Melissa Tancredi is a Canadian National Team player and a graduate of Notre Dame.  She plays forward for Canada and played Centerback for Notre Dame.  While playing both positions for Athletica, she is working toward become a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine as she is finishing her schooling at Logan. 

Hello to everyone.  I’m Melissa Tancredi, and I’m going to fill you in on our D.C. road trip so far.  So it all started very, VERY, early in the morning, a nice 4 am wakeup and 5am meeting at the airport.  This was a great opportunity to point out all the morning people…Angie Woznuk definitely NOT a morning person!!!  Once we arrived in D.C., and got settled into our hotel rooms we were finally able to get some rest before practice.  Luckily I was paired up with Sheree Gray who loves sleep more than anyone I know.  After a good nap we woke up to terrible rainy weather and a cancelled training session, so we ended up doing a quick gym workout just to get the legs moving.   After a good workout, my roommate and I took a nice stroll to the mall for some Starbucks, pretty much my daily usual.  The thing with road trips is you don’t get out much, and being in a hotel room and going to and from the meal room and get pretty redundant, so it’s nice to have someone to venture out with. 

Day two was a little more exciting.  After a hearty meal of runny eggs and turkey sausage links, we had a delightful second trip to the local mall.  Sheree and I figured that since we were going to be broadcast on national television, we should definitely look our Sundays best, and make sure our eyebrows were trim and proper.  So we ended up stopping by a threading kiosk.  Now, I’m usually a waxer, so threading was all new to me and I was volunteered to go first.  So here I was sitting in a chair, with loud people walking by, I was getting so nervous I started sweating which probably made it harder for the poor lady to do her job.  But in the end it surprisingly didn’t hurt at all, and my eyebrows look fantastic.  I think it was all made worthwhile when Sheree received a random compliment about her eyebrows from some lady in the check out aisle at the supermarket.  So far this was the highlight of our day. 

After the action packed visit to the mall we headed out for our first training session on the grass fields outside of the Washington Freedom stadium.  Our warm up consisted of a very interesting game of keep away using only your hands.  You have to understand that we are teammates, yes, but “friendly” warm-up games don’t exist.  Tina was a monster in this game, trash talking, throwing people around, and really getting into the game.  I’m pretty sure all of us on the other team feared for our life once or twice.  Daniela got a little frisky as well, I’m pretty sure poor little Francielle did a back flip over Daniela’s butt while fighting for a loose ball.  I’m all for a little competition, and I expect some physical aggressiveness, but what I didn’t expect was a ball thrown directly at my face by Angie... who was on MY TEAM!!! My poor nose is still healing from when Francielle broke it last summer in a Canada-Brazil friendly. 

The unique aspect of our team is that we all get along. Jorge does a good job in making sure his team is run like a family.  Everyone respects each other and works for each other.  You would think it would be almost impossible to bring together a group of women from all over the world, with many different cultural backgrounds and some who barely speak any English, and expect them all to mesh well.  But that is one of the main reasons why this team is so special and I’m lucky to be a part of it.  Now all we have to do is go out on the field and get a win together…that is all that is missing.  I’ve got to get some rest now.  Tomorrow is game day.  Hopefully you’ll all be tuned in tomorrow night and we come back home with a good result.  Thanks for reading!
 

Lisa Stoia is a 26 year old Defensive Midfielder.  She has played every minute for Athletica.  Because of her age, she graduated from West Virginia just as the WUSA folded.  When you watch her play and train you can see how much she has sacrificed by how hard she plays.  Playing professional soccer means the world to her.  The following is her journal entry when Athletica traveled to Boston for the teams first road game.

First Road Trip - Boston

I'm Lisa Stoia of the St. Louis Athletica and will be describing a little bit about our road trip to Boston and our preparation leading to game day.  Road trips, I take as an opportunity for building team chemistry.  

After completion of our training early Thursday morning we quickly had some lunch and boarded our bus to the airport to depart for our first away game vs. Boston.  Once we arrived at the St. Louis airport, teammates Angie Woznuk and Hope Solo were beside me walking to check-in for our first flight together.  There were so many thoughts on our minds when Hope made the comment "You guys, this is so exciting...can you believe it...it's our first trip together as a new women's professional soccer team...it's great that it's back and finally here."  These words coming from a US Women's National Team Member was definitely a moment to remember in how remarkably exciting this experience is and knowing it's only the beginning.  Since the league folded going into my senior year of college the opportunity no longer existed for me to fulfill my dream of playing professionally, and now as a member of the St. Louis Athletica I am honored to be a part of living a dream, and being able to help younger generations who also aspire to be a professional soccer player.       

As a frequent traveler I really enjoy road trips because I think it's a great opportunity to get to know a little more about your teammates.  Once we arrived at our hotel we had a little downtime to settle in just before dinner.  Coach Barcellos gave us the evening free to relax and so a couple of us decided to go for a little walk to find some coffee (as some of us are big coffee drinkers we were in search of a Dunkin Donuts... so other teammates of mine from or near this area were on the hunt) Jill Loyden, Francielle, Kia McNeill, Elise Weber and I decided to take the journey of supposedly 10 minutes to find the nearest Dunkin Donuts, which we found ourselves crossing a bridge over to the other side of the river, then walking down a stip of Boston University's campus, needless to say definitely not a 10 minute walk and no Dunkin Donuts nearby.  However, time went fast along the way filled with many laughs and non-stop talking of everything as I thought to myself how amazing our team chemistry is.  Francielle being from Brazil is still learning a bit of English and so she makes sure she brings "her friend" along with her which is her Portuguese/English dictionary (I have to admit that I'm frequently borrowing her book as well since my Portuguese is still in the beginning steps) With the help of Fran and her friend in a little Portuguese I had said "Eu amo nosso time...(I love our team)"  It's these little moments on the road that are some of the most memorable.  Although we walked a little more off track then what we intended to, we found ourselves sharing thoughts and enjoying our time together. To me every day is special sharing moments together with new teammates and making new friends in a very important time of our lives.  

Friday included a training session and some break downs of video continuing to prepare for our next opponent - Boston.  We are always trying to learn from mistakes and continue to build upon our strengths.  The atmosphere is very intense as our preparation is extremely important for focusing on our goals and the break downs of the opponent we are going to be facing.

Today is Saturday (game day) and even though things may seem relaxed nerves are always running through my body with excitement.  There's not a better feeling sometimes than game day knowing that all you practice, train and prepare for as a team and individually has finally come down to the day where all the work you have put into everything can now be exerted onto the field as a team.  Game day is a very special day.  Going through the same routine of pre-game rituals, lacing the cleats and putting on a jersey that represents many things doesn't get better than that.  Each time you step on the field in between the lines it's a special feeling knowing that it's more than hard work and endless hours that you put into training to get better.  It's about pride - pride for your teammates, the coaching staff, and the St. Louis community.  

It's remarkable knowing that as a professional athlete in women's soccer your never alone.  Each time we step onto the field, all emotions are brought together and we are proud of who we represent on and off the field.  We all have goals in mind, but I know that as a member of the St. Louis Athletica, through determination and hard work there will be success ahead of us!!!  As the final moments approach game time, I know that our team chemistry will unite us to prepare for what's ahead.