2004 Dunedin Sterling Memorial Day Tournament
| Game |
Opponent |
Score |
W/L |
| 1 |
Strictly Soccer |
2-4 |
L |
| 2 |
Orange County |
1-4 |
L |
| 3 |
Hillsborough U12 |
1-3 |
L |
Although we lost all three at this one, it was a great tournament for the Rampage. We competed against three outstanding teams. Strictly was an excellent team made up of players from Oldsmar, Brandon and St. Pete. They were very talented and more physical than us. It was a sea saw battle. Strictly went up 1-0, Mitch responded 30 yard shot and tied it up, Strickly went up again 2-1, but the Rampage responded on nice corner from Mitch which Danny finished beautifully with head tying it up again. But with 10 minutes to go, Strictly snuck in two scrappy goals and got the result.
Orange County needs no introduction. They are a fast and very talented team that we've faced off against five times in the past 18 months. They generally get the better of us but we always give them a good scare. This game was no exception, we got up 1-0 off a beautiful assist from Trevor to Mitchell. The boys held the lead in to the second half, but Orange County dug down deep and found some new energy. Although we were able to shut down their fast break, we failed to stop their crossing game. The knocked in four unanswered goals in the second half. Despite a great possession game from our boys, we lacked the speed up front to get past their defense.
Game 3 was against a much bigger, stronger and faster U12 team from Hillsborough. This one was for pride and for fun. The Rampage put on a tremendous show, possessing the ball well and holding of a strong attack from HCU. HCU scored off a scrappy goal in the first half, but the Rampage responded with a nice goal from Devin, assisted by Camp, a few minutes later. The boys held the lead until the last 90 seconds when HCU scored on crossed ball that appeared to be a double off side. Unfortunately, the call didn't go our way and the goal stood. Stunned, we sat back and let HCU score another with 30 seconds remaining. Although the last 90 seconds were a bit ugly, the preceding 58-1/2 minutes made up for it. It was a great game and a great way to end the season, regardless of the result.
Each game we name a sportsman of the tournament. Although all 15 of our boys showed great leadership this weekend and played with tremendous class and dignity even in the face of defeat, the honor went to Chase C. who played an incredible weekend of soccer and had a blast the whole time. Congratulations Chase! and to all 15 boys that traveled to Dunedin with us.
Great Season!