United States: Hockey galore as Day 2 ends in exciting fashion at 2005 Cal Cup 
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| United States |
May 28, 2005 
Jawwad Qamar
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By Jawwad Qamar
May 28, Moorpark, CA: Day two saw 2005 California Cup International Hockey Tournament in all its glory with all 12 Divisions in full swing and ending with a very exciting last match between the two Men?s Super Division favorites; the veteran Boekaniers from Holland and young Namdhari team from India, in front of a large crowd.
Old hands Rochus Westbroek, Peter Windt, Jaap Buma, Marten Eikelboom and company showed the young legs from Punjab, India, how to control a match, on way to a 3-1 victory, their 3rd win in four pool matches. However, it was the excellent defensive efforts of their two local additions; youngster Shawn Harris and goalkeeper Kyle Brantner that made the difference at the end. Both come up big as the Namdhari started looking for goals with a sense of urgency with time running out. Branter made point blank saves under constant pressure and Harris, supporting a cast for a broken wrist, surprised many with tight marking and clearing balls from inside the circle, thwarting Namdhari efforts to create penalty corners for their striker Dider Singh. Singh scored earlier on a penalty corner to cut the 2-goal deficit but was provided only a few chances on the set pieces. The fast paced game started with Eikelboom finding Westbroek on a long pass for a 1-0 lead followed by Eikelboom himself getting into the act on a penalty corner hit-in, back pass, catching the Indians off-guard to go up 2-0. After Singh?s goal, Buma struck also on a penalty corner, for the two goal cushion. This was a high caliber and very entertaining match where the Boekaniers made their penalty corners while the Namdhari had trouble creating them.
Earlier in the day, the Dutch had trouble solving the Mystery and got a wakeup call on the late penalty corner goal by Pat Harris for a 3-3 tie. The elder brother of Shawn Harris, surprised the Boekaniers with back to back goals on penalty corners as Mystery, a combination of current and former USA nationals, playing well as a unit, took a 2-0 lead. Jab Saez in goal for Mystery did a outstanding job denying the dangerous Eikelboom earlier and again, after goals by Buma (1) and Westbroek (2), stood tall when the Dutch pushed for the lead after Harris? tying goal.
In their first match earlier, the Namdhari destroyed the Unknown Heroes 8-1, suggesting that they remain ?unknown?, with Karmjit leading the charge with three goals. Ciudad De Buenos Aires of Argentina followed with total domination of Mexico, 6-0 and the Tigers easily beat the hapless San Jose Khalsa 4-0 as Binh Hoang netted two goals.
As expected, Boekaniers have qualified for the Semi-finals finishing first in Pool A with10 points and Namdhari should join them later today after their match against Commonwealth. Mystery are sitting in third place with an outside chance ? they?ll have to beat the Unknown Heroes ? but for them to move into the Semi-finals Namdhari will have to lose. However, this will not happen!
In Pool B, Ciudad De Buenos Aires are on top with nine points and will add three more after the match against Taipei, finishing a predictable first.
And no matter what happens to Tigers in the first match of the day, also against Taipei, they will finish second in the pool and face the Boekaniers in the second Semi-final in the last match of the day. The first Semi-final will be between Ciudad De Buenos Aires and Namdhari. If form holds true, the Boekaniers will play against the team from Argentina for the title and yes, the $5000 cash prize, tomorrow, Memorial Day at 2:30 PM.
In the Women?s Super Division, The Blue Ballers defeated ASU Select, 3-1 and Jail Break surprised the Monarcas 3-0. The defending champions Slime narrowly pulled one out against ASU Select in a tightly fought affair and the Monarcas rebounded nicely from their earlier defeat to easily beat Stanford Cardinals 4-0 in the last match with Annabeth Horner scoring two goals along with the Super Mariana Di Giacomo showing her magic on the other two.
For the women?s Semi-finals, the Slime with 9 points will be joined by the ASU Select from Pool A. In Pool B, the Monarcas are on top with 6 points and will have to wait for the outcome of the match between San Diego Alumni and the Jail Break earlier today to see who joins them in the semi-finals from their pool tomorrow.
Today?s key matches
(W) San Diego Alumni vs Jail Break 9:00 AM
Men Semi-finals;
Ciudad De Buenos Aires vs Namdhari 5;10 PM Boekaniers vs Tigers 6:10 PM
For all scores, today?s schedule and directions to the hockey venues, please visit www.calcup.net.
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