| 5th ASA New England Spring Championship April 25, 2004 in Farmington, CT |
The title of New England Champion stays in the Northeast,
but takes the road to Salem, Massachusetts, as Italian
Andrea Gasparini defeats his countryman and title holder,
Massimo Conturso 1-0 in the NESC Final.
In the day that saw the Allied entering Rome to end the Nazi-Fascist
oppression (4/25/1945), Gasparini freed the region from Massimo's
reign by breaking a winning string of four consecutive regional
championships. The competitive level of the tournament was one of
the best ever seen in New England, as WTSL's Paul Eyes, Mike
Benkart from Pittsburgh, Andrea, and 1997 US Champion and
current # 4 in the country, Marco Silva joined the SCC for the 2nd
regional open of the season for a total of 14 players.
GROUP STAGE.
With Gasparini, Conturso, Eddie Davidson, Miguel Marques, Luis and
Marco Silva as seeds, the draw came out with 2 groups of seven
fairly balanced, although Group B looked a little tougher. Group A
saw no major surprises or upsets, except for Pablo Lee's excellent
goalkeeping to freeze Davidson Sr. on a 0-0 tie in Round Two.
Andrea and Massimo shared points after a scoreless match, while
Eddie surprisingly beat CT State's vice-champion, Rick Marques 1-0 in
the last round to claim seed # 3.
Group B was certainly more intense. No one was able to take the
lead, but after seven rounds, the fine touches from Paul Eyes and
the fluid counterattacks from Luis Silva prevailed. Absolutely dramatic
was the last round, as Marco Silva and Jim Taylor battled for the
remaining spot in the quarterfinals. The situation before the match
saw Marco with 8 points, Jim with 9. Taylor was looking for the point
that would have brought him to the Founding Father Derby # 98
against clubmate Conturso; Silva needed a win. After the scoreless
first half, the second fraction opened with major thrills as Marco shot
on goal with a jump-flick on minute 2nd. The sphere looked
destined to the far corner, but Taylor had a feline reflex and
knocked it out of bounce! The Virginian didn't get discouraged and
kept pushing until minute 6th, when he took the lead: 1-0. Taylor
could have had a psychological crash. Instead, his reaction was as
fast as powerful:
1-1 in minute 8th and qualification back in his pocket. Obviously,
despite the timer wasn't on his side, Marco is too good to give up
like that. Time to flick-off and Silva had another chance, minute 9th,
but this one went wide. Jim took the ball for the goal-flick and a
deep breath, and froze the match for the remaining 3 minutes for
the 1-1 tie.
KNOCK-OUT STAGE.
Absolutely first-class match-ups for the Championship Quarterfinals:
Massimo vs. Jim; the traditional Luis vs. Eddie; Andrea vs. Miguel; Rick
vs. Paul. The surviving Silva beat Davidson Sr. 2-1 to claim his second
straight semifinal. The title holder had a major battle against Jim
Taylor, who's probably still eating his hands for the clear chance he
had in the last 5 seconds of the match: his shot went wide and the
players went over-time. For the tough rule of table-soccer (missed
goal, received goal) Massimo scored the golden goal after 3 minutes
in the first OT half.
Considering Group Stage's results, the remaining QFs should have
brought Miguel Marques and Paul Eyes to an intense semifinal. Just
like Real Madrid-Arsenal, they failed as Andrea's slow pace broke
down Miguel's high rhythm for a 2-1 win; while Speedy Rick didn't
commit his usual mistakes and stopped the Englishman from
Maryland, 1-0.
FINAL FOUR.
While some of the players decided to call the day and shared points
and ranks, others kept flicking in the 7th hour of the competition.
The Mary Jane saw Virginian Marco Silva's disappointment as he lost
2-1 against Pittsburgh's Mike Benkart in the final. Benkart claimed
the MJ title and the NESC Rank # 9 for a satistying result. The
Championship semifinals were once again an Italy-Portugal affair (see
flags..). Gasparini, Conturso and Luis Silva encored their outstanding
result from March's ASA Open, while the Marques Family had a new
rep as Rick did better than his older brother, this time. It wasn't
easy, but at the end the Italians prevailved, and Andrea (2-1 Rick)
and Massimo (1-0 in OT, Luis) faced each other in a strange "derby
campano" for the 5th New England Championship Match.
THE FINAL.
The two Italians played each other earlier, first time ever, in the
Group Stage: the result was a scoreless and anonymous game. The
Championship Match was a different story that ended with a well
deserved victory for Gasparini, who showed a repertoire of fine and
precise touches never seen so far in New England. Conturso tried to
break down Andrea's strong defensive line with fast moves on the
wings, but lacked in precision on shooting. Andrea's calm maneuvers
paid off in the second half when, after found a hole in Massimo's
defense, he chipped smoothly from medium distance for the
match-point.
