Tyresö FF, Birthday, and Farewell...sort of...

An early 7 am wake up this morning for our second game against Tyreso FF. Of course, we were totally okay with waking up at that hour because that meant one thing: breakfast. Making sure not to eat too much before the game, but definitely eating enough, we left around 8:30. Mike was ready to load the bus and we had our game face on. Not sure what competition to expect as they had been warned not to underestimate us from the first team we played. We had heard that this team was better than the last, but we were ready for anything. The drive to the field consisted of Emily singing some Hannah Montana while the rest of us either tried to ignore her or sing along. We arrived to the field, put on our gear, and got ready. Warm up was serious and focused, making sure we were on our toes and breaking a sweat. Finally, it was game time. Wearing all white, we stepped onto the field and the game was underway. The first 20 minutes were played pretty close but by halftime we were up 6-2, and it ended 11-2!! We had goals from Emily Jorgens (3), Hannah (2), Michelle (2), Maggie (1), and Kelsey (3). Needless to say, we were pretty excited! Also today was Lance's birthday so it was a great present for him. Once we mingled with the other team for a little bit and took a picture, we were off to the hotel to shower and have some free time before our farewell dinner that night. Some of us went shopping for gifts and souvenirs for friends and family back home while others went to Stockholm's beautiful Vasa Museum. After a couple hours of walking around the busy scene of Stockholm, with sore feet, we headed back to the hotel to rest and get ready dinner that night. Our tour guide had picked an amazing place for this dinner located right next to the docks on the Baltic Sea (where we took amazing pictures with a beautiful sunset background... although some hooligans on jetskis tried to splash us!!). This restaurant was (in my opinion) the best restaurant we went to all trip. We had the choice of chicken, beef or salmon and I think that was the best salmon I've ever had...and I'm a picky eater when it comes to fish. To end the dinner, we had rich ice cream and strawberries, while singing a very, very Happy Birthday to our awesome coach, Lance. After that, Gary Donnan administered the "butt bump," a Canadian tradition where you bounce the birthday person on their bottom the number of times equal to their age. A whole 29 times for Lance! ;) We slowly made our way to the bus, not quite ready to leave the amazing sunset setting over the Baltic Sea. We eventually made it back to the hotel, singing Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls (thanks to Owens iPod) the entire way! :) Tomorrow we'll be attending the Euro Cup Final, Germany vs. Norway! How sweet is that?! -Robin Lipinski, sophomore

Adventures in Stockholm

We began today with a leisurely morning - we slept in until around 10am and then moseyed downstairs to enjoy our favorite event, the Scandic's breakfast buffet. Judging by the fact that most of our plates contained either a swedish pancake, croissant, or piece of toast covered in Nutella, I'd say we were pretty content. Once the feast was over and after a little downtime, we all piled onto the bus to head to a local soccer field for practice. We're not making very much use of our warm clothing here - it was around 29 degrees Celsius (84 F) at the field! As we worked on shadow play and some crossing and finishing, Ava watched from afar, but as soon as practice was over, she was ready to show us her stuff. Dribbling around with a ball half her body size, she made her way towards the goal. Once she got there, she turned around right at the goal line and ran the other way! We concluded that she's destined to be a defender, following in her dad's footsteps. Cool-down completed, we headed back to the Scandic for a quick shower and lunch. Several of us experienced Swede-Mex at a nearby restaurant called Zócalo, which had quite a different flavor than the Tex-Mex that we're accustomed to. Others grabbed salads and sandwiches at Sandy's or falafel pitas at the Kebab restaurant on the corner. At 5 o'clock, we ventured to the dock for a 2-hour boat tour of Stockholm. As we cruised around the waterways of the city, we saw lots of historical buildings, sized up the roller coasters of the Gröna Lund amusement park, experimented with the 9 language settings on the tour headphones, and chatted amongst ourselves... And we took tons of pictures the whole time (selfies included), as usual. After one final group photo upon our return to the dock, we all split up for dinner. Many of us ended up in a cool park area, complete with bronze lion statues, a dozen little open-air cafes, and a big fountain dotted with barefoot children wading in the water. Stomachs full, we strolled back to the hotel in small groups and got in bed pretty quickly - with a 7am wakeup time and a 10am game, we need to get some good sleep! -Jenni White, senior

