Triple Crown Victory

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Third time is the charm. We had twice won the conference championship. Both of those came in overtime style. The team stormed the field and we collapsed in exhaustion, excitement and victory. This one had a different feel a very confident feel.

We won our semi-final game against Drew 4-1 and the team put together one of our best performances of the year (so far). Everybody was “on” and we played almost everyone, it was just awesome.

Today we were up 1-0 going into the half. As the final minute of the game ticked down, the sideline did the count down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and they all took the field. We went undefeated in the conference and won the championship.  We knew the moment we were going to win. The other two times it was, “SURPRISE!!! YOU HAVE JUST WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP.”

and now WE KNOW. WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE MADE THE NCAA TOURNAMENT.

It is a whole different feeling to get two gifts at once. We are both celebrating our 2009 Landmark Conference Championship and the FACT that we will be one of 24 teams practicing next week for, and competing in the NCAA Tournament. What a great, GREAT, day.

The fans were amazing and it was standing room only from end to end. I rarely look off the field during the game, but I took a couple of moments to look at the crowd that had accumulated, as the game played on. It was expansive. It was amazing. At one point the girls could not even hear each other on the field. It was truly a home field championship experience.

I want to thank everyone that was there for both teams. Thank you for coming out and supporting your daughters, your friends, your team. You made this day extra special for us and each other. I look forward to seeing everyone again during the NCAA Tournament. The bracket comes out late Sunday night/early Monday morning  and we will know where, who and when we will be playing. We will know the road that is before us.

We’ve got what it takes so let’s give it all we’ve got. All the way JC!

A New Season

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We have finished the regular season and now we are just hours from our first post-season game. Today we host the Landmark Conference Semi-Final at 2:30pm on our field. The regular season finished with a flurry of goals. We scored four goals in our final game, against Oneonta on Saturday, giving us a 15-3 record on the season.

The previous Saturday we played our last Conference game at Scranton University. It was one of the most interesting games I have been a part of. We won 2-0, but that doesn’t fully explain the day. We drove through pounding rain for most, if not all of the trip. We just couldn’t believe how hard it was coming down. I think we went stride for stride with the storm the whole way.

When we arrived it wasn’t bad. Not much rain, it looked like we were going to get lucky. We did, through most of warm-up. But as the minutes ticked down to game time the rain began and it got harder and harder. The players took the field minus announcements, so we could have the best chance of getting it in.

The rain continued and it was the hardest rain I have ever been in. It was coming down in sheets. It wasn’t long until puddles began to form. As the minutes went by the puddles began running into each other forming a lake.  The game went on, and on and on. We could barely see, I have no idea how Kim Amrod could see enough to score, but she did.

Our normal 10 minute half-time turned into a 90 minute half-time. Once the rain slowed and the flood waters on the field receded, we walked up and began to “shlep” our way through the remaining puddles. We used sticks and our goalies used their feet, Scranton used 8 x 10 boards and brooms and eventually the field was deemed playable again.

We scored one more time in the 2nd half, a beautiful cross and finish to Shauna Deschenes. It would not have been possible in the first half since the ball could only travel through the air at that time. But not once did our players not give it everything they had. They assessed the crazy situation we were in, and made the best decisions they could, and did what we do best. We made the most of it and got a few good laughs out of it too.

Every day and quite frankly every year I feel so blessed to work with the players and families I do. Year in and out, I am surrounded by great people, who understand what is really important in life; We are important to each other. I think we make each other’s lives better and easier, every chance we get.

Thank you to everyone for making the regular season such a success. Now we move on to post-season; The time of year we have all been working for and eagerly anticipating. One game at a time let’s give it all we have for ourselves and each other. Let’s continue to build moments and memories we will always want to look back on.

Together We Will!

