Week Three Update With Casey

What a weekend!! Every game we play in the GLVC is a battle! After putting UMSL away on Friday night we mentally prepared for the tough game against Maryville. When we found out earlier last week that we were ranked 13th in the nation we were beyond excited!! And after these last two games, being 4-0 really has motivated us and pumped us up for Friday's game against Wisconsin-Parkside. Our team has so much fun together on and off the field, our  chemistry is amazing. The fact that we have so many people who are able to step up and score really makes the game fun and gives us an advantage over opponents. Our solid defense gives our team the backbone and support to score and put teams away! Our games are so exciting to be a part of because we move the ball so well and we are confident that every game is OURS TO WIN! The team practices hard all week to prepare for Friday night games and the intensity during practice shows how much we want this to be our year! Our fans add to the intense atmosphere on Friday nights and they pump us up! The focus now is on WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE another very good team in the GLVC, it won't be an easy game but we are both mentally and physically ready for the challenge! This Friday, September 16 at 5pm we face the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers at our QU North Campus Field! We hope to get as much support as possible on our road to Victory!!

Brittany Casey
2011 Junior Lady Hawk

Lady Hawk Update: Southwest Baptist

Preseason = Complete!

Lauren Drewett

Let’s be real! Me and the other seniors on this team never thought that we would finally be able to say we NEVER have another pre-season. It feels great to know we never have to have those fitness tests again, but there are also some hard feelings, and deep down we all know we are going to miss that soreness in every part of our bodies after the 4th practice in 2 days. As of 8:44p.m. on Saturday night we were able to say pre-season had officially ended and regular season was starting. We came out flying in that last pre-season game, scoring goals, moving the ball around, and showing everyone that this is OUR year. We had a great group of fans come out to support us, and I am sure they could tell that this Lady Hawk’s team was ready to play. Everyone is a part of this team for one big reason, and that is to prove to everyone that we can be champions this year!

We have our first regular season game this Friday night and I know I cannot wait. It is going to be a great way to start the season and I know everyone is ready to play that game RIGHT NOW! Just by seeing the intensity and desire in everyone’s eye’s at practice and in games, I can tell we are ready! We have great leadership and a passion on this team that is just unreal. This senior season for me and the other four seniors is going to be one we never forget! We were told not take a single second for granted from previous upperclassmen, but I do know we are overly ready to begin this regular season. Bring on the season and bring on SEPTEMBER 2nd! Everything this preseason has been preparing us for Friday night, and WE are ready.

Lauren Drewett
2011 Senior Lady Hawk

Thomas' Exhibitions Update

Erin Thomas

Week 1 of preseason and 2-a-days are finally over and the team couldn't be more excited mainly because that means its game time! The team has been looking forward to our first preseason game of the year ever since the first practice. Well, we finally got to that game. We played in our first preseason exhibition last Monday against Culver Stockton on our own field, and it felt great. The team looks amazing! Everyone was so fit and ready to get the season started. We came out with a few first game nerves but once we got into the groove, we looked unstoppable. One major thing noticed in our game was the ability of our team to share the wealth when it came to goals. We had 6 different players score in our first game! This just shows how much talent and aggressiveness our team has as a whole and independently but those goals wouldn’t have been scored if it wasn't for our entire team working together to make the opportunities. We followed our win against Culver with an exhibition Tuesday night at Hannibal LaGrange College. After that first game, our team was ready for another one. We came out flying! We were stringing passes together like no one’s business. Our defense was solid and our offense was scoring goals just like the Culver game. We came out with another win over Hannibal.

It feels really good to come out and to play with such great attitudes about wanting to win and play together as a team. We look forward to a few more days of practice to get ourselves ready for a tough, last preseason scrimmage at Lindenwood University. We play Saturday night 7pm at Lindenwood for our last preseason game before our first actual season game and we are ready. All of these preseason practices and games are getting us pumped and ready for that first real challenge on September 2nd. We can’t wait to play that Southwest Baptist team, especially when we will be taking them on at home! So, come out and support your Lady Hawks on Sept. 2nd at home when we take on Southwest Baptist at 6pm as our home opener!

Erin Thomas
2011 Senior Lady Hawk

2011 Quincy Lady Hawk Soccer!

Click Picture to Enlarge

Headball Battle - Wings vs Wakes

Senior Captain Megan Wingenbach takes on Freshman Taylor Wakeland during Preseason Day 5.  Erin Conroy recording and play-by-play analysis from Aimee Ubriaco.

Basic 5v2s on Day 4, Practice 8

Thursday’s second training session. Here are clips of three different groups doing light 5v2 work. GO HAWKS!

Lydia’s Preseason Update – Day 3

Lydia Disseler

The first two days of our intense preseason are done and everyone is looking great. We can't all say our bodies feel great because of all the running and playing we’ve been doing twice a day to get our bodies and minds soccer fit. No one is giving up and everyone is playing hard which is making me feel great about this upcoming season. I see the potential of greatness and a team that can win a championship. To help us get to where we need to be, we run faster, play harder, and think a play ahead. We have had two fitness tests, which we all have dominated…and one more to go today!

