Rascal House Eating Contest

As part of the halftime festivities at the final regular season home football game (which Case won, by the way, to cap off 3 consecutive undefeated regular seasons, their 3rd UAA title, AND another postseason bid...unreal!), the women's soccer team battled the volleyball team in the Rascal House Eating Contest. Anna Kennedy '12 documents the event in the following videos. Enjoy!

You’re All Gonna Know the Name: CASE!

I can’t believe it’s been four years. I can’t believe we’re done, didn’t I show up to run the mile at my first collegiate practice just yesterday? And now I am here four years later, blogging about my last game, one of the best games I have been in-the Rochester game on Saturday.

The day started with me picking my parents up from their hotel downtown. This was the first time they had both been back to Cleveland since they dropped me off my freshman year. It is a long way from Oregon and they don’t get out very often. For the afternoon we did the usual, went shopping. I got lost attempting to take the freeway from downtown to Beachwood Mall (another usual). After getting a dress and some lunch we headed back to campus so they could drop me off for our pre-game dinner. We parted ways and I hitched a ride with Vaci and the troupe down to the field.

As soon as I got to the locker room to drop my stuff off I got extremely excited. It wasn’t nerves (at least not yet), just pure energy spurned by the fact that it was a big game (not to mention my last). Our pre-game senior dinner was perfect. The Juniors gave each of us frames with multiple pictures which mix action soccer shots with everyday pictures of us having fun with our teammates. They are great. Speeches were made about each senior, (also given by the juniors) each containing laughable parts, and emotional. It meant a lot to have Link and Frannie tell me how I have impacted them. I think all us seniors were moved and started realizing that soccer might actually be coming to a close. We looked at each other’s frames and then walked down to watch the men’s game until we needed to get ready.

I got ready the same way I always do, everything on my left leg first in order, then right leg, then I braided my hair. I am glad my “crazy pre-game braids” have left a mark of their own, same goes for my shin guards. The braiding period was a somber/reflective one, I was no longer bouncing off the walls, rather, I was starting to get nervous. Coach gave us our pre-game chat and we went out to watch the end of the men’s game. After two overtimes the men ended in a tie and we were able to warm up. It was a good, focused warm up.

At ten minutes to kickoff we did the presentation of the seniors. My parents escorted me on the field while the announcer shared my stats and favorite soccer memories. I didn’t get emotional like I thought I might, I felt good about the game and was ready to play, emotions would come later.

Finally, the whistle blew and Rochester was booting a ball at me, the game was underway. Let me just say, I have never been happier with a 0-0 outcome in my life. Every player that stepped foot on the field from Case’s team played hard and well. The support from the bench kept me going when I got tired. Rochester had a few opportunities right at the beginning of the half, but we got into our flow and started attacking them. I felt really confident and good throughout the whole game. Laura was in constant communication with me and together with Vaci, Maeve, and Kennedy, we prevented Rochester from scoring. Our midfield helped us out a ton by stepping up and winning countless balls in the middle, and with Garber and Deena embarrassing girls on the outside we controlled the middle third of the field. The forwards played superb, the runs they had been working on in practice were working and we got several good chances on their net. At one point Ana drove end line, chipped a defender, then went around another one, and I thought to myself, “this is it, we are going to score just like we did last weekend”. I felt confident like that the whole game, I knew we were going to come out with a good result.

Things got really competitive in the second half. Rochester was starting to feel the pressure with us up in their defensive third for the majority of the half, combining that with some charged emotions, fouls and yellow cards started getting handed out. I am not entirely without guilt, I blatantly tripped #15 because she pushed me. Even so, we held out.

The announcer didn’t say what my favorite soccer memory was during the senior presentation. It was winning the corner kick that Bridget (in her senior game) scored a perfect header on to tie Rochester my sophomore year. Well, I have a new favorite memory, though, it happens to be almost identical. My new favorite soccer memory is holding off Rochester for 110 minutes to a scoreless final in my last game as a Case women’s soccer player, causing them to lose their first place position. I am so grateful to my teammates for giving me this memory. We got as far as we did because every player was dedicated and worked hard. Thank you my friends. Without the coaches support we couldn’t have done it. I especially couldn’t have gotten through the last four years without the patience, understanding, direction, and firm encouragement that I got from Coach Tiff, Buddy, Emily, and Coach Taylor. The program has come a long way, and will continue to do better and better. Good luck in the future, I will be around to cheer you onto the tournament next year. Keep working hard. Stir it up…you know what I’m talking about.

I “wave” to you all, especially Yule and my fellow seniors. It has been an absolute blast playing with you. You are each phenomenal athletes and people.

