Don't Say Goodbye, Say See You Soon

Posted by Chelsea Libby, Alumni (05-09)

I remember my first day at MSUB, feeling scared, excited, nervous and not knowing what to expect. As a freshman you come in not knowing anyone, but the girls who seem like strangers to you quickly become your closest friends and teammates. Soccer bonds us together in a unique way because you go through so much together; from preseason practices two times a day, the grueling fitness, countless hours of season practices, to many, many games. There are good times and bad, but this team sticks together like no other team and finds a way to help each other push through everything we endure. Every time I ran a fitness test or lined up for sprints, I knew I had 24 other girls lining up with me, pushing through the same physical
pain that I was; I knew I had to do my part to push them in the same way that they were pushing me. If that isn't true friendship or a good teammate, I don't know what is.

When I look back at the last five years I've spent here at MSUB, I can't believe it is coming to an end. It really flew by! I have had the time of my life living as a student-athlete. I have met the most amazing people, this team has become a family to me and I have a lot of memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It will be painful to leave all of it behind. But I know I won't really fully be leaving it behind. I have left my mark here, and MSUB has left a mark on me. A part of me wishes it wasn't all coming to an end. But at the same time I am excited to start the next chapter of my life. The MSUB women's soccer program has helped shape me into the person I am today. I will use everything this program has taught me in my everyday life to hopefully make an impact on others as this program has made on me.

The best advice I can give is to not take it for granted, have fun and run with it because this is a once in a lifetime experience. I won't say goodbye because goodbye means forever, so for now I'll just say see you soon. I will truly miss all of you girls. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to get know you and play with all of you and I wish you the best of luck in the future!

Reflections from a Graduating Senior

Posted by Caitlin Differding, Alumni (06-09)

As I'm coming to the end of my time here at MSUB, I realize how much I have grown as a person over the last 4 years. This is largely due to the MSUB women's soccer team. As a freshman, I came in not knowing a single person and no one knew me, yet some how, within the first week of practice, we became a family. A family that stuck it out through jingle jangles, 14 hour road trips, and painful losses; a family that had each others' backs no matter what.

It's bittersweet leaving this team behind. As much as I am excited about starting a new chapter in my life, a part of me doesn't want this current chapter to end. I can honestly say that without this team, I would not be who I am today. It seems like no matter how hard things got, we managed to stick together. As much as we disliked running sprints at 7 am during the winter, there was something about knowing that the person next to you wants you to succeed just as much as they want to succeed themselves, which made getting out of bed before the sun much more bearable. I never thought it was possible to be a part of something so great with people so incredible.

As graduation nears, I look back and realize how blessed I was to be apart of something so amazing, so fun! The memories I have created with this team will stick with me forever. I have met people I will never forget, experienced things that only a few can and survived being a student-athlete. If someone asked me to do it all again, I would in a heartbeat, no doubt about it!

To the current girls on the team, I will miss you all so much, and wish you the best of luck next year. To the new girls; all I have to say is enjoy the ride....its awesome!!

Senior Weekly Update

Posted by Carly Valentine, Senior

This past week was a busy week for the team! School is winding down and unfortunately finals are upon us. With it being the week before all our big tests, we had some major studying to do. Many of us had early finals, as well as hours of studying to accomplish. We are very proud of our team GPA and I know everyone is doing their best to keep it high.

Although we were extremely busy, it isn't unlike our team to load our schedules no matter what! Despite all the studying and tests we had going on, we still volunteered at a Homeless Shelter for Animals (Help for Homeless Pets), which is an excellent home for homeless pets on the south side of Billings. This experience was everything we thought it would be and more. We showed up around 10:00AM and stayed for about two or three hours. We did everything from cleaning kennels to walking dogs. I think I speak for everyone when I say it was an amazing experience and very rewarding, not to mention most of us wanted to adopt an animal!

As the school year is winding down and summer is approaching, I know everyone is anxious; anxious for our grades, our tests and of course a relaxing summer! All of us will be spread out this summer. Some will be going home to states such as Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona. Some will be going home to an entirely different country, Canada. And some of us are staying in Billings. Even though we will all be apart and have different things to go through, I have no doubt we are all thinking about the same thing: the approaching fall season. We will all be working out hard and preparing ourselves for the GNAC. I'll miss all my girls, but it's great to know we are all preparing for the same thing and I am so excited to see everyone again come August!

