Jenny's Journal: Great weekend for the Kats

Week 3 of season, and I have some great news! This weekend, we played the University of North Texas at home on Friday, and then traveled to Houston to play Texas Southern University. Our Friday game was played in some CRAZY weather out on Pritchett. During warm-up, the sky was looking a little foreboding (word of the day) and then right when announcements were supposed to start, it just opened up. No lightning, just a torrential downpour for about 30 minutes of the first half. We still had a good crowd, especially considering the nasty weather! We should give BBQ away for every game! :)

I always love games in the rain, because when I dive or come out on a breakaway, it feels like I slide 10 feet. Who says you’re too old to act like a kid?? Since the field was so sloppy, the game wasn’t pretty. It was hard to get control on the ground, and we just had to keep putting it in the air to stay away from the puddles. The team played AWESOME though, and we completely outworked UNT, who looked like they just wanted to get the heck out of Huntsville and go home.

We were tied 0-0 going into overtime, but we were getting some good looks. With about 5 minutes left in overtime, I punted the ball into the center circle (which Coach gets mad at me for all the time... oops) where Tricia headed it to Kirby up top. Kirby beat about 4 defenders on her way to the goal, and buried it into the net. Our first win was definitely an exciting one!! There were a lot of smiles after the game, and for me, a lot of relief! It felt great to finally win a close one!

The Sunday game wasn’t as exciting when we played Texas Southern on their home field. And by field, I mean football field. And by football field, I mean green carpet. They had the old school Astroturf, and all 3 of us goalkeepers looked like we had just rolled around in moss before the game had even started. We won 2-0, and really dominated the entire game. So that win felt good too! And two shutouts for the weekend! It’s always a good feeling when I do my job and keep the ball out of the back of the net.

This week, we leave on Thursday for a tournament in Mobile, Alabama! We’re going to work hard to get two more wins, and two more shutouts!

-- Jenny Pence
SHSU keeper