The Mountain West Conference Tournament

Future Focused

Leilani Baker scoring the Quarter Final game winning goal.

This week our team has traveled to Boise, Idaho for the Mountain West Conference Tournament.  We have received the fourth seed, after our last conference game of beating San Diego State, 6-0.  We played San Jose State on Tuesday, November 5^th.  After a long fought game of ninety minutes, our fate was left to overtime.  

            Here is an outside article looking over our first game of the tournament: X

            The article explained how “Both teams were neck-and-neck through the entirety of the match”.  During these competitive games there are a few aspects that are important.  Staying tuned in is something that can be hard to do, but can be the difference between a win and a loss. This term is defined by our team as: staying focused on what’s ahead of you, communicating through situations and giving forth full effort.  When staying tuned in on the field, you leave less room for distractions or doubts. Leilani Baker, a Junior and close friend of ours, stayed tuned in during the entire game.  During the first overtime she saw an opportunity and gave full effort.  This paid off in a goal that advanced our team to the next round. Without her focused mindset, our season could have been over.  

            Remembering to have fun is another aspect that is beyond important in games like this.  It is easy to forget that we play this sport for fun.  With all of the work that our team puts 

 in, stress and challenges come along with it. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the game and your competitiveness takes advantage of you. It’s hard to have great team chemistry when this happens…but when we are reminded by others to have fun and play for what we love, it raises the level of play.  Jill Olguin, a senior on our team, plays a huge role in this aspect. She is one of our teammates that is always in a positive mood.  Her energy brings our team together when playing in practices and games. She is the one person who comes to mind when thinking about why we really play this sport, and the answer is because it’s fun and we love it. 

            We now advance to the next round of games (Semi-Finals), that will take place on Thursday, November 7^th.  Between now and then, our team will do as much as we can--to rejuvenate our energy. As a group we will focus on our bodies by doing: team walks, pool recoveries, eating fuel focused meals, and time focused towards rest and recovery.  We also will have time sectioned off to focus on school.  Missing a week of school is not by choice and is not easy. Each teammate has a different class schedule and is missing a different amount of class assignments.  Knowing what is being discussed in class, what is due as well as communicating with your professors, is very important.  

            As a team, we hope to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament. With this outcome we would receive a go at the NCAA Tournament, which has been a goal since not only the beginning of this season, but the entirety of our career as Lobo players.  

            Keep up with our team, by following the rest of our season on twitter.