Weekend of CITY Soccer and Church Greeting

Mid-afternoon yesterday (7 March), I was off to Julie's apartment to pick her up and bring her to Downtown West St. Louis for that night's St. Louis CITY SC match. I parked my car on a lot south of Enterprise Center (where the Missouri Valley Conference's men's basketball tournament was taking place) and then Julie and I walked 0.5 miles (0.8 km) towards Energizer Park. We browsed among the activities taking place there before going across the street to the Schlafly Tap Room for the St. Louligans Street Party.

Julie and I got dinner from the Cluck Oink Moo Sliders food truck--we each got two sliders with French fries--and took in the festivities of the party. I bought some Schlaffle raffle tickets but did not win the prize. However, the money is going to a good cause, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, that night's St. Louligans Charity du Jour.

Just over an hour before kickoff, the St. Louligans and Fleur de Noise rallied with STL Santos and St. Louis City Punks for a few minutes of chanting before setting off on our march to Energizer Park. After filing our CITY ramblers with soft drinks, Julie and I found places in the North End to await the match.

CITY (0-1-1 after losing 2-0 at San Diego FC the previous weekend) was hosting Seattle Sounders FC. Saint Louis University men's soccer head coach Kevin Kalish brought out the match ball, then walked over to the North End to wave a large flag and pound the big drum. Kalish's Billikens reached the NCAA semifinals last fall.

The match started off well for CITY, in that they had most of the possession and made some nice scoring attempts. However, the match was scoreless at half time. Seattle took the lead two minutes into the second half and held on run out 1-0 winners. A disappointment for sure to CITY and its supporters, though some positives came out of the match (including having 70 percent possession). CITY will regroup and play at Los Angeles FC this Saturday.

Julie and I walked back to the parking lot and I drove her home before I returned home. Overnight, our clocks moved ahead one hour to Daylight Savings Time/.

This morning, Julie messaged me to say she would not be able to come with me to church today, due to a sinus headache. Thus, I drove myself to Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel for the 11:15 am service, where I would serve as chief greeter. (This past week, I responded to an email appeal from Eliot for greeter help this Sunday.) This was my first service as a full greeter, having shadowed a greeter two weeks before. Today's stint went off without a hitch, and I helped to collect and count the offering money for the church. After the service, I finished shutdown procedures before relaxing at the coffee and fellowship time. After nearly an hour, I headed home.

Later.

Websites of Entries Mentioned in This Post:

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer

Schlafly Tap Room: Schlafly

Cluck Oink Moo Sliders: Cluck Oink Moo Sliders | Food Trucks In | St. Louis MO

Colorectal Cancer Alliance: Colorectal Cancer Alliance | Prevention, Support & Research for Colorectal Cancer

Energizer Park: Energizer Park | St. Louis CITY SC

Eliot Unitarian Universalist Chapel: Home

A Saturday in Maplewood and at CITYPARK with Julie

Early yesterday morning (23 March), I picked up Julie from her apartment and we went to downtown Maplewood. The city was holding its annual Coffee Crawl event, in which downtown merchants offered samples of coffee or coffee-related items to participants.

Julie and I went on the Early Riser Tour, which began at 8:30 a.m. (There was a later tour during midday. After getting our tickets, we began going to the nine establishments taking part in the tour. As we got our samples, someone at each stop would mark our ticket to prove we had visited that particular place. Additionally, the Crawl offered ticket holders discounts on merchandise from other area shops. Julie and I took advantage of this to visit five of the 12 participating merchants. I bought a candle from Maven Bath and Candle Co. and a book from The Book House using the event's discounts.

We got through the tour by approximately 10:30 a.m. and I took Julie back to her apartment before going home. I stopped by Office Depot to get some home office items and browsed at Schaefer's Hobby Shop before returning home for lunch.

Late that afternoon, I returned to Julie's place to pick her up and take her to downtown St. Louis for St. Louis CITY SC's match against DC United at CITYPARK. After parking in a lot south of Enterprise Center, we walked approximately 0.5 mile (0.8 km) to "Louligan Street" (21st Street between Locust and Olive) for the St. Louligans Pre-Match Street Party. Julie and I each got dinner from a Schlafly good tent and I got a Schlafly Supporter Session Hazy Pale Ale from a beer tent.

