My Championship Experience is a diary blog
written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each
of the 19 Championships.
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Denver senior Shannen
Johnson writes about her
experience at the 2013 Summit League Women's Soccer Championship:
Welcome to the 2013 Summit League Women’s Soccer
Championships! My name is Shannen Johnson and I am honored to be recording my
daily occurrences of the tournament. To give some background information on
where my thoughts and opinions are coming from you should know that I am a
senior midfielder playing for the University of Denver and have attended the
conference tournament three out of the four times my team has gone due to a
red-shirt sophomore year. Overall, this will be our third conference we have
played in as a senior class.
This year at the tournament
my team will be joined by North Dakota State, South Dakota State and host Fort
Wayne, who my teammates and I would like to thank ahead of time for hosting us!
11/7/2013
Rising bright and early, we all congregated in the locker
room packing and chatting excitedly as we rushed to be on the bus by 7:15 a.m.,
otherwise we wouldn’t be traveling. The team was ready to go and hopefully
bring home a tournament win, something that hasn’t been done in four years.
Heading to the Denver International Airport (DIA) many girls devoured their
Breugger Bagels and promptly headed back to sleep. After the usual checking in
and getting through security we were on the plane. Landing before we knew it,
we boarded the bus and began the one-movie long (or 2 hour) bus ride that
stretched out ahead of us, no one seemed to mind the journey as the tunes of Footloose
blared through the bus speakers. As the movie ended and we pulled up and it was
time to change clothes and head to dinner. Dinner was at a fabulous steakhouse
where we managed to rack up quite the bill and headed to the hotel. It was time
for bed and we all tried to get some rest before our tournament training began.
11/8/2013
With a good hotel breakfast in our stomachs, we headed to
IPFW for the first practice of the tournament. We played the traditional game
of “screw” and finished off with running plays, then we were off to eat again.
With the choice of Chipotle, Panera or East Coast Subs we were satisfied and
headed back to the hotel to sleep and for the ambitious few, to do homework.
Tonight was the night of the banquet and what a good one it turned out to be.
The team enjoyed the speeches given, especially the one concerning how much
heart being a collegiate takes, both metaphorically and literally. After a
great dinner and awards show, all teams headed to their respective hotels to
get a good night sleep before the game. Congratulations to every player who
received an award and to those who didn’t, they couldn’t have done it without
you! Good luck to everyone!
11/9/2013
GAME DAY at IPFW!!
This morning my team and I awoke with an anxious energy as we prepared for our
first match against IPFW. Our preparations included a good lunch at Panera, a
film session, rolling out and lots of naps and downtime. As we headed to the
field, each player became lost in their music and pregame rituals before we entered
the stadium. Upon entering the stadium, the team came alive and we were ready
to play. Hanging out in the locker room as we get our gear on, we discussed how
it was all or nothing at this point and we wanted the league championship that
no one in this group had won yet. Receiving the lineup, we ran through our
usual warm up and braced ourselves for the game ahead. We knew IPFW was not
going to be easy to beat, especially on their home field and re-entered the
locker room 1-0 at halftime. As the second half continued, we managed to battle
against their unique formation and came out with a 4-0 win. We were on to the
finals!!
IPFW was a tough competitor
and really proved to us that every game was going to be a battle, we needed to
bring 100 percent to if we wanted to win overall.
The game after us between North Dakota State and South
Dakota State ended up with North Dakota State winning 2-1. I can only imagine
the battle that ensued between the two teams as both were difficult competitors
in regular season play.
11/10/2013
Waking up sore and tired from the game the night before,
we enjoyed another delicious breakfast at the hotel and once again continued
onto another practice over at IPFW. This practice was a bit more enjoyable
seeing as we played small sided continuous versus running routes as we did on
Thursday. After the goalies somehow managed to win the penalty kick
competition, the seniors quickly redeemed themselves with a win in horseshoe.
With practice over, we were soon on our way to our three
favorite lunch places again, (Chipotle, Panera and East Coast Subs) where we
ended up eating with the opposition, North Dakota State, making for a crowded
restaurant.
After lunch, it was more downtime, which again included
more naps then homework and ending with dinner at an Italian Restaurant and
early bed for everyone.
11/11/2013
CHAMPIONSHIP DAY!
The team met for an early breakfast in the hotel and all
morning the lounge was filled with people yelling, “We’re going to the ‘ship!”
An excited feeling took over all of us as we rolled out and began to prepare
for the game against North Dakota State later in the day. Bags packed and the bus boarded, we head to
IPFW for the last time of the weekend.
Arriving at the fields, we ran through warm ups and began
the final.
Within 11 minutes, we were up 2-1. By half it was 5-1 but
North Dakota State was still coming at us with the force they started with.
Talking at half, we knew
that they were still creating chances and we could not let them back into the
game.
As the whistle blew, it was an amazing feeling to have
not only won the league championship but to end the game with every single
senior playing on the field. After a quick but delightful ceremony, we were
once again grabbing Chipotle (fan favorite!) and bussing to the airport.
Heading home with the league win felt fantastic. We are all anxious to see what
the NCAA Tournament selection show will bring us tomorrow afternoon, while sad
to be back to the reality of school.
Coming
off of a successful weekend, we must thank IPFW for hosting such a wonderful
tournament and graciously hosting us at their campus along with the other teams
in the conference who challenged us every single step of the way! We hope to
make The Summit League proud as we take on the NCAA’s!
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Don’t forget to check out the next
edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Men’s Soccer
Championship, Nov. 15/17 and throughout the 2013-14 season for coverage at each
of The Summit League Championships.
The Argus Leader featured South Dakota State men's cross country runner and veteran Anthony Bongard's journey over the last seven years. 
