Last night, the ‘Gladiators Pep Rally’ was held at Trastevere Stadium right before all three of our JCU soccer team’s competed in games – the women’s and men’s 5v5 played against the American University of Rome while our men’s 11v11 team competed against Erasmus in Campus.

We also got to see a performance from our Gladiator mascot and JCU cheerleaders, as they pumped up our players and fans for the game! Overall, it was a great turnout of supporters and we were happy to see so many people cheering on our teams and showing some JCU spirit!

.Before the beginning of all three games, our mascot performed a dance routine with the amazing JCU cheerleaders (and even though it was very cold at the field, our cheerleaders stood strong and were great!) as all of our JCU fans cheered from the stands.

First, the Lady Gladiators won against the American University of Rome by a landslide, winning by at least 9 points (end score was 10-1) and almost every player from the team scoring a point – INCREDIBLE job ladies!!

Our men’s 5v5 futsal team was able to win their game against AUR in the last seconds, winning 3-2 (a terrific goal by Keivan Mollain)

The men’s 11v11 tied against Erasmus in Campus (1-1) Lukas Loishacker scoring the one and only goal, our men’s team gave a great effort though for the entirety of the game!

Marco Iorio, JCU Athletics Coordinator, said about the game,

“I was impressed about the energy that our supporters gave to our teams! It was a fantastic night of sports and this is a good representation of what makes this tournament so unique and special – the fans of JCU, AUR, and Erasmus had a lot of fun and showed a community and sense of pride. Congratulations to all of our players and coaches of last night’s games, and also to the staff members and Gladiators Fan Club that helped in supporting us in this event. A special shout out goes to Keivan Mollain, who has been working incredibly hard since last semester on the field and was able to score the last second winning goal (3-2) against AUR!!”

We’re incredibly proud of all of our JCU staff, players, and fans that came out last night – we hope to see the season continue on as great as it has begun as we go full speed into the official season!

#GoGladiators