After his team defeated North Carolina 14-7 in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals last weekend in Annapolis, Maryland midfielder Mike Bender climbed into the stands at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium and joined his family in a giant group hug. Everyone was crying by that point. It was the first time they were all together again, just four days after the family owned restaurant, the Buckeye Tavern, had burned to the ground in Macungie, Pa.
The devastation of the fire had become an afterthought for a brief moment after Maryland’s win, and the family could take solace in the fact that they could again watch Mike Bender play against Johns Hopkins in this weekend’s Final Four in Philadelphia, just 45 minutes south of the charred remains of a building that was built nearly 300 years ago.