-Froms

A Night Out at Nighttown

(L to R) Katie Green '11, Annie Altenau '11, Amy Bishara '11, Frannie Hogan '11, and Megan

Link '11 before heading the dinner at Nighttown in Coventry.

written by Megan Link '11

The final week in regular season play is always filled with so many emotions. There was so much passion and hard work throughout the last week of practice, everyone wanting to end on a high note for our seniors (and Ana, even though we don’t believe she’s leaving us yet).

On Friday night, the day before our last game, our dedicated faculty advisor Dr. Prahl invited us out to dinner. This was such an unbelievable generous gesture that shows Dr. Prahl’s enthusiasm for the team. We had our very own section of the restaurant with our school logo on special menus, all just for us! As we choose our seats it was interesting. The sophomore class fought to sit with Erin, at the higher up VIP table. The freshmen all sat together. This became worrisome when they started playing with the candles on the table. I sat with Bish, Frannie, Annie, Blue, and Coach Buddy. Our evening started off with salads, then delicious entrees (I chose the prime rib, the BEST), and we all finished up with some ice cream.

My table had a particularly exciting night. We found out that Bish has a love for eating butter and ketchup, either on other food or even just by itself (yuck!). Buddy also went on to tell me he feels sorry for my husband one day, apparently he thinks I can be a little demanding. I don’t see it. But the evening really got rolling when Buddy and Frannie decided to create a master piece. Some olives and tomato remnants that were left on a bread plate and soon Buddy noticed them and got instantly inspired. He arranged the olives to be two eyes and a tomato nose then added a dash of pepper for a mouth. Frannie saw Buddy’s master piece and thought “I can do better.” So, she slide the plate to her side and created a goatee from the pepper, added a napkin hat, with the help of Annie she sliced a tomato in half to add a tongue and her master piece was in the making. Our friend eventually had ears and a nose ring (which was originally in Frannie’s ear). As we all admired our new friend, we decided he needed a name. A few were thrown around and then Buddy said, “how about Stu?” We all knew this was the right name when Frannie looked down at our friend and said “Stu?” He defiantly responded to this name and we knew that was the one for him.

As the evening came to a close it was very hard for us to part with Stu. So we let everyone else leave first, got a little photo shoot with Stu and said goodbye. We then thanked Dr. Prahl again for his generosity. We all went back to our rooms in order to get a good night sleep so we would be ready to take on Rochester and play hard for our seniors the next night.

UAA Double Header Hallo-weekend

contributed by Frannie Hogan '11 (Columbus, Ohio)

This past weekend, the Case Women’s Soccer team went 1-1 in UAA play. On Friday, we went up against Carnegie Mellon, a team whose style of play mirrors our own. We knew it would be a battle, but good energy (and decorations) in the locker room and positivity in the pre-game warm-up gave us the confidence we needed. Before we headed out to the field, coach stuffed us into her office to watch a video she’d made (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wocEN8unzt8). Not only was it inspiring, but it also reminded us we’re a team and we all have something to contribute.

We went out to the field as the men’s game was finishing. Unfortunately, the guys lost to nationally ranked Carnegie 2-0, but as soon as they finished we started warming up. We had business to take care of. The game started out well, and it was clear we were pretty evenly matched (like we are with all the teams in our difficult league). Carnegie took some shots early on, but Anna Kennedy denied them all. We also had some opportunities, but the score was tied at 0 at the half. At half-time, Coach Tiff had the utmost confidence that we would win, and her confidence brought up the team. Instead of worrying about losing, the team was waiting for the goal we knew we’d get.

The second half started out like the first, but with Case taking more shots. We were battling our way through the field when Carnegie drew a foul at the midway line. Then, defender Laura Gabster perfectly executed the shot we’d trained for months – a free kick from 50 yards out that flew with the wings of angels as it slammed over Carnegie’s keeper into the upper right 90 of the net. Obviously, we knew the shot was going in, but the team went crazy anyways. It was Laura’s first goal of the season, and it was awesome. That would be the only goal of the game, and we were able to switch up our positioning afterward to hold on to our win.

After the game, I dragged my roommate Amy Bishara to Qdoba where we polished off a quesadilla and a burrito (respectively), each the size of a small child. As soon as I finished the last bite, I knew I’d made a poor decision. The walk back to the dorm was punctuated by cries of over-stuffedness from Amy, and I was sure I was going to explode from all the cheesy, sour creamy goodness. I managed to squeeze in a few games of Mario Kart on Nintendo 64 before the night was over, though I realized my skills have been slowly deteriorating since middle school.

