Schools

DGN Soccer Team Goes 2-1-1 in Italy

Fourteen players, two coaches and seven family members spent 10 days in northern and central Italy.

Kicking off the 2011 soccer season in Italy? 

Non c'è male. (Not bad.) 

Two coaches, 14 players and seven family members from the boys soccer team flew 4,000 miles this summer, spending 10 days in central and northern Italy.

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The team played four friendly matches with local Italian clubs who were also preparing for their fall seasons, building a 2-1-1 record over the trip.

Milan, Florence, Rimini, Pisa, Venice and San Marino were all on the itinerary.

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The trip started with training with three national team coaches at the Italian National Team Headquarters in Florence.

From there, the team traveled to Pisa and earned a 2-2 draw with U-17 Polisportiva Palazzi.  Junior Cullen Cummings scored the Trojans' first Italian goal, coming up from his defensive back position to drive home the tally. Down 2-1, the Trojans rallied to tie 2-2 in the final 10 minutes on a goal from Reid Melton.

The team enjoyed their second Italian training session in Rimini the next day with a local youth trainer, Alessandro Crispi. Their second match came a day later in the tiny republic of San Marino where they beat U-18 ASD Verucchio 4-2.

The Trojans were down 0-2 after the first half but struck for four second half goals from Cummings, senior Jordan Munar, senior Mario Lozano, and junior Byron Perez to earn the victory.  

After a couple of days touring Venice and the San Siro stadium in Milan, the Trojans faced local powerhouse U-17 USD Mariano Calcio. The Trojans again mounted a rally from 0-2 down, first tying the match at 3-3, then losing 4-3 in the last two minutes. Forward Cullen Cummings tallied all three goals in the match for the Trojans.    

Downers North finished the trip the next night 3,500 feet up in the Italian Alps in the city of Chiesa versus city U-16 club Polisportiva Valmalenco.  

Gervase said it was the most beautiful setting for a soccer pitch players and coaches had ever witnessed, with majestic mountains reaching 7,000 feet around the new stadium.  

The Trojans opened scoring two minutes in on a corner strike from captain Reid Melton to co-captain Hugo Pacheco.  

The team never looked back, finishing the match 7-2 behind another three-goal outburst from Cullen Cummings and goals from Tyler Boese, Mike Raines and Anthony Nix.

The trip ended July 27 with a white water rafting expedition and the final transfer home via Paris, France.  

The team, which will consist mostly of underclassmen this season took an excellent first step forward, Gervase said. 

Coach Gervase praised the team's ability to put goals on the scoreboard as well as their team play and resilience on this trip, especially the emergence of Cullen Cummings (8 goals) as a definite threat.  Cummings will be a third-year varsity player as a junior this fall having played his supporting role the past two seasons under a strong 2010 senior class (17-5-2) and clearly cashing in on his experiences.  

Gervase said he considers the defensive side of the game to be a main focus for the preseason starting Wednesday, not completely satisfied with the goals given up on the trip and a young new group of defenders to train.

Traveling on the trip were sophomores Jordan Nunez, Jake Maurer; juniors Cullen Cummings, Tyler Boese, Byron Perez, Austin Walker, Reid Melton, Anthony Nix, Mike Raines; seniors Drew Dimos, Garrett Lems, Mario Lozano, Jordan Munar and Hugo Pacheco. The trip was made possible and organized by SoccerTours.net, a Washington DC based tour company.

It was the second international trip for the program. The team’s first was in 2009 to Manchester, England.

Editor's note: Information for this article was provided by Downers Grove North Soccer Coach Brian Gervase. Gervase wrote the recaps of the four matches. 


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