Last week was an exciting one for JCU Gladiators as almost all of our teams participated in the Rome University Championships. For the first time in our history, our brand new tennis team also participated in the tournament, playing a tough match against Campus Biomedico and losing 3-0, but facing well-trained opponents. Our team is just starting out and Marco Iorio, our Athletics Coordinator, stated that “it was more important to start this new adventure than the result, our players will have time to train and grow”.
On the other hand, the 11-a-side soccer team had a great success with a 4-2 victory against Erasmus, which puts them in fourth place in the standings for now. After going behind in a classic counterattack, after having two clear opportunities, Coach Marian’s team managed to find the equalizer with Giorgio Castellani, who repeated himself two more times in the second half, and together with Lorenzo Goglio’s first goal of the season, he gave us the three points with a splendid hat-trick.
Unfortunately, the male and female 5-a-side soccer teams did not have the same luck. Our girls’ team, under Coach Beatrice Boni, with a limited number of players, had a tough time against Foro Italico, losing 11-1, while Coach Manuel Franceschi’s team was unable to beat the 5-a-side representative of Campus Biomedico. Finally, the volleyball team also played their first game of the semester, losing 3-0 against Roma Tre, fighting until the end, but obviously there is still work to be done on the group considering the many new arrivals.
Tonight, Coach Jose Cano’s basketball team will also play its first game of the semester against the Panthers of the European University… may the best team win!
