BEAUMONT, Texas – Thanks to Hurricane Harvey, what was supposed to be one-game overnight jaunt for the Lamar University women’s soccer team has become what will end up as a four-game, 10-night sojourn.

 

The Cardinals were originally scheduled to host Southern Miss last Friday before departing for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Saturday for a game at LSU on Sunday. Mother Nature, however, threw a monkey wrench into those plans. Friday’s game vs. Southern Miss was postponed on Thursday afternoon. Shortly after that, the LSU game was moved from Sunday evening to Friday evening. A few hours before the LSU game, the Cardinals announced they would play a road game at Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon. That contest saw a lightning delay of 2 hours, 16 minutes.

 

Following the Ole Miss game, the Cardinals bused to Shreveport, Louisiana, to spend the night. Then on Monday morning, it was decided that rather than journeying back to Beaumont and dealing with the uncertainty of the conditions in the Golden Triangle before having to travel to Edinburg, Texas, on Wednesday, the Cardinals would just stay on the road.

 

The LU squad departed Shreveport for Austin, Texas, on Monday. The Cardinals will depart Austin for Edinburg on Tuesday. LU is scheduled to play two games at the UTRGV Tournament this week, facing Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 4 p.m. Thursday and the host Vaqueros at 7 p.m. Sunday. If all goes according to schedule, the Cardinals will depart Edinburg for Beaumont on Sunday morning.

 

“There’s no way we could plan for this,” LU coach Steve Holeman said as the team rode the bus from Shreveport to Austin. “Everything was so impromptu, but the girls are all taking it in stride.”

 

With the team not having packed for such an extended trip, the team has taken advantage of the laundry facilities in their hotels.

 

“The freshmen have been doing the laundry,” laughed junior Ana Moreno. “But we’re having fun sharing time together and getting to know everyone.”

 

The team remained in good spirits despite dropping road decisions to two strong teams from the SEC.

 

“I don’t think we are going to face teams much tougher than this in the Southland Conference,” sophomore Macie McFarland said. “We played well in those two games, and those games help make us a better team.”

 

Freshman Madison Ledet, one of those who has to do the laundry, echoed McFarland’s sentiments when it came to LU’s effort on the field.

 

“We fought with all of our hearts,” Ledet said. “It was a great experience to play strong teams for my first college road games.”

 

Not having planed for such an extended trip, it’s a given that the student-athletes didn’t have everything they would like to have for their time on the road.

 

Moreno wishes she had brought her computer along, while McFarland wished she had packed extra socks. The team brought 12 movies to watch, more than enough for the original itinerary, but not enough to last for the revised slate, which has the team on the bus for almost 2,000 miles.

 

“We’re going to be stopping at Wal-Mart to get more supplies,” McFarland said. “I’m sure we will get some more movies as well.”

 

The team will also likely get something a little special for Moreno, a native of Colombia, who celebrates her 21^st birthday on Tuesday.

 

“This is my American family,” Moreno said of the Cardinals. “I’m happy I get to spend it with them.”

 

One thing everybody on the trip will receive is an experience they will be able to talk about the rest of their lives.

 

“Obviously, we wish we were home, but this has been a great experience for all of us,” McFarland said. “Adversity doesn’t build character, it revels it; and this trip shows how great these people are.”

 

Holeman mentioned the cooperation of Sun Travel, the company that provides the team’s bus, for its cooperation.

 

“Obviously, if they said no, we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” Holeman said. “Their driver said he would do what we asked. We appreciate that he was willing to be on the road for so long.”

 

When the Cardinals do return from Edinburg, they are scheduled to play two road games in Houston: at Texas Southern on Sept. 7 and at Houston on Sept. 10 before hosting Nicholls in the Southland Conference opener at 7 p.m. Sept. 15.

 

LU CARDINALS