NCAA D3 National Tournament - Weekend Two

It was another incredible weekend of soccer. The Auggies made it to the Sweet Sixteen and played at Washington University's stadium, site of the 1904 Olympics. We had a fun group of family and friends cheering the team on, and thanks to the location of the field, Hudson and Natalie got to be there too! The first game was against SUNY-Cortland. We should have won it without any issue, but the team decided to stress us out and go into overtime, then head into penalty kicks. It never should have gotten there, but thanks to two amazing saves by our goalie (right before Cole was up to shoot), we secured our spot in the Elite 8. It was such an exciting moment. That night, we were invited to join the players for the team dinner. It was so nice getting to celebrate with them, and just goes to show how important family culture is for this group. 

The next day the team played Trinity from Texas. Unfortunately, that game did not go our way. They were a good team, we had to play after a rough day before, and the score of 0-5 does not reflect how well we actually did. It was hard to lose, but mostly, I'm just so sad that this season has come to an end. It's been so special. The team has welcomed Cole with open arms and I can say the same about the families of the players with us too. Its exactly the kind of environment we hoped for and it makes me so emotional thinking about all the ups and downs over the years and the fact that Cole ended up here. Right where he deserves to be. The entire weekend parents were telling us what an important addition Cole has been to the team, and I think he hears that from his coaches and teammates too. It's incredible. Unfortunately, this wasn't Cole's weekend either. He's been suffering a cold for awhile, and the amount of buildup in his chest made it so he couldn't breath and would get sick on the field. He'll be ok, but it was very upsetting for him not to be able to play the full games. Still, what a season. 1617 minutes, even with a couple games off due to injury and this final weekend. We couldn't be prouder of #4.