Our
last day in Italy wasn’t quite what we expected. After hitting the road early,
our bus came to what we thought was a normal stop two hours into the four hour
drive to Milan. We exited the bus to use the restroom, stretch our legs, and
check out the convenience stores. Word began to get around that our bus was
having mechanical issues. Horrible traveling luck struck the Emory Women’s
Soccer team once again. When our bus broke down in Virginia at a rest stop this
fall, we knew it was the first, but we soon came to learn that it definitely
wasn’t our last. The only redeeming part about the bus breaking down this time
around was that we didn’t have to run agilities around the rest stop as we had
a game later that evening. We hung out in the parking lot and inside of the
convenience stores, which luckily had seating area. Many of us played cards or
caught up on the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy. Luckily there was semi-decent
sandwiches at these rest stops so we were able to have something sort of
substantial for lunch, although that’s not saying much.
After
three hours, the replacement bus came and we bid farewell to Danielo as we
departed the place of our temporary respite. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to
travel into Milan because of this debacle. Though we were disappointed, we
still had our final game to look forward to later that evening. After one more
rest stop and a few more hours on the road, we arrived at the location where
the team was to eat their pregame meal. We tossed our bags in a holding room
and proceeded to the dining area. The self-serve buffet was certainly a morale
booster. Salad, cooked veggies, potatoes, bread, pasta, and chicken lined the
table cloth coated tables for us to choose from. We fueled up and waited for
Danielo’s arrival so we could head to our game. During this down time we
rearranged some bags, and were happy to see that our uniforms survived their
washing at an Italian Laundromat.
We
suited up, geared up, and drove 20 minutes to the location of our game. I think
I can speak for our entire time when I say that we have never played in a
location as beautiful as this one. The field was settled in a valley and
flanked on one side by three distinct mountains. Though our game in California
versus Redlands had a beautiful backdrop, this one definitely blew it out of
the water. Following the warm up, run out, and pregame cheer, we began the
match. It has been great to see our play improve throughout the entirety of the
trip. This by far was the game in which we played the best. Though we went down
early 0-1 when they scored off a breakaway that rebounded off of my first save,
we came back strong and were able to put in a goal literally in the last few
seconds of the first half. Claudia bent a ball in from a corner on the left
side, and through a scrum of players it got slotted into the left side netting.
This definitely shifted the momentum in our favor as the first half drew to a
close.
In
the second half we saw a lot of strong possession and movement of the ball to
both sides of the field. We took advantage of our speed on our flanks and were
able to oftentimes break through and get a cross off. We secured two more goals
and came back to “get the dub” and victory in our last game. Our cheers of
“ole, ole ole ole” (led by Caroline Coates) reverberated throughout the field
as we came together as a team following the game. In great spirits, we bussed
to our final hotel location for our last night in Italy. We couldn’t believe
that it was already our last night. We had seen so many cities and done so many
things in our nine days in Italy. Arriving at the hotel around 11:30 PM, room
keys were sorted out and Coates gave a meaningful speech to the team about her
time with us. Not going to lie, I had to hold back tears…and I’m pretty sure I
saw Charlotte (Butker) tearing up out of the corner of my eye. We also had
debriefing talks from Charlotte (XL Travel) and Sarah, who has been incredibly
helpful and great with us the entire trip. As the rest of the time celebrated
together in the lounge area of the hotel, I spent the rest of my evening doing
final packing preparations as I was catching a cab at 5:00 AM to head to the
airport for my London departure. The team had a great time relaxing after a
successful game and an amazing time in Italy. It was time for one last buona
sera before our journeys back to the States, other locations in Italy to
travel, or myself who headed to London for my study abroad program. We truly
did Eagle Reign on Italy. Grazie mille for following my blog about Italy!
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