Senior Weekly Update

Posted by Jordan Fenwick, Senior

This week was the wrap up of our spring season. Although it’s sad that we are done with soccer for a couple months, it will be nice for the team to get a break. This weekend we played in the MSUB Spring Classic, which we do every spring. On Saturday we played University of Mary and University of Great Falls. On Sunday we played University of Montana.

Everyone was extremely excited to play and showed the other teams how hard we have been working this spring. University of Mary is a team who we play in the fall and is always good competition for us. We ended up beating them 2-0, with both goals in the first half.

University of Great Falls was our second game. Although everyone was already tired from our first game, we found a way to win 4-0. Everyone came out with high energy and worked together to get the result that we needed.

The last game we played was University of Montana and everyone could feel the soreness hitting them. Even though everyone was sore, we did not let this effect our playing; we had an intense warm up and started the game with high intensity. University of Montana scored one goal in the first half off a good cross from the right side which barely missed our defender’s feet. The ball got through and allowed a U of M player to put it in the back of the net. We continued to work hard even though we were down by a goal. The end result was 0-1, but we had eight shots on goal compared to their one.

This spring we won the 7v7 tournament, had four shut outs, four wins, and only allowed one goal in five games. Everyone is feeling good about the spring season and is ready to get started on working hard for preseason and fall.

Senior Weekly Update

Posted by Lauren Anderson

This week was a difficult and busy week for the team. I can say that we made it through because of the family we are. We had our usual weekly lifting and training this week in preparation for Rocky on Sunday. We also had the NCAA come to MSUB and put on a leadership seminar for all athletes that wanted to attend.

Earlier in the year, teammate and senior captain Sam Boehm and Blair Stevenson (from the men’s team) attended an NCAA leadership academy in Portland, Oregon with all of the other Central and Western Region schools. We were fortunate enough that Don was willing to arrange for the NCAA Leadership Academy to come to MSUB. I think all of the girls thought it was a rewarding experience and learned a great deal about themselves, teammates, coaches, and how each of us are a leader in different ways. I was unfortunately unable to go because I had class, but I have heard only positive things about it. And there have been enough jokes flying around since then about who’s a ‘D’ and who’s an ‘S’ that I have a pretty good idea about what the letters stand for. I would say that if you wanted to know what that means, ask one of the girls. :-)

We also had our annual Eagle Fest, which is a fundraiser for Eagle Mount, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Friday night. It was a blast as usual! All of us attended and stayed for the whole three hours. Participating in this event as a team is always so rewarding. It’s so great to give back to the community as a team. All the people involved with Eagle Mount always make us feel so welcome and appreciated, and it’s easy to tell the kids always have fun!

Our week continued on into Saturday, when our team participated in community service for Dr. Gray. We met at the softball field before the softball game and all walked around with trash bags and gloves, and made our way all over campus to pick up trash. There was a Pow Wow event going on at the school, which created lots of trash. When we finished, we had gathered about 17 bags of trash. After we were finished with community service, we stayed as a team to watch the girl’s softball team play Western Oregon. The weather was great and the girls walked away with a win 3-2 after a battle.

Finally Sunday came. Game day. We played Rocky on our home field. In the locker room, Don gave us three objectives: win, get the shutout and have consistency from game to game (we won a game earlier this spring 5-0). I think we would all agree that as a team we did not come out at the start of the game with the intensity we wanted. However, we stepped it up with each new third we played. The final score was 2-0 with Jen Larsen scoring on a PK and Jaucy on a brilliantly placed through ball by Jen Brooks. Both Jordan and Danielle did a great job in goal, and our defense got the second shutout of the spring season.

Like I said earlier, it was a difficult, straining week for the team. But I believe everyone is proud of the way we all made it through together. We are going full steam ahead this week with end of spring season fitness testing, training and lifting in preparation for the upcoming weekend when we have three games in two days with our last opponent being University of Montana.

Top 15 Goals in MSUB Women's Soccer History

Posted by Don Trentham, Head Coach

In commemoration of our 15th Anniversary, which will be the 2010 fall season, I have compiled a list of what I believe to be the top 15 goals in MSUB Women’s Soccer History. Please understand a majority of the goals listed below happened from 2002-2009. I realize there were many memorable goals from 1996-2001, however because I was not here during those years I unfortunately missed them. Furthermore, I am sure I have left out some great goals during the 2002-2009 years as well. Therefore, former players, coaches, sports information directors and athletic administration ---- if you have a memorable goal I did not list please email the goal and the story behind it to dtrentham@msubillings.edu, so I can post it on a future blog and our Facebook page.

