What The Heart Wants

This Friday Night

The Hearts left Philadelphia at 3pm on Friday afternoon for the short trip to New Brunswick, NJ, where they would be staying at the Heldrick Hotel and Conference Center tonight and tomorrow night. Ali suggested to Carm to have the team's players split up from their resident duos or trios on the ride to Jersey, which she felt was a good idea. After announcing it prior to rolling out of the training complex, a number of players changed seats to hook up with someone they weren't as tight with as their besties or persons.

Diana (to Emily): For being the two funniest players in the NWSL, I feel as though we don't really know much about one another. When did you know you wanted to pursue a professional career in soccer?

Emily: Probably after my first year at Virginia. Playing alongside Moe Brian and Danny Colaprico gave me a standard from which to evaluate my own ability to play the game at the next level. Also looking up to Becky Sauerbrunn and being compared to her by the Wahoo faithful impressed upon me what outsiders thought of my chances. You?

Diana: In the Canadian system, pro soccer was always considered a secondary pursuit to that of the National Team, something you could do if you desired but wasn't necessarily required. I took a stab at it in northern Europe after graduating from Princeton and getting through the ensuing World Cup/Olympics cycle, but it wasn't until the change in coaches following the 2011 World Cup and our extended residency leading to the 2012 Olympics that the notion of needing to play week-in, week-out somewhere began to take root among us. My now-fiancee bounced between a couple of teams in the W-League during the WPS years, but it was the birth of NWSL that opened the pro game to us north of the border.

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Savannah (to Ali): We don't get to talk much, so I appreciate having a chance to ask you about some things that puzzle me. How do you handle the physical part of being together with someone so much taller than you?

Ali: Well, I HAVE to wear heels or heeled boots when we go out together to close the gap between us a bit. Also, a large portion of our affectionate interaction happens sitting down or lying against each other. Having trouble with Sarah in that area?

Savannah: A little. As you have seen, I'm like middle-of-the-road lesbian but more boyish than a tough-ass girl like Steph Labbe. I want to be able to initiate things in that part of our relationship, but taking the lead from underneath gets to be pretty awkward. Of all the couples associated with the team, I think Sarah and I are the only one where the more feminine half of the pair is the taller one. EJ can get the boost to match Becca, Moe with Sammy Jo, you with Steph. Even McCaffrey can do semi-girly to get eye-to-eye with Kristie.

Ali: It's tough when you don't feel comfortable in certain things to be able to utilize them to compensate for the vertical gap between you and your person. Maybe talk to Becca and EJ about it, or Sammy Jo for that matter. Are you looking forward to Sarah joining you up here in a couple of weeks?

Savannah: Yes. We'll have to talk over how to make ends meet together with Morgan while she's waiting for a spot to open up on the main roster.

Ali: I'm sure Wendy has thought about that and either has or is looking to come up with a solution.

Savannah: I'm guessing we'll also have to find out which players are going to help her and I with the move up here following graduation on the 6th.

Ali: I'll ask Wendy about taking it up on Tuesday so planning can be done and Erica can determine what her plan for the international break is regarding training for those not with the US or Canadian teams.