The Catholic women's soccer team recently kicked off its international trip to Germany! Tune in all week for updates as the Cardinals blog about their time abroad! 

Day 2-5 Mattigan DiBease

Day Five - Hello again! We are about halfway through our trip, and it is going by so fast. Today, we switched hotels and went a little further into Germany!

We packed and our things and began our journey from the hotel. Our first stop of the day was the Dachau World War II Memorial, which was closer to Munich. Dachau was one of the more prominent concentration camps during Holocaust, and many of the original architecture still exists on the grounds. It was a very heavy and heart-wrenching experience, but it was also very informational as many tend to subdue the true horrors that occurred during these times.

For lunch, we stopped at a small market to try a few snacks, learn to pay for the bathroom, and feed goats! We continued our trip, with a bus ride towards Heidelberg. On our way, we stopped at Rothenburg on der Tauber, a  cobblestone-lined, charming little town. We only spent only an hour there, but it was still enough time to see the medieval architecture and all the cute shops lining the street.

After two hours of the team playing games on the bus, our final destination of the day was reached: our hotel! Our new hotel is rustic and authentic, and gives a picture-perfect view into German lifestyle. Our dinner was amazing, and soon the team headed up to head to prepare for the next day.

Although the travel was long today, the team made it go by fast! I am so lucky to have a team that makes traveling far away so enjoyable!

Until tomorrow,
Mattigan DiBease (Class of 2025)

Day Four - Another day in Germany, another success! Today, we visited the amazing Neuschwanstein Castle in Füssen. The journey was far, but so worth it.

The Neuschwanstein Castle is dubbed as "the Disney castle", as its structure inspired the castle we all see on the logo! Once we arrived, we began the (very) long ascent to the top, where the castle resides. Once up top, the team continued on to the side, where there was a beautiful (and terrifying) bridge that gave a whole view of the castle and villages below. It was indescribable; one of the most amazing views I've ever seen.

After a pretzel break, the team then took a tour of the inside of the castle. We learned of its history, and got to view many of the restored rooms! The walk downhill was much easier, and we got some free time to shop and eat in Füssen, the village below.

Once we were done our excursion, we continued on to our second game of the trip! This time, we played MTV Dießen on a field right by the water! The game was so enjoyable, and I cannot stress enough how cool it is to play in another country. The team looked amazing, and spirits were high. We won the game 3-0, with amazing goals from junior AJ Hudock, sophomore Emily Longenderfer, and sophomore Peyton Coron! MTV Dießen was a lovely team, and they had many fans that came to support (many of whom scored penalty kicks on junior Maeve Graham ).

Afterwards, a few girls decided to jump in the lake to cool off! The sunset was breathtaking. We went to the club restaurant for a quick dinner, and we began our journey back to the hotel.

I am so incredibly lucky to experience this trip with my team, some of my best friends. I am so proud of the way we respect our opponents and how hard we are working despite the different conditions we are facing in a foreign country. I am so blessed to be here!

See you tomorrow when Catholic Women's Soccer continues their German tour!

Until Then,
Mattigan DiBease (Class of 2025)

Day Three

Hello all! Today was another busy, jam-packed day in Germany. This time, the Catholic University Women's Soccer Team explored what Munich had to offer. After yet another breakfast at our hotel, we got a light practice session in, getting ready for our second match tomorrow! We went back to the hotel shortly afterwards, showered, and got lunch at the biergarten near the practice field.

We were then on our way to one of our main events of the day: the tour of Allianz Arena. Allianz is one of the most recognizable soccer stadiums in the world, with its giant balloon-like structure towering in the air. We learned that the stadium is equipped to light up in over 16 million colors in the night time! The team was able to see F.C. Bayern Munich's home field up close, getting to tour both the field and the behind-the-scenes rooms.

After the stadium tour, we headed to the center of Munich for another walking tour. Our tour guide, Markus, was very lively and provided us many quick historical facts along the way. Munich is unlike any city I've ever seen before; it is a young and vibrant city, yet it has so much history attached to it. Some of the most memorable stops on the tour were the English Garden (that held a river where people actually surfed!), the Marien Plazt a beautiful church in the heart of the city), and the Hofbrähause, a 3 floor beer house dating back many centuries. While the city had many stunning sites, we were reminded on the tour of the devastating history with which it is associated. Munich was where the Nazi party was formed, and while the Germans acknowledge their history, the emphasize their shame and commemorate those they lost in many beautiful ways in the city.

