Day 5 - Game Day v Duke

Today was our first scrimmage of the  preseason and for those of you not familiar with the term scrimmage, its a friendly.  After traveling to Duke last night and wrestling with traffic the whole trip down I think the guys were glad when we got to the hotel last night and were able to get to bed and rest up.  Breakfast/pregame meal was at 9.30am for the players and it seemed that the guys had got a good nights rest and were ready for the game.  I on the other hand had the pleasure of rooming with our goalkeeping guru Pasquinelli who may have woken up the rooms either side of us with his snoring so my sleep was not the best but luckily I'm not playing.

We left the hotel at 10.45am and arrived at Duke at 11.15am so we had plenty of time to check out the field and relax a little (if that's possible) before the game.  After the pre game chat we were on the field for warm up and ready to get going.  After a rainy night on Saturday the temperature was cool before kickoff but it seemed that someone turned up the heat as the game started which would certainly play its part near the end as players tired.  The first half was fairly even with neither team really challenging the goalkeepers but both teams trying to play but not quite connecting in the final third.  The second half saw both teams hit the woodwork but the game finished 0-0 and a good result as Duke are quality team with some great players.  Just as important as the result was the fact we were able to see most of our new guys play, no new injuries and the return of Scott and Painter after missing last season due to injury.  Its very early and we still have a long way to go and lots of work to do but today set a good foundation for us to build on.

Post game it was great to see the Legend, Coach Lidster who had traveled with his wife Val to support the boys.  It meant even more to me knowing he had taken a day off from fishing on what was a beautiful day.  He said he'll be at the alumni game this October so I look forward to seeing him back in DC.

Traffic again hampered our progress home to the Nations Capital but when we finally got there i was looking forward to seeing the family, getting to bed and hopefully having a good nights sleep.

Duke Game Report
GW Game Report

Raise High Moment of the Day
All Round Team Performance