Now for the list:

#15 – September 21, 1996 at Jamestown College

Jeanette Boje scores the first goal in MSUB Women’s Soccer history in a 13-1 loss.

#14 – September 16, 2006 vs. Texas A&M International University

Stephanie Webb (TAMIU) scored her team’s only goal in the 27 minute in an 18-1 loss to MSUB. The goal broke a 525 minute scoreless streak that Megan Plank and the Yellowjacket defense had going (still a school record for consecutive shutout minutes). Question --- how does a team score 18 goals and get scored on? Answer --- a centerback misreads the ball and the ball bounces up and hits her hand in the box, therefore a penalty is awarded. I can’t remember who the centerback was, does anybody else? Hint --- she works for the LA Galaxy now. 

#13 – October 21, 2004 at Rocky Mountain College

Jenny Moellendorf scores the game tying goal in the second leg of the 3rd Annual Rimrock Cup in the 86th minute. The goal came from a corner kick from Ally Taylor (Stroup) and was batted around in the box when Moellendorf, who was on the ground, found a way to use her back/butt to get the ball into the back of the net. The game ended in a 3-3 tie and with MSUB’s win against RMC earlier in the year, the Rimrock Cup ended up on MSUB’s campus for the first time.

#12 – October 23, 2006 at Dallas Baptist University

One of the all-time great goal scorers in the history of the program, Ally Stroup scores a goal in the 48th minute in a 4-0 win against Dallas Baptist. The goal is the last she will score in a Yellowjacket uniform. She ends the season with 16 goals (still a school record for goals in a season) and 40 career goals (again, still a school record for goals in career).

#11 – November 3, 2007 at Seattle University

Chelsea Libby’s diving header from a great ball by Amy Stephens in the 64th minute broke up Seattle’s shutout bid. However, the goal proved to be the only one on the day as MSUB lost the game 2-1.

#10 – October 23, 2006 at Dallas Baptist University

In the same game as goal #12 came in, Caitlin Differding makes a great run in the box and scores a great diving header in the 62nd minute off a perfect cross from Danielle Ritter to help the Yellowjackets defeat Dallas Baptist 4-0 and improve their record to 13-5-1.

#9 – September 24, 1999 vs. Concordia (Minnesota)

Lacey Miles records the first ever hat-trick (she actually had four goals in the game) in MSUB Women’s Soccer history in a 10-0 win.

#8 – October 25, 2002 vs. Embry Riddle University (Florida)

Kelly Bryn scores a goal 27 seconds into the game in a 3-2 overtime loss, still a school record for fastest goal to start a game.

#7 – August 28, 2005 at Fort Lewis College

In a game in which we absolutely dominated Fort Lewis, we outshot them 28-9, but could not find the back of the net we found ourselves down 1-0 with less than a minute to play. Brittney Sandau beat two defenders and scored a goal with 27 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. We would have to settle for a 1-1 draw as we were not able to score the game winner in overtime.

#6 – September 26, 2009 at St. Martin’s University

We were up 1-0 in the game and were defending a corner kick. The ball is cleared to Jaucelyn Richter, who had gone out to cover the possibility of a short corner. She is approximately 115 yards from the St. Martin’s goal when she gets the ball and proceeds to dribble the entire length of the field, beating three players and the goalkeeper in the process to give us a 2-0 lead. We would eventually add a third goal for a 3-0 lead, and hold on to win 3-2 as St. Martin’s gave us a scare at the end of the game when they scored two late goals.

#5 – October 2, 2005 at University of Mary

This involves two goals by the same player – Ally Stroup. Trailing 2-1 with less than a minute to play, Ally managed to score a goal to send the game to overtime. Then 5:33 seconds into overtime she scored again off an assist from Mandy Ploskonka to give us a 3-2 win in Bismarck, as well as a fun bus ride home through North Dakota/Eastern Montana…isn’t that drive always fun (i.e. September, 2007)...

#4 – October 2, 2008 vs. St. Martin’s University

Like #5, this involves two goals by the same player – this time Kari Foreman. With 19 seconds left on the clock Kari scores the equalizer off an assist from Ali Gamberg to send the game to overtime. Then with 23 seconds left in the first overtime, Kari finds the back of the net again off of a double assist from Gamberg and Carly Valentine to give the Yellowjacket’s a dramatic 3-2 overtime win.

#3 – September 19, 1998 vs. University of Sioux Falls (in Bismarck, ND)

A pass from Shanna Farrar that led to Abby Farmer’s (Wright) goal, her second of the game, in the 33rd minute proves to be the game winner as MSUB defeats University of Sioux Falls 3-2. This win was the first official win for MSUB in women’s soccer, making the goal the first game winning goal in MSUB Women’s Soccer history. As a side note, Abby Farmer is currently ranked number two in the school record books for goals scored with 31.

