Editor’s note: Beau Brooks is a senior midfielder for the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team. The following is his account of the team’s weekend road trip to play games in Connecticut and New Jersey.
The weekend started out right when the bell rang at 2 on Friday afternoon. The whole team gathered its things and piled on the bus by about 2:30 and we were off.
The ride to Connecticut took a little over three hours and we went right to TGI Friday’s. The whole team ate and we were more than pleased with the waitress that was provided. The team was pumped to get to the hotel after some food was in our systems and we all got into our rooms smoothly with no confusion at all.
There after we all went outside on the grass to get the bus legs moving and played some lacrosse until it was dark, which was only about a half an hour. Our curfew was 10:30, we were to all be in our rooms and just laying low and going to sleep soon there after. Until that time however, the team just hung out in each others rooms playing video games and watching the Celtics and Bruins. We all had a good time and a lot of laughs.
The wake up call the next morning (Ed: Saturday, April 25) was at 6:45 a.m., and everyone ate breakfast before quickly getting on the bus. We went right to Fairfield and got ready to play. The warm up was long and gave us time to think about the game. There were mixed feelings about who we were playing, some of us may have thought about it too much and not played our game due to some intimidation.
By the fourth quarter we were down by a lot and then decided to play. We scored four quick goals and forced overtime. We showed a lot of heart and came back strong but lost in overtime; we should have won.
After the game we went into New York City, which took about an hour, and we ate lunch at the ESPN Zone. Coach Cameron was able to bargain 20, one-hour free game cards to the arcade upstairs. This was a huge value and we had a blast; it was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.
After we left the city, we went to another hotel in New Jersey and we were able to just chill for the night. We had an 11 p.m. curfew, and until that time, we all had a great time hanging out. Mr. Astarita ordered Papa Johns and we mowed pizza for dinner that night.
The next morning (Ed: Sunday, April 26), we woke up at 9 a.m. and met St. Joseph’s at mass at 10:30. Even though they forget to mention us, it was a nice service.
When we got back on the bus everyone started to focus on the game for real and we knew it was game time. We came out firing and got a quick three-goal lead. In the second quarter, we got smoked but knew we could come back. We held St. Joe’s to one goal in the second half and played an unbelievable game. We won and it was well deserved.
After a long lunch and a celebration, we piled on the bus to head home. We were all pretty tired and ready to go home. Overall, it was a great weekend and we all appreciate everything that was done to make it possible. We had a great time and it definitely made us stronger as a team.