ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- Grace Fitzgibbons and Regan Melz bonded from the moment they met one another prior to the start of their first soccer season at the College of Saint Benedict in the fall of 2022. 

"I remember she was super easy to relate to," recalls Melz, a senior defender out of Minnetonka High School. "She has a really good vibe. She's super sweet, but she makes all these funny remarks where you have to stop and go 'Wait, did she really say that? That was hilarious.' She's a fun person to be around."
 
"I was very shy at first and Regan is extremely caring, welcoming and extroverted," added Fitzgibbons, a forward/midfielder out of the Academy of Holy Angels. "She was always there to talk to me, which helped so much. I really loved her bubbliness and attentiveness, and her ability to listen."
 
That friendship only grew as the duo became key contributors for the Bennies the past three seasons. But now, as they start their senior years, the bond is even deeper.
 
"It's pretty much like we're sisters," Fitzgibbons said with a smile.
 
A big reason for that is the amount of time the two spent together while taking part in the study abroad program offered by CSB and SJU in Seville, Spain during the spring semester earlier this year.
 
Fitzgibbons and Melz lived together with a host family, immersed themselves in the culture around them and spent time traveling Europe.
 
"I looked at the South Africa program as well, but in Spain, you were able to go to a lot of other places," Melz said. "I really liked that, and the host family was a big thing for me. I thought it would be so cool to experience, and this is really the only time in my life I'd have the chance to do that. So, I was on the brink of deciding, and when I knew Fitzy was going to be there too, it made it an easy decision. It was so great we were able to experience all that together. Our friendship got so much stronger than it already was."
 
Fitzgibbons and Melz took in Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Seville, as well as Feria de Abril (the April Fair). They also saw firsthand how passionately local residents root for their soccer teams – Real Betis and Sevilla FC.
 
"They're huge rivals, and when they play each other, it's crazy," Melz said. "That night we were out finding restaurants to sit in and watch the game. People were everywhere roaming the streets and cheering. You could always tell when someone scored because there was this roar that went up from outside. It was being able to take in those kinds of moments that made the experience so special."
 
Melz and Fitzgibbons said they also grew as people during their time abroad.
 
"We got a lot done academically, but the bigger thing was the life skills we gained," Fitzgibbons said. "Growing our second language and understanding other people and their culture. Seeing things from a different perspective than we're used to was a really huge thing."
 
Of course, the two didn't forget about their own soccer careers, training daily at the gym, on the field and even running a half-marathon in Majorca – an island off the coast of Spain.
 
"Regan did a class at another university there, and that school had a field," Fitzgibbons said. "We'd take the metro over and play soccer. It was a beautiful turf field and we'd train and watch the sunset.
 
"Regan is an exercise and health science major, and she puts in max effort in everything she does," she added. "She was basically my personal coach. It was great for me personally because she helped take my strength to the next level with the way we were doing agility and certain things like that. I'd bounce off what she was doing, then she bounced off some of my ideas. We pushed each other a lot."
 
Both Fitzgibbons and Melz hope those efforts pay off this fall.
 
"It's wild to realize we're starting our final year," said Melz, whose team opened the season with a pair of nonconference games in Virginia against Virginia Wesleyan and Christopher Newport (ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III preseason poll) this past weekend.
 
"I keep thinking back to last spring when we were in the middle of Europe, and now we're back on the soccer field again. These are the days we were talking about and preparing for. So it's a fuzzy, warm feeling to get started again knowing the work we put in to get ready for this."
 
Each player said the time they spent abroad helped shape the goals they have for their final season and made them stronger leaders.
 
"Grace and I talked a lot about what we wanted to accomplish and holding each other accountable," Melz said. "That's a big message we're stressing this season as a team. Being accountable, putting in the hard work now to succeed later on. So having that time together helped shift our mindset toward the messages we're trying to pass on to the younger players now."
 
CSB head coach Steve Kimble praised the job Fitzgibbons and Melz have done as team leaders so far.
 
"Regan and Fitz have taken our standard for senior leadership to the highest level," Kimble said. "I can see they're trying so hard to be the leaders they had as younger players and striving to be even more in their senior season. Their close relationship certainly enhances how well they work together. In fact, all the seniors have a very collaborative and unified relationship. I'm so proud of the leadership our seniors and returning players have provided so far this season."
 
 Melz – who interned this past summer as a sports performance coach at Laurus Athletic Rehab and Performance in the Twin Cities – plans to take a gap year after graduating next May before going to physical therapy school with the hope of pursuing a career as a physical therapist, and perhaps coaching soccer.
 
Fitzgibbons – an accounting major – has already accepted a full-time job after graduation in the Twin Cities with Deloitte, the firm where she interned this summer.
 
Yet both expect their friendship to remain as strong as ever.
 
"I already told her, I hope there's a Deloitte office nearby wherever she goes to PT school," Fitzgibbons said with a smile. "We're not going to lose touch."
 
"Our friendship is very, very special to both of us," Melz added. "We plan to keep it strong."