#2 – October 25, 2008 at St. Martin’s University

A little over three weeks after a dramatic win against St. Martin’s at home (see goal #4), the Yellowjacket’s pull off another dramatic victory (2-1) over the Saints when Sara Gress makes a ridiculous run from the center back position to score the game winner. The run started about 70 yards from goal when Sara won the ball, dribbled around a forward and passed to forward Ali Gamberg. For some unknown reason Sara continued to make her run and Ali slotted her through on a breakaway, which Gress coolly passed into the lower left corner of the goal. A truly great goal…one of the best I’ve ever seen.

However, the Top Goal, well as you will see it is actually three goals, in MSUB history is ranked the best in my opinion because of the opponent, the crowd, the comeback and the pressure to keep the winning streak alive when it seemed like it was all but over. Here is the brief story:

#1 – September 20, 2006 vs. Rocky Mountain College (Daylis Stadium)

In front of the largest crowd our program has ever played in front of at home (423 spectators) and with a 9-0 record going into the game, MSUB found themselves down 2-0 with 10 minutes left to in-town rivals Rocky Mountain College in the 5th Annual Rimrock Cup. Then in the 82nd minute the Yellowjacket’s put together the best 11 minutes of soccer I have ever seen us play. It started with Ally Stroup putting Sara Gress in on a through ball. RMC 2, MSUB 1. Exactly 7 minutes and 15 seconds later Jelisa Guy passed to Ally, Ally found the back of the net with 50 seconds left in the game. RMC 2, MSUB 2. 3 minutes and 45 seconds later Abby Bennett assisted Amy Stephen’s game winner in the third minute of overtime. MSUB 3, RMC 2. We would capture our third consecutive Rimrock Cup and move to a perfect 10-0. As the #2 goal was truly a great goal….the #1 goals led to a truly great game/win!

Senior Weekly Update

Posted by Kari Foreman, Senior Captain

The spring continues to move along quickly, approaching the final two weeks of the season. This past week went by exceptionally fast. After two days of practice, we were given Wednesday through Sunday off for Easter break, which is a time for relaxation and much earned recuperation. Most of the team stayed in Billings to spend time with friends and local families.

Some of us, however, were fortunate enough to make it home to see our families, a rare occurrence in the busy life of an out of state college athlete. I drove back to my hometown of Denver, Colorado accompanied by three teammates and close friends, Carly Valentine, Jordan Fenwick and Lauren Anderson (fellow seniors and blog writers). The four of us hit the city for a little shopping and sightseeing; but we mostly spent some quality time in my hometown with some of my old friends and a large family who have become diehard Yellowjacket fans.

This past weekend I brought my two worlds together. I’ve lived in Billings for almost three years now and have slowly built a new life with people I now consider as close to me as my own family back home. When I first moved to Billings in the fall of 2007, I was suddenly ripped away from everything I had ever known and was spending every waking moment with people who did not know anything about me, I felt alone. It was uncomfortable and scary and for my first week in the Magic City, I wondered if I had made the right decision. But, slowly I started learning more about Carly, Jordan and Lauren and the rest of the team and I knew that if anything else, I was a part of a great group of people and whatever I encountered I would not have to do it alone.

When I became a part of the MSUB women’s soccer program, I was not only another soccer player but a member of a tight family. The thing about it is, this isn’t what we do, this is who we are. We rely on each other for everything on and off the field. I have been able to endure all that I have throughout my college career, not because of what I had within me, but who I had beside me. At the end of the day, soccer is just a game, but what I will take away from being a part of this soccer program runs much deeper than that.

One day, when I look back of this experience I may not remember my w-l-t record, but I will remember the bonds that I have formed here. Because in the end, it really isn’t about winning or losing, stats or record books, it’s about what you were able to accomplish, not only just for yourself, but also for the people who you relied on and who relied on you. That is why I will always remember the pride I’ve felt when I’ve led my family to victory and the hurt in my heart when I’ve let them down.

Next fall, when I’m in the 88th minute of a tie game, I will remember those feelings and that is what will determine how I react; those feelings will also help me determine what I should do in my everyday life. Next fall, there will be a lot of elements that lead to our overall success, but in my opinion being there for each other will ultimately be the most important. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll pack a car full of people and drive from wherever I am to Billings, Montana, just so they can see where I came from.