When the Ladyhawks concluded their Spring 2007 season, Coach Dennis Stansbury made the difficult decision to sit out the fall season.  From the very beginning, the Ladyhawks were comprised of a solid core of dedicated and hard working young ladies who never gave anything less than their all. 

In the eight plus years of operation, the Ladyhawks have proven to be one of the most successful and enduring women’s soccer teams in Southern Maryland.   When the final whistle sounded, ending their final game this spring season, three ladies from the original 2000 roster were on the field.  Most of our other ladies have been with the Ladyhawks for multiple seasons. 

Clearly, the Ladyhawks operation has been a family affair, where players have found a home and were treated like family members.  With over half their roster heading off to college in the fall and the rest playing for their high school teams, the Ladyhawks decided to sit the fall season out.  However, many of our ladies have expressed a desire to continue in the spring. 

Whatever Coach Dennis decides, it’s been a wonderful adventure!  The Ladyhawk experience, just like life, has been a series of exhilarating highs, heartbreaking lows, and most of all, it’s was all the good stuff in between.  

The good stuff in between was so much more than just the games.  It was the lunches, dinners or stops for ice cream together following road games.  It was the cookouts, trips to vampire manor and the corn maze.  It was indoor soccer at CSM, McSoccer fest, and soccer on the beach at Ocean City.  It was enjoying each other, growing up together and being there for one another, win, lose, or draw.  

The Ladyhawks, like Life, is not about the end of the story, where you put down the book with a satisfied sigh.
It's about all the chapters in between that make your heart race, bring a smile to your face & make you cry, as you work your way
deliciously, exhausted, to the end.
Where you get to say. . .

THAT WAS A GREAT STORY!

And who knows, The Ladyhawks may still have a chapter or two yet to be written.

It’s been said that: “It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”  What happened to the Ladyhawks in the opening minute of their game against the Calverton Clash would definitely put this cliché to the test.

With only one minute gone in Sunday’s contest, a seemingly routine shot on goal deflected off a Ladyhawk defender and past a startled goalie putting them in an early 1-0 hole.  In a season filled with a series of bad bounces and unexplainable mistakes, the early goal certainly appeared to be the next episode in what has been a weekly horror show for the Ladyhawks.

However, what the Ladyhawks proved on Sunday was: it’s not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up.  Get up, is exactly what the Ladyhawks chose to do.  In an extremely physical contest, exacerbated by the referee’s total lack of game management, the Ladyhawks rustled control of the game back from the Calverton Clash.  For the remainder of the first half the Ladyhawks applied relentless pressure on the Calverton goal keeper.  Frustrated time and time again, the Ladyhawks finally drew even when Kalee Stine collected a loose ball in front of the net and hammered it home for the tying goal.  As the Ladyhawks spirits soared, they appeared ready to dominate.  However, with less than two minutes remaining in the half, Ladyhawk forward Crystal Gale was blatantly fouled from behind.  When she threatened retaliation and questioned the no call, she was red carded and ejected from the game. 

Facing an entire second half shorthanded, the Ladyhawks knew they had their work cut out for them.  All season long the Ladyhawks have individually played hard and never quit.  However, the achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.  On this afternoon, the Ladyhawk team would not be denied.  Despite playing down the entire second half, the Ladyhawks continued to dominate.  With numerous scoring opportunities, the Ladyhawks finally grabbed the lead with just less than ten minutes remaining.  Taylor Williams, playing as if she were possessed, followed up her own shot and muscled the ball passed the Calverton goalie on a scramble in front of the net, for a 2-1 lead.  Leaving nothing to chance, the Ladyhawks continued to press.  Once again, the midfield fired a through ball to Taylor Williams who was in full stride and with a step on her defender.  With only the goalie to beat, Taylor fired a shot into the left side of the net to secure a hard fought Ladyhawk victory.

Adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.  Clearly, the true character of each and every Ladyhawk was revealed today and it’s one they can all be extremely proud of. 

