Hey'all,

It's about time we wrap up the 2008 season. So while sitting in the airport waiting to get home to the family after Hockey Festival, it seems like a good time to catch up.

In case you missed it, we had a tough time at the conference tournament in Farmville and couldn't find the net when we needed. (that never happened in the past) We played well but our loss of experience in the back hurt us, but we hope to grow stronger in the off-season and work on a few things! We have a talented young squad returning, but we're going to miss Alex, Holly, Stephanie and Teeney!

It was great to see so many Alums and families in Farmville for the tourney. Megs and Al made the trip, along with Jenny and her dad Joey. Also got to see Ali and her father and even Bob Longtain came down with Tyler to see the team. Kristie Beitz also came over from Lynchburg too. It was good to see everyone and a great turn out of friends and families!

It was also good for all who haven't seen Longwood's turf facility. They have an excellent Astroturf field complete with a great watering system. Hopefully we will see one of those in the not too distant future. We REALLY need it and hopefully working on it!

With Dedmon Arena unavailable during the fall, our timing on turf really suffered, especially our attacking Corners. We finished the season ranked 12th in the nation in Penalty Corners earned per game, but at times struggled with timing and execution. So are looking forward to getting back inside in February...and we are already back in the Dedmon weight room which is now only for Athletes!!! It's nice to finally have a strength facility dedicated for our teams. We've needed it for years. The racquetball courts are currently being renovated to make way for a new Study Center! No more racquetball in Dedmon and the Highlander Room is getting a face lift too. If you are in town you need to stop by and check it out. That construction should be completed Spring semester.

We are hoping to have another competitive Alumni game next fall and if possible play the game in August as part of preseason preparation...

Well...as we anticipate the end of 2008 and bringing new recruits to campus and the RUFH family, we hope you and your family have a great holiday season.

Please stay in touch and stop in when you can.

We had an action packed final game at App St today, earning 15 corners & 17 shots and came away with a 5-4 win!? Hopefully we gained a little momentum going into the Tournament. It was certainly good to SCORE!

So ...now we face Longwood in the first round of the tournament @ 1:00 pm thursday in Farmville It's early but we hope you can make it out to support the team ... especially in the unfriendly confines of the home team.

It was good to see JB(M) at the Beach Districts and Lauren Hebee and her folks at the Peninsula District tournament.

Also, it sounds like we have an Alum matchup in the Virginia State Tournament with Jamie's team (James Monroe) taking on Cowboy's squad (Powhatan) on Tuesday!? Hope you have a great game!