We also bought Schlaffle raffle tickets from the St. Louligans and also a St. Louligans button. Raffle and merchandise sales that night benefitted the St. Louligans' Charity du Jour, Colorectal Cancer Alliance. I got lucky as one of my raffle tickets was drawn. I selected one of two prize packages: two replica jerseys (Norwich City Josh Sargent replica and Inter Milan), some Fulham FC magnetic buttons, and a $50 Mission Taco Joint gift card.

Soon after the raffle, it was time for prepare for the march into CITYPARK. Julie and I joined in the chanting on Louligan Street before the supporters marched into the stadium for the match.

After arriving inside CITYPARK, Julie and I found places in the Supporter Section to watch the match. Prior to kickoff, St. Louis soccer legend Lori Chalupny brought out the kickoff ball and then walked to the Supporter Section to wave one of the giant flags there.

 

The match was uneven, with players having problems putting passes together. Fortunately, Josh Yaro connected in the 19th minute to put CITY ahead. 

However, DC United tied it up two minutes later and took the lead in the 28th minute. In the second half, both teams made efforts to score, but CITY would equalize on a Joao Klauss penalty in the 70th minute. DC United and CITY got into each other's faces in the late going, with several cautions issued. Even with over 10 minutes added to the second half, neither side could score, and the match ended drawn at 2 apiece. CITY remained undefeated in the first five games of the season.

Julie and I each picked up a team poster on the way out of CITYPARK and walked back to my car. I then took her back home before taking myself back home. It was quite a terrific day for us.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Maplewood Coffee Crawl: Coffee Crawl (cityofmaplewood.com)

Maven Bath and Candle Co.: Maven Bath & Candle Co. – Maven Bath & Candle Co. (mavenstl.com)

The Book House: The Book House - 7352 Manchester Rd., St. Louis | Located in historic downtown Maplewood, a browser's paradise - expect the unexpected (bookhousestl.com)

Office Depot: Office Depot OfficeMax | Official Online Store

Schaefer's Hobby Shop: Hobby, Beads, R.C. Cars - Schaefer's Hobby Shop - St. Louis, Missouri (schaeferhobby.com)

Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room Brewpub - Schlafly Beer

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

CITYPARK: CITYPARK | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Colorectal Cancer Alliance: Colorectal Cancer Alliance

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Saint Louis FC Opens 2020 with a Win

Last night (7 March), I went to World Wide Technology Soccer Park for the Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) 2020 USL Championship (https://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-championship) season opener, against The Miami FC. Some time before the match, I went to the St. Louligans (https://stlouligans.com/)` tailgate. I got my dinner there--Cuban sandwich, with black beans and rice--and it was most tasty. I had two cups of Schlafly (https://www.schlafly.com/) Ale d'Or beer from the St. Louligans trailer, and bought some raffle tickets for a St. Louis BattleHawks (https://www.xfl.com/teams/st-louis) ticket and souvenir package. Proceeds this night benefitted Colorectal Cancer Alliance (https://www.ccalliance.org/)--the first Charity du Jour of the season.

About 30 minutes before kickoff, the St. Louligans marched into West Community Stadium for the match. As Saint Louis FC was about to kick off, the St. Louligans unfurled a tifo over our section of the stands, celebrating the start of the new season. The tifo was then pushed back and over the rear of the stand so we could watch the match. Saint Louis FC scored twice in the first half before Miami FC pulled one back just before halftime on a penalty kick. In the second half, Saint Louis FC scored twice to pull away 4-1 winners. Overall, a very good night for Saint Louis FC and their supporters.

After the match, the players came over to our section to acknowledge our support. Head coach Steve Trittschuh also came to the corner and he drank beer from a bucket on behalf of the team, who were all voted as the St. Louligans' Men of the Match. Then the players sang their victory song to the St. Louligans.

I then walked back to the tailgate for a bit, before walking back to my car and going home happy.

Later.