September was a long month of travel for the Clarkson women's soccer team, as they logged more than 45 bus hours between their home games opening weekend and the end of the month. As for me, I logged about the same amount of drive time (Lee skipped a long ride to PA, but has been along for all of the other games), mostly on the weekends. Emily has continued to get significant playing time in every game and we are watching her adapt to the intensity of Liberty League play with every game. Although Clarkson lost only two starters from last year, they have struggled this season - other teams are getting much, much better and Clarkson can't seem to find the back of the net. Most of the games have been close - which is good because they aren't runaways, but also stinks because they've come so close to ties and wins several times, but can't quite seem to keep it together for the full game.
Playing in the pouring rain at York College of Pennsylvania.
This was one of her best games of the season - she played hard and made good decisions both on and off of the ball the whole game.
A 90 minute game and a yellow card - both collegiate firsts for Emily.
The second weekend in September, we got super lucky as Clarkson made the trip down to play at the University of Hartford. Emily played against three UWS teammates and one former high school teammate.
Beau making his first appearance at a college soccer game.
Her former NWC teammate gave her a hard jersey tug and Emily got the call. Prior to the grab, Emily had stripped her of the ball and was heading up the field, so it was a big moment for her.
When she doesn't understand what the coach wants her to do, she's not afraid to ask and to push hard until she gets a good explanation.
Two of her former NWC teammates came to watch her play.
Elizabeth and Sophia were there as well!
The game against SUNY Cortland was an exciting 1-1 draw, and another full 90 for Emily. This game was so exciting and both goals came within a minute of each other, so we were on pins and needles the whole game. She was completely exhausted when the game was over.
Skidmore is the only weekday game we've gone too, because it's only a few hours away and they played in the afternoon. This was a tough 2-1 loss.
Emily and a girl from a local high school both started in this game for Clarkson and Skidmore respectively. They played 9 games against each other in high school and their teams were bitter rivals. It was kind of cool to see both of them on the field in a Liberty League game acknowledging each other before the game.
Happy to see Beau after the game.
At RIT, Clarkson got a red card 14 minutes into the game and had to play down a man for the remaining 76 minutes. They were able to come away with a 0-0 draw, which was a great result, especially considering the circumstances.
Aunt Elise and Uncle Al live near Rochester, so they came to game (along with cousin Kim) to watch Emily play and then afterwards, Lee and I had dinner with the extended family (cousins and kids) and got to stay overnight instead of making the roundtrip in one day.