What a Difference a Year Makes

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You cannot really compare one year to the next. So much changes; players come and go and some improve immensely! The team chemistry changes somewhat each year, because of those changes. So what do we notice? We certainly know that we are at a much better place this year than we were last year. This year we are ranked Nationally, ranked in the region and have already won the regular season title going undefeated in our conference. But this year is not over, and none of our previous accomplishments guarantee success in the future.

We know for a fact we have 3 games left on our schedule. We still have two very important in-region regular season games left. The results of those games affect our regional ranking. We also know that we get to play in our conference semi-final as the #1 seed, and at this time last year we were fighting just to get in our conference tournament.

We also know that seeding doesn’t mean as much as you think. The past two season we have been the team coming into the tournament in the #2 and #3 spots, but we put it all together in the conference tournament to become Landmark Conference Champions. That is what post-season is all about.

It’s about knowing that the work has only just begun. It’s knowing that now, everyone is playing at a new level, and you better be ready to match it and overcome what is coming at you. We have seen all the teams in our conference once this season. But we haven’t seen them fighting and scraping for the Conference Championship Title. We know that is coming at us, quickly.

Championships means a clean slate for everyone. Win and you go on. Lose and you are done. It’s the best of times and the worst of times, on any given day. We give each other the gift of time when we give it all we have and win.  More time to practice. More time to compete, and prove what we can do on a bigger and tougher scale. More time to  be with each other and create moments we can cherish for a year and a lifetime.

I am looking forward to the challenges that the end of the season and post-season present. Now is when we begin to find what we are actually made of as a team, how good we really are and how far we can take each other on this journey of the 2009 season.

I hope you will continue to follow us on the web and on the road. This team has shown you some of itself, but now you will see the best of ourselves. FLY EAGLES FLY!!!

What it Takes…To Make JCFH

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When  I first began coaching I developed a sense of what it takes to be successful and what it takes to fail. I don’t just mean on the hockey field, but in life. Whether it’s your job, your family/friends,  your volunteer work or your team there are things you have to do to if you want to be a respected, cared for and contributing member, to a successful effort.

These are the four things I realized you had to do, to make our team successful:

1) Be Positive

2) Be Willing to Try Anything

3) Give 100%

4) Follow the Team Rules

So those are the four things you have to do to make our team, 12 years and RUNNING!

These things are critical not just for the players, but the coaches as well, and I was tested on them this week. Life has a way of giving you tests and many pop quizzes along the way. I believe that being a positive person, that was willing to try anything and give 100% was exactly what I needed to help my team, and this week in general, be a success.

It’s not enough to be positive. You have to be positive that you will accomplish more as an individual, and get more out of the people around you, if you remain positive when all around you is going wrong. The reality is, in real life giving in to frustration is not an option, because it accomplishes nothing and will not lead to creative problem solving. One of our critical JCFH mottos from last year was, “Turn frustration into determination.” 

One of the toughest opponents we come up against as human beings is mother nature…she is good! This Wednesday we encountered hurricane force wind gusts, and a single hockey cage was no match for them. We found that two hockey cages are better than one, and when the cages had each other’s back, they could hold up against almost any blast…(except for that one when we had a defensive corner.) The ref called “time” and our trusty ball people and event management, quickly got to work to set up the cages.

Thank goodness for JC support!

Yesterday mother nature hit again, and we found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. We had refs but no field, and fields without refs. Thank goodness we were in the same boat with a great group of people who were willing to try anything. We had plan A, B, C, D, E and I think we eventually went with Plan Z…but hey it worked.

One of the biggest things, on the field, that make us so successful as a team, is giving 100%. When you do that it means never giving up. It means making a 2nd Effort and sometimes a 3rd, 4th, 5th…10th effort. It means pursuing relentlessly until a solution has been found, a ball has been won back, a goal has been scored!!!

When you have a whole team that truly believes in these things, themselves and each other. When that team has had a chance to grow and be prepared for the opportunities and challenges that they come up against, and can see them as such…

…That is when you can say with confidence that “winning will take care of itself.” We just do what we know how to do, play our game, give it everything we have on every ball (with speed of course) and go for it every time without hesitation! When you have all these things, you get to experience a year where you just might find yourself at 11-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference. If you get to be play any role in a team like this, count yourself among the lucky ones. I know how grateful I am…what a great group! It all comes from 4 things, from every one of you!

