PARKLAND – As the Pacific Lutheran men's and women's soccer teams returned home from their 10-day trip to England earlier this week, Lutes Mike Arguello and Bennett Bugbee wrote one final piece to recap the last few days of the experience:
"Thursday got off to a quick start getting to tour Old Trafford, the stadium of Manchester United, one of the most famous clubs in the world. With a few of us being Liverpool fans, mixed emotions were swirling, but the sheer size and history of the stadium and the tour guide made it a truly memorable experience. He took us into rooms boyhood Man U fans dream of.
After the tour we got the day to ourselves in Manchester. Luckily, a couple blocks away from our hotel was the National Football Museum filled with memorabilia ranging from pictures of players in WWII to the ball from a World Cup-winning goal. There could've been countless hours spent in there, but those of us who went left a bit earlier so we could experience the city of Manchester like the rest of the team. With the Man City, Nike and Adidas stores within a couple of blocks of each other, we could've spent all day in Manchester, but we had an early bus ride to London where we played our final game of the trip against Hayes and Yeading FC.
The format of the game was a bit unusual with 30 min thirds. That did not bother us, especially Eddie Na, who had a hat trick by the end of the first period with goals coming from run of play and one from the penalty spot. The next goal was scored by Joel Frykholm on a long ball over the top from Todd Hoagland that ended with Joel rounding the keeper and putting it into the empty net. The fifth and final goal for PLU came off a long ball from KC Phillips to Bennett Bugbee, who held off a couple defenders in the box and laid it off to Diego Aceves, who smashed it low to the near post through traffic. The goal scored against the PLU men's team was actually an own-goal, and it was one heck of one at that. The ball bounced off defender Aaron Baumgardner into the undefendable upper 90. The game provided a great glimpse as to what our team is capable of in the upcoming season, and gave us all the confidence needed to go into season with the goal of winning the conference.
The following day we stopped by the Queens Park Rangers training facility to get our last training session in for the trip, and the fields were flawless. They almost looked as good as the millions of dollars worth of exotic cars that flooded the parking lot leading into the training grounds. When the last training was over, we hopped on the bus and drove to London. Our first stop was The Emirates, home to football powerhouse Arsenal FC. With many of the players being diehard Gunner fans this stop looked more like kids in a candy store rather than college athletes visiting a stadium.
After a self-guided tour of the beautiful grounds the team hopped back on the bus and rode over to watch Chelsea FC take on Swansea FC in the their first home game of the 2015 BPL season. The game proved to be an exciting one with a total of four goals, two for each side leaving the game in a draw. Swansea tied the game in the second half after a red card was issued to Chelsea's starting goalkeeper leaving them with 10 men. After the game was finished the team enjoyed a nice walk back to the hotel through the streets of London.
Sunday proved to be the tourist day for both the men's and women's teams. A few went to see more Premier League action, some going to Arsenal vs. West Ham and my dad and I (Bennett) went up to Stoke-on-Trent to watch our team, Liverpool. Those who went to London traveled by boat with the first destination being Big Ben, and it was just as beautiful as the pictures. There were hundreds of tourists flocking around the clock tower, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the marvel.
The next stop on the trip through London was the notorious Lillywhites. The store was massive, housing five floors, each with a different theme. Anything from running shoes to football cleats to team jerseys, Lillywhites had it all. The final stop on the tour was Buckingham Palace, home of the Queen. Unfortunately she was not home when we arrived, but that didn't take away any of the effect, the palace was simply breathtaking. After we left the palace we went out to our final dinner of the trip and it was a very special one. With help from our coaches, our tour guides Shawn and Luke gave out awards to various members of both teams. When we were all finished, the team returned to the hotel and began packing as we faced an early departure for the airport the next morning. All in all both teams finished with winning records and grew as not only players on the field but as young adults. Both teams grew closer together as one Lute family, ready to return to the states and win a conference title for our school."
