My Favorite Ten Soccer Photos of 2014

This year I shot far less soccer than I did last year. It seemed as if every time that there was a match at Purdue I was booked for the volleyball opponent. I really enjoy shooting soccer so it was fantastic that I was able to cover the Big Ten Soccer Tournament here in West Lafayette. Over the course of three days I was able to make some soccer photos that I really liked. Those three days make up a huge part of this countdown. As I make the lists you can find all of my ‘best of’ lists here.

10. When the Indy Eleven announced that they were going to play an friendly at the Purdue Soccer Complex I knew that I wanted to attend. The idea of shooting professional soccer was very appealing to me. I tried a few different looks to capture the game in a different way. Of course this photo was taken from a familiar position, and it was my favorite of the night.

9. During the first day of the Big Ten Soccer Tournament I made this photo of the Purdue Soccer Complex. The light was absolutely amazing the entire day, and of course the sunset was pretty nice as well. I may not have had better light during a day of shooting than I did during that opening day of the tournament. I could shoot the rest of my life in that light. This was the end of it of course, but it went out with a bang.

8. For some reason I really like this shot that I made on senior night for Purdue. It is not my best soccer photo of the year, but it has a lot of information in it. I was testing out a new camera on the night, and it was a photo like this one that really made me believe that it was for real.

7. I shot a lot of headers this season, but yet again there is just something that I like about this one. I think that it is the strain that you see on both of the players faces. Soccer is an amazingly hard sport to play. You are constantly straining your body it seems like. I don’t know that most people realize that so I try to capture that with my photos.

6. Early this season I made it to the first soccer match for Purdue. The weather was extremely hot, but if the girls could run up and down the field I could certainly stand to make some photos. I loved this photo of two of the freshman girls as they celebrated an early goal. Erika Arkans scored the goal and jumped into the arm of Nicole Robertson. They both scored during the game so it makes it that much cooler to me.

5. Now we get to the top five. I really love this photo from the second game of the Big Ten Tournament. Michelle Manning was a sub during the game, but she scored the game winning goal as the #8 seed Northwestern Wildcats defeated the #1 seed Penn State Nittany Lions. After the game her team lifted her up on their shoulders to celebrate her. I was lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time here.

4. Just before making the photo that was #9 in the countdown I made this photo of Wisconsin goalkeeper Genevieve Richard. Big Ten Gen as her teammates called her was watching the play on the other end of the field as the sun was going down. The Big Ten Goalie of the Year was very well lit by the lights of the stadium so that this photo was possible.

3. People celebrate titles very differently than they used to. After winning the Big Ten Tournament the Wisconsin Badgers celebrated with a selfie. The line was actually much longer with the trophy at the back of it, but I wanted to see the faces so I zoomed in to make this photo. I think the joy would have been lost in what would have amounted to a panoramic photo.

2.  This might be my most technically correct photo from the tournament. After getting enough shots to satisfy my employer I was free to go for it a bit. I moved to midfield with my long lens to try and get closer to the action. I wanted to get some of the action that I was not getting from the end of the field. The only problem is that you really have to be right on as you have very little margin for error. I was very lucky to make this photo as the ball was high enough in the frame to make it work.

1. This photo has stuck with me for some reason. I think that it really summed up the final game for Purdue very well. Sophmore forward Maddy Williams shows her fatigue during the overtime draw against Michigan. I made better photos this year, but this one has really been my favorite.