A definition of the word "flat" is "lacking interest or excitement; dull." When we arrive at Converse College at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7, "flat" is what we are.

We wait in silence in the locker room like bored patients in a doctor's office, and even though we have not come home from an away game with a win since October 2009, we warm up like we are entitled to a win before the first whistle because of how hard we've worked in the last few weeks.

It is evident from the kickoff we have left our commitment to excellence somewhere back in Anderson. We completely forget everything we worked on the previous week's practices. We stab our way into tackles, shy away from creating shot-preventing walls with our bodies, our communication falters and the well-oiled machine that ran so smoothly in Florida now stutters in random pieces up and down the field.

In spite of our overall poor performance, Ashley Kleinburg and Britta Widenhouse create an opportunity for Jessica Kleinburg to put away the first goal for us at the 29th minute, and end the first half with us up 1-0. We jog off the field feeling discontent; if scores were always a reflection of the quality of a team's play, we would be the ones down.

We start the second half slightly shaken and Converse comes out fighting hard. Once we take a breath, compose ourselves and refocus our energy towards playing our style, we see a selfless moment of teamwork from Catherine Funk and Jessica Kleinburg put us ahead 2-0. We may be in the lead, but 2-0 is the most dangerous score to have and Converse lets us know it by capitalizing on a counter attack in the 84th minute with a goal. This reality check snaps us back into fighting mode and barely two minutes later Ashley Hollander calls for the ball loud enough to gain the entire stand's attention and flights a perfect pass to Carrie Settle, who flicks our 3rd goal into the back of the net, winning us the game at 3-1.

Leaving Converse, we are proud to come away with a win, our first road win since October 2009. After the game we are blessed with a delicious meal provided by the Danielson family. As we sit and eat in the parking lot, there is a feeling of satisfaction missing. We realize that there was not one moment during the game that every person on the team was on the same page and each person gave 100%. We had moments, glimpses, of excellence and teamwork which led to our three goals but how much prouder would we have been with our performance if we played consistently like our "AU, AU, AU…Together…We Commit!" battle cry states?

The chance to redeem ourselves starts from arrival at Erskine College for warm-up at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, September 10. The game is huge. The night prior our Athletic Director, Nancy Simpson, gives us the history of the Beville Cup and we realize that we are coming into this match representing our institution in every way possible. We feel the pressure of the game, the importance of the game, we want to be the first team at Anderson to get the point for the Beville Cup.

The energy on every side of the field in black and gold is electric, from the players on the field, to the sideline bench, and even to our outstanding Anderson crowd who almost surmounted the Erskine crowd! The atmosphere is electric from the first whistle, we push forward on the field together, and twelve minutes in we show that we truly do commit to excellence. Carrie Settle wins a ball in the midfield which Krystal Goss checks to and flicks on to an on running Jessica Kleinberg who chips the keeper to put us ahead 1-0. It was the only score we would need to win the game, but neither team played like it.

Erskine, being an arch rival, continues battling and reminding us the game was not close to being over. For a few moments as a collective group, we forget our values, our commitment, we get comfortable. However, our goalkeeper Kaitlyn Neipp holds us in the game by controlling her box and bouncing back after taking a hard hit off an excellent breakaway save. At halftime coach reminds us of our values and tells us to dig deep. We know Erskine is going to come out swinging hard.

The second half, we are anything but flat. We send ball after ball into Erskine's box and lose our minds on the bench when our shots unbelievably ping the post on two occasions and we even have a goal called back! We win battles in the air and follow long balls all the way out of bounds, we play our game and manage to keep our heads through the multiple whistle-blows. What felt like the longest moments of the game we were putting pressure on a defensively packed 18 yard box, and the ball went everywhere but in the net. We never stopped trying!

Every person has put their heart on the field, and is playing like we know how. Our freshman Kathryn Witcher creates a new team celebration for us by making an impressive leap over a fallen Erskine defender to win the ball. For the rest of the season, fans will know something good has happened when they see all of us doing "The Witcher."

We do not score another goal, but neither does Erskine, and at the final whistle we win 1-0. The game is over. We are exhausted and covered in grass stains and bruises, but you'd never know it from the high-fives and peals of laughter. We can walk away from this win proud. The 1-0 score does not do justice to our excellence of play in the second half; we proved to ourselves that we are capable of playing well when we commit to it. Coach reminded us that we not only committed to excellence, but that we represented our institution, and the team we know we can be and the team we want to be. This victory at Erskine is just a small taste of what we have the potential to continue to accomplish if each individual on our team consistently gives 100%, to establish us as the elite, "One Team, One Goal, and One Heart" of Anderson University Women's Soccer.