Ellicott City, Maryland
"Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane
Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again.."
The Games without Frontiers of ASA's Eastern Region
keep having one winner. Zach Walker accomplished the
feat of repeating himself as Holiday Silver champion (4-1
to Gregg Deinhart), traditionally not the easiest task; and
added the classic cherry on top with Sunday's Maryland
Cup title (3-2 to Paul Eyes).
The weekend started quite well for the only two SCC
players traveling South. In the traditional Friday night's
MSC Travelers Cup at the Shrine, both Miguel & Massimo
reached the 6-man tournament's final, with Miguel
prevailing after shootouts.
Sadly, that became the only 'heavy' silverware the club
brought back: And the first piece to be left in Maryland was
the North Atlantic Challenge Cup, which has now arrived
at the 10th edition. In a rematch of Friday night's
semifinals & NAC Cup #8, Massimo faced Daniel
Cranston, while Miguel was opposed to Patrick Sheridan.
Unlike the previous occasions, SCC gave in to 'Les
Enfants Prodiges' in a early morning match-up in which
the only Sheridan appeared to be awake enough for
competitive table soccer.
The Holiday Silver saw the usually massive presence of
middle school students that thinned down the quality of
group stage matches, but later created very interesting
knockout rounds. For instance, Massimo had a taste of
the students' progress when he faced current U15
National champion, Mr Nevin Varghese. Nevin's style
and strategic approach reflect the teaching of players
such as Eyes, Sheridan and Cranston, and he missed
the feat of eliminating one of tournament's top seeded
player by whisker. The whisker in question was as thin as
the post he hit with 2 minutes left and the score nailed on
a scoreless draw! The shootouts that followed were
played in an absolute silence by the incredulous crowd,
waiting for an upset that didn't materialize: Sometimes,
Goliath still wins.
Massimo's campaign came to an abrupt halt in the
Quarter Finals against his pet peeve, Walker who's still
undefeated in matches with the Italian. Despite Zach's
early lead, Massimo kept up with the frantic rhythm and
created good chances. But the title holder's textbook
shooting was too much to overcome.
On his way to the final, Walker met Eyes who had
previously achieved major comebacks in games against
our Miguel (Round of 16) and Cranston (Quarter Final).
In the Round of 16, the current CT State champion played
an excellent first half, went up 2-0 but then dangerously
set back allowing Eyes to get back in the game. The
comeback was served hot within 2 minutes, and was
completed with a 3-2 golden goal in overtime.
Similar destiny happened to Cranston who ended up
losing 4-3 in OT in the Match of the Day.
While Walker & Eyes gave life to a tight game that Zach
resolved in his favor (1-0), Mike Tillman became yet
another underdog top four that the Holiday Silver so often
introduces. He played very well, but he too received
Miguel's & Daniel's fate: 2-0 up, 2-2, then shootouts loss
to Gregg Deinhart who, despite the precious win, surely
had better table soccer days. In fact, the ASA legend
finished as runner-up in both categories: Open, 1-4 to
Walker; and Veterans, 2-4 to Eyes.
The one title that keeps being elusive for Walker is the
National Team Championship. This season's edition
was characterized by major forfeits that seemed to have
paved the road for an easy Maryland win. The absences
of Rick Wilcox & Gregg Deinhart, and Rick Marques & Jim
Taylor halved the power of title contenders and former
champions WTSL & SCC. Nevertheless, the tournament
was hard fought and culminated in a closer than
expected final between the Old Firm rivals.
The SCC lineup was completed by US National
vice-champion, Alex Batacchi and MSC co-founder, Ed
Morgans. And the two free-agents embraced the
challenging role with great enthusiasm and dedication as
the team cruised through the Group of Death on full
points. The group included WTSL, MSC II featuring Paul
Eyes and one of the two newly formed Towson SC's
talented teams. Amongst them was Evan Mortiboys, a
Towson student and a Glastonbury resident, who we
hope could become the guest star of many SCC
meetings.
The Championship match was a good one, with very tight
match-ups that could have gone either way. At the end,
with Cranston prevailing on Ed Morgans, Batacchi on
Tillman, and Stuart & Miguel locked down to a 1-1 draw, it
was the Sheridan-Conturso match to result decisive.
Massimo started a bit nervous, while Patrick's game was
smoother but not particularly incisive. The difference was
made by the defensive flicks that Massimo failed to make
allowing Patrick to take a 2-0 lead.
When the Italian finally shook up and started playing, it
was too late: Sheridan preserved his one goal advantage
and the national title for Maryland.
"Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane
Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again.."
