Chicago Field Hockey
Club drove over to Cincinnati with two full teams (Orange
and Blue) of 10 players each team. After we had played
for two months in the Chicago Indoor League we hoped to
be prepared for the Cincinnati Indoor Challenge 2006.
In the first game
the Chicago Orange team faced the home team, Cinci Maroons.
Normally, Chicago does not like the early morning games
but in this case Orange started with four goals in the
first 5 minutes and won the game 5 : 1 (especially Rico's
performance was outstanding because he started the game
with a hat trick).
The next game was
the Blue team against MSU. MSU showed up with some college
ladies but even so it was a tie 2:2. On the other hand
Orange kept up their momentum from their first game and
beat IU club by five goals. The next game of the Blue
team was a close game against Lexington but with Greg's
goal in the last minute both Chicago teams stayed unbeaten.
The last game of the
day for Orange was an exciting game - both teams played
on a high level but had difficulties to score. Only Theresa
used her chance in a counterattack but two minutes later
Cleveland used a short corner to score. In contrast Blue
had no problems against Cinci Yellow and defeated them
by 7:0 with two nice goals by Steve (even Rob as a defender
scored!).
At the end of the
day both Chicago teams were undefeated and ready for the
social. Unfortunately, I cannot say anything about the
night because I went to bed early to be ready for the
next day - although the pictures speak for themselves.
In first game on Sunday
Orange faced Cinci Yellow and maybe it was the night or
the high victory of the Blue team against them, but Orange
had problems to find the game. Thus, Cinci Yellow shot
the first goal on Sunday but then Jay woke up and shot
two goals within two minutes. With a 3:1 Orange was qualified
for the Semi finals. Blues opponent in the quarter finals
was Cinci Maroon. The victory was never questionable with
a rock hard defense and two goals by Greg and a nice goal
by Justine assisted by Mags.
Unfortunately, the
first semi final game was a pure Chicago game because
Orange had to play against Chicago Blue. Everybody was
highly motivated and knew the opponent players from the
Chicago Indoor League. Both teams played very defensively
and waited for the chances of counterattacks, and it was
on a short corner that Blue scored the first goal. Orange
found the right answer by scoring the next goal after
a one-two combination between Jeanne and Moritz. Justine
scored again for the Blue team and it was only two minutes
left on the clock, but Rico stole the ball in the Blue
circle and made it a tie. Sadly the game needed a winner
so we had to shoot penalties. Blue was a bit more lucky
and defeated Orange in the penalty shoot out to move onto
the final game.
It was an exhausting
game for both Chicago teams, so none of them were able
to show their skills in the last two games of the day
- better to say none of the Chicago teams scored after
their matchup with one another. So Cleveland won the tournament,
but two Chicago players gained the MVP awards (Jeanne
and Greg). Altogether it was a well organized tournament
- all players had a lot of fun and I promise to stay awake
next time for the Saturday night party.
