Yet another great week to be alive.....games versus the "G" and High Point with my wife getting the real game-winner in between...Delaney Anne Hess born on November 9th at 11:24 a.m., weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds 1 ounce and 20 ¼ inches long....light brown hair, blue eyes, blazing speed (watch-out Willy Speed, your days are numbered) and a killer left foot (much better than yours, young Comito, but probably not nearly pacey as you.....did you hear the sarcasm in that one?)—don't ask me how I can tell; I just can...call it paternal instinct!

Any disappointment that may have been lingering from the UNC Greensboro game was quickly whipped out when my wife rang me after training on Thursday..."Hey pal, you might want to get up here....we're having a baby tomorrow." (Total writer's lib with that extremely loose translation....my wife is a sweet-heart that wouldn't hurt a fly and truly the better half—in my warped little head that is what I heard).

So the first order of business....a re-count! No, this isn't a Florida Presidential tabulation; it is a Parental Representation re-count. I left the Hutchison's out of count and they've missed a total of nine games in four years, pretty reliable......your son is a chip off the old block too, played every minute of every game this year, very reliable!

Now back to the task at hand, the UNCG game to start....a quality college soccer game in my mind that unfortunately didn't go our way. To me, it was all that we love and hate about the game wrapped up in one—we played well, but lost. The team certainly created enough opportunities to win, but going down two goals to a team of Greensboro's quality makes it difficult to claw your way back. Our seventh corner of the game led to Pat Danford's first goal of his career...a great header from the head-set of our "On-Line Gaming Geek-a-zoid" friend, but would be the only time the Fighting Camels would find the back of the net.

We have shown throughout this season that we have the fortitude to come from behind and win. We have actually come from behind to manage a win or tie on six occasions this season (eight times if you count the pre-season games—a great sign of character), but as I have said to the team time and time again it is always better to play with a lead and manage it. As you get late in the season, it becomes that much harder to keep emotions in check as time ticks off the clock and you are down a goal...particularly as you get to tournament time and you are playing for your life. That being said, I thought our boys fought valiantly and were unfortunate not to pull the game back level.

Next up was High Point...a 3-2 win and some great play out of the wee-man, Vince Petrasso. He's had a rough go with injuries this fall but I am hoping that he is starting to find his game right at the precise time. While I wasn't thrilled with the way the team played, I was pleased with the way we managed the game....scoring first and never going down in the game (although it didn't look like that was always going to be the case). The poor play in my mind stems from the poor defending we did on the night....this game marked the first time all year we out-fouled our opponent and our highest foul count in a game as well—way too much stabbing at the ball and leaving our feet. We will need to improve our defensive discipline at the A-Sun Championships this week.

Senior Day ended up being an exciting day for the fans with all the goals and a great opportunity to "scarf" the three guys that have meant so much to the program the last four years—instead of capping our players like the national teams, we "scarf" ‘em before they head out of here (literally, we wrap a Campbell University Soccer scarf around their neck to honor their time here....a little tradition we started a couple of years ago). Josh, Buzz and Hutch have meant a great deal to the resurgence of our program and will all be missed....thanks for all of your efforts the last four years!

A big week for us down in Florida....Atlantic Sun Championships and a quarter-final match-up on Wednesday night against in-state rival Gardner Webb....hope to see you there!

As always,

With warmest regards,

Coach Hess