Communications junior Gigi Alford told herself that she couldn’t miss again. Turns out, she’s a good listener.

In a scrimmage game earlier this year, Alford received a pass near the goal and knocked the ball over the crossbar.

The same play unfolded before her eyes in the opening game of the 2003 season against Millsaps College of Jackson, Miss. Only it wasn’t in a scrimmage, but rather the golden goal period-overtime in which the first team that scores wins-of the match.

Michaela Bono, music business sophomore, took a corner kick, and Amy Budahn, criminal justice freshmen, flicked it backwards. Biology freshmen Lindsay Diak settled the ball and found an open Alford.

This time, Alford chipped the ball over the keeper’s head and into the back of the net to give the Wolfpack a 3-2 opening victory in the Rhodes College Soccer Tournament.

“The play from the scrimmage was going through my mind,” Alford said. “Lindsay (Diak) spoon-fed the ball to me. I had a feeling it was going in. The ball did a rainbow over the goalie.”

Loyola forced overtime by evening the score at 2-2 in the last minute of regulation.

Diak scored the first goal for the ‘Pack by deflecting the ball off of a defender and into the goal. Millsaps’ second goal was the result of a Wolfpack deflection.

“I think the adrenaline got going when Lindsay scored in the last minute of regulation,” head coach Emmy Therrell said. “The team had confidence that we were playing good soccer, and then that goal made us put more of our hearts into the game. The end of the match was really thrilling.”

Although the conclusion was exciting, Alford said a loss would have really set the team back.

“It was a really good way to start the season,” she said.

“It set our expectations high. Millsaps was the team we beat at the end of last year. It was a satisfying win, but a loss would have been disheartening.”

In the second game of the weekend, Loyola lost to Rhodes of Memphis, Tenn., 2-1.

The ‘Pack’s lone goal came in the 17th minute, when Diak beat one defender and made the last defender commit to her.

She then passed the ball to Budahn, who put the ball inside the far post.

“I felt like the game could have gone either way,” Therrell said.

“We hit the crossbar on one play; it dropped; we shot again and it hit the crossbar again. Then we hit the crossbar two more times. We had an equal number of shots on goal and more corner kicks.”

Therrell said the team must work on being more compact in the field.

“We need to support one another more so we don’t stretch out. That makes us work harder than we need to. That has a lot to do with fitness and tactics of the game that we need to work on.”

The team plays two games in Clinton, Miss. this weekend before beginning conference play on Wednesday against Spring Hill at the New Orleans Soccer Association fields at the University of New Orleans.

“We always struggle against Spring Hill,” Alford said. “I’m hurting to win. We’re mentally ready for it. The freshmen are ready to be big contributors.”