Home sweet home

By Yan Digilov     8/28/08 7:00pm

A fractured team without a home: this is an image of the 2007 soccer team that the Owls are trying to put behind them. On the field the first steps towards redemption came with a filled depth chart, and off the field, the Owls have found a new home after Autry construction stripped the team of a locker room in 2007. "In order to improve the future of Rice and other sports, it's one of the sacrifices that needed to be made," senior captain Christine Petric said. As the season began, the team found that the sacrifice, while seemingly inconsequential for on-field performance, was taking a toll on the team.

The players had no place to take shelter at halftime from the incessant Houston heat on the numerous Sunday afternoon match ups. Also, if a player got injured on the field, there was no place nearby to receive medical attention.

Taking equipment to and from each game and practice made the squad look more like a high school team than a Division I soccer program. Most importantly, though, the women had no place to gather and prepare themselves for the game.

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"It was a huge deal," associate head coach Nicky Adams said. "It turned out to be really critical because all last year, there wasn't really a place where all 30 people could meet in one room to get mentally prepared. Team chemistry and morale is important to have."

Morale was hard to come by all year long. A depth chart depleted due to injuries cost the team dearly. After a promising 6-2 start to the season, a 6-0 loss at Texas A&M marked the disappointing midpoint of the season.

"It was tough year for us, because as soon as the injuries came in, it hurt," Petric said.

The team ended up losing to the University of Central Florida in their final game, falling short of a conference championship and a NCAA tournament appearance.

As the Owls performance faded towards the end of the season, Adams realized the impact the construction was having on the team. The coaches met with President Leebron and Athletic Director Chris Del Conte to discuss building the team a real locker space.

By the last game of the 2007 season, two locker rooms were built in the sheds underneath the stands of the soccer stadium, one for the Owls and one for visiting squads. The rooms felt less like a home and more like a prison.

Since then, the team has personalized the space with photos, posters and team mottos written throughout the space.

"Now that we have one, once again, it is so important to us- just having a place to call our home," Petric said. "The field is one thing, but a lot of game preparation comes in the hour before the game."

As the Owls begin a revamped campaign to regain the conference title, the locker room is a symbol of the team's cohesive and dedicated mindset.

Whereas last year the team amassed on the field when game time was approaching, the squad appeared in their home opener against Sam Houston State with a new ritual. As the women prepared for the game in their new home, they looked inward as a giant mirror lined the wall of the room. Above it, the words "I LOVE SOCCER" were on display, reminding the team of the passion that drove them.

After the women prepared for the game and rallied around one another, they walked by photos of previous Rice soccer stars and a poster of the 2005 conference champion Owls holding up a trophy. As they approached the door to appear simultaneously as a refocused and reunited squad, the team read a quote chosen by the coaching staff to mark the 2008 campaign.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." The words, spoken by Aristotle, were the final pieces of preparation that the Owls needed for their weekend sweep.

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