by Steve Stoner - The Metropolitan

Elin Otter, junior defender, heads a corner kick toward the net during Metro’s 2-1 victory against New Mexico Highlands Oct. 10.

Elin Otter is a junior defender for Metro’s women’s soccer team. This is the third installment in the series of her commentaries.

The difference between a good team and a championship team is not only about how well you play all the time, but also how you come together as a team and face adversity.

The truth is, you are not going to play brilliantly through the whole season.

We have played two good teams, West Texas A&M and previously top-ranked Nebraska-Omaha. They were the best teams we have played this season, but completely different.
The game against West Texas A&M was a rough game. It was very physical and the referee called a lot of free kicks.

Against Nebraska-Omaha, it was the total opposite. I guess you could say that was a physical game too, but fair. As a spectator you can see the difference between these two games, but as a player you also notice another difference that has nothing to do with soccer. I’m talking about the trash talk.

Some players think it’s a part of the game, but I disagree. I think a team can only be as good as their composure, and if you lose it you’re in trouble.

West Texas A&M lost it.

After Meisha Pyke scored our game-winning goal 15 minutes into the second half, their players seemed to focus more on talking trash to us than on playing soccer.

All of a sudden it was a verbal game as well.

Some of the things they said were so obscene they can’t be printed in this paper, but some things were actually pretty clever — so clever we could laugh at them when the game was over.
The important thing to do when you face a team like this is not let yourself get sucked into talking trash as well. It’s easy to say, but in reality very hard to do.

If you are winning and get to hear all this trash you just want to say something smart back at them.

Or at least remind them of the fact that you are up and they are down. Believe me, I’m usually great at this.

With Nebraska-Omaha it was completely different. Even though they hadn’t faced a shutout since the 2001 season and they were 9-0 before we played them, they still kept their composure and continued to play soccer at their highest possible level.

We tied them 0-0, but it wasn’t heart- breaking. Going to Omaha to play the No. 1 ranked team in the nation was not an easy thing to do, but we managed to play an even game.

However, as Coach Danny Sanchez says, “There’s always room for improvement.”

West Texas concentrated more on us than on its own game, while Nebraska-Omaha did the opposite.

Looking back at last year, West Texas A&M made it to the regional finals while Nebraska-Omaha made it to the championship game. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens this year as well.

To us, these games are a reminder that we need to focus on ourselves and not care about other teams, no matter how frustrated we get.

If we do this and continue to play well, I feel we have a good chance to play Nebraska-Omaha one more time this season. Only this time it will be in December at Virginia Beach for the championship, and we had better win this time.