Bilal Duckett (left) and Steven Perry (right) pose for a picture during the Scandinavian trip.

Read The Latest Match Report And Blog From The Irish Journey

May 25, 2010

The Notre Dame men’s soccer team currently is on a two-week trip to Sweden and Denmark. Head coach Bobby Clark and certain members of the squad will be checking in with match reports and blogs from their adventures.

Bobby Clark’s match report …

Match #2

FC Copenhagen 0 – Notre Dame 1

On another calm, sunny afternoon in the Danish capital, Notre Dame beat the U21 team from FC Copenhagen thanks to a solitary goal by Jeb Brovsky. The goal was nice piece of unselfish play by Steven Perry who latched onto a lose ball just inside the Danish penalty box. He drew the goalkeeper before passing to Jeb who hit a low shot past a defender scrambling back to the goal.

It was another good performance and although there was only one goal registered Notre Dame controlled the majority of the play with a very solid performance. 20 out of our 21 strong squad managed to see time on the field with Dillon Powers being the exception as he is recovering from tendonitis and perhaps he might get back for a couple of the later games of the trip. It was Brendan King’s first match of the spring and it was just great to see him back on the field. He looked strong and was very obviously happy to be back playing.

One of the interesting things about today’s match was that it was played on a very different type of field-turf pitch. It was turf that had been laid on top of sand and there was also a small percentage of regular grass sown through the plastic turf. This meant that the field played very similarly to a normal grass field and was much less lively than a regular field-turf field. It had the quality of a grass field but the durability and flatness of a plastic field.

Our next game is on Tuesday (May 25) against another Danish team called Naestved so tomorrow we hopefully will get into Malmo to do a little sightseeing.

Greg Klazura’s blog …

May 22

Hugen Tasten means really cool in Danish and that pretty much describes the day. Doc was on the stove once again this time operating the stove with a Scandinavian chef hat. The Swedish pancakes were delectable and got the team juiced for their game against the F.C. Copenhagen U-21’s. F.C. Copenhagen’s facilities were much more impressive than HB Koge’s. F.C. Copenhagen finished at the top of the Danish superliga and will play in the Champion’s League next year. We were ready for a tough match against one of Scandinavia’s top clubs.

The game started well with good pressure and possession by the boys from South Bend. In the 22′ minute Steven Perry intercepted a pass and unselfishly and also uncharacteristically connected a pass to Jeb Brovsky who managed to bounce the ball four times before the ball hit the back of the net. Another highlight from the first half was when Michael Knapp gave a shout out to his Mexican heritage and gave his best flop, almost receiving an Oscar for his unnecessary dive. The half finished with the Irish leading 1-0. Craig Krzyskowski, Andrew Luttrell, Sean McGrath, Danny “Rockytoe” O`Leary, Bob Novak, Eric Tilley, and Kyle Richard all came in during the second half and gave solid performances, locking down the back and creating some good chances. The final result was an extremely positive 1-0 victory for the Irish.

When we arrived back to Maglarp after the game most of the team took advantage of the down time and took a nap, not Craig Krzyskowski and Will Walsh, however, they hit the kicky putty links straight away. It should be noted that Craig “Coach K” Krzyskowski and Will Walsh are the resident kicky putty tour pros.

They create a lot of un-necessary pomp and circumstance by walking with their hands behind their back and even putting on special “tour” jackets and taking pictures after they defeat their teammates. Their focus on the kicky putty links would even put Tiger Woods to shame, don’t worry about infidelity though, there are no girls within 50 km of the course, let alone ones that would be interested in either one of those two.

After some down time we headed to the hometown of our Swedish liaison, Jonas. At his town, Hollviken, we were promised a traditional Swedish meal. We all arrived eager to try some authentic fare and Bill Agnew, our athletic trainer, was anxious to down some Swedish meatballs. We were instead treated to a fantastic steak and potato dinner in a fashionable restaurant. The clothing worn by the other diners made the ND group feel slightly out of place, especially Boss (Bobby Clark) who decided to wear his kilt to dinner. After we were all well fed Boss serenaded the entire restaurant with his own rendition of Chubby Checker’s Let’s Twist Again on the bagpipes. The song was a hit and the entire restaurant erupted in applause and twisting.

After the excitement of the bagpipes the Champion’s League final started and we all gathered around to enjoy the game. The entire restaurant grabbed a pint while we grabbed our waters and watched Inter execute its patented defend and counter attack strategy. Boss kept trying to coach the entire restaurant on how to re-pressure and connect passes but I think his kilt gave him less credibility. After the game we headed home to hit the sack.

When we came outside it was apparent that a dense fog had fallen and the team was slightly anxious about heading deep in to the Swedish countryside late at night in such conditions. We were just about home and BJ (assistant coach BJ Craig) was leading the caravan at a blistering 5 kmph when he missed the turn to our resort. Boss who was right behind him made the turn and shouted out the window, “festina lente BJ, festina lente.” I am not certain but I think I heard BJ cuss for the very first time all the way from Boss’s van as we sped off into the fog. We eventually all arrived safe and sound at Pensionat Maglarp ready to see what the next day would bring……