In between our practices we eat lunch as a team at the QU cafeteria. After our second practice Monday we went to Gengenbacher's Shaved Ice Shack and then had a players meeting at the QU Fitness Center. Tuesday night, Bergie's dad barbequed for the whole team. It was so delicious, some of us where bending over, not because we were tired but because we ate too much! Was much needed after two hard days of practice. Our little get-togethers after a hard days work are nice because it helps our team bond and get to know each other better so that we have good chemistry on and off the field. Tonight's plan is to get together and go to Waffle Cone Wednesday at TCBY and have a Catch Phrase Tournament afterwards.

Lydia Disseler
2011 Senior Lady Hawk

Introducing: Taylor Wakeland

QU Preseason Schedule

8/14 – Lady Hawks Report to QU
8/15 – Training Begins!
8/22 – Exhibition Home vs Culver-Stockton – 7:00pm
8/23 – Exhibition Away vs Hannibal – 5:00pm
8/27 – Scrimmage Away vs Lindenwood – 7:00pm

GLVC Preseason Polls Released: QU is picked 3 out of 16
2011 GLVC Poll Link Click Here

I'm Back!

Molly Costello

A little over a year and 2 months after breaking my leg I can finally say my confidence is back! After the countless hours of therapy, working out with my dad, running as much as I can, and all the hours of juggling to keep my touch up has finally paid off! This 2011 season means the world to me, not only for our amazing seniors that we want to make their last season one to remember but as an athlete who experienced what it is like to have to sit out and watch for an entire year and now it is finally my time to actually be able to play and have an impact out on the field. Sitting out a year truly makes you realize just how much you love the game and there is nothing else you want more then to get back out on the field and win that big 50-50 ball, chase down that girl on a break away, win that head ball, and to just have fun playing the game with your best friends. Only 9 more days until we report back for preseason and I honestly have never been more excited for anything in my life!!

Molly Costello
2011 Sophomore Lady Hawk

Introducing: Liz O'Connor and Taylor Darnell

Bring On August!

Megan Wingenbach

We are quickly reaching the end of July, and the thought of August brings one word to the minds of all Lady Hawk soccer players. That-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named, the word we all dread… (preseason). Today as I was struggling to recover after a long run in 100 degree heat, I started rethinking what actually is our biggest hurdle to get through in preparing for the season. Yeah, our two-a-days are beyond rough; they cause you to groan every time you get out of bed and hurt in places you didn’t think you were even using. But I think what we put ourselves through even before that point is overlooked.

For three months we are entirely on our own. It is up to us to come back to school in the best shape we can possibly be, and that is a hard task to accomplish without having someone there pushing you. A lot of the girls, like myself, work full time and the last thing you want to do after a long day at work is go out in the heat and run. It’s easy to think it is just a little too hot for a workout today and skip it, or tell yourself you’re tired and can’t keep going when no one is watching. It takes something inside to constantly fight for all those weeks to get better and come back as physically ready as you can.

Mastroianni and Wings
Center Midfielders

There is one huge highlight of returning to school, and that is our team. When it comes to our preseason at Quincy, let’s be honest, there is no easing into it. From day one we hit the ground running, or sprinting I should say. Being that this is my fourth time around, you would think things get easier after each year. They don’t. However, I have never been on a more supportive team before, and we get through every challenge and every minute of those days together. You can hear the encouragement on the field from all aspects, whether it’s fighting through a fitness test or someone’s shot to the upper 90. We push each other far beyond our limits, and that’s what gets us to that next level. I think we're all ready to get out there and see what we can make of 2011.

Megan Wingenbach
2011 Senior Lady Hawk

Meet 2011 Freshmen: Kayla Nurnberger

Preseason According to Aimee

Aimee Ubriaco

I could talk about how excited we are for this season or how hard everyone is working this summer to become bigger, faster, and stronger. But I won’t. Those are all givens. August is approaching fast, and right now I’m not going to focus on those looming fitness tests or those exhausting two-a-days. Because this girl is more excited to get back and hang with my teammates all day, every day playing soccer.

I’m already thinking about who my first squirt-in-the-face victim is at the first water break.

I’m preparing for the first backside I snipe with a soccer ball. (Watch out Drewett).

I’m pumped for the very first joke about Teeny…and it doesn’t even have to be me to make it.

I’m waiting to see how many ice bags Jaclyn can strap to her body after practice while then chasing down her ride because it took her 20 minutes to load up that cargo!

I wait anxiously for that moment you have to tell your locker neighbor that a fresh pair of socks is a must.

My mouth waters thinking about the delicious hot dogs and hamburgers Grill-Master Dave will make us the night after the first practices.

I can’t wait to laugh while Sam Martinez wrings out her shirt after 10 minutes into the first day.

I’m anticipating the workers at the first meal at the café to be quite annoyed with us for moving the tables together. What can we say; we’re just a close team.

I’m already planning out my first few locker room pranks. They’re innocent enough; just keep an eye on your shoes…both of them!

And most importantly, I’m waiting for that very first bomb of a shot in a small-sided game that gets us all fired up. Or a quick series of passes in a possession game that really get us flowing. Because let’s be real, we’re all ready for that first whistle against Southwest Baptist, and we’ll be ready to play!

In all seriousness, the practices are tough and exhausting and I love that, but it’s not like we don’t have our share of fun during preseason! We’re the Quincy Lady Hawks! So let’s clue these newcomers in on how we plan to win soccer games because I’m STOKED!

Aimee Ubriaco
2011 Senior Lady Hawk