The next morning, my slumber was disturbed in the early morning hours by a shrill beeping noise. I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter, only to discover the noise was from my suitemate’s alarm clock. Most unfortunately, my suitemate had left for the weekend and her door was locked. Thus, I grumpily endured 2 more hours of the alarm before I drifted back to sleep. At 11am, the team met for breakfast in one of the dorms. Bagels and orange juice were provided by Caroline Garber (many thanks!), and it was nice for the team to just hang out.

After hours of studying, I enjoyed some of the Halloween festivities sponsored by Case. Free food and s’mores, pumpkin carving, student booths and live bands were several of the highlights of the on-campus “Halloween at Home.” I then hiked over to South Side to see the student production of West Side Story with some of the sophomore girls. It was a great show, but I got even more entertainment on my way home. Surprisingly, I saw an inordinate number of fashionable cops, doctors, nurses and German beer wenches wandering campus on all-Hallows eve. I can only speculate that they were needed en masse for some sort of joint collaboration with University Hospital and the German Federation of Scantily Clad People.

On Sunday, we battled against Emory University. They’re very direct, and we’re very possession-oriented. The game started out well, even though Emory had several shots. We got on the board at the 13-minute mark when Ana Arruda chased down a ball headed toward the corner flag, maneuvered herself in typical Brazilian fashion around a defender and found Alex Litofsky open inside the box. Alex had great composure and put the ball away for her second goal of the season. We definitely thought we had the game in the bag, but Emory came back 17 minutes later and tied up the game. Even though we were determined to win, Emory added another goal 5 minutes into the second half. After that, we had trouble keeping our possession game against their powerful, direct play. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the back of the net again. The loss was definitely a hard one to stomach – everyone on the field and the bench kept going until the clock ran out. If anything, the game has given the team motivation for our final UAA match against Rochester this coming weekend. It’s our senior night and, along with pride, we have an amazing senior class to play for. Come out to the turf on Saturday at 5pm for the Men's game, and 7:30 for ours!

Halloween Practice Part 2

Halloween 2009 Winning Costumes

Team Pic

Class of 2013

Class of 2011

Class of 2010

Class of 2012

Halloween Practice

Every Halloween practice seems to outdo the year before. This year was no exception. Here's some footage from this year's practice. Enjoy.

An impromptu Hannah Montana concert starring Ashley Debeljak '13 and Katie Woodling '13

This year's Halloween Practice winners are announced...

Runners-ups...

Caseyola (Sophomores Laura Gabster, Anna Selser, Becca Vaughan, Sammy Sarett, Anna Kennedy, Jackie Guttman, Kristina Vaci, and Alex Litofsky)

Cloudy with a chance of Thunderstorms (Amy Baumann '11)

Grand Prize Winner...

Fat Man (Ana Arruda '11...kind of)

Kicks for a Cause Wrap-up

Yesterday at practice we were joined by Karen Bain, Development Director for the Alzheimer's Association - Cleveland Area Chapter. After contacting her with our final tally from our inaugural "Kicks for a Cause" game, she insisted on personally thanking the team for their efforts and contribution to the fight to end Alzheimer's. She came to practice to pick up the money and to greet the girls. She shared with the team how impressed she and the entire staff at the Alzheimer's Association have been with the team's efforts. Their picture and efforts will be shared on the website and in their upcoming newsletter. It was a great and well-deserved moment for everyone.


Below is an article written by our sports information department detailing this year's event. I cannot put into words how touched I was by the support the team received. I never envisioned such a simple idea to take off like it did. Thank you so much to all of you who supported the cause, either by spreading the word, donating money, or attending our game. We look forward to many more years of giving back and making a difference.


CLEVELAND, OH (October 27, 2009) - The Case Western Reserve women’s soccer team raised $5,201 as part of the first-annual Kicks for a Cause Day. The beneficiary of this donation is this year’s charity of choice –The Cleveland-Area Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

“It has been overwhelming how much support the event garnered,” said head coach Tiff Crooks. “We've received so many generous donations and heartfelt notes from family and friends across the country. Our original goal was to raise $3000. To exceed it by so much has been very exciting and rewarding.”

The fundraising activities for Kick for a Cause Day, which was held September 26th against Ohio Northern University, included bake sales throughout the week, donations raised prior to and at the game and a raffle at the game with the help of the volleyball team.

Junior Amy Baumann (Dublin, OH) organized the team bake sale.

“When we heard of the idea we were all very excited and enthusiastic about it,” said Baumann. “The response and effort put into it by the girls was amazing. Pretty much every single person on the team helped in one way or another - baking, working the table or making fliers. It was definitely a successful endeavor and something of which to be proud.”