> CHECK THE COMPLETE RESULTS
but takes the road to Salem, Massachusetts, as Italian
Andrea Gasparini defeats his countryman and title holder,
Massimo Conturso 1-0 in the NESC Final.
In the day that saw the Allied entering Rome to end the Nazi-Fascist
oppression (4/25/1945), Gasparini freed the region from Massimo's
reign by breaking a winning string of four consecutive regional
championships. The competitive level of the tournament was one of
the best ever seen in New England, as WTSL's Paul Eyes, Mike
Benkart from Pittsburgh, Andrea, and 1997 US Champion and
current # 4 in the country, Marco Silva joined the SCC for the 2nd
regional open of the season for a total of 14 players.
GROUP STAGE.
With Gasparini, Conturso, Eddie Davidson, Miguel Marques, Luis and
Marco Silva as seeds, the draw came out with 2 groups of seven
fairly balanced, although Group B looked a little tougher. Group A
saw no major surprises or upsets, except for Pablo Lee's excellent
goalkeeping to freeze Davidson Sr. on a 0-0 tie in Round Two.
Andrea and Massimo shared points after a scoreless match, while
Eddie surprisingly beat CT State's vice-champion, Rick Marques 1-0 in
the last round to claim seed # 3.
Group B was certainly more intense. No one was able to take the
lead, but after seven rounds, the fine touches from Paul Eyes and
the fluid counterattacks from Luis Silva prevailed. Absolutely dramatic
was the last round, as Marco Silva and Jim Taylor battled for the
remaining spot in the quarterfinals. The situation before the match
saw Marco with 8 points, Jim with 9. Taylor was looking for the point
that would have brought him to the Founding Father Derby # 98
against clubmate Conturso; Silva needed a win. After the scoreless
first half, the second fraction opened with major thrills as Marco shot
on goal with a jump-flick on minute 2nd. The sphere looked
destined to the far corner, but Taylor had a feline reflex and
knocked it out of bounce! The Virginian didn't get discouraged and
kept pushing until minute 6th, when he took the lead: 1-0. Taylor
could have had a psychological crash. Instead, his reaction was as
fast as powerful:
1-1 in minute 8th and qualification back in his pocket. Obviously,
despite the timer wasn't on his side, Marco is too good to give up
like that. Time to flick-off and Silva had another chance, minute 9th,
but this one went wide. Jim took the ball for the goal-flick and a
deep breath, and froze the match for the remaining 3 minutes for
the 1-1 tie.
KNOCK-OUT STAGE.
Absolutely first-class match-ups for the Championship Quarterfinals:
Massimo vs. Jim; the traditional Luis vs. Eddie; Andrea vs. Miguel; Rick
vs. Paul. The surviving Silva beat Davidson Sr. 2-1 to claim his second
straight semifinal. The title holder had a major battle against Jim
Taylor, who's probably still eating his hands for the clear chance he
had in the last 5 seconds of the match: his shot went wide and the
players went over-time. For the tough rule of table-soccer (missed
goal, received goal) Massimo scored the golden goal after 3 minutes
in the first OT half.
Considering Group Stage's results, the remaining QFs should have
brought Miguel Marques and Paul Eyes to an intense semifinal. Just
like Real Madrid-Arsenal, they failed as Andrea's slow pace broke
down Miguel's high rhythm for a 2-1 win; while Speedy Rick didn't
commit his usual mistakes and stopped the Englishman from
Maryland, 1-0.
FINAL FOUR.
While some of the players decided to call the day and shared points
and ranks, others kept flicking in the 7th hour of the competition.
The Mary Jane saw Virginian Marco Silva's disappointment as he lost
2-1 against Pittsburgh's Mike Benkart in the final. Benkart claimed
the MJ title and the NESC Rank # 9 for a satistying result. The
Championship semifinals were once again an Italy-Portugal affair (see
flags..). Gasparini, Conturso and Luis Silva encored their outstanding
result from March's ASA Open, while the Marques Family had a new
rep as Rick did better than his older brother, this time. It wasn't
easy, but at the end the Italians prevailved, and Andrea (2-1 Rick)
and Massimo (1-0 in OT, Luis) faced each other in a strange "derby
campano" for the 5th New England Championship Match.
THE FINAL.
The two Italians played each other earlier, first time ever, in the
Group Stage: the result was a scoreless and anonymous game. The
Championship Match was a different story that ended with a well
deserved victory for Gasparini, who showed a repertoire of fine and
precise touches never seen so far in New England. Conturso tried to
break down Andrea's strong defensive line with fast moves on the
wings, but lacked in precision on shooting. Andrea's calm maneuvers
paid off in the second half when, after found a hole in Massimo's
defense, he chipped smoothly from medium distance for the
match-point.
> CHECK THE COMPLETE RESULTS
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