The most beautiful thing about soccer is the fact that its a fluid game- ever changing. You have to be on your toes, constantly aware of all the subtleties happening on the field for a full 90 minutes- any let down or loss of focus can be detrimental.

Even though we're only a few games into the season and I'm currently writing this from the Cleveland Airport as we return home from our California trip, our guys have learned about the fluidity of the game of soccer and how to roll with the punches so to speak or just go with the flow!

When we reported to training camp this year, we quickly realized that it was going to be a different kind of year from last year. Not different in a bad way, just different. Quite a few players came in injured and right away we were looking see who would step up and contribute this season.

With split results in two scrimmages under our belt (Tiffin and Denison), we headed out to California for a three-game opening trip. The first game against a very solid team from The Master's College saw us unable to score and coming short in the 1-0 contest. Less than 24 hours later, we were on the pitch against San Diego Christian, a team that had yet to experience a match setting. Their fresh legs quickly wore us down 6-1 - especially after enduring a long physical battle the day before. This was honestly one of the toughest losses I have experienced...but it served its purpose: it showed us what areas we need to work on and why it is important for us to take care of our bodies. It also served to open our eyes to the fact that every team deserves respect and that nothing less than our best is acceptable on the field!

We finished the trip with an exciting 2-0 win over our brothers at Point Loma Nazarene University. The win was well fought and serves as a good boost into our home tournament this coming weekend.

It's been an interesting start to the year for sure, but that's soccer! It's an interesting and exciting game! Stay tuned for season and game updates as well as player introductions and other ramblings from #4 - just trying to keep it inside the post!