The Games without Frontiers of ASA's Eastern Region
keep having one winner. Zach Walker accomplished the
feat of repeating himself as Holiday Silver champion (4-1
to Gregg Deinhart), traditionally not the easiest task; and
added the classic cherry on top with Sunday's Maryland
Cup title (3-2 to Paul Eyes).
The weekend started quite well for the only two SCC
players traveling South. In the traditional Friday night's
MSC Travelers Cup at the Shrine, both Miguel & Massimo
reached the 6-man tournament's final, with Miguel
prevailing after shootouts.
Sadly, that became the only 'heavy' silverware the club
brought back: And the first piece to be left in Maryland was
the North Atlantic Challenge Cup, which has now arrived
at the 10th edition. In a rematch of Friday night's
semifinals & NAC Cup #8, Massimo faced Daniel
Cranston, while Miguel was opposed to Patrick Sheridan.
Unlike the previous occasions, SCC gave in to 'Les
Enfants Prodiges' in a early morning match-up in which
the only Sheridan appeared to be awake enough for
competitive table soccer.
The Holiday Silver saw the usually massive presence of
middle school students that thinned down the quality of
group stage matches, but later created very interesting
knockout rounds. For instance, Massimo had a taste of
the students' progress when he faced current U15
National champion, Mr Nevin Varghese. Nevin's style
and strategic approach reflect the teaching of players
such as Eyes, Sheridan and Cranston, and he missed
the feat of eliminating one of tournament's top seeded
player by whisker. The whisker in question was as thin as
the post he hit with 2 minutes left and the score nailed on
a scoreless draw! The shootouts that followed were
played in an absolute silence by the incredulous crowd,
waiting for an upset that didn't materialize: Sometimes,
Goliath still wins.
Massimo's campaign came to an abrupt halt in the
Quarter Finals against his pet peeve, Walker who's still
undefeated in matches with the Italian. Despite Zach's
early lead, Massimo kept up with the frantic rhythm and
created good chances. But the title holder's textbook
shooting was too much to overcome.
On his way to the final, Walker met Eyes who had
previously achieved major comebacks in games against
our Miguel (Round of 16) and Cranston (Quarter Final).
In the Round of 16, the current CT State champion played
an excellent first half, went up 2-0 but then dangerously
set back allowing Eyes to get back in the game. The
comeback was served hot within 2 minutes, and was
completed with a 3-2 golden goal in overtime.
Similar destiny happened to Cranston who ended up
losing 4-3 in OT in the Match of the Day.
While Walker & Eyes gave life to a tight game that Zach
resolved in his favor (1-0), Mike Tillman became yet
another underdog top four that the Holiday Silver so often
introduces. He played very well, but he too received
Miguel's & Daniel's fate: 2-0 up, 2-2, then shootouts loss
to Gregg Deinhart who, despite the precious win, surely
had better table soccer days. In fact, the ASA legend
finished as runner-up in both categories: Open, 1-4 to
Walker; and Veterans, 2-4 to Eyes.
The one title that keeps being elusive for Walker is the
National Team Championship. This season's edition
was characterized by major forfeits that seemed to have
paved the road for an easy Maryland win. The absences
of Rick Wilcox & Gregg Deinhart, and Rick Marques & Jim
Taylor halved the power of title contenders and former
champions WTSL & SCC. Nevertheless, the tournament
was hard fought and culminated in a closer than
expected final between the Old Firm rivals.
The SCC lineup was completed by US National
vice-champion, Alex Batacchi and MSC co-founder, Ed
Morgans. And the two free-agents embraced the
challenging role with great enthusiasm and dedication as
the team cruised through the Group of Death on full
points. The group included WTSL, MSC II featuring Paul
Eyes and one of the two newly formed Towson SC's
talented teams. Amongst them was Evan Mortiboys, a
Towson student and a Glastonbury resident, who we
hope could become the guest star of many SCC
meetings.
The Championship match was a good one, with very tight
match-ups that could have gone either way. At the end,
with Cranston prevailing on Ed Morgans, Batacchi on
Tillman, and Stuart & Miguel locked down to a 1-1 draw, it
was the Sheridan-Conturso match to result decisive.
Massimo started a bit nervous, while Patrick's game was
smoother but not particularly incisive. The difference was
made by the defensive flicks that Massimo failed to make
allowing Patrick to take a 2-0 lead.
When the Italian finally shook up and started playing, it
was too late: Sheridan preserved his one goal advantage
and the national title for Maryland.
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Miguel Marques, Alex Batacchi, Ed Morgans, Massimo Conturso:
"Massicci & Incazzati".
"Massicci & Incazzati".
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* no SCC team attended the event.
| ASA Holiday Silver & National Team Championship December 4-6, 2009 in Ellicott City, MD |