Freshman midfielder Melissa Clarke is in her first season with the LSU women’s soccer team and is a player who head coach Brian Lee says has the ability to “make an immediate impact on the program.” Clarke graduated from Norcross High School in Norcross, Ga., with a 4.0 GPA and was named a Soccer Buzz Top 50 Recruit in 2005.
She has earned numerous awards, including the honor of being a U.S. Youth All-American in 2004 and a member of the U16 U.S. National Team the last two years. Clarke hopes to lead the LSU soccer program to the top of the SEC and the nation in her time in Baton Rouge. The entries in this diary are meant to chronicle Clarke’s experiences in her first season as a Division I student-athlete.
Sept. 15, 2005: Diary Entry #5:
We have played three games in the last five days, and it seems we are returning to a sense of normalcy after the hurricane. We walked off the field victorious in all three games to improve our record to 4-2-0 on the season. The team played well against Belmont, but the outcome could have been better if we would have capitalized on a lot of our chances. I felt that I should have been more composed in front of the goal, and I even had my first goal of the season erased because of an offside call. However, we returned to Baton Rouge with a win and that’s what matters most.
On Sunday against Jackson State, it was evident that practice had been paying off. End line combinations early in the first and second halves gave us great opportunities on goal. We played great as a team, but again I personally did not feel content with my performance. Our level of play as a whole was much better than the previous game. We showed that we definitely were on our way to finding our rhythm. The goal for our next game was to continue to be more consistent and take our intensity to another level.
Our opposition on Tuesday was McNeese State. Individually, I needed to simply relax and just play. Soccer, I’ve discovered, is truly a game of simplicity. Sometimes you have games in which every shot you take is off target and passes are not going where they should. Your head starts to hang low. Disappointment and discouragement form on your face. I’ve learned that you can not let negativity take over because you will only dwell on the mistakes that are made. The antidote: patience and composure. When I say patience, I mean a great deal of it.
Everything happens with patience. In time, I’ll get it right.
HOO-HA TIGERS!!!