awards Continue to Roll In!

Freshman Jordan Calhoun was honored on Saturday by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as a third-team NCAA Division I All-Central Region selection, while the TCU women's soccer program received word that for the third-consecutive year the squad was recognized with the NSCAA Team Academic Award.

Calhoun, who was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year in 2008, was recently selected to Top Drawer Soccer's second-team All-Rookie squad. The Norman, Okla., native, netted 15 goals during the 2008 season, while dishing out two assists. With her 15 goals, the first-team all-conference selection, who became TCU's all-time leader in goals scored during a single-season, helped lead the Horned Frogs to a 14-4-2 record and season-high national ranking of No. 28.

Last month, Calhoun was recognized as one of the top-32 players in the nation by Soccer News Net. She is currently a finalist for the Soccer News Net Player of the Year Award.
Overall, Calhoun netted six game-winning goals on the season, while also scoring the equalizing goal in matches against Texas, Texas Tech and Ole Miss. Finally, she finished the 2008 season ranked first in the Mountain West Conference in points, points per game, goals, goals per game and game-winning goals during her freshman campaign.

To be eligible for the NSCAA Team Academic Award a team must have a team GPA of at least 3.0 for the 2007-08 academic year.

New Baby, New Champion

It's been a bit of a crazy 7 days as last Tuesday, my wife and I welcomed our second child, with the birth of Kloe Anne Abdalla. Mom, Kloe and our 2 year old Zak are all doing great and it's been unbelievable.

This past weekend brought the final four and congratulations to the University of North Carolina for their championship. I enjoyed watching so many players who I have had the opportunity to coach in the past that played for all 4 teams in the final four. It was a great atmosphere, despite the bitter cold and great for women's soccer in this country.

This week here on campus, our girls will get prepared for finals next week. Thursday and Friday are off from classes, as study days and then finals start next Monday.

Coming the rest of the week-tomorrow night we've got our team Christmas party, this weekend I'm headed out to the WPS Player Combine and I'll get a picture of little baby Kloe up!

A New Season

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed the time with your family and friends. We welcomed the team back from Thanksgiving break this week as the semester is winding down. Only a week and a half left of class, and then finals time. Its an important time of the year for the team. Everyone is working hard to finish up the semester strong in their classes and reach their team goal of a 3.3 team GPA. This is also an important time of year on the field as we start our preparations for next season. Its exciting for us as we look at the future of TCU Soccer. Our team is even more determined than ever to take the next step in our growth as a team and a program. We will keep you updated on everything that goes on as we strive to continue towards our goals of a conference championship and a National Championship.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

TCU Freshman Jordan Calhoun nominated for National Player of the Year

TCU Soccer Freshman Jordan Calhoun has been named one of 32 finalists for Soccer News Net National Player of the Year. 40% of the award is based upon fan voting and I'm asking for your help in going to the website below and casting your vote for Jordan.
http://dallassoccernews.com/college/wplayerpoll.php
Jordan ranked nationally in goals and points in her first season here at TCU. Thanks for your support and we'll keep you posted on how Jordan does!

Starns to Co-Host The Home Team on Fox Sports Radio Tomorrow

One facet of our program I like to emphasize is preparing our student-athletes for the best opportunities available upon graduation. That's why in our year-end individual meetings we talk with each player not only about their on field experiences, but also where they are positioned from a career standpoint.

Every spring we hold a mentoring luncheon where we have influential and successful business people in the careers our girls have an interest in come and meet with the team. Last year we even had a secret service agent on the President's detail come for Katie Taylor who is interested in the CIA or FBI. It's a fun part of what we do and to see the our young women excel is important to us.

But Senior Caroline Starns certainly out did herself by landing a co-hosting gig on Fox Sports Radio's The Home Team Show. Throughout our season the hosts Ward Whites and Charlie Hodges would interview players on our team and keep track of our progress. They were so impressed with Caroline that they asked her to come in and help co-host this weeks show.

Caroline certainly has the personality for radio and TV and I suspect this will be the start of a great career in broadcasting. It does help that TCU has one of the top communication schools in the country so she's been working hard at this for 3 1/2 years!

So tune in tomorrow from 11:00am--2:00pm on Fox Sports Radio 1460 in the metroplex and you'll get the chance to listen to a star in the making!

Random Thoughts on the NCAA's

It was certainly tough watching the NCAA games and not being involved this past weekend. Nearly every publication out there had as one of the teams being in, so it was even more difficult to see scores. But I think our young team has definitely learned a lot from the experience and emotions over the past 2 weeks, which will serve us well moving forward.

It was great to see a couple of upsets, with the big one being South Dakota State over Colorado in the first round. Something probably most people don't realize is the fact a number of teams lost key players before the NCAA tournament stated to travel with the US Under 20 National Team to the world championships in Chile. This definitely hit Colorado who lost Nikki Marshall, one of the top strikers in the country.

I was glad to see BYU from our conference have a good run in beating ACC opponent Virginia Tech in the first round, before falling to defending national champion USC in a shootout. Our conference traditionally has been a 3 team conference for the NCAAs, so it was important for BYU to have a strong showing to continue to improve the profile of our league.

I was sad two of my good friends, Ada Greenwood at USD and Mauricio Ignacio at Long Beach State, had to meet each other in the first round. Both have done a great job of building solid championship programs, so they had to duke it out for the right to play UCLA in the 2nd round. USD got the chance and from the gametracker looked like they took the bruins all the way to the end before succumbing to a 1-0 loss.

I'm really looking forward to the matchups this weekend-in particular USC-UCLA!

Calhoun Named To TopDrawer Soccer National All-Rookie Team

Freshman Jordan Calhoun, who scored 15 goals on her rookie campaign, was named to the Top Drawer Soccer 2nd Team All-Rookie Squad today. It's her third major honor of the year after being named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Mountain West Conference.

