HBS Winter Indoor Soccer Tournament 2003-A Huge Success
By Morgan McKenney (OC), Contributing Writer
The drama-packed finals of the HBS Winter Indoor Soccer Tournament were an appropriate end to this year’s competition. In the Championship Bracket, Mean Team was tied against a talented Super Star team 8-8 after playing for 50 minutes and one five minute overtime period. The focused Mean Team ultimately prevailed in what was a tight battle for the entire match, scoring the goal that sealed their victory with two minutes remaining in the sudden death overtime period to win 9-8. In the Consolation Draw final, Absolut Avengers beat a tough Dingo team 8-6, recovering from a 3-0 deficit to notch the winning goal in the game’s final 10 minutes. These finals were a great culmination of a tournament involving 19 teams and over 150 students, displaying the depth of soccer talent and enthusiasm at HBS. Teams were entered representing different countries, different sections, different professional soccer allegiances, mixes of EC and RC, and groups of friends, adding to the diversity and uniqueness of the event.
Tournament Structure
Each of the 19 teams were guaranteed 4 games. The 5-on-5 games with only few stoppages of play created non-stop action. Teams were placed in one of five brackets and played a round robin of three games within their bracket. The top three teams in each bracket qualified for the single elimination Championship Draw. The remaining teams moved into the Consolation Draw (see final drawsheets below).
Final Rounds Recap
In the 1st round of the Championship Draw, the top four teams from the round robin (Soccer’s Darkside, Mean Team, Red United, and Penta) received a bye, with all other advancing teams required to prove themselves in the single elimination Championship Draw. Things really heated up in the quarterfinals, with Eber Ludue¤a (//eber.ciudad.com.ar/vida.asp) eliminating a tough Soccer’s Darkside team 8-6. The other particularly tight battle was between Super Star and Penta, with Penta falling to the eventual runner-up 9-7.
In semifinal action, the Mean Team narrowly defeated Eber Ludue¤a 9-6, and Super Star eliminated the imposing Red United 15-3.
In the finals of the Championship Bracket, Mean Team, a team captained and carefully handpicked by Francois DuFour (NJ), was a fearsome team indeed, sporting yellow jerseys and perennial game faces (punctuated by significant swearing in French). Comprised of all RCs, they will be a formidable foe in next year’s tournament. The Super Star team, captained by Mr. Super Star himself, Jorge O’Hara (OI), was the definition of pure calmness under pressure and a team of players with fantastic ball-handling skills.
Absolut Avengers, captained by Dan Rogers (NA) overcame horrible scheduling by the tournament’s organizer to have the last laugh in the Consolation Finals. With a score of 8-6, Absolut triumphed over Dingos, a team spearheaded by Pablo “Eph” Sanders (ND).
Roster for the Championship Bracket finals:
Mean Team: Yasu Oba (NJ), Axel Bonnassies (NE), Brian O’Connor (NA), Ali Ashurov (NG), Franco Hauri (NJ), Hysam Galal (NJ), Pierre Pujol (NH), Francois Dufour (NJ).
Super Star: Dan Shapero (NE), Paul Cairns (NE), Rob Metcalf (NE), Max Hang (NH), Wael Sawan (OI), Brook Hazelton (OG), Jorge O’Hara (OI)
Thanks to all teams for participating!
Participating Teams and Captain
Absolut Avengers – Dan Rogers (NA)
C-Men – Andrew Rodriguez (NC)
Dingos – Pablo Sanders (ND)
Eber Luduena – Gaby Podskubka (OE)
Frogs – Derek Aframe (OF)
Funky F’s – Jen Daily (NF)
Hooligans – Jamshed Kakalia (NH)
J-club – Rodrigo Diehl (NJ)
Mean Team – Francois DuFour (NJ)
Penta – Carlos Parizotto (OI)
Project Finesse – G Bakir (OG)
Red United – Jay Sammons (NG)
SecC – Morgan McKenney (OC)
NI – John Maldonado (NI)
Section K – Owen Wilson (K)
Sexy Beasts – Arjun Dhawan (NB)
Soccer’s Darkside – Luis Sanchez (OD)
Super Star – Jorge O’Hara (OI)
Sec-Ta-C – David Levenson (NC)
The HBS Winter Indoor Soccer Tournament is brought to you by the Soccer Club.