Sophomore Alex Litofsky (Columbia, MO) was the leading fundraiser on the team.

“I was happy to be a part of Kicks for a Cause,” said Litofsky. “Alzheimer's has some personal relevance for my family and me, so I made an effort to ask all of our relatives and friends for a pledge. It really means a lot to me that so many people responded with such enthusiasm and support.”

The development director from the Alzheimer's Association will attend a practice next week to collect the donation and personally thank the ladies for their hard work.

“This year's cause was my decision, but the team did all the work in raising the money,” said Crooks. “After one mention of the "Kicks for a Cause" event, the girls were enthusiastic and filled with ideas to make the event a success. It's inspiring to see how engaged they became in the process. I'm so proud of this group and their ability to see the big picture and the world outside of college.

Case Witch Project...

Sophomore Kristina Vaci and friends get creative with the Flip Cam outside Anna Kennedy's house during our trip to St. Louis and Chicago last weekend...

A great story about one of our greatest!

SOO HOO FIGHTS FOR ONE LAST SEASON ON SOCCER FIELD...

CLEVELAND, OH - The senior season is a special time for any student-athlete as four years of hard work and dedication culminate in a final season on the field. For women’s soccer midfielder Jen Soo Hoo (Berkeley Heights, NJ), her senior season was abruptly put on hold in early June. Soo Hoo tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral meniscus in a co-ed soccer game.
“It was really simple, I was just changing directions and it snapped,” said Soo Hoo about suffering the injury. “I didn’t think anything was wrong at first because I was able to limp off and it didn’t really hurt. After I found out, I was really upset at first but I always assumed I’d try to come back and play.”

For many athletes, a medical red-shirt would be the course of action, and their senior season would just be put on hold a year. For Soo Hoo, who is already in her first year of medical school at Case Western Reserve concurrently with her senior year, the academic requirements would have been too much.

"There was a period where I debated between red-shirting and playing next year or coming back for this season,” explained Soo Hoo. “Med school wise though, I knew my only chance of playing was probably this year.”

There was only one option left for Soo Hoo – fight as hard as she could to make it back to the soccer team by the end of the season.

So Soo Hoo did what she could and rehabbed every chance she got. With the start of the season less than three months away, there was no chance she could return from an injury which typical takes six months of recovery time by then. However, if she could get ahead of schedule, a return for University Athletic Association (UAA) play in October was not out of the question.
“I never really thought about not being able to come back this season, I was always like ‘no, you have to come back this season,’” said Soo Hoo. “I wanted to keep pushing it, like when she told me I could run, tomorrow I wanted to sprint. (Case soccer’s head athletic trainer, Erin Lake) was really good about all of it. She knew when to tell me no I couldn’t do that.”

“She has worked very hard over the last few months,” said Lake. “Jen's desire to return to the field was the driving force behind her rehab. Some people need to pushed, but not Jen. There were times I had to slow her down. She managed to make rehab a priority, even with medical school classes.”

“Jen’s dedication to the program and the team in the rehab process has been outstanding,” said third-year Head Coach Tiffany Crooks. “As a first year med student, she could easily have walked away from the season and her teammates to focus on her studies. Rather she has attended nearly all of our practices, attends all the games, and is finding success in med school.”
Last year’s team captain received plenty of encouragement to make it back from teammates and the coaching staff.

“I received a million calls, everyone just wanted to know what happened and they were really sorry,” said Soo Hoo. “Coach (Crooks) tried to call me all the time but I didn’t want to talk to her at first because I didn’t want to cry while talking to her on the phone.”
While Soo Hoo sat and gave encouragement from the bench, her teammates flourished to open the season. The Spartans got off to a 7-3-2 start and were ranked in the Great Lakes Region for the first time since at least 2004. This included a 2-0 start to the conference season, the team’s best start in UAA play since 1993.

“The team was very open with me being apart of everything,” said the senior. “The first UAA win, I was very happy for the team. Obviously, I would have liked to have been a part of that, but I still felt a part of it, sitting and watching.”

Not everything has been smooth sailing for the Spartans this season as several other players have gone down with knee injuries. Already being on the road to recovery, Soo Hoo was able to talk to the other during their time of need.

“I’ve talked to (the injured girls) and everyone reacts to it differently,” said Soo Hoo “It’s nice for them that they have at least another year to play, but it’s obviously devastating.”
All of Soo Hoo’s persistent indeed paid off. In early October, Soo Hoo was cleared to practice and just a week later, she joined the team on a big road trip to St. Louis and Chicago to make her first appearances of the year.

“It’s good to be back out there and just playing,” explained Soo Hoo. “Fitness is huge right now after only practicing a week before going out there.”