6 Year Plan Right On Course

With the team together last night to view the NCAA Selection Show, our season unfortunately came to an end. At 14-4-2, I was extremely proud of the girls for the effort they put in this year. It was unquestionably a turning point for our program, which was probably most noticeable with the disappointment in our player's faces last night. You might ask why I view that as a positive-well it's quite simple: most programs that win 14 games in a year will walk away satisfied, this group didn't, they voiced their hunger for more and are twice as motivated to work harder for next season.

When I first came to TCU 4 years ago, we put together a 6 year plan to take our program into the top tier in the country. The first 2 years were about changing the culture; the 3rd about beating top 25 teams (which we did twice); the 4th-the one we just finished-was about competing for a conference championship, winning a conference tournament game, placing ourselves in the top 50 in the country; Next year, the 5th, is about winning a conference championship and going to the NCAA Tournament; The 6th year is about giving ourselves a chance at making a run to the final four and a national championship.

I'm so proud of this team, not because of what they have accomplished, but for what they still are driven to accomplish! With that said I do want to share with you some of the successes we achieved this year:

* Best School Record in Program History: 14-4-2
* Most Goals in Program History: 47
* Fewest Goals Against & Lowest Goals Against Average in Program History: 17 & .81
* Most All Conference Selections in Program History: Jordan Calhoun, Lizzy Karoly, Katie Taylor * 1st Conference Freshman of the Year in program history: Jordan Calhoun
* 4 Players Named CoSida/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District: Lizzy Karoly, Kelsey Walters, Jackie Torda, Cheryl Martin
* 7 MWC Conference Players of the Week: Lizzy Karoly (3), Jordan Calhoun, Caroline Starns, Kelsey Walters, Cheryl Martin
* Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week Selection: Jordan Calhoun
* Program High #24 National RPI Ranking
* 2 MWC All Tournament Team Selections: Lizzy Karoly and Jackie Torda (first in program history)
* Ranked in all national Polls: SoccerBuzz #28, Soccer America #29, NSCAA #29, TopDrawer Soccer #29
* #29 Ranking in Won/Lost % nationally
* #18 Scoring team in the country
* Jordan Calhoun ranked #19 nationally in goals per game
* 6-1-0 road record
* Semi-Finalist MWC Championships (1st semi final appearance in program history)

What's most exciting is that we return 10 starters and 19 of 20 letter winners. Our 6 year plan is right on course, if maybe even a little ahead of schedule! GO FROGS!

Torda & Karoly Named to Mountain West Conference All Tournament Team

Junior Lizzy Karoly and Sophomore Jackie Torda were both named to the Mountain West Conference All-Tournament Team this past Saturday. The pair led the Horned Frogs to their First Conference Semi-Final in program history with a win over San Diego State and tough 2-1 overtime loss to Utah.

Karoly recorded 1 goal and 1 assist in the tournament (assist vs SDSU and goal vs Utah). She battled a sprained ankle suffered in the SDSU game to pace the Frogs against Utah. Meanwhile, Torda led the team as the heart and soul in both games, getting the game winner versus San Diego State while sprawled on the ground going after a loose ball.

Congrats to both Horned Frogs on the recognition!

Frogs Wait To Learn Their Fate

The 2008 season was a record setting one for the Frogs. At 14-4-2, the Frogs won more games than any other team in the history of the TCU Soccer program. The 4 losses are the least ever for a team in school history. We scored more goals and had more assists than any other team in TCU history. Jordan Calhoun was selected the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year while setting the single season scoring record at TCU. We were ranked nationally for the first time in school history and spent most of the season in the top 10 regionally. The accolades go on and on. Its been great, and hopefully it isn't over yet. On Monday, the NCAA will announce the 64 teams that have been selected for the NCAA tournament. We hope this record setting year will continue with another first for the program, an NCAA tournament spot.

Frogs Battle at MWC Championships

Wow....what a week here at the Mountain West Conference Championships. For the second time in a five days we took the field against San Diego State. The game was intense and full of energy as both teams were fighting for a spot in the semi-finals. The game was fast, exciting and very physical. We took a lead about 30 minutes in off a fantastic goal where Jackie Torda dribbled into the box finding Lizzy Karoly who one touched the ball to a cutting Jordan Calhoun who tucked the ball into the far post. It was one of the best goals of the year. San Diego State wouldn't back off and early in the second half they crossed a ball from the left flank and somehow it found the far post of the goal to tie the game. Although we were able to control the game and maintain constant pressure on the San Diego State goal, we were unable to get a second goal and the game went into overtime. In the overtime we kept up the pressure and were rewarded with about a minute and a half left in the first overtime. Kaylie Garcia sent a cornerkick into the box where Katie Taylor out jumped three San Diego St defenders to get a head on the ball which the Aztecs were able to clear off the line but in the ensuing scramble Jackie Torda was able to get a foot on the ball to win the game and move us on to the semi-finals. It was definitely an exciting ending.

The next day we took the field against Utah who had a bye into the semi-finals and didn't have to play on Wednesday. The Frogs took the challenge and played a very entertaining, exciting and hard fought game. We thought we went up midway through the first half as a Jordan Calhoun shot was saved by the Utah goalkeeper and Lizzy Karoly jumped on the rebound and knocked it into the goal. But the goal was called back as Lizzy was called offside by the referees. With the game still 0-0, Utah was awarded a penalty kick about 15 minutes into the second half. They converted and went up 1-0. But the Frogs wouldn't stop fighting. We had three fantastic opportunities as we continued to apply pressure on the Utah goal as Lizzy's breakaway went wide and two shots off headers went over the bar. With about a minute and a half left Katie Taylor flicked a ball through to Lizzy who drilled the ball past the Utah keeper to knot the game up. We headed into overtime looking for the win. Early in the overtime a Utah player crossed a ball that deflected off on of our defenders and past our goalkeeper to end the game. It was a disappointing way to end the game that is for sure.

The loss brought an end to our regular season with a 14-4-2 record. The best ever in the history of TCU Soccer. Now we await the NCAA Tournament selection to see if we will continue our season.

