Bucknell University Athletics
Michael Lookingland Diary
3/4/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Feb. 13, 2005
I woke up at 7:30 a.m. for breakfast, which included the same breakfast options as the previous day. We loaded up the vans at 9 a.m. for our 10 a.m. game with the San Jose Earthquakes. I was given the chance to start and played all 90 minutes during the 1-0 win. That was the first win of the preseason and we did it with guys who are not projected to be starters playing the entire game, while San Jose's first team played the first half.
After taking a break for lunch we got back into the vans at 3:30 p.m. to get to our game against the Columbus Crew, which started at 6 p.m. More than 5,000 fans showed up for the match, which helped raise money for the Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Fund. Fitzgerald, who was the head coach at the University of Tampa, tragically died in a motorcycle accident last fall. It was a big game for the team since it was the first time we had played in front of a big crowd and the first time that all of our starters would be playing together since a few had arrived late to camp. We ended up beating Columbus 2-0 in a very well-played game, and I subbed in for Eddie Pope, a U.S. National Team player, for the second half of the game. I was pretty tired from the morning game but was not going to miss the opportunity to play with the first team and get the experience of playing at that level.
It was a good day for the team as we put together two good wins to get the preseason going in the right direction. It felt good to finally get to play with the team and see how the professional game is played. I learned what I need to do in order to compete at that level. After going out to eat following the game, we got home at midnight. I immediately went to bed because I was exhausted from playing a game and a half and from all of the travel during the day.
