The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) has been my home for three years now. Since my first few minutes as a Blue Jay soccer player, competing in the MAC has been both an honor and a privilege that I have enjoyed. The chance to play against Messiah College, the best team in our division, along with other teams in our conference that compete for the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament is something I will never forget. Each team in the MAC has its own strengths and weaknesses. Each team is unique. Whether they are good at restarts, keeping possession or breaking the defense down, every team has differences that make it stand out.
I am going to miss playing in the MAC conference next year as I finish my college career playing as a Blue Jay in the Landmark Conference. The MAC is a strong conference, which hosts many talented teams in the region. Teams like Messiah College, Alvernia University and recently Lebanon Valley College are all teams that play the game well and will always be tough teams to compete against. All of these teams are strong and well coached. They look to play their best against us because that’s the reputation we have as Blue Jays. Everyone wants to beat the Blue Jays of Elizabethtown College because they know that we will fight, claw and scratch our way to a win. Having a reputation like that means we will always be well scouted and face the best games from our opposition.
My fondest memory of playing in the MAC was my first experience of the “Marshmallow Bowl.” The atmosphere was something I thought I would be accustomed to after playing several night games in high school for playoff contention. I previously played in and won the national championship as a member of the Baltimore Bays. However, this was not the case. I will never forget walking up the hill opposite from the stadium bleachers at Messiah and being engulfed in a roar of fans from Etown. They traveled to Messiah to be a part of this annual tradition and support the Blue Jay soccer team in the war that was to come. Seeing the sea of royal blue and gray outnumber the navy and white at the far side of the bleachers was a sight I will never forget. Our school has such an amazing support system, not only between the athletic teams but as a student body as a whole. There have been some hiccups between certain athletic teams in the past, but from my three years here at Etown I can honestly say that I am just as close to members of the other sports teams as I am to my brothers on the soccer field. Being a Blue Jay means more than being a part of your small group that you fight and bleed with on the field. It means you have the backs of every Blue Jay, no matter what team they play for.
In the past, we have played against some of the best teams in the Landmark Conference. Coach Skip Roderick always likes to challenge us in the beginning of the year to play the best teams in order to prepare for the strong conference we played in. This being said, when we play teams like Susquehanna and Drew universities that are in the Landmark Conference, we have always competed well and have very often come out victorious. I believe that, in moving to the Landmark Conference next year, the Blue Jay athletes will come out flying and take over this new conference. We will do what we do best and find ways to win where most would give up. The teams in this conference will learn quickly who the Blue Jays are and what we stand for. We will definitely be contenders if not front runners in the conference by the time playoffs come around next year. It should be every team’s goal to come in and win the conference in order to make a name for ourselves in the Landmark and establish our name nation-wide in the NCAA Tournament.
This year’s homecoming was definitely very emotional for me and for many others. As the last year in the conference, it meant a lot to us that we go out with a bang in front of our home crowd celebrating our last time at home as a part of the MAC conference. There was a large portion of alumni in the crowd, and we wanted to represent them and all the effort they have given in the past by playing well in the MAC. We wanted to win for them and show that even though they are no longer on the field playing with us, they are still Blue Jays and still a part of this community.
Who knows what this new opportunity will bring for us? One thing is clear though: we will bring everything we have learned from the MAC to the Landmark and make a name for ourselves. We may not be the most technical team. We may not be the tallest or strongest team, but our work rate and our effort will out match any team that the Landmark has to offer.
We are Etown!