Rankings continue into Post-Season

As the regular season finished up last weekend we continued our presence in the final regular season national and regional polls.

SoccerBuzz has the team ranked #7 in the central region, as well as, receiving votes nationally.

Topdrawer Soccer has us posted as the #29 team in the country in there tournament selection.

In the NSCAA polls, we continue to hold on the #8 spot in the central region.

Meanwhile, Soccer America predicted us to be a NCAA qualifying team if the selection was to take place today.

We've still got a lot of work to do with the conference tournament this week, before we see if any of those predictions come to fruition!

3 Frogs Honored By Conference

Jordan Calhoun was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year Tonight. Calhoun finished conference play with 4 goals total, 3 game winners in conference play. On the year Calhoun has 14 goals and 2 assists.

Calhoun was also named to the 1st team All-Mountain West Conference Team. Joining Calhoun on the All-Conference Squad was Junior Lizzy Karoly and Freshman Katie Taylor, who were both named to the second team. Karoly repeats her all-conference performance from last year and has scored 10 goals and 6 assists on the year. Taylor, finished up the regular season with 1 goal and 5 assists as a defender, while also helping to pace the Horned Frogs to a program best 0.77 goal against average.

Halloween Treat for Frogs

We got back Saturday night after a 2-1 win over San Diego State that moved us to 13-3-2 on the year. It was great as we got 2 second half goals from 2 of our California girls in front of their families -- Nikki Wilbur, Laguna Niguel, and Lizzy Karoly, San Diego; Also, Katie Taylor, also from San Diego, got an assist on the first goal.

After the game though is when the fun started. We had a Halloween party and all of the girls and staff brought costumes. The Taylor Family were generous to open up the house to the team and all of the families for a great pasta dinner. It was really neat to see how many fans we had at the game-just a ton of family and friends. Thank you so much to the Taylor's for their hospitality and to all of the Horned Frog Fans who showed up to the game!

Whenever we play in Southern California I always like to get a later flight out on the day after the game-we have so many players from California and the west coast that it gives them a chance to spend more time with family. It also gives the rest of the team a chance to take a break and have a little fun. Saturday it ended up as a shopping trip down at Pacific Beach. And the team always knows after a win they'll get a chance to stop for an In n' Out Burger.

Enjoy the Halloween pictures. It's back to the training field today as we get ready for a trip out to Las Vegas and the Mountain West Conference Championships. We'll play SDSU again on Wednesday, a game that will definitely prove to be a battle.

4 Frogs Named To Academic All-District Team

We had a great morning training session-was a lot of fun- as we get ready to depart for San Diego this afternoon. But after we got off the pitch we received some good news as 4 of our players were recognized by the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team. All four players will now be nominated for the COSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team. Our recipients were:

Junior Lizzy Karoly-First Team, Broadcast Journalism major with a 3.4 GPA
Sophomore Kelsey Walters-Second Team, Nutrition major with a 3.43 GPA
Sophomore Jackie Torda-Third Team, Business major with a 3.56 GPA
Sophomore Cheryl Martin-Third Team, Nutrition major with a 3.83 GPA

All four of these young women work the tails in the classroom and it's great to see them get recognized for all of that hard work. Congratulations Ladies!

A record setting day!

Saturday morning we got on a bus and headed to Lubbock, Texas for our annual battle with Big XII opponent Texas Tech. The trip was another opportunity for us to continue in our growth as a team as we were again facing a great opponent on the road in another in state rivalry match.

After a relaxing trip out to Lubbock, a good training session Saturday night, and a restful night in the hotel, we were ready to do battle with the Red Raiders. Tech's stadium field is field turf, and that along with the 30 mph winds provided another challenge for us. The game started off well for us as even though we were facing the wind, we were able to keep the ball and move it pretty well keeping Tech off balance. Late in the first half Tech was able to score off a free kick from just outside the box which deflected off the wall and found the foot of a Tech player. We went into the half down 1-0. Early in the second half Tech again was able to get a goal putting us down 2-0 just a bit over two minutes into the half. Down 2-0 in the second half, on the road, and in tough conditions, we rose up and fought back. Off a Katie Taylor free kick, Alex Mechalske got a hold of the ball and brought us back to 2-1 with 41 minutes remaining in the game. It was Alex's first goal of her career at TCU. Only two minutes later a great sequence of passes got us deep in the Texas Tech end and Jordan Calhoun jumped on the end of a Lizzy Karoly rebound to tie up the game. It was Jordan's 14th goal of her freshman year, putting here in a tie for the most goals scored in a single season in TCU history. With the game tied, we continued to keep going at Tech. Just under 30 minutes left in the game, we sent the ball in off a corner kick and as everyone was battling for the ball, Nikki Wilbur was able to get a hold of it finding Kaylie Garcia who put the ball through to Lizzy Karoly. Lizzy fought off her defender and slotted the ball past the Tech keeper putting us up 3-2. With the goal Lizzy moved into 4th on the all time scoring list at TCU. From there we kept fighting and had a couple of other chances one from Jackie Torda who fired a shot the Tech keeper was just able to get a hand on and then Jordan Calhoun almost broke the single season scoring mark but her shot rang off the post. But unfortunately, we didn't get another. The team did a great job staying focused and the backline of Courtney Johnson, Cheryl Martin, Katie Taylor and Chelsey Wilgenburg along with goalkeeper Kelsey Walters kept the Red Raiders off the board and we left Lubbock with a hard fought 3-2 win.

What a comeback for us...what a great game. The team showed a lot of heart, desire and character in their play. They fought for each other and with each other to get this win. A win that made history for this team. With this win, the team has recorded the most wins in a single season in program history. Well done Frogs! But we aren't done with the season yet. We have a number of goals we still have sitting in front of us that we are still striving for. Now we start preparation for our last conference game of the season at San Diego State on Friday.

Senior Day an Exciting One!

