Three teams took down the field last night in their respective games, trying to defend our colors at their best.

MEN’S SOCCER
Our Men’s Soccer team started to warm up the engine in a friendly game against an official FIGC team, Poseidon (POS). Despite some important absences in our team, our Gladiators gave an excellent performance, taking home the victory, 2-1.

POS led the first half of the game, gaining the advantage over JCU for 0-1. In the second half, the dynamic of the game changed. Despite the opposing team kept having various opportunities to score, our Gladiators were able to take control of the match, also thanks to an excellent performance of our new goalkeeper Loria.

JCU was then able to tie the result thanks to a headed goal by Donnini; then, Captain Castellani scored an amazing winning goal at his first match after a long break due to an important injury.
And we are really happy to see him back on the field! Welcome back, Cap!

“Overall, it was a good game, and all the players did their best.” coach Concari commented. “We also had many absences for various reasons, and this didn’t allow me to line up the regular team in preparation for our next-Wednesday game against Link Campus.”

“We still have a few things to fix before our next game, but I’m quite satisfied with how the team played tonight, and especially the new players proved really well on the field,” Concari concluded.

Congratulations, Gladiators! Now get your feet back on ground and keep working hard for the beginning of the reprise of the Universities of Rome Championship, where you will have to face an extremely tough opponent!

MVP – Giorgio Castellani

NEXT GAME:
JCU vs LCU|Wednesday, February 19th|9:15pm|Trastevere Stadium

MEN’S 5vs5 SOCCER
Our home field at Trastevere Stadium was also the location of our JCU Men’s 5vs5 Soccer game where our Gladiators had to face a valid opponent, the University of Foro Italico (UFI).

The game ended with a clear victory by UFI for 1-7, but our Gladiators fought and did the best they could, considering that most of our players have very little experience with the Futsal world. UFI, on the contrary, is a solid team with players who have been playing together and in this sport for years.

In the first half, JCU was able to keep up with UFI and contain the opponents’ offensive strategy more compared to the second half where our Gladiators mentally gave in to UFI solid preparation.

JCU Francesco Vigilante goal

“We need to keep working really hard, but I’m already seeing significant improvements in my team, and I’m proud of them regardless of the result of the game,” coach Franceschi pointed out. “We have to work better on trying to keep the focus longer in the game and finalizing the kick in front of the goal post.”

And we know that hard work always pays off in the lonf run, so keep it up, Gladiators!

MVP – Barek Webb

NEXT GAME:
JCU vs LCU|Thursday, February 20th|8:00pm|Trastevere Stadium

COED VOLLEYBALL
After the previous day Universities of Rome Championship kick-off game against UCSC, JCU Coed Volleyball team took the field again last night for another game in the Oroverde Tournament against Icaro Volley (ICV).

The opponents prevailed over JCU, 3-0 [25-18; 25-12; 25-15], but our Gladiators were still able to give an overall decent performance.

The team is growing, and all the players are very committed, so hold tight!

MVP – Sofia Parenti

NEXT GAME:
JCU vs AUR|Tuesday, February 18th|8:00pm|Kennedy Court