2004 Ormond Beach Challenge
January 17-18, 2004
U12 Continental/American Division

This was a great warm up tournament for our Spring '04 Season. We played up an age group in the U12 Continental/American Division. The competition was pretty stiff with three excellent U11 teams from the USA league in region C, and some strong U12 teams from the eastern part of the state. Making it a bit tougher on us, we were the only team in a group of ten that had not been playing purely 11v11 all season.

As chance would have it we were seeded against two excellent teams on day 1, both of whom would later advance to the American Division championship game where they faced off against one another. Port Orange was certainly a bigger and stronger team than us, but our boys played a very good possession game and were extremely solid on defense, allowing only three shots on goal. Our guest player, Devin, broke the ice for us on the attacking end in about the 12th minute, launching his first shot in a competitive game. For a brief period he was shooting 100% as a Rampage player. Tyler was looking strong as a striker, knocking in two more goals for us, and could have had a few more. Mitch added another and both he and Camp provided nice assists as well. The goal of the game was no doubt Tyler's header into the back of the net off of a well struck cross from Mitch. This one ended 4-1, but could have been a bit more lop sided as the boys out shot Port Orange 17-3.

Game two was against an exceptionally talented Hillsborough team, currently ranked #6 in Fl according to gotsoccer.com. They were finalists at the 2003 Blackwatch Tournament and champions of the Clearwater Coca Cola Classic. Our boys went on the field focussed, confident, and determined. The initial minutes of the game were a bit hairy but the boys eventually got into a rhythm and started to retain possession more and more. Eventually, Tyler got us on the score board with a scrappy goal off a crossed ball from Mitch. Ten minutes later, Mitch launched a 30 yard through pass to Devin who anticipated it well and took a touch or two and hit a 25 yard goal over the head of a stranded goalie. It was great to be up 2-0, but against a team like Hillsborough that wasn't a big lead. The rest of the game was a defensive battle. Our boys played an amazing game of defense and somehow managed to shut down a very potent attack. This one ended 2-0, with much of the credit going Andy, Connor, Taylor, Trace, Trevor, AB, and Chase, who all put in a great effort in the back, and of course Danny who did an awesome job in the goal. Hillsborough may very well have been the strongest team we've ever beaten.

Given two great wins on day one, we advanced to the Continental semi finals to face off against a incredibly tough Clearwater team, for what in reality was a championship game. Clearwater, ranked 5th in FL, and one of the top two or three teams in the 1st Division of the region C USA league looked very fresh coming off a fairly relaxing first day of soccer for them, where they out scored their opponents by a combined score of 12-0. Our boys looked rather tentative in this one and certainly didn't have quite the work rate of the first day. I think the Hillsborough game had taken away a bit of our fuel. But worn out or not, the boys played with heart. It was a tough first half. We had a few scoring opportunities, but for the most part, Clearwater's midfield and front did a great job of putting pressure on our defense. We made a couple of minor, but costly errors and before we knew it we were down 2-0. At half time, the boys' faces looked pretty weary and we had a few tears as well. Clearwater had been playing with a bit of "gamesmanship" that our kids weren't used to seeing and I think that took a bit of fun out of the game. But they caught their breath and started off the second half with some intensity. Within a few minutes Devin crossed a nice ball from the left side that Tyler tapped in pulling us to with in 1. For a brief period, down only 2-1,it looked like the Rampage were back. But as quickly as we went up, Clearwater countered and jumped up 3-1. I could see the balloon deflate at that point. We lost our legs a bit and ended up giving up two more goals in what was not our most beautiful last 15 minutes of soccer. It was our worst loss since Weston, August 2002. Clearwater went on to win the Continental championship against PBU, and Hillsborough went on to win the American championship against Port Orange. (So our three games were vs. two champions and a finalist.)

So we lost in the semis, but we played some great soccer, and we lost to a great team that deserved to win. The boys walked off the field disappointed about one game, but the fact of the matter is that they ended up 3rd overall in a U12 Division ahead of some great competition and played some spectacular ball.

Each tournament we pick a Sportsman of the Tournament. This time the honor goes to Taylor H., who has shown tremendous focus and commitment recently and put on a great show for us all this weekend. He kept a positive attitude and never gave up. Congratulations Taylor, and to all 14 players that traveled to Ormond Beach! Each of you gave us 110% and some great entertainment. It was a great weekend of soccer.

Half Time.

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