As was to be expected last night's game versus UNLV was a great battle and ended in a 1-1 draw. We out shot the rebels 29-12 and had 7 corners to their 1, but couldn't find the back of the net. Every conference game is going to be a battle and both teams left everything on the field. I was especially impressed with how our group fought back after giving up an goal early in the second half. Between BYU, Utah and UNLV these three teams have dominated MWC play over the past 5 years. With a win, draw and tight 1-0 loss, we've proved we're ready to step in compete in the upper echelon of the conference.

It was also senior night and we honored our three seniors-Courtney Johnson, Sara Schneider and Caroline Starns. These three young women have meant so much to our program over the past four years and are the backbone to the success we're having. They have been the heart and soul of this team and will be missed after the end of the season.

Cojo, Sara and Caroline thank you so much for all you have done, it has been an honor to have the opportunity to work with you and I can't even begin to share with you how proud I am of each and everyone of you! You've all got great futures ahead of you and will forever be apart of family here at TCU Soccer!

Calhoun Article and TCU LT Nike Commercial

This is a great article on freshman Jordan Calhoun in the Daily Skiff today:
http://media.www.tcudailyskiff.com/media/storage/paper792/news/2008/10/23/Sports/Freshman.Forward.Two.Goals.Away.From.Breaking.1986.Record-3500574.shtml

Then saw this on TV the other day with TCU Alum Ladanian Tomlinson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlXRengzZoc

Homecoming Week Hits TCU!

So this week is homecoming for TCU and it's a big week for the entire university as we welcome back thousands of alumni and friends to campus. I've only been at TCU for 4 years now but I've been amazed how when you mention "TCU" anywhere in the country it's one of those unique schools that automatically brings recognition and respect. As a private school with a 14:1 student:faculty ratio and a top 25 athletic department, we truly are in unique company with just a handful of equal schools-Notre Dame, Boston College, Northwestern, Miami-a pretty good list.

We've got a big conference game versus defending conference champs UNLV Friday, but there's also our Volleyball team with a nationally televised game Thursday (the team is sitting at 16-5). They'll have a packed house of 1,000 people for the match. We're averaging 1,200 fans a game and should once again have a great turnout for senior night!

There's also our football game versus Wyoming on Saturday. Our team is ranked #15 in the country right now, so it's sure to be an exciting game.

On top of that, there's a homecoming parade, FrogFest a huge carnival and the crowning and Mr. & Mrs. TCU. These are the things that make such a great college atmosphere here at TCU!

Another Win For Horned Frogs in Front of Overflow Crowd!

Saturday night saw another great game, as we defeated Utah 2-0, in front of a standing room only crowd of over 1,700 fans. The Frogs off to a quick start controlling the possession of the game with both outside backs, Lindsay Holmes and Chelsea Wilgenburg-making her second straight start on the season-getting into the attack a ton. After going into the break the pressure was kept on the Utes as Jordan Calhoun got her third game winning goal of the Mountain West Conference Season.

The defense really did a great job as they Wilgenburg, Holmes, Katie Taylor, Cheryl Martin, Courtney Johnson, Alex Meschalske and Emma Geyer held to the Utes to only 3 shots in the entire match and non on goal. Martin got even more involved as she scored the second goal of the match on a header off of a corner kick.

I want to thank photographer Michael Clements for the pictures above. He's been to every one of our games this year and does a great job capturing the excitment and action of every minute!

Next up is a conference game at home versus UNLV and then we hit the road for a non-conference match against Texas Tech!

Random Thoughts from the Last Couple of Days

It's been a crazy couple of days so wanted to just leave some random thoughts as we get ready for a big match tonight versus Utah.

Thursday, 1,600 fans packed our soccer stadium for a noon kick-off against BYU. It was one of the most exciting matches I've been involved with and went both ways, end to end. BYU got a late goal to win the match 1-0, but the atmosphere was electric. It was like a heavy weight championship fight and I was proud of how our team stepped up defensively to hold one of the top strikers in the country to only 2 shots. I think a rematch of this game in the conference tournament would certainly be worth the admission price....

Thursday night saw our football team beat up on #8 BYU in front of a packed stadium. TCU was ranked #24 and will certainly move up significantly...

College football is definitely one of the best aspects to college life as a student and we've got as good of an atmosphere here at TCU as anywhere. Thousands of tailgaters, a firework pre-game show and a top 25 team. The spirit it instills lasts a lifetime...

Our football game was so good Thursday night, it kept my 2-year-old son Zak, glued to the game both live and then we left because it was well past his bed time, he wanted it on the TV as the game was broadcast live on national TV...

Saw the new Nike commercial featuring TCU Alum & NFL MVP Ladanian Tomlinson. It was great when they showed him coming out of the tunnel in his TCU uniform.

Trianing With Dr. Upton!

One of the really unique aspects of our program is our strength and conditioning with Dr. Upton. Here's a great article from yesterdays papers on Dr. Upton and his work with our team:
http://media.www.tcudailyskiff.com/media/storage/paper792/news/2008/10/14/Sports/Team-Uses.HighTech.Training-3485148.shtml

Star-Telgram Article from Sunday's Paper

We just returned last night from our road trip to Wyoming and Air Force, splitting the weekend, moving to 10-2-1 on the year and 2-1 in conference. It was a good learning experience for young group as we had to deal with cold, rain, snow, sleet and altitude. It was impressive how some players stepped up yesterday in our 3-1 win over Air Force. In particular, Freshman Chelsea Wilgenburg, Kaitlyn Shelledy, Katie Runyon and Kaylie Garcie, Juniors Michelle Nguyen and Kelly Faerber, all made huge impacts in the game lifting us to the win. The one other player that deserves a ton of credit for the win, is Senior Courtney Johnson, she lit a fire in our defense. She's a player that is coming back from injury and playing the season without an ACL, it's amazing to see her work rate and commitment, and this weekend that was hugely needed. If you could transplant her heart into 11 players, no question we would win a national championship!

After getting in last night picked up the Sunday paper and saw this great article:
http://www.star-telegram.com/856/story/968466.html

Frogs Enter National Rankings!

