Diary: Clemson Women’s Soccer Trip to Columbia

Sept. 9, 2008

The Tiger women’s soccer team traveled to Columbia, SC last weekend for the Carolina’s Cup. Senior co-captains Julie Bolt and Molly Johnson kept a journal detailing the events of the weekend. Read their diary below and check out pictures from the weekend by clicking on the Photo Gallery link below.

GALLERY

Thursday, September 4 4:00 p.m.: Training, shower, cold tub, get ready to go!

6:00 p.m.: Met at Gold’s Gym and headed to Eddie Spaghetti. Dinner was good; Hershey and the coaching staff consumed well over half of the garlic knots. After dinner we got back on the bus and watched G.I. Jane as we headed to Columbia.

9:00 p.m.: Arrived in Columbia. The team was still hungry, of course, and headed over to the gas station to get some much needed snacks and ice cream.

Friday, September 5 8:15 a.m.: Wake-up and breakfast at the hotel.

9:45 a.m.: The team met outside the hotel to go on a short jog and stretch. Afterward, we did a quick walk-through to talk about the game, South Carolina’s formation, etc.

10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Study hall…just because we can focus on the field for 90 minutes doesn’t mean we can study for that long. I’m not quite sure how much studying was actually done, but the thought of lunch at noon got us through it. Needless to say, Kristen wasn’t the best at keeping us focused on schoolwork.

12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.: Hershey and Todd went to the store and bought us tons of great food including Nutella + graham crackers, goldfish, various fruits, and enough lunchmeat to feed a small country. After lunch we pretty much passed out until it was time to go at 5. We met in the lobby and got ready for the game.

7:30 p.m.: South Carolina vs. Clemson…not our best game, by far. We did some good things, but really didn’t show up to play.

10:30 p.m.: Michelle (athletic trainer) and I (Julie) headed to CVS in Irmo to pick up some pain medicine for my shoulder. The doctors say I’ve either sprained or torn my AC joint. I was on Vicodin for the rest of the trip, so I’ll let Molly take it from here…

Saturday, September 6 10:00 a.m.: Wake-up and breakfast at the hotel.

11:15 a.m.: We met outside to go on a brief jog and stretch with Todd and Kristen and then went back up to the rooms to make sandwiches for lunch.

1:15 p.m.: The team met in the lobby and got mentally prepared for a serious bowling competition. Six teams were created and the smack talk began along with the wagers for winners/losers. Apparently Todd is a closet bowler…he dominated everyone and was sure to let us know how good he was. Other than him, two bowling standouts were Molly Franklin and Jen Ficklen.

5:00 p.m.: Leave for team dinner at Carrabba’s…sooo good!

8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.: Down time in the hotel. Several of us went to the lobby to do work and watch the USA vs. Cuba soccer game.

Sunday, September 7 8:15 a.m.: Wake-up and breakfast at the hotel.

10:00 a.m.: Leave for the field, started getting ready for the game…it must have been over 110 degrees out there; we were sweating before we even stepped onto the field.

11:30 a.m.: Francis Marion vs. Clemson. The heat definitely played a huge role today; it felt like we were moving in slow motion. It was good to score some goals and regain some confidence. We got the whole team out on the field, which is always great. Came away with a 3-0 win!

2:30 p.m.: Showers and pizza before we hit the road back to Clemson. The ride home was good, we watched P.S. I Love You and I’m pretty sure Hershey cried.