Two dozen plus San Diego Eagles and family members attended the Chapter Mass this morning. Celebrated by local Jesuit Rev. Lucas Sharma, the Mass took place in the Saint Thérése Chapel on the campus of Cathedral Catholic High School. Our host was Kevin Calkins ’00, president of Cathedral Catholic.
Following Communion, the congregation made a Eucharistic Procession outside the chapel.
And following Mass, the group enjoyed refreshments at the ZAK, a pavilion and park on campus dedicated to the memory of Zak Myers, a 2011 graduate of Cathedral Catholic.
With the annual frequency of the Mass interrupted by the pandemic, the chapter hopes to renew the Mass as an annual event.
The Boston College women’s lacrosse team defeated (previously) #1 Northwestern today, 14-13 to win the NCAA championship. It is the Eagles’ second national title (the earlier was in 2021). They won it in their seventh consecutive national championship game.
BC fell into a 6-0 hole in the first quarter against a team that had beaten them solidly, 18-6, in last year’s title game and had won 14-11 at BC on February 29. They closed it to being down by two, 8-6, at the half, but Northwestern (18-2) used the third period to expand the lead to 10-7.
The Eagles didn’t tie the game until a Rachel Clark goal made it 11-11 with 11:05 remaining in the game. Andrea Reynolds’ goal with 9:39 left put BC ahead 12-11 for the first time and for good. BC’s Kayla Martello put the Eagles up by two, 13-11, at 5:55, but the Wildcats countered at 4:56 to make it 13-12. Mckenna Davis pushed it up to 14-12 with 4:02 left and, despite a NU goal with 59 seconds left, BC held on for the win.
Martello scored five goals and sophomore goalie Shea Dolce made nine saves, including a couple of spectacular ones late in the game. Reynolds, Davis, Clark, and Emma LoPinto each added two goals, and Ryan Smith added one.
The Eagles finished the season 20-3, with no win obviously bigger then today’s.
L-R (adults): Walid Soussou ’95, Brian Tsu ’00, Lissa Tsu ’00, Lori Mahler P’11, Joe Mahler ’74 P’11, and Bill McDonald ’68. (I sprained my back a little that morning, accounting for my list to starboard.) Walid’s son is left of him and my granddaughter is blocking the W in the sign. Wonder why both kids have their hands on their hips.
Several San Diego Eagles spent Saturday morning weeding, mulching, and otherwise beautifying the entrance to REINS, a therapeutic horse-riding program in Fallbrook. (REINS is the acronym for Riding Emphasizing Individual Needs and Strengths. They deal with students ranging in age from 2 to 85, providing equine-assisted therapy. They also provide such therapy to active duty and veteran military, as well as first responders.)
I’m a volunteer at REINS, one morning a week. When I learned they sponsored group functions, I realized this could be a service activity for the chapter and others agreed.
Clip-Clop Lane, according to REINS, “is the heart of our property. Named after the sound our horse’s hooves make ambling down it, it is the way folks enter our property for the first time. The long paved pathway leads you right to our welcome sign. Our students look forward to taking their horses down Clip-Clop lane every lesson.”
You can get a sense of that sound with this video (9 seconds) I took while assisting on a lesson.
That’s where we spent most of the morning. When we wrapped up weeding and mulching, Allison Solander, volunteer coordinator at REINS, gave us a tour of the facility, including the tack room, where bridles, saddles, stirrups, etc., for each of the 23 horses at REINS are stored. And then we visited several of the horses, some in stalls and most in paddocks, on their “lunch break.” Saturday is a regular class day, so four times during the morning, four students on horses, accompanied by a therapist, horse leader, and often a side walker (to assist in physical safety) walked and sometimes trotted in 30-minute sessions. We were told there was a two-year wait list for Saturday sessions.
Here’s a gallery of some scenes of our activity on Clip-Clop.
Most of us interacted with horses during our work. Some horses were curious and came up to the fences near us. My granddaughter had an individual moment with Bam-Bam.
Most of us, post-activity, went to nearby Casa Estrella Cocina de Mexico for lunch. Muy bueno.
Two dozen plus San Diego Eagles and family members attended the Chapter Mass this morning. Celebrated by local Jesuit Rev. Lucas Sharma, the Mass took place in the Saint Thérése Chapel on the campus of Cathedral Catholic High School. Our host was Kevin Calkins ’00, president of Cathedral Catholic.