After another win on the season, the team moved into all 3 major national polls this week:
SoccerBuzz ranked us 30th in the country and 5th in the region.
In the NSCAA Rankings, we've moved up to 29th in the country while 4th in the region.
While SoccerTimes has us receiving votes again this week.

The other part that came out this week is the NCAA RPI, which is used to calculate team's strength of schedule and win/loss %. You hear it used a lot during basketball season for the post season. In the RPI's we came out #24! That's a huge accomplishment so great job ladies.

Today we're off to the Rockies, for games at Wyoming tomorrow and Air Force on Sunday. 2 very tough places to play, so it will be a great challenge for us. We'll sneak a little fun in though with going to the TCU-Colorado State Football game on Saturday.

Frogs Win Mountain West Opener 3-1!

We got a great result today with a 3-1 win over New Mexico in our Mountain West Conference Opener. Jordan Calhoun netted 2 goals, while Cheryl Martin picked up the 3rd. The win moves us to 9-1-1 on the year and 1-0 in conference. Nicki Wilbur, Chelsea Cody and Jackie Torda did a great job pacing us in the midfield and spreading the field for us in the 2nd half.

The Frogs In Action

As we prepare to open Mountain West Conference play today vs New Mexico, we thought you might want to see some highlights of the season up to this point. Enjoy!

Third Time a Charm for Karoly!

The Mountain West Conference announced today that Junior forward Lizzy Karoly has earned her third Offensive Player of the Week award. On the weekend Lizzy had a goal and 2 assists in our game against Arkansas Pine Bluff Friday and then another goal on Sunday at UT-San Antonio.

On the season Karoly has 8 goals and 4 assists. She leads the conference in shots, is tied for the conference lead in points (with teammate Jordan Calhoun), is second in goals in the conference (just 1 behind Calhoun who leads the conference) and is 4th in the conference in assists.

Great job on another great weekend Lizzy!

Weekend Sweep!

We swept the weekend with wins over Arkansas Pine Bluff 6-0 and at UTSA 2-1. A great finish to our non-conference schedule and moved our overall record to 8-1-1! I especially happy that everyone on our roster saw this weekend and did a great job contributing to the two results.

In the 2 games we combined for a total of 88 shots, nearly a shot every 2 minutes. It's a great way to go into conference play next weekend.

The road trip down to San Antonio was a fun one as we took the whole the team. We played a little game between roommates on the trip, that got pretty intense and we decided to carry on until Wednesday training as it was too close to call! I'll update you on Wednesday as to which players end up winning!

Frogs Gainng National Attention in Rankings

After a hard fought 2-1 double overtime loss to #9 Texas, the horned frogs have moved onto the national radar for rankings with a 6-1-1 record. The team stayed at # in the NSCAA Central Region Rankings.

In the NSCAA National Rankings the Horned Frogs are now receiving votes for the top 25. The team is also receiving votes for the SoccerTimes top 25 poll for the first time this season.

With a couple of key games coming up this weekend we look to continue our climb in the rankings!

Horned Frog Athletics Getting It Done

As the official first week of fall has begun, we wanted to let you know about all the other happenings with Horned Frog athletics. Its been a great start for TCU. The football team is now ranked #23 in the nation after moving their record to 4-0 for the first time since 2003, following their 48-7 win over SMU. The Frogs have the top ranked defense in the nation and they travel to #2 Oklahoma this coming weekend to face the nation's top rated offense. Should be a great game.

The volleyball team is off to a great start with a 12-2 record. They just returned from a weekend trip to Minnesota where they faced #8 Minnesota, North Carolina and Winthrop. Following a tough loss to the Gophers, the Frogs got wins over the Tar Heels and Winthrop to finish second in the tournament. They head to UNLV and San Diego State to try to improve on their 1-0 conference record after their win over New Mexico last week.

Our defending national champion equestrian team started their season this past weekend with wins over Texas Tech and West Texas A&M. The Frogs look to have another great year.

Finally, the men's golf team opened their fall season with a second place finish in Lawrence, Kansas at the Kansas Invitational.

Its a great start to the year for all the Horned Frogs. You can follow all our teams at http://www.gofrogs.com/.

Frogs and Texas Put On A Double Overtime Show

Wow....what a game Friday night. On a perfect night for soccer, 2,161 fans (second largest crowd in TCU Soccer history) saw an absolute fantastic game between the undefeated Horned Frogs and the #7 ranked undefeated Texas Longhorns. There was just an unbelievable atmosphere at Garvey Rosenthal Soccer Stadium that night.

The match began with both teams locked in a midfield battle with either team really being able to take control of the match or create many opportunities. Late in the first half Texas got on the scoreboard with a long shot that richocheted off the post and into the goal. Our team responded well and looked as if we would get the equalizing goal right before half time as Lizzy Karoly got through the Texas backline, but the Texas goalkeeper came up with a big save to keep the score 1-0 heading into the half.

The second half was not remotely anything like the first, as the game opened up considerably. We came out firing from the start going after Texas, and our pressure on the Texas goal was rewarded as Lindsay Holmes put a cross into the box that Jordan Calhoun one timed into the upper corner of the goal to tie the game up and send the crowd wild. It truly was a great goal, and Jordan's eighth of the year. From there things really got interesting. An end to end game saw us get stopped twice by balls cleared off the line on corner kicks and a couple great chances go just wide of the goal. After 90 minutes, the game was all even and into overtime we went.

The first overtime saw us have a couple of great opportunities including a ball that hit the post from Nikki Wilbur. Then in the second overtime period we put together a fantastic sequence of passes leading to a cross from Jordan Calhoun to Caroline Starns just inside the top of the box. Caroline's shot flew inches wide of the post leaving the game tied. The team fought incredibly hard and played Texas toe to toe, but unfortunately came up a bit short as Texas was able to get the winning goal with a little over 4 minutes remaining in the second overtime.

It was an amazing game that people we run into still talk about and say was the best game they have ever seen. To us, it was a game we will continue to build on. We showed a lot of character, and played very well. We just want to keep getting better, and this game was one that was a good test to help us learn some things and see where we are as a program and what we can do to improve and get ready for the next game.