While the Spartans dropped both games on the trip to No.9 Washington University and No. 15 University of Chicago, the team was happy to have Soo Hoo back.

“Jen is one of the most gifted players in the UAA, completely healthy she’s is a game changer,” said Crooks. “Even though she is not 100 percent, she can still provide us with limited minutes and impact the outcome of a game. Just seeing her on the field and playing is inspiring. I'm not sure I've ever been prouder of a player.”

Soo Hoo’s knee will prohibit her from playing at the level she was at a season ago as one of the team’s best players. However, she’s going to try to think about her knee as little as possible the rest of the season.

“It was tough, because I remember how I used to play before the surgery and I feel a lot slower and can’t do the same things I used to,” explained Soo Hoo. “I try not to think about it because it’s all mental and I know my doctor wouldn’t have cleared me if I couldn’t go out on the field. It’s a little scary because of how I tore my ACL, just turning.”

The Spartans have four matches left (@ Oberlin - Oct. 24, Carnegie Mellon - Oct. 30, Emory – Nov. 1, Rochester - Nov. 7) in the regular season. That final date against No. 10 University of Rochester is senior night and is expected to be an emotional night as the team graduates four seniors, forward Kaitlyn Yule (Raleigh, NC/Vernon Hills), midfielder Caroline Garber (Cincinnati, OH/Ursuline Academy), defender Katie Fromwiller (Clackamas, OR/Sam Barlow) and Soo Hoo.

“Every senior year we always see the seniors get very emotional,” said Soo Hoo. “This is your last game ever playing soccer in a competitive environment and obviously soccer has been a huge part of our lives so it’s going to be something that we’re all going to miss.”

While that game will be the end of Soo Hoo’s playing career, she will still be at Case Western Reserve another three years for medical school. She already has experience coaching youth soccer as an assistant with former Case player, Madeline VanGunten, and has spoken with Coach Crooks about staying involved with the team in the years to come.

“I talked to Coach Tiff about it and she’s very open to it,” said Soo Hoo about having a future role with the program. “I hope to help out, come to practices and home games at least. I want to help out as much as possible. Coaching is really different than playing…it takes a lot of patience.”

Second UAA win!!!!

by Anna Selser '12

This past weekend the men’s and women’s soccer team headed to New York City for this season’s first UAA away game! This was especially exciting to me because:

1) It’s my first UAA game I have ever played in

2) I have never been to New York City

3) Flying somewhere always means one thing: you get to browse through Sky Mall magazine.

I love skymall magazine so much that I was enlisted in creating an advertisement for this issue highlighting some of the best products. Unfortunately for you dedicated blog followers, the footage for this advertisement was lost. However if you get the chance to check out the Sky Mall website, you should definitely consider buying “Your Names in the Sand.”

On Friday it seemed luck was against us. Right before we left we find out that Laura, one of our starting center backs, is very sick! Oh no! Then our flight got delayed! Then there was a lot of traffic getting into the city. After a short time walking through Greenwich Village and eating, we returned to the hotel where we were all ready to settle in for a good night’s sleep. However, a certain two members of the team, who shall remain nameless, were thoroughly convinced by some very thin evidence that they were going to be murdered in their sleep which caused quite the commotion. Luckily everyone made it to bed by curfew and everyone was alive for the most important day of the trip, GAME DAY!

We woke up early to take the boys to the field to warm up and after a delicious breakfast we returned to cheer them on. After 90 minutes the score still remained 1-1, so the game went into overtime giving us more time to get focused and game ready. We had our pregame talk in a nice clearing near the woods where we were lucky enough to hear the beautiful, inspiring poetry of Caroline Garber. The boys ended up remaining tied after two overtimes, but we didn’t let that disappointment bring us down.

Although our warm up was not very sharp, we came out ready to play and immediately realized the Violets were a completely beatable team. Their formation gave our outside midfielders so much space we were able to switch the field really well and create some great opportunities. However after the first half, the game remained tied at 0-0. The second half continued to be pretty similar to the first half until with 7:45 left on the clock Cicy Fusco crossed the ball from the right side of the field. Kaitlyn Yule attempted the header only to have the goalie deflect it, luckily freshman, Deena Levey was there covering back post to put the ball in the net. The ref was odd and at first we didn’t realize it was a goal, but when we did we were obviously ECSTATIC!

Overall the team played very well and most importantly we went out and set the tone for the game and played our game. We are now 2-0 in the conference and confidently ready for our next UAA away games next weekend in Chicago and St. Louis! AND we are able to check off another box in the “wins” and “shutouts” section of our goal list. Good job this weekend ladies!