Day 19: USA vs. Holland VHC and World Cup!

The morning began with a friendly match against Holland VHC, in their home gym. It had been a close match in the tournament, but this time there would be 30 minute halves and an actual half-time. The WNT was hoping that this match would produce a final win on the tour.

The game began well for the WNT, who were up most of the first half, and finished the second half only one point behind. THe second half proved a little more difficult for the WNT, who had the opportunity to take a win in the last ten minutes when they were up 6 players to 3 on the Dutch side (lots of 2 minutes!). Sadly this advantage slipped away from the WNT, who got beat on fast break a few times to finish the game 25-31.

After showering, the WNT ate some sandwhiches that had been prepared for them by their local hosts and headed into town to enjoy the afternoon sun. Once the team arrived in town, they were given free reign to enjoy watching the Holland vs. Bosnia World Cup game that was being shown on big screen tvs that littered the streets.

Eindhoven was completely orange with people dressed to support their team. The streets were packed and people sitting in outdoor bars and cafe's spilled over into the streets, creating quite a vision of orange! The town exploded when Holland won the game 1-0.

When the match ended, the WNT met for dinner at a nice steakhouse in the city. "Chief" (Sarah Gascon's dad) and Gail (Lauren's mom) treated the team do a delicious dinner, including a celebration of Amanda, T, and Maren's birthdays which had passed during the trip.

After a lovely day, everyone was released on their on recognizance to enjoy the evening as they pleased. Some went out on the town, others enjoyed a movie, and some took the time to pack and relax back at the lodge.

An excellent day of enjoying Eindhoven and relaxing with teammates!!