Karoly Picks Up Second Player of the Week Honor!

Junior Lizzy Karoly picked up her second Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week Honor. She had the equalizing goal versus Rice Friday night and then had a hat trick in the first 15 minutes of the match versus ETSU on Sunday. On the season Karoly has 6 goals total!

We also as a team moved up in the regional rankings to #6 by the NSCAA and #10 by Soccer Buzz.

On the national scene, Lizzy Karoly and Jordan Calhoun are tied for 30th in the NCAA in points per game at 2.00. Calhoun is 15th in the country in goals per game, while Karoly is 30th in the same category. Karoly is also tied 16th nationally for points in a single and tied 6th nationally for goals in a single game.

Goalkeeper Kelsey Walters is also in the national rankings, with the 24th best goal against average in the country and 20th in save percentage.

As a team we're also ranked in the top 20 in the country for the following:
16th for scoring offense
17th for goal against average
10th for shutout percentage
13th for won-lost percentage
12th for save percentage

Not a bad start heading into Friday nights game versus Texas!

Karoly Hat Trick Leads the Way to Big Win!

Lizzy Karoly came out blazing today with a hat trick in the first 16 minutes of play, as she led the Horned Frogs to a 7-0 win over East Tennessee State University (That puts Lizzy at 6 goals on the year). It was a beautiful day for a game as clear skies and 80 degrees led to a perfect pitch.

Kaylie Garcia picked up her 1st collegiate goal of her career to end the half, 4-0.

In the second half it was more of the same, as Jordan Calhoun got her 7th goal of the year, Caroline Starns tabbed her second on the year and Michelle Nguyen netted her first. Overall was a great day and I was extremely proud of how the team managed the game.

A day off tomorrow and then it's back to work for our match next Friday at home versus Texas!

Horned Frogs Win Thriller!

TCU moved to 5-0-1 with an exciting 2-1 overtime win over Rice. It was an action packed game in which we out shot Rice 30-10, but the game went both ways. Rice took the lead in the 49th minute on a miscommunication with our back line, but our girls battled back and started taking advantage of the width we had. Lizzy Karoly got the equalizer on a great follow up of Katie Taylor set piece. Regulation ended 1-1.

Overtime, is when the team took over, with Jackie Torda and Michelle Nguyen both giving the team a huge spark. We had a ferocious attack in both overtime periods, resulting in 5 corner kicks and a ton of great goal scoring opportunities. Rice's goalkeeper came up with 3 or 4 big time saves to keep the game going until late in the second OT where Torda followed up a great save to stick in the game winner!

It was a great character win against a very good opponent and I was proud of how the team responded. Next up is East Tennessee State University which is just as important of a game!

Scouting Rice and Eastern Tennessee State University

The team had a great week of preparation for the matches this weekend. Rice is a game that our team looks forward to every year. They are a very well coached, disciplined team that is always right in the mix for conference championships and post season play. The last two years have been great battles and we're expecting another exciting match.

ETSU is a team we've never faced, so it will be a little bit of a different challenge. They come in as one of the top teams in their conference, so we know it's going to be a hard fought match. On top of that their coach is from Dallas, so we know she'll have the team prepared. We just found out KC Crabb, our former volunteer assistant, actually went to high school with ETSU's coach, so that adds a little more to the game for bragging rights!

TCU Soccer in Sedona, AZ

Here's the team together in beautiful Sedona, AZ!

While we were in Sedona, we wandered upon a candle shop, where they hand make candles that glow different colors when lit. It was pretty amazing to watch them make each and every one by hand. So Kelly Faerber asked the artist if he could make a personal TCU one and this is what he crafted 15 minutes later!

Frogs Move Up To #8 in Central Region Rankings!

After winning both games on the road this past weekend and moving our record to 4-0-1, we moved up in the rankings this week to #8 in the NSCAA Central Region!

On a side note, it's a great time to be at TCU as the entire athletic department is undefeated-we're ranked, Football is 2-0 and receiving national votes, Volleyball has swept 2 tournaments and our cross country team won the North Texas Invitational this past weekend!

GO FROGS!

Starns & Martin Recieve Conference Award!

Caroline Starns and Cheryl Martin were both named Mountain West Conference Players of the Week for this past weekend. Caroline garnered the offensive award as she scored the game winner versus NAU and was responsible for a great run that led to the game winner versus ASU. Cheryl dominated the middle of the park in both shutout wins this past weekend. ASU had not been shutout on the season and NAU had scored 13 goals in their first 4 games.

Way to go ladies and keep it up!

Frogs Sweep In Arizona!

We just got back into town after a short flight from Phoenix. Today was another great win for our team at Northern Arizona, a scrappy competitive team that is going to tear it up in the Big Sky! It was a game that will have a strong influence on our team in preparation for our Mountain West Conference games. Senior Caroline Starns got the game winner, which was awesome. She has been playing unbelievable and has matured into such a great leader for our team. The goal was great too! Kaylie Garcia got the ball in the midfield and took a couple of touches to draw the defender in as Caroline slipped in behind. After the ball was played the defender basically tried grab and pull her down-it was like a rodeo-but Caroline stayed strong and beat the keeper to the ball and stuck it home. GREAT GOAL!

So we move on at 4-0-1, with 2 big games coming up this weekend, Rice and ETSU!

Tomorrow I'll post some of the pictures and video from our Saturday trip to Sedona-it was absolutely amazing!

TCU Wins on Road at ASU-Stay Undefeated on Season!

The team picked up another great win tonight at Arizona State, 1-0, as we remain undefeated at 3-0-1 on the season! Our purple heart , which we award at the end of the match, went to our entire defensive group - freshmen Katie Taylor, Alex Mechalske, Lindsay Holmes and sophomores Cheryl Martin, Julia Slater and Kelsey Walters - did another great job of keeping a clean sheet. Our 3rd shutout of the season!

