March 11, 2009
On March 6, LMU men's soccer departed for a nine-day trip to Costa Rica. In addition to playing five matches against local teams, the squad will be visiting orphanages and taking in the sites. Throughout the trip, various players will check in with updates of what they have been up to.
Day 3
3/10/09
Living in California we do not really understand the meaning of the "rainforest", and I emphasize the rain portion. After waking up this morning at 9 AM (finally got to sleep in a little) we walked outside to a nice morning drizzle to breakfast. Soon after breakfast we gathered our stuff, hopped on the bus and drove about a half hour to zipline through the rainforest canopy. Soon after our instructions for the tour began, the real rain started strong and from then on never let up.
As we prepared to start our adventures on the zipline a few Lions were not to sure about the trip and their fear of heights. Vinny, Roland and our very own Mike Erush complained the whole way up whining like three little girls who lost their Barbies. However after the first of ten ziplines these three conquered their fear and went on to have a great day. One of the most emphasized rules by the guide was to not get stuck in the middle of the line or else you have to pull yourself to the platform.
Paul Broome decided not to listen to the guides, therefore getting stuck in the middle of the longest zipline in Costa Rica. He is still hearing about this incident tonight and will be for many years to come. After the zipline we enjoyed a nice lunch and relaxed until our first game against San Carlos.
After having some technical difficulties with the lights, the game began and the rain continued to fall. However, the Lions persevered through the rain and struck first by a brilliant one time goal by
Phil Da Silva followed by a pinpoint through ball by
Artur Jozkowicz. For most of the first half the Lions controlled the flow of the game and struck again with five minutes left. After enduring seven months of treacherous ankle rehabilitation Brock "I only score goals" Smith struck off a
Steffen Canty free kick that was flicked to the back post by
Alex Greenman. During his seven months off of soccer Brock enjoyed many games of Fifa and decided to celebrate in that fashion by doing his "I'm Back, look at me!" celebration. With the momentum on their side, the Lions went into halftime up 2-0. Ten minutes into the second half, the Lions struck again with a goal by
Steffen Canty, off a
Sharif Khatib flick. Following in his roommate's steps, Steffen decided to do his Fifa "samba" and he celebrated with style. With the downpour on both figuratively and literally, the Lions were not done! With five minutes left in the second half,
Brock Smith wanted more! After a lazy pass back by the San Carlos defender,
Brock Smith showed off his weight room skills by out-muscling the goalkeeper with a crunching tackle. Quick to respond Brock hopped on his feet recovered the ball and pounded into the goal to put the icing on the cake. Lions 4 San Carlos 0. The defense came up huge in our game including an eyes closed save by Pat Sampson as he recorded another shutout. Time to go eat dinner. More to come tomorrow from the beaches of Costa Rica.
From room 502
Pura Vida!
- Blayze Hanson
PS. Shout out to Mrs. Smith as she missed her son's first goals as a Lion. (Should have come to Costa Rica)