That is where we are, but there is so much more work to be done, to get to where we want to go. It was a great week, but that was last week.  Ahead of us is a new week with unique opportunities and challenges. We have to be ready to give it everything we have as individuals and as a team.  So here we go JCFH, our next best week is just hours ahead of us. Are you ready to go again? You have to be.  The better we do, the bigger the target becomes, and the more critical it is that we come together in our pursuit of excellence!

BECAUSE A Winning Team Beats With One Heart…TOGETHER WE WILL!

I Love Winning

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“Speed, I am Speed.” A quote from my son’s favorite movie, “Cars.” But also our mantra…SPEED…I don’t think I’ve ever said “Go,” So much in my life. Sometimes it’s “Go” and other times its GOOOOOOOOOO! Whatever we do, we do AT SPEED.

This new game is unfolding right before our eyes. If you stop and take a look at scores all over the nation you will see the havoc it is creating. Everyone seems to be beating everyone. Just when you think you know who the cream of the crop might be this year, somebody takes them out. We are already half way through the regular season and it really is anybody’s game.

So what about JCFH? We are now 8-2 and 1-0 in the conference! We have scored 31 goals; that is an average of 3 goals a game…That’s Good!!! In our last game we scored 6 goals and had 5 assists, (4 of those goals were scored by subs)! We are coming up on a run of three conference games in a row … Sat/Wed/Sat! And we are ready, one game at a time! The team is really coming together nicely.

Our practices and scrimmages are so intense. We usually scrimmage 15-25 minutes in each practice; it’s clearly their favorite part. And I just love to sit back and watch us. We work so hard in these scrimmages. We are making each other so much better and we are able to take that out to the game field. The last few games we have played nearly every person on our squad. That is such a great feeling when your whole team feels they had a part in the win. I feel it and the team feels it.

It’s awesome to look at your sideline and see your subs screaming for your starters and then your starters screaming for your subs. For every person to be so excited when the next person goes in…telling them with complete confidence “You can do it.”

That is JCFH, and once again we are becoming the best that JCFH can be. I love winning, I mean, I really love it. I hope I’m doing everything I can as a coach to help make it possible, and I want everyone to have that feeling.

When you are a player you feel that what you have to offer, is what you give on the field. That is a big part of it; the part that everyone notices. But it’s also about giving yourself, all of yourself. Your body on the field, your heart and your mind and your soul on and off the field. That is what a JCFH player does. That is who we are, and I love that too. After the season is over and all our wins (and losses) are collected it’s who we are that goes on. When a new year begins the slate is clean, but we bring ourselves, the person we’ve become, back each time. And each time it keeps getting better.

Give it all you’ve got ladies and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Forever a Part of JCFH

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Have I mentioned how exciting the season is. It’s really addictive. We’ve had so many alums and alumni parents at our games already. No matter what you do after college it still feels like August is pre-season and the months of September, October and November is hockey season.

While most of the alums will say they don’t miss two-a-days during pre-season and the soreness that comes with it, they do miss so much… They miss college life and Juniata and JCFH. These four years should be the most fun four years of hockey you’ve ever had. That is what I strive to create and that is exactly what these players do for each other.

I love how much support we have at our games and getting a chance to catch up with everyone after the games both at home and on the road. You can easily pick out the alums too. They are the really loud ones screaming stuff from the sidelines. It’s like having guest coaches everywhere we go. We joked at the beginning of the season that we we could place an alum every 10 yards and they could just tell the girls what to do. Playing at Juniata means becoming part of a second family. One that continues to grow and flourish through the years and one you are always welcome back to  no matter how long you’ve been away.