Sverige: Road to the UEFA Women's Euro Cup

Reluctantly rising a bit earlier than expected the team huddled in the lobby prepared to take a light jog and stretch before a long day of travel by bus. Perhaps not the healthiest choice before a jog the team partook in some complimentary fruit flavored taffy in the lobby. Sneaking one or two extra in his pocket we turned our heads as Lance finished off the bowl. Heading out the door we walked towards the beach (the destination for our run) in weather... Slightly more gloomy than we had been used to. We welcomed it, though, as we quickly worked up a sweat while enjoying our morning stroll. Perhaps thirty minutes into our walk we realized the beach wasn't as close as we had origionally anticipated it to be. Stopping to ask an assumed local where the beach was we were assured that it was just up ahead. Finally rounding a bend and hushing our whiny inner teenager we arrived on the cool beach. Being that the walk was longer than expected Lance gave us the option to turn and head back, or to take a short jog along the shore. Although a little sore and a little tired we all agreed that we wouldn't pass on the opportunity to get our toes in the sand. Hurdling over holes dug in the beach and avoiding the questionable seaweed we jogged until coming to the mutual decision to stop and stretch. Making our way back to the entrance of the beach the thought of breakfast lingered on our minds. Our leisurely jog quickened to a run cutting our travel time down at least fifteen minutes, barely beating the rain. After a hardy breakfast and an hour wait in the lobby we loaded up onto the bus, destination: Norrköping. Drifting in and out of sleep the team transpired between dreamland and the beautiful country view just out the bus windows. Perhaps two hours of travel time under our belts we stopped for a pit stop at a small candy/souvenir shop. Walking in we stared in awe as a woman hand wrapped supersized candy canes. Countless favors of hard candy and odd sculptures of trolls put smiles on our road weary faces. Hopping back onto the bus it was a short thirty minute drive to our lunch which consisted of spaghetti and rolls. With full bellies and the rapidly growing excitement of the anticipation of the game we finally made it to Norrköping. As usual we were a comfortable two hours early which allowed us to stop at a tent vendor and make some game day purchases. Although Sweden was unfortunately knocked out the round before, the girls were still inclined to support the Swedish yellow and blue. The majority of us purchasing a scarf and even a t-shirt to commemorate this once in a lifetime experience. With still a good amount of time to kill before kick off we split off into groups in search of an afternoon latte and some ice cream. Regrouping after finding our preferred snack the girls sat and indulged in the their treats overlooking the river running through the center of town and feeling the light trickle of rain. As kick off grew near horns and bells started to make their debut as diehard fans sported their teams colors and headed for the stadium. Circling the stadium to arrive at our designated entrance we walk in to find, perhaps the most beautiful field I've ever seen. Redone speciafically for the euro cup we were practically drooling over the presteine condition of the pitch. Making our way down to the front row, many of us peered over the railing, a mere 10 feet from the side line. As Denmark and Norway emerged from the locker room we were surprised to see that they weren't as big as we thought they would be. Most of them no bigger than any of us. It wasn't until they began to demonstrate their speed and precision on and off the ball that it we began to witness their masked talent. Constantly moving and showing for the ball the Denmark team, in particular, seemed to work as one organism. Anticipating each others moves as if having done so since birth. Gearing up for kick off we made our way to our seats. Opening ceremonies began and the crowd roared. Standing for both the Demark and Norway national anthem, you could see the pride on the faces of the players. As the whistle blew the game began at a moderate pace. Denmark seemed to have the upper hand possession wise but it was Norway with an early goal, two minutes in off a corner. Denmark certainly was in control and had the majority of the ball the remainder of the half, but it still ended Denmark trailing Norway 1-0. As the second half began you could see Denmark trying to move the ball a bit more quickly, uneasy with the score. With less than 5 minutes remaining Denmark was able to draw a foul just at the bottom the of circle on their offensive half. The ball came in and was hit off a Denmark player away from the goal only to be met with another header, by number 6, finally finding the back of the net. Overtime. Both teams had dangerous chances, numbers 17 and 11 both bringing a huge edge to the Denmark team (easy to see who we were rooting for). After another thirty minutes of play the game was still stuck at a draw, pks would determine the winner. Denmark shot first and the Norway keeper made a fantastic save, putting her team in the lead. Norways sunk their shot and another Denmark shot was saved. Finally Denmarks' number 17 was able to put her shot away, triumphantly pointing at the Norway keeper. Both the next two shooters made their shots but Norways 4th shooter sealed the deal and Norway came away with the victory. While extremely disappointed the Danes handled their loss with class. Drained from the excitement of the game we loaded back onto the bus. Arriving at our hotel at about 2:30 am we managed to get ourselves up into bed. An incredible experience and a wonderful day! Riah Risk- Junior

Tylösand Beach

After a late night following our game, we had some time to sleep in and catch up on some rest in the morning before testing out the breakfast at the new hotel. While it wasn't quite as big as the last hotel, we're learning that breakfast is a big meal here in Sweden, and we're definitely taking advantage of it!

After filling up on breakfast, we loaded the bus and headed to the beautiful beach in Tylösand. We all immediately went running into the water when we got there, which was freezing! Even our tour guide Adam wouldn't stay in the water, but it wasn't bad once we all dove in head first and got used to the cold. A day at the beach wouldn't be complete without some beach soccer, of course. We started out with a small juggling circle, which quickly grew to the whole team. There was a rule that after 2 strikes you were out, but that didn't stop Frank from rejoining the circle under different identities.

We all got some lunch while we were there, and some even got lunch delivered by the "bagge man" who walks around the beach selling baguette sandwiches. And from what I hear, I missed some intense 3v3 on the beach while I was at lunch. The field lines drawn in the sand and the goals made out of sandals were very official though, I'm sure. After deciding to extend our stay a little bit, we caught the beginning of a live concert by a local band called the StruckyLikes where we discovered they enjoy a lot of popular music from America over here. We heard a wide variety of our favorite songs, albeit with a slight accent.

After getting back from the beach, we arranged a dinner at the hotel so we could all eat and watch the Euro semifinal between Sweden and Germany together. The hotel bought the channel airing the game just for us! How great is that?? We were all very thankful and thoroughly enjoyed watching the game together projected on the big screen. And although we were hoping for a Swedish victory so we could see them in the final, we are still excited to be able to see some of the best women's teams in the world compete.

We're getting ready to depart to the other semifinal between Norway and Denmark before continuing on to Stockholm for the rest of the trip. As you can tell, we are all having a blast over here and can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of the trip. More details from our Euro adventure soon to come!

-Shelby Guenthardt, Senior