Jordan Calhoun, who celebrated her 19th birthday yesterday here in Tempe, got the game winner in the first half and recorded her 6th goal of the season off an assist from Lizzy Karoly.

Tomorrow we head up to Flagstaff for our Sunday match against Northern Arizona. We'll make a sightseeing stop in Sedona, which should be a fun visit!

Weekly Awards Roll in for Frogs!

Already just 2 weeks into the season, our team has started racking up conference and national awards:

Last week, Junior Striker Lizzy Karoly picked up the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week Award for her 2 goal performance versus Stephen F. Austin. Sophomore Goalkeeper Kelsey Walters was also awarded Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week for her shutout against Stephen F. Austin.

The awards continued this week as Freshman Jordan Calhoun, with 2 goals in our 3-0 win over Xavier and 1 goal in our 2-2 draw versus Ole Miss, picked up Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the week. Jordan also was named to Soccer Buzz National Team of the Week.

The team has also started gaining momentum in the rankings as Soccer Buzz tabbed us #14 in the central region and we received votes in the NSCAA regional rankings.

Great job ladies and keep it up!

Familiar Face Returns to TCU as Lamar University Visits

Over the past several days we welcomed back Dewi Hardman to campus, former assistant coach here at TCU. Dewi is now the head coach at Lamar University. Because of Hurricane Gustav, Lamar evacuated Beaumont in South Texas and relocated temporarily to TCU. It was a quick trip as the team headed back home today, with no known damage from the hurricane. But it was great to have Dewi back around for a couple of days and we wish him and the entire Lamar team a great season!

Frogs Jump Into Rankings!

It was nice to see the team get rewarded on the good start, by entering the Soccer Buzz Central Region Rankings this week at #14. The team is also receiving votes in the NSCAA Regional Rankings. Great start ladies and keep it up!

Frogs Remain Undeafeated on the Season!

I was extremely proud of our squad today, as we fought back from a 2-0 deficit to tie Ole Miss 2-2. Defensively we played fairly well, but two youthful mistakes by our back line led to the Ole Miss scores. It was a great learning opportunity for our back line which features 3 freshman, 1 sophomore and a sophomore goalkeeper.

It was a solid and experienced Ole Miss squad, so the way our group responded was tremendous. Freshman Katie Runyon got us on the board in the second half with just a great follow up effort, where she just ran through the ball to get it in the net. Freshman Jordan Calhoun then got the equalizer a minute later scoring her 5th goal in 3 games.

A missed penalty would have secured the win for us and we also had another ball cleared off the line late in the game-so it could have easily been 4 goals on the day for the Frogs. Chelsea Cody and Kaylie Garcia both had great games in the middle of the park.

This was a great character game for us and what we want this early in the season-it will certainly pay off down the road!

Frogs Down Xavier 3-0!

We had another good performance last night in front of another packed house at Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium. We did a good job of getting out of the gates quick and really bringing an aggressive attacking mentality. Caroline Starns once again had a real solid game in setting the tone, while Lizzy Karoly and Jordan Calhoun were both dangerous all night. Xavier was strong and physical so it was a nice test.

I thought the timing and creativity of our runs were much better from the first game, as the midfield played much crisper balls into the final 3rd. The entire back line did a great job of organizing and keeping us connected-Cheryl Martin, Katie Taylor and Nikki Wilbur (both as a back and mid) communicated well and set a good tone aggressively. Freshman Lindsay Holmes improved tremendously on her positioning while Alex Meshalske was much more dangerous this game and is starting to show her creativity.

Overall, I was extremely impressed with how task oriented the team was in this game and their focus to finish the game off. They really managed the rhythm of play very well! Next one up is Ole Miss tomorrow.

Coach Mark Celebrates 40th Birthday!

Today was coach Mark Plakorus' 40th birthday, so the team decided to give him big surprise as a tribute to him. After stretching, the whole team went inside our locker room at the field and changed into honorary black t-shirts they had made. The shirts sported the letter "M" on the front and a big "40" on the back. It was awsome as they wore the t-shirts the training session in his honor. Great job ladies, not sure you know how much that meant, and happy birthday Mark!

Great News For The Frogs On The First Day Of Class!

Today is the first day of classes for the 2008 year here at TCU. Its an exciting day not only for the freshman, but I think the seniors as well. Actually, I think everyone on campus is somewhat excited as the 2008 school year brings the opening of a brand new student union and four new dorms as the center piece of TCU's campus. The Campus Commons, as its being called, is the center piece of $155 million in new construction finishing up.

In addition to the start of a new year, today also brought some good news to our program. Lizzy Karoly and Kelsey Walters were selected by the Mountain West Conference as Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week following our win on Friday night. Its the second time these two have swept this award from the conference. Its a great honor for our team and these two student-athletes to be selected in recognition of our team's and their individual efforts this past weekend. Last year Lizzy and Kelsey were given this same honor following our win over #22 Utah. Maybe they just like winning it together. We are happy for these two and look forward to getting back to practice tomorrow in preparations for our matches this weekend vs Xavier and 'Ole Miss.

Dr. Dan Freigang-Sports Psychologist for US Soccer, Bayern Munich & TCU Soccer

We had an easy day yesterday, with just individual meetings and then a great team dinner at famed Fort Worth restaurant, Joe T. Garcia's -- it was great and a nice way to finish up pre-season.

It was also great to have Dr. Dan Freigang come join us. This is the second year that Dr. Dan has been a part of our soccer staff as our team sports psychologist and it's been awesome to watch the impact he's made on our group in just a year. He's been integral in helping us build the foundation and expectations our players have for themselves and the program. It's fun to watch him interact with the returners like Lizzy Karoly and Michelle Nguyen, in helping them elevate the level of their game -- if you watch either of those two players from last fall to this year, they have taken things to a whole different level.

Dr. Dan has also been an important part of our team in our leadership development class. We have a group of our players that we meet with once a week and have different tasks they are responsible for. They get the opportunity to lead, delegate, and evaluate within their peer group. Has been a lot of fun and again the results have been huge and very apparent.

