On Wednesday, Kate was at the bookstore and received a bonus in her purchase.  One of our teammates had left her stick in the NU bookstore earlier in the day.  This player also happened to be the last one on the bus Thursday when we left for the airport.  When confronted with the news that the cashier at the bookstore had given Kate the stick, our teammate calmly replied ‘oh that’s where it was, ok’.  Not a worry line on her face.  With all of our equipment in tow we headed down to Virginia.  Our first stop was in Georgia where we switched gates 3 times before finally settling in.  Then we boarded a plane where our team pretty much took up all the seats. 

            Friday morning arrived and we headed to the field for an early morning walk thru where we adjusted to our new line-up, passed and did some corners.  After breakfast at the hotel and video, most of us took naps to get energized for the game.  ODU expertly executed 2 corners and we found ourselves down 2-0 early in the first half.  Some adjustments on the field and we settled down.  Unfortunately ODU was able to slip another goal in before half time making the score 3-0 at half time.  Undeterred we came out with hard pressure on the Monarch’s defense.  Finally with a minute left in the game, Carolyn Malloy was able to convert one of our many shots on goal into a corner.  It proved to be too little too late and the Monarch’s came out the victors 3-1. 

            Saturday we left for William and Mary.  When we got to the field there had been a mix up, our practice was earlier in the day.  Instead of practice at 1, we had practice at 5 so we went to get lunch.  Then we went out to dinner at the Colonial Heritage Inn.  It was a nice change to be able to get dressed up and go out to dinner in something other than sports clothes.  Joining us for dinner were a few relatives but also Emily and Doug Hausloher.  They are fans we always see when we play William and Mary.  They are great supporters of our team.

            After getting to bed early and getting some great sustenance the night before, we came out ready to play against William and Mary.  We started off strong with Crystal scoring about half way thru the half.  However with just under a minute William and Mary was able to slip a goal into the net.  After the half we came out ready to reclaim the lead and Carolyn was able to stuff in a rebound for the game winning goal.  We had notched our first conference win.  The ride home was a little delayed and we almost missed our connecting flight but we were able to make it and finally were back in Boston for 6 home games.