Mustangs Return from Preseason Trip to Germany with Worldwide View Tour Organized By: Excel International Sports
The Stevenson Men's soccer team recently returned to the United States after a successful summer trip to Germany and the Netherlands. Over the course of the 10-day excursion, the Mustangs played four games, picking up a victory and a draw against European competition along the way. But the soccer was not the overall goal of the trip. "It was a great trip for our team and our guys had some fun," said head coach John Plevyak, who is starting his eighth year with the program. "We really tried to give the team some cultural experiences and I think we accomplished that with taking the canal tour in Amsterdam and visiting the German Sport Museum." During the team's trip to Europe, the Mustangs first traveled to Dusseldorf, Germany (www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-5373-mercure-hotel-duesseldorf-citycenter/index.shtml), taking on the youth squad from FC Dusseldorf (www.bv04.com) and also VFL Leverkusen (http://vflleverkusen.de) winning the latter match, 3-0. In addition, the SU squad took a tour of the Espirit Arena, a 55,000-seat arena used by the senior FC Dusseldorf team during its Bundesliga campaign. "Our goal was to broaden the students' knowledge of the world outside of the United States," Plevyak reflected. "After our two games in Germany we had a two hour casual dinner with the other team which really gave our guys a chance to see how people around the world live. In addition, the Stevenson team had a chance to visit Cologne, a city founded by the Romans in 38 BC, and tour the cathedral in the city. The Mustangs next moved on to Holland (www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-5140-ibis-amsterdamcity-west/media.shtml) where they faced Velserooder Sport Vereniging (http://www.vsvnet.nl/), earning a 1-1 draw, before dropping a 3-1 decision to ASC Waterwijk (www.waterwijk.nl). Following the games, the team once again viewed the next level, touring the Amsterdam Arena, home of four-time European champions Ajax, before watching Jong Ajax play. Tour Organized By: Excel International Sports www.EuroSoccerTours.net 410-489-2287