And now this team is creating its own identity and style within this new game. They are doing things their way. We just love using our speed to our advantage. While we have had a lot of speed over the years, this new game really allows you to turn it on…every time! Now its a matter of fitting other ways of moving the ball throughout the field without losing the game speed that we have developed.

We scored 8 goals last week and had two wins on the road! That puts us at 5-2 on the season. Yesterday we had our best Monday practice yet! This week we have a home game on Wednesday and then we have our conference opener on the road.  I’m looking forward to another exciting week of hockey and seeing what we create together with our speed.

In the Blink of an Eye

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This is the hardest part…you wait all year for the best part of your year, aka Hockey Season, and then it just flies by in the blink of an eye. We are already 25% through our competitive season…well regular season.

We are 3-2 and on the rise. The team played really well last week. Our offensive game kicked in with 41 shots and 32 corners in two games. The downside is we only scored 3 goals and we know there could have been so many more. So this week our challenge is to score early and often. We played competitive games where scoring was key. I know that is funny to say, but sometimes you get so wrapped up in doing all the “things” you want to do in a game. Working the ball in and out and across. The possession and passing game. Going hard on re-starts and carrying when you can, but knowing when to pass. In hockey there are always at least 3 options on every play if not more. And then of course you have to remember to do all of that…and score.

So when you hear “…and score” it is because we have to remember to do so many things, and the one thing we absolutely have to do to win, is score, score more and of course score more than the other team. We want to play great hockey and we want to win. When we have done both of these things and given it everything we have we can feel satisfied with our performance and celebrate our success.

My chinese food fortune this week read. “Time is not measured by a watch, but by moments.”  We have two games this week. Two opportunities to show all that we have worked to improve. Two opportunities to show all that we are and all that we know we can be. In those games we will create moments, hopefully many moments of greatness both individually and together. Moments we can look back on and draw from. Moments we and others can talk about.  Because I know sadly, that this season will be over in the Blink of an Eye, and that is what I will have to remember…our greatest moments as a team.

Food, Family and Hockey

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These three things really sum it all up; Hockey Season always brings with it food and family. These critical components in our life sustain us year long. And there is nothing like a home cooked meal when you are a college student. Thank goodness we have amazing parents that love us so much. Last year on move in day we added a new tradition, a big family dinner…Each family brings something to the table and we all eat really well.

This year we added “frozen dinners” to the list. I don’t mean something from the frozen aisle in the grocery store….The Lovins family volunteered to make dinners and freeze them for each night of pre-season. What a gift! Many other parents voluntarily made frozen meals as well. We had so much food that we had team dinners during the first week of classes. A two week feast. Now that’s a great way to start the year. I want to thank all the parents and family members that helped make this pre-season so great.

Now for the hockey. After a rough start with some 90 degree days, the weather began to settle down towards the end of the week. Each day in practice we would find out more about the 2009 JCFH Team.  With our first fall season ahead of us with some new rules in place that can change the game drastically, we dove into the new game of hockey. Here’s what we know so far…ITS FAST, AND MORE EXCITING THAN THE OLD GAME. OH AND WE LOVE IT!

We worked on critical things that the new game brings like lots of 1v1s and having someone calling ball at all times. We played a lot of 6v6, then 8v8 and finally the 11 v 11 game. After 5 days of practice we were ready for our first scrimmage tournament.

We played 4 games and put together many different line-ups and combinations. We found some things that worked, and some that need work. But the thing I am most excited about is how ready JCFH is for this new game. We pushed the pace and played the re-start rule better than every opponent we came up against.

After the tournament we went to Senior, Denalyn Spratt’s house. Her parents and family had made us an amazing post game feast. Hot dogs, hamburgers, the best grilled chicken ever and so much more. Many of the parents that were at the tournament came to Denalyn’s house.

Thank you all so much for making each season so much more…JCFH is more than just a team playing a game. Its a family experience you’ll never forget and something we will always be a part of.

Here’s to a great season ahead of us!

Hello world!

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