2003 St. Augustine 3v3 Challenge

3rd Place
Mitch, Cameron, TJ, Camp, and Connor

This was our first 3v3 of the 2003-04 season and a great way to knock off the cob webs. After a lengthy summer break, the boys had lost their edge a bit, but they played hard and had fun. We had head aches, stomach aches, a little throwing up, and TJ had a big wad of cotton hanging out of his ear due to an ear infection... but come game time the boys put on a great show.

Our first game was against the San Carlos Scorpions, a nice group of kids and coaches from the Ft. Myers area. They were fairly new to 3v3 but had some good athletes and put up a strong battle. But our boys' experience was a bit more than they were ready for and this one ended early 12-3.

In game two we faced off against our good friends and long time 3v3 nemesis, the Maitland Barracudas. Our boys went in to the game confident and pumped. We got up early on a quick goal from Cameron. But Maitland is a relentless and opportunistic team and turned things around, and before we knew it we were down several goals. Although we continued to play our usual possession game, we got a little flustered and started making some poor shot selections. Our summer rust was showing too as our passes were too late and too weak. Maitland stuck a guy in front of the goal, and challenged our attack hard when we held on to the ball too long. Consequently, it was a fast break game for them and we were shooting BBs at an elephant. This one ended 1-8 in favor of the Hurricanes and was the biggest margin of defeat that we ever experienced in 3v3.

In game three, I was hoping to see the old Rampage again. We played against another green, but athletic 3v3 team from St. Augustine. The previous loss hadn't hampered the boys' confidence any. They came out quickly and within six minutes or so Mitch had knocked in four goals. But then we got a bit over confident and started playing a little cocky. The boys slowed their game down, started fooling around with the ball too much and began making mistakes. St. Augustine was determined to come back and before we knew it, they had knocked in four goals. By half time, the boys had lost their margin and the score was now 6-4. But in the second half the Rampage got their act together and put on a great show, scoring six quick goals.

In our quarter final match on Sunday morning we met the Pythons, a tough team with some 3v3 experience. Our boys played a good game and looked a bit more alive than the previous day. Cameron was on fire and both he and Connor played a tenacious defensive game. TJ looked a bit more like TJ. Mitch gave us a great work rate. And Camp had loosened up a lot after have a day of games under his belt. It felt like it was going to be a good day. This one ended 8-2.

In the semi final we met up with the Island Girls, a heady and determined group of kids. Our boys were excessively confident to put it mildly and came out completely unprepared for what was about to hit them. Within a minute or so the Island Girls stole a ball from Mitch and banged it in to the back of the net, leaving him staring at his shoe laces. From that point on it was a see saw battle back and forth. The Island Girls weren't messing around and had no intention of backing down. Our boys fought hard, but ultimately the Island Girls out witted us, knocking us off 3-4 and sending us to the third place match instead of the Championship. A humbling experience.

In the third place match we met up with our good friends and 3v3 partners from Gainesville, the BK Hurricanes. We knew this was going to be a tough brawl. The Hurricanes have some great athletes and certainly a desire to win. It was a great battle from the start, and I thought the best game our boys had played all weekend. Everyone gave us a great work rate. Both teams fought hard and gave everything they had on a hot, humid August afternoon. In the end the Rampage prevailed in a 5-2 win. No doubt the Hurricanes will be out to get us again in 2003-04.

At every tournament we name a Sportsman of the Tournament, the player that shows great leadership, sportsmanship and other Rampage qualities. This tournament the award goes to Connor C. who gave us a great work rate all weekend and led by example. Congratulations, Connor and to all five players for an excellent weekend of soccer. A tally of goals and assists is shown below.

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