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Princeton University Athletics
Women's Lacrosse Trip Diary #3
January 05, 2005 | Women's Lacrosse
Jan. 5, 2005
ADELAIDE, Australia - After our adventure-packed stay in Cairns, we were then ready to begin the third and final leg of our trip in Adelaide. We set our watches a half hour behind Sydney time, because apparently Adelaide is too cool for the hourly time zones that the rest of the world usually goes by. Two short flights, many crossword puzzles and rows of needlepointing later, we had finally taken our last domestic flights in Australia and were ready to play some lacrosse.
In fact, we had to be ready for lacrosse immediately because we departed for practice straight from the airport. It felt great to play and to stretch our legs on the grassy field, even though we were constantly slapping away the Aussie flies that seemed to be hungry for our fresh American skin! After practice, we headed back to Adelaide Shores, the complex in which we would be staying for the next five days, to get a good night's rest. The following day would be our first day of competition, with a game scheduled for 6 pm against Team Koala, Australia's version of the U.S. Developmental Team. After recent news reports of a shark attack in Adelaide, we were hesitant to fully submerge ourselves in the ocean during our day of free time before our game. Despite these shark worries and the hot Australian sun, we still had a fun time collecting shells and wading in the water at the beach. We even met a local newspaper photographer who took our picture in the knee-deep ocean water. Apparently its a newsworthy topic when Americans decide to brave the ocean despite a shark warning! So much for "keeping a low profile," as Americans who go abroad are often instructed to do these days.
We left for the field around 4:30pm, which would be 1 am on U.S. East Coast time. Our game against Koala was a high scoring effort - one that we won by a 21-8 score. We were proud of our win, but at the same time, we knew the Australian National Team, second only to the U.S. National Team at the last World Cup, would present quite a challenge. Both the Aussies and the Dartmouth team scouted our Koala game (even though we won't encounter Dartmouth until the season begins this spring).
After the game, all of us were entertained by a local band who covered songs by Green Day, The Ramones, Pearl Jam, and a few Australian bands. While none of us were shy or nervous about playing the Australian National Team the next day, only a courageous, elite few braved the dance floor while the band played!
The following day we played against the Aussies at 10 am. While we were proud of our 21-8 score against the Koala Team, that same score would come back to haunt us against the National Team, this time unfortunately on the losing end. But we learned a lot about the strategy, speed and smarts of the Australian National Team after watching the game again on tape that night.
In addition to our teamwork on the lacrosse field that day, we also had a group effort in our meal preparation that night. We had a team barbecue at Adelaide Shores where we flipped burgers, tossed salads, and spooned ice cream, all with good spirits about the next (and last!) two opportunities we had coming up against the National Team.