Logan Womack Journal No. 3

OU soccer senior forward Logan Womack joins a list of other Sooner athletes with her own journal to take Sooner fans behind the scenes of Oklahoma's 2003 soccer season.

This is the third installment of her weekly journal. We've added a link at the end of the article so you can submit your own questions for Logan to respond to in the next entry.

Logan Womack
Journal Entry No. 3 (Oct. 17, 2003)
We are coming off of a tough weekend. Losing to Nebraska, 2-1, in double OT and tying Colorado, 0-0, in double OT is unfortunate because we should have won both games.

In the Nebraska game, we didn't play very well. I don't want to blame our loss on the conditions of the field but when you are playing on the road, the conditions really are a factor. We came out a little sluggish and slow and were never able to pick it up. It's a tough loss to swallow considering we were up 1-0 at one point.

Then we suffered an unfortunate call, giving Nebraska a PK, essentially tying the game. We had some opportunities but were unable to finish them.

Despite our loss, we were able to bounce back, playing CU on our field. We were able to play our game, they we way we know how to play it. Although we tied CU, we should have won. We are a better team but we will take a tie over a loss any day. To have beat those two teams would have been huge victories for us but you have to look past that and focus on the present and we are focused on Texas Tech and Baylor.

As for this coming weekend, it's a huge weekend, for a couple reasons. It's Senior Day. This is the last home weekend of my career. It is extremely sad and unsettling and I can't believe that I am finally a senior and my career is coming to an end. I just hope that we can beat Tech and Baylor, making this a better departure for the seniors. The emotions will be high on Sunday.

I know we are all sad to go, but we have to give it everything we have for the next four games, hoping to make it to the Big 12 tournament once more before we leave. I don't think I would be able to handle not making the tournament, when I know we are deserving of it and are good enough to even possibly we win. We have proved this year that we can play with the best teams. We are definitely one of the best teams, when we play our game.

Tech is a team that if we don't play our game and hustle, then we can easily get beat. This a game that we can't go into expecting it to be easy or expect to win.

Baylor is a good team, another squad that you can't take lightly. Baylor is very skilled and works very hard and as a result has always given us a game. We can't let down our guard this weekend thinking that it's going to be an easy weekend, when in fact it won't be. We really have to win both these games and I have complete and utter faith in my team to get the job done.

Now lets get into a couple of question that you submitted, do not forget to keep emailing me more of your questions for next week's journal.

I am 14 and have played soccer for a while and have noticed that when the opponent has the ball and is going down the field, the defense tends to stay further away from the player. How is that an advantage to the defensive team at that point of the game? I noticed that when on offense, there wasn't as much running involved. At a higher level of soccer, is the game more about passing and getting at good angles to receive a pass instead of dribbling right down the field?
- Kayla from Bixby, Okla.

When you are on offense, a lot of it depends on how the other team's defense plays. Plus, it depends on the speed of your forwards. For OU, we have tremendous speed up top, which enables us to beat the defense with simple, over the top balls.

Another factor would be, how many forwards are you playing with, two or three. With two forwards the objective would be to have one forward check back to the ball and receive it, turn to the inside and play the other forward behind the defense. Passing is better when you are trying to move the ball out of your defense, into the midfield and then play the forwards with either a checking run, which I just described.

And the other option would be to play the forward to the corner and getting a cross in or sending a ball behind the defender, cutting her off and go in for a one-on-one.

Logan, How have your parents influenced your soccer career?
- Daisy from Norman, Okla.

My parents have had a huge influence in my career. My parents have been incredibly supportive of me. Growing up, my parents always traveled with me during club soccer and went to all my tournaments.

They have been very encouraging and positive especially when things weren't going well. There have been times where I have wanted to quit soccer and they wouldn't let me. My father has pushed me and pushed me to become a better player. And has always tried to instill in me to have more patience and more confidence in myself.

I definitely know that I would not be where I am today without all the love and support of my parents. They have so much faith in me and truly believe in me and have made me who I am today. Knowing that my parents are at my games and supporting me, makes me only want to play harder, not only for my team or myself, but to make them proud.

When I see my parents at my games, it gives a huge sigh of relief. I want to thank them for everything they have done for me. I love you Mom and Dad!

I was wondering how it felt to be a local hero to the OU fans and soccer players around the state?
- Joshua from Yukon, Okla.

I definitely don't feel like I am a hero, maybe more of a role model for younger kids. I want to be able to have kids look up to me and see that they can achieve their dreams and goals just like I have.

Being from Norman, I want to set a good example and represent this town, as well as the University in a positive way. I want to be able to give kids hope, knowing that someone from their town has accomplished so much that they can too. It is truly a blessing to have so many loyal and supportive fans from all over Oklahoma. It's a feeling that is not easily put into words.

The support of our fans is amazing and makes me play harder knowing that the fans are there cheering for us, rain or shine, win or lose. I really couldn't ask for better fans. Thanks for everyone's support. The entire team truly appreciates it.

Why do you wear the number No. 19? And have you always worn that number?
- Melissa from Bartlesville, Okla.

I wear No. 19 simply because it was the number that was given to me. I have not always worn No. 19; in fact, I have never worn that number until I arrived at OU. But it has definitely grown on me and I will try to always wear that number. It's a good number to wear and has served me well.

Hope everyone comes out to watch us this weekend, last chance at home! Tune in next week for my next entry with more Q&A. GO SOONERS!