Today was a great day for the Stags!  It started with the women’s soccer team’s convincing 3-0 win over Loyola College in the championship game of the 2008 MAAC women’s soccer tournament. 

The lead-up to today’s championship win and other impressive wins for Stags’ teams began Friday afternoon when I was working in my office getting periodic updates from our Sr. Associate AD who had a live web stream going in her office.  It was a nail-biter - a win on penalty kicks (the fifth and final kick for each team) over Siena to advance to play Loyola who was the top-seed.  Friday night, the men’s soccer team, needing two victories this weekend to guarantee a spot in next weekend’s MAAC men’s soccer tournament, beat Marist College.  Yesterday afternoon, the women’s volleyball team beat Marist to remain in a tie for first place with Siena who they faced this afternoon.

It was a great fall day on campus.  The sun was shining, the air was crisp, the leaves were falling, and the temperature was conducsive to watching sports outside.  Alternating between watching the men’s soccer team beat Siena and advance to the MAAC tournament and watching the women’s volleyball team beat Siena to gain sole possession of first place in the MAAC standings with one weekend to go, regular updates about the women’s soccer championship game were coming in.  At both venues, the crowds cheered when the 3-0 championship victory was announced!

The stories beneath the surface are often quite interesting and in the case of women’s soccer, the story involves senior Ahna Johnson who has been an offensive force on the field for the Stags all-season.  She scored all three goals in the win over Loyola.  But it’s Ahna performance in the classroom which is even better than her skills on the soccer field.  A 3.95 GPA, double-majoring in Physics and Information Systems, Ahna embodies the best of both terms in “student-athlete”.  Congratulations to you, Ahna, and your teammates and coaches, and good luck in the NCAA tournament!