Ben Mackinnon

Mike Darling

Mike Russo's Ephs got back on track with an easy 7-0 win over Verucchio [Italy] near the San Marino border last Friday night in a game that was decided early in the first half. Williams opened up a 5-0 lead before the break and tacked on two early second half goals. Fading daylight and poor lighting at the field forced the game to be halted short of 90 minutes.

"It was unfortunate we were scheduled to play a team that was, to be quite honest, not very fit," said Russo. Peter Gordon, Peter Houston and Sam Empson each banged in two goals and Mike Darling netted one in the rout that evened the Ephs' record at 2-2 on the trip.

From Verucchio the Ephs headed to Fano on the Adriatic Sea for a one-day mini-tournament where they met up with former Eph assistant coach Pietro Spinosa and tour coordinator Alessandro Crespi. Spinosa previously served as a goalkeeping coach under Russo at the urging of author Joe McGinniss who had chronicled Spinosa's heroics for Italian team Castel di Sangro in his book, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro.

Peter Gordon

Peter Houston

Spinosa's home club is Fano Calcio and the Ephs were paired up with Fano Calcio in the first of their two 45-minute games. The Ephs downed Fano Calcio 2-0 with goals coming from Peter Gordon and Will Whiston. Gordon scored when he beat the keeper after receiving a ball over the top and Whiston cleaned up a rebound off a corner kick.

The Ephs were shutout in their second contest in Fano as Division I Sant 'Orso scored three times. "We played as though we were fatigued and that was disappointing," noted Russo.

On Monday the Ephs closed out their European trip in the AC Cantu Tournament in Como, as they had when they ended their 2004 trip to Italy.

The Ephs squared off against Mariano Calcio in the first contest in a heavy rain and Russo's boys came out on top 1-0 on a great strike by Jay Ingram. Ingram turned a pass from the midfield area into a blast from 20 yards out that just eluded the fingers of the Mariano keeper.

Jay Ingram

Andrew Graham

In host AC Cantu the Ephs found a very strong opponent and it was a battle royal for the entire 45 minutes and the session ended in a scoreless tie, forcing a PK shootout, just like three years ago.

The first four shooters from each side were successful and the Ephs Ryan Pelletier, Peter Gordon, Ben Mackinnon and Will Ford answered each of the first four AC Cantu attempts. On AC Cantu's fifth attempt Eph sophomore keeper Andrew Graham made a save and that set the stage for classmate Peter Houston who calmly stroked in the deciding goal.

Three years earlier Patrick Huffer boomed in a PK as the Ephs also defeated AC Cantu and claimed the tourney title. "It's a good sign," said Russo.

"This was an outstanding trip for us for soccer, culture and sightseeing," stated Russo. "The weather was mostly cooperative, the soccer was good, the sightseeing was spectacular and the hospitality of the Italians was fantastic."