Dano, as the team affectionately calls him, has become a great member of our family and last year his son, Will, even gave a Taekwondo lesson to the girls before a big match! So we're happy to have Dr. Dan as a part of our staff and count ourselves among the soccer powerhouses he works with -- Bayern Munich, US Soccer and TCU Soccer!

Frogs Win Opener 5-0!

We got a nice result tonight in a 5-0 win versus Stephen F. Austin, a team that went to the NCAA tournament last year. Junior Lizzy Karoly had 2 goals and an assist, while Freshman Jordan Calhoun chipped in with 2 goals. Senior Caroline Starns came away with two fantastic assists, Sophomore Jackie Torda had two assists and Sophomore Nikki Wilbur finished the game off with a great goal off a corner late. The team played well and committed to the attack in the final 3rd -- it was definitely a great starting point for the season. We were happy with the overall effort, but it was also good to see some of the things we need to improve upon.

We had a great atmosphere with over 1200 great Frog Fans in attendance. Thank you to all of you that came out! And a special shout out to Matt Hoover, Bryce Sandivall and Alex Cunninghum for putting together what was the best introduction in college soccer -- I'll try to get it up on-line in the next week, as it is truly something special!

On the to the next game -- Friday versus Xavier!

TCU Indoor Facility Comes in Handy!

One of the unique things about Texas is that a thunderstorm can roll into town in a matter of minutes and can be gone just as quick. The last couple of days that's been the case and it's always a time that we sit back and are thankful we've got such great facilities here at TCU.

The first part is our field, which is so good that even in a torrential downpour we've got a pitch that you'd have no idea it's been raining. So with rain we've got no problem's with training, lightning on the other hand is one we don't mess with.

While we were on the field warming up yesterday at 6:00 PM our lightning siren went off, but instead of having to cancel practice or wait out the 30 minutes for an all clear we were able to continue practice indoors at the Sam Baugh Indoor Training Facility here at TCU by 6:15 PM. The set up is great with a full size field and goals that allows us to not have to miss a beat.

When I talk to other coaches around the country that are having to cancel training sessions because of weather, I definitely realize how lucky we are here at TCU.

OSU Recap and Off to the Lake!

We returned back into Ft. Worth late last night after our exhibition match at Oklahoma State. Overall the game served its purpose as we played 19 different players, got to see some different combinations and try a few other things. With as young of a group as we had it was important for them to see the pace and level and I was happy with how we adjusted. This game will serve us well in the early parts of our season.

So today we're taking the day off and headed out to the lake for a day of R&R! We'll camp overnight and then hang out in the water tomorrow. Should be a great experience and a well deserved bit of fun!

Frogs Take to the Road!

We left today for Stillwater, Oklahoma and an exhibition match versus Oklahoma State tomorrow night. After a quick ride up with a couple of movies, we jumped out for a short training session to loosen up the legs.

We've talked a lot with the team about understanding the preparation needed on the road so it was great to see so many Gatorade bottles being carried around.

We had dinner at a local steakhouse, which was a nice change from our pre-season training table. It was also great for our 3 of our players, Kaylie Garcia, Kelsey Walters and Jordan Calhoun, who all hail from Oklahoma, to see their parents. Their parents joined us for dinner and the highlight was definitely when birthday girl Kaylie Garcia, got Coach Adam to jump on a saddle, for what should have been her birthday song- trust me pictures on this will be posted!

We finished up the evening with some quick position meetings to just tie up some loose ends and make sure we're ready for tomorrow!

This Week In TCU Soccer!

Our Sports Information Director, Matt Hoover (we're lucky enough to have the best guy in college soccer), is putting together a weekly highlight and interview show that we wanted to share with you as we get prepared for our Saturday match with Oklahoma State.

Oh yeah and by the way-yes that is U2 on the intro song!

It's a Beautiful Day!

So I'm a huge U2 fan-I actually missed my junior prom to attend a U2 concert, have flown across the country just for a night show, took my wife to a U2 concert for our first date, and our wedding song is "The Sweetest Thing"; so the song "It's a Beautiful Day" takes on special meaning to me.

The reason I bring this up, is the Dallas Cowboys, who's new $1 billion stadium is just 10 minutes down the road from us, just left Oxnard, California where they held training camp. They go to Oxnard because of the weather, but the funny thing is yesterday while all of the sports anchors were getting back into the metroplex, all you heard was how the weather was exactly the same here as in Oxnard.

Just thought that was kind of funny as we trained in 85 degree weather today!

Lizzy Karoly returns to America!

We're excited today as junior forward Lizzy Karoly rejoins us from her summer long adventure in Iceland. We'll give her a couple of days to get back into the swing of things and catch up on sleep, but the team is really excited to have her back home (as I'm sure she is as well).

After 2 intense training sessions yesterday and a great one this morning, we'll take the team over to my house for a pool workout this afternoon to take a break on their legs -- plus it will be a lot of fun!

My wife and little guy Zak (2 years old), snuck out to California for a couple of days to visit family, so I'm starting to miss them a bit. Zak is becoming such a character and so funny. The other night I had him in bed watching the Olympics with me and he got all excited and started yelling Michael, Michael, cheering on Michael Phelps. My wife told me he did it again last night and his grandfather gave him an American flag, that he just kept waving.

Pre-Season-Day 7!

Was an intense training session this morning. Dr. Upton got the group going for about 30 minutes with his famous obstacle course. We took advantage of talking to the girls about not just doing it, but doing it all out- - taking the pace to another level. It was fun to watch as it was just contagious, 1 person stepped up to a new level, then another tried to match it, then someone tried to one up it. Man was it great.

That competitiveness continued as we focused a ton on our 1v1 defending. It started off with a game to cones, but then we quickly took it to goal as the team was buzzing. We ended up spending the rest of training in 1v1 flying changes, with every player not leaving a thing on the field.

By the end, it was one of those sessions that you are absolutely dog tired because you have worked so hard, but loved every minute of it!