Well, we all know what the first week of September means now don't we? SCHOOL STARTS! Which means we are all back to bearing the title of Student-Athlete...not just summer-bum-around-campus-and-take-naps-in-between-blistering-hot-training-session-people. Bummer. But, it is great to be back on campus with all of the other MVNU students and establishing some sort of "normalcy" between class, chapel, practice, homework, and late-night espresso shot games while cramming for tests. (Alright that last one doesn't really get started until next week, but I just can't wait!)

Needless to say, we've been busy and what better way to busy yourself than by taking a little road trip out to Indiana and Michigan to not only escape the move-in MADNESS that consumes our campus every final weekend of August, but also to get some quality bonding and matches in!

We opened the 2010 season with a match at Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful pitch for an opening match, and after three hours on a bus 25 guys heard the words we'd been longing to hear: Go Play Fellas! And play we did. Kyle Maxam opened up the season's scoring very early in the match by burying a great shot from the top of the 18-yard box. He later helped me open my scoring account as he opened fire again, this time deflecting the ball off of me and into the net. (kind of like the ol' bank-shot in basketball). The second half proved to be the exciting end of the match, though...well...the last 10 minutes did anyway with three of our final six goals coming in the last 10 minutes. Steve Wilging and Chris Allen combined on a corner kick effort to score, Chris Allen proved his long-range ability with a beautiful strike from distance, Kemar Jackson showed why he's the free kick specialist, and finally Chris set Kemar up with the Jamaican one-two combo that finished out the scoring in the match.

With that first match under out belts, we headed up to Michigan for what would prove to be a much more difficult task of playing Davenport University. Davenport was already four matches into their season when we played them, and you could tell they were starting to fire on all cylinders. While we had the better of first-half opportunities, we went into the half-time locker room tied 0-0 - a tribute to some great goalkeeping by both starting keepers. The second half was kind of like a heavyweight boxing match with each team taking swings and delivering huge blows to the other. Unfortunately, theirs were the first and last. They scored first, early in the second half, on a nice cross and header. We equalized shortly after on a penalty kick drawn by Kemar, and finished by myself. About midway through the half, they scored again this time on some suspect referring and poor mental toughness on our part. We equalized again with a great play by Kemar from a so-so free kick by yours truly. The knockout blow came 40 seconds after we had equalized for the second time with a lucky breakaway goal that put Davenport in the lead for the remainder of the match.

The game took a lot out of everyone - emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. We had a great opportunity to pray and witness to them after the match with many of them not knowing much about Christianity. So, in that aspect, the game was a success even if we were the short side on the scoreboard. The game showed us a lot of things we need to work on, and believe me, we've been working on them.

Luckily for us, working hard and improving ourselves comes with the payoff of performing in our first home natches this weekend for the First-Knox Cougar Invitational! Judson and Spring Arbor will start the tournament at 2 p.m. Friday, followed by the Cougars playing Southeastern (Fla.) College at 4 p.m. The corresponding victors and runner-ups will play on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

I hope to see all you Cougar fans out at the matches Friday and Saturday. SGA will be sponsoring Dime-A-Dog on Saturday, so bring a dollar and share the wealth and cheer for your favorite soccer team!