Champions!

The morning started out with a breakfast class, in which we listened to our final presentations and starting tying the course all together. One more on ground class tomorrow before our farewell dinner.

Today was spent in Como, the hometown of our tour guide Elena. She graciously offered to show us around and for about an hour we learned about the history of the city and some of its buildings. Then we spent the afternoon discovering 

the hidden gems of Como and enjoying lunch at 

one of the many lakeside cafes. 

 

Some of the guys rented pedal boats and raced around a small inlet at the bottom of the lake. It was a great way to see some of the beautiful villas located along the lake shore. Dr's Pelosi and Walker were hoping to be treated to a gelato by George Clooney, who has a villa overlooking the lake. Some shopped for silk, which is a main industry of Como, while others stumbled upon a McDonald's and got a taste of home.

After rejoining the group, we headed back to the hotel to gear up for the final games of our trip. The final contest consisted of a three team tournament, The Golden Bears and two local soccer clubs.

Before the start of the first match, our own celebrity coach, Erin Sullivan, was interviewed by a local tv news reporter. In the first match, the Golden Bears came out strong with Alex Rosario scoring an early goal. After back and forth play, it turns out that was all the team needed to notch their first victory of the evening. 

In their second match, in front of a full house, the Golden Bears announced their presence with authority when Shawn DaCruz netted a beautiful goal. They then fortified their defense, ensuring a shutout and the victory. Sophomore Domenic Villano provided great leadership in the goal, making several crucial saves.

Post game there was a trophy presentation ceremony and Western New England walked away with the large first place cup. We have yet to determine how it will be returning to the States. The local club officials posed for photos and also provided a watermelon feast. This is the first WNE Soccer Team to leave Europe with a winning record (3-2-1). 

Upon our return to the hotel, we had dinner and then sadly said goodbye to our tour guide Elena, who unfortunately had to leave us a day early. We are looking forward to our last day in Europe before we head home and as we realized our trip was coming to a conclusion here are some of our thoughts...

THINGS WE MISS ABOUT THE UNITED STATES:

Dunkin Donuts

Breakfast with COLD milk

Smoke free stadiums (smoke free EVERYTHING)

Sports Center

Easy access laundry

American hairdryers

Free Wifi

Cell phones and texting

Our own beds (not changing hotels every night)

THINGS WE WILL MISS ABOUT EUROPE:

Masi and Elena (our tour guide and bus driver)

Speaking different languages (in some cases really badly)

Coffee with the coaches

Coach Lusignan's daily head counts

Exploring a new city every day

Coach Dias' singing

Sky Sports Broadcasts with A.J. and Nick

Andy Tucker's impressions

Environmental consciousness

Key master Steve Croft

Gelato

True Renaissance man and math wizard, Jim Mapes

Good pizza

Late night blog meetings with Mike Breault, Austin Santolini, Andy Tucker, and John Walker

Bike tours

Daily witticisms and dry humor from our trainer Mike Vallee

Each others company