Second-round semifinals of the Universities of Rome Championship took place last night for our Womem’s 5on5 Soccer and Men’s 5on5 Soccer teams. At the same time, our Men’s Basketball team played an away game in the UISP tournament.

WOMEN’S 5on5 SOCCER
Our Women’s 5on5 Soccer team is simply unstoppable. With a crushing 12-0 victory against The American University of Rome (AUR), our Lady Gladiators confirmed their outstanding talent and teamwork and earned the pass to the Finals.

The game took on a similar form to the previous one. JCU immeditaley set a too dynamic pace that was hard to control for the opponents who had to surrender to our ladies’ plays and moves.

“We dominated the game since the very first minutes,” Mister Farina pointed out. “We actually ended up committing even too many mistakes in defense at certain point due to a slight shallow approach from our side. But it was understandable since the other team didn’t give us much trouble.”

Every one on the team contributed to the victory and had the chance to play, also finding the opponents’ goal post with Keil (4), Moulton (2), Cunningham (2), Fantauzzi (1), Luvisotti (1), Fox (1), Thompson (1).

Katelynn Cunningham #14 Goal

Congrats, Gladiators! We are really proud of you! Now work hard and focus on the Finals!

The appointment is on Wednesday, April 17 at 9:30 pm at Cotral Stadium. Our Lady Gladiators will have to face the University of Foro Italico, and they will need to give their best in order to take home their 3rd Championship Title, which was actually won by UFI last year.

MVP – Andrea Fox

MEN’S 5on5 SOCCER
Contrary to last-Monday game where our Men’s 5on5 Soccer team suffered a heavy defeat against the University of Foro Italico (UFI), last night, our Gladiators were able to play a better game, also aided by former captain Marco Fortuna.

The game ended 10-5 in favor of UFI. JCU was able, this time, to punch the opponents’ goal post with 5 scores thanks to a significant hat-trick from our forward Palazzi and two outstanding goals from Cattaneo, one realized with an impressive air-kick helped by Fortuna‘s cross.

First half saw a quite balanced game with UFI taking the lead but JCU constantly tailing the opponents. At the end of the first half, the temporary result was 3-2 for UFI, a result that boded well for JCU.

In the second half, UFI kept scoring and took a remarkable gap from JCU, who was still able to score other three goals.

“We played against a strong team,” Mister Franceschi commented. ” We tried our best, but luck wasn’t really on our side for this semifinals. We had many absences and injured players, so we came down to the field with only six palyers, and that didn’t even give me the possibility to make change. It is normal to lose energy when you have to play all the game at that pace. For this reason, we also wasted many important goal occasions.”

Despite the result, we are still proud of you because you showed us that you are not quitter, and you can fight even against all odds.

“For what it’s worth, I am happy with how they played, especially Palazzi” Franceschi concluded. “Barone and Cattaneo also did a great a job, and our goalie Monzani gave an excellent performance! Now let’s go try get this 3rd place!”

On Wednesday, April 17, our Gladiators will still have a chance to fight for the 3rd place in the tournament ranking. Appointment is at 8:30 pm at Cotral Stadium! Be ready!

MVP – Andrea Palazzi

MEN’S BASKETBALL
While our 5on5 Soccer teams were playing their semifinals, our Men’s Basketball team was facing a tough game against Boys90.

It was a very intense game against a very strong team, which won over our Gladiators, 68-57. However, JCU played a good game and didn’t make it easy for the opponents to get the victory.

JCU immediately gained the upper hand and closed the first quarter with a 17-18 win thanks to some excellent offensive solutions from Morrisroe and Audley.

In the second quarter, JCU started confident enough to take home the victory, but due to less well-thought plays and a less efficient defense, our team lost the advantage, giving the opportunity to Boys90 to overturn the result. The second quarter ended with a partial result of 23-9 for the opponents.

The third quarter was head-to-head. JCU came back to the field with willingness to react and defend better to the detriment, though, of collecting too many fouls. JCU closed the third quarter with a 15-18 win.

The fourth quarter was a sort of replica of the previous one. The fact that JCU had an inferior number of players compared to the opposing team caused our Gladiators to suffer more during the game. Plus, the expulsion of Mobley and Audley forced JCU to play with only four players in the field during the last minutes of the game. The fourth quarter ended 14-13 for Boys90.

Despite our Gladiators showed to be really determined to win the game, they could not bridge the score gap, and Boys90 were able to maintain the advantage, also scoring significant three-pointers.

“Except for a few mistakes, we played well. They were a really strong and organized team, but considering the fact that we were only six on the oponents’ home turf, we defended well. The opposing team still had to work hard to win,” Mister Serraino pointed out.

Good job, Gladiators! You cannot always win! But there is an important game next week that you will absolutely have to win! And we are talking about the Universities of Rome Championship BK3 Finals.

At the moment, JCU seats in 2nd place, but it will be a tough game with all the teams wanting to get the victory! Final Day is on Monday, April 15 at 8:30 pm at Palatorrino! Be ready, Gladiators!

MVP – Luke Morrisroe (Top Scorer of the game with a game-high of 36 points)