Despite dropping a hard fought 2-1 decision, the Ladyhawks coaches were thoroughly pleased with their team's effort.  After a very inconsistent start to the season, at long last, the Ladyhawks finally played their brand of soccer. 

While two mistakes ultimately cost them the game, the Ladyhawks played tough and tenacious soccer throughout the contest.

With approximately 10 minutes gone in the first half, the Ladyhawks goalie was whistled for a foul in the box.  The resulting penalty kick put the Ladyhawks in an early hole.  The deficit increased to 2-0 in the second half when a shot on net escaped the goal keepers grasp and was banged home from six yards out.   Despite these two miscues, the Ladyhawks defense was outstanding throughout.

As well as the Ladyhawks defense played, the Sterling Lazer's goalie played better.  Throughout the entire second half, the Ladyhawks were relentless on the attack.  With easily twice the number of shots on net, the Lazer goalie was up to the task, turning away virtually everything the Ladyhawks threw at her.  The Ladyhawks finally tallied their only goal on a shot by forward Crystal Gale.  Her high shot on frame hit the underside of the crossbar and deflected down, landing just over the goal line.

Despite a frantic all out assault in the remaining minutes, the Ladyhawks were unable to tally the equalizer.

The famous football coach Vince Lombardi once said: “We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time.”  Clearly this would have been a fitting quote for this game.

It has also been said that:  The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.

If the Ladyhawks continue to display this level of effort in their remaining games, the Ladyhawks will have their share of success and the Wins to go along with it.

Throughout the first six years of their existence, the Ladyhawks have remained a close knit family.  Clearly, the Ladyhawks have been one of the most successful and enduring girls teams in Southern Maryland.  Many of the girls from our 2006 squad have been with us for several years.  From the original LaPlata Lizards team that claimed the WSC Championship in the spring of 2000; three of those girls remain with our squad today. 

It has been said that: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."  Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.  

Throughout the years, the Ladyhawk coaches have always been EXTREMELY PROUD of all our girls for their tenacity and willingness to step up to a challenge and never back down.  Through the good times, tough times, three championship seasons and all 6 years of existence, the Ladyhawks have always displayed an attitude of never accepting anything less than giving their ALL.  Proving that success is a journey, not a destination. 

If you would like to read more about our team's history, please check out our Ladyhawk History Page for a nostalgic look back at where we have been and how far we have come. 

On Commitment: “There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either in or you're out. There's no such thing as life in-between.”

" Commitment is the only thing, which lies between Dream and Reality."

On Perseverance:“The race is not always won by the fastest runner..but sometimes by those who just keep running.”

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination."

On Excellence: “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”

On Teamwork: "I searched for stardom, stardom I could not see.
I searched for victory, victory eluded me.
I searched for Teamwork and found ALL THREE."

"The main ingredient in stardom is the rest of the team."

On Character: "A person shows what she is by what she does with what she has."

"Although fate presents the circumstances, how you react depends on your character."

On Success: "Success is a journey, not a destination."

"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary."

"Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It Does"

"Your future depends on many things, but mostly on you."

On Courage: Courage does not always roar.  Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying: "I will try again tomorrow." 

Final Thought: "It is a funny thing about life;
if you refuse to accept anything but the best,
you very often get it." 

CELL NUMBERS:
Dennis - 240-416-0993
Angela - 301-535-1868
Danny - 202 369-8781

INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY 
If the weather is uncertain...Please be sure to call or check your email or the web site for cancellations or delays.  Info will be posted on the web site or you will receive an email by 9am on game day.  You may also call our answering machine at 301-609-8317 for up-to-date game day information.  Remember - just because the sun may be shining in Charles County doesn't mean it's shining where we are going to play! 

LADYHAWKS - COURTESY CALL - PLEASE:  If you are unable to make it to a game or if you are planning to arrive late...please please please be considerate enough to pick-up the phone and call Coach Dennis, Danny, or Lauren.  They put alot of time and effort into planning plays and positions for every game...and if you don't show up...they have to start all over again.  Please keep in mind their time is valuable too.