Lastly, we were given a few hours of free time to explore on our own. The team split up and we all wandered the streets of Munich. Many of us found ourselves in the beer garden, getting soft pretzels bigger than our heads! Others shopped, and others just roamed the city, seeing all that the fourth largest city in Germany had to offer.

It was a very educational day, and I had a blast! Looking forward to tomorrow's activities and game!

See you soon,
Mattigan DiBease (Class of 2025)

Day Two

Hello and greetings from both Germany AND Austria during Catholic Women's Soccer's trip abroad! Today was our first full day overseas, and it was certainly jam-packed.

We first were given a complimentary breakfast at our hotel in Munich, but soon after we were on our way to Austria! The bus ride may have been long (2 hours), but it was definitely worth it! The city of Salzburg was beautiful, even if the team viewed it in bad weather. We braved the cold (rain jackets were a must today!) and set out to tour the historic land. The team split up, with parents going with one tour guide and the team with the other; Claudia, our lovely tour guide, gave us an insightful look at the medieval history and the baroque architecture Salzburg has to offer.

Our tour included many interesting sights, including the Makartsteg Bridge (or Love Lock Bridge), St. Peter's Church (with the oldest restaurant in the world, St. Peter Stiftskeller, right next door), and, my personal favorite, Mirabell Palace. In the gardens of the palace there are many different flowers and statues depicting Greek myths surrounding a fountain. It also happens to be where the classic The Sound of Music was filmed! The film takes place in Salzburg, and many of the shots were actually taken in real places we visited today. Salzburg is also known for being the birthplace of Mozart (yes, THE Mozart), and the team got to see his birth home as well as many different landmarks related to the composer.

After a bit of free time in the Getreidegasse, the city's old cobblestone streets, the team got to take the cogwheel railway all the way up to Fortress Hohensalzburg. The old fortress had a stunning view of the city, and we all took the time to walk around the area to visit the museum and take a look at different objects that were a long, long time ago.

Next was the event you have all been waiting for: our first game abroad! After our time in the city, we drove a bit to the outskirts of Salzburg to match up against F.C. Bergheim. The field was muddy and it was pouring rain, but nevertheless we persisted! I can speak for the whole team in saying that we have never quite played in a storm like that before, so it was certainly a different experience. Our opponents were very kind (and VERY tall), and overall they were a great team to play against! Senior Jordan Siok and junior Isabella DeAvila put up 2 amazing goals (Jordan's was 40 seconds in!), however F.C. Bergheim took the win. After a quick dinner at the club restaurant, we began our journey back.

We may have been dripping wet and a bit cold on the ride back, but we are in high spirits for tomorrow's eventful day in Munich. It felt great to play again, and we look forward to the rest of our trip!

Until tomorrow,
Mattigan DiBease (Class of 2025)

Day One - Travel | Casey Sommers

The first day of our trip was quite an adventure.  We are fortunate to have a campus with a metro stop so we traveled quickly to Dulles airport with only one hiccup caused by yours truly lol. First test for our travel party of 34, was when I yelled for everyone to get on the wrong train and then quickly yelled for everyone to get off.  Luckily our group moved with great efficiency and we all made it off safely (phew ) and arrived to airport on time. 

Next hurdle... the weather. Crazy D.C. storms rolled in as soon as we boarded so we sat on the plane for 4 hours. We remained in good spirits and Jordan (Siok) even made some friends in first class haha. We finally departed around 10pm with an extended route north to try and fly out of the path of the storm but that didn't work too well. Long flight with lots of turbulence and no sleep for any of us but so happy to make ground in London.
Shout out to British Airways staff for making the layover/transfer/rebooking process for us so easy!

24 hours after we departed D.C. we all boarded smaller plan to Munich!! Thankfully on this flight we all passed out before the plane even took off, two hour power naps all around. We checked into hotel, had a 15 minute turnaround and off to practice we went. Beautiful facility and weather (no humidity YAY!) and smell of amazing perfectly manicured grass. We got in a light session and then our first meal at the soccer club.

Back to hotel for early good night sleep to be rested for first game day in Salzburg!

Tune in for a day 2 recap with Junior Mattigan DiBease!