2002 Brevard Fall Challenge--Finalist
Continental Bracket

Twelve out of fourteen of the Gainesville Rampage,
posing with their Finalist's trophies after a well fought weekend.

Summary

This was an excellent weekend of soccer for the Rampage and an important milestone. Our boys have worked very hard the past two months to become a competitive team. They've gone from being a group that had not played together as a team, to a group that now looks like a veteran team.

Our first game in the tournament was vs. Davie United, a quick, confident team that hails from Miami. Although I didn't tell the boys this, I suspected that Davie might be the favorite to win this tournament. Davie came out very strong and possessed the ball well for the first five minutes of the match and scored in the sixth minute of the game. At first it appeared that pregame "conversations" between boys in the hotel elevator might be true. But our kids came roaring back when Cameron launched a rocket from 25 yards out that bounced off the top of the goal post and went in. A few minutes later, Mitch put us up 2-1 off a nice back pass from James. For the remainder of the game, we largely dominated possession against a team that most people would have guessed would dominate us. In the second half, Landon put the icing on the cake given a perfect cross from Danny. This one ended 3-1, but could have been more lop sided. Mitch led the team with 5 shots, Trevor had 4, Cameron 3, Landon 2, and James, Danny, Bryce, and Taylor each had 1. Dallas and Danny both gave us outstanding halves in the goal. And our defenders, Connor, Emilio, Andy, Landon, and Taylor, were awesome. Without a doubt, this was the best overall game our team had ever played. The Rampage put themselves on the map with this one.

Cam launching one.

In game two, we played against a very strong Palm Bay squad that had some incredible athletes. They had more size and speed, but our boys simply out passed them. In the first half we struggled a bit because of the tenacious attack of one Palm Bay kid that looked like he should be playing for a U13 team. Mitch gave us our lone goal off an assist from Cameron giving us a 1-1 half time score. At the break, our game plan was simple: keep the ball away from number 18. In the second half, our passing was outstanding. The boys worked the ball around with lots of two and three touch passes, and Andy anchored the back line beautifully. Trevor got hot in this one as Danny delivered a nice leading pass, Trevor took two touches on the ball and fired a 20 yard rocket into the upper right corner of the goal. Danny hit another, and then a few minutes later, Trevor finished another off a cross from Mitch putting us up 4-1. With three goals in a span of six minutes or so, the Rampage had gained control. But Palm Bay fought back hard and managed to knock in two more goals, but it wouldn't be enough as our boys clinched a position in the Championship game with their second tournament victory.

Craig on a roll.

Game 3 versus MEGU was a more relaxed game for us. Win or lose, we were going to the finals. We worked the ball around very well. Mitch was on fire, scoring four goals in five shots, one off a nice assist from Cameron. And Craig gave us a 5th goal with his aggressive effort up front, finishing off a deflected shot in front of the goal. We were playing a rather non-conservative defense and ended up giving up four goals. But that was o.k. with me. Both teams had fun in a high scoring game that ended 5-4. Following the game, the MEGU coach thanked me and commented that it was a pleasure to play against a team with such excellent sportsmanship. He said it in a way that implied that our sportsmanship was exceptional. Thanks, everyone.

Danny's quickness puts an opponent in the net.

The Championship game was gravy for us. Win or lose, getting to this game was a great accomplishment for our humble squad. FC America Omni used a very dangerous formation with five men pushing up, and what I would call a sweeper and a stopper, kind of a 1-1-3-2 or 1-1-2-3. Beating this formation seemed like a piece of cake. Our game plan was to risk a few goals and to feed the ball quickly to the wings and use our speed down the side lines to penetrate into the Omni half of the field. Hopefully we'd draw the defenders away from the front of the goal creating lots of opportunities for crossed balls. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Although we played an excellent game, defended extremely well, we struggled to keep the ball in Omni's half. Fatigue was clearly a factor. Omni was beating us to a lot of balls, and our mid field and forwards simply didn't have the speed to get down the field. Our boys gave us 100%, but we only managed to get off nine shots in this game. Mitch had 5, Cameron had 3, and Bryce had 1. In retrospect, we should have played a more patient game-we simply didn't have the juice to be running a fast break attack. However, at the other end, Omni only managed nine shots themselves, but two were well placed. It was clearly a defensive game with much of the defense being played in our half. Andy, Cameron, Landon, and Taylor gave us afantastic display of defense today. It was fun to watch. And Danny played his best game ever in the goal. We've come a long, long way from our first game against Weston.

Making a run to goal vs. Omni.

Although the boys were disappointed to lose this one, I was incredibly proud of their effort. Congratulations, Rampage. You've established yourselves as a true competitive team. This weekend you had the opportunity to compete against some excellent talent from Miami, Melbourne, and Orlando, and showed that you have what it takes to play at this very high level. We started off the season with an 0-3-1 record. Since then, the boys have gone 6-1-1 and have demonstrated that they can compete with the big boys. Let's keep the momentum going. We still have several tough games left this season.

Mitch fighting off the pressure.

Some statistics: At Blackwatch, our first tournament together, we were last in the U10 division with goals scored (i.e., we scored precisely nil). In this tournament, we led all three U10 boys' divisions (18 teams) with most goals scored: 12! What a turn around. Mitch led the team with 6 goals, Trevor had two and Landon, Cameron, Craig, and Danny each had one. Eight out of twelve of our goals were created by great passing, with Cameron, Mitch, James, and Danny each getting two assists a piece. Although they didn't get on the stat sheet, Bryce, Emilio, Andy, Dallas, Taylor, and Connor all contributed greatly to our attack by feeding a lot of nice balls forward. On the defensive end, Andy was our anchor and played an incredible game, as did Cameron, Emilio, Connor, Taylor, and Landon. Well done all!

James suddenly notices his third leg.

Each tournament we name a "Sportsman of the Tournament" for a player that demonstrates positive attitude and unselfish play. Once again everyone deserves this award! All of our kids displayed great sportsmanship and attitude through the entire event. However, this time, I decided to name two players who exhibited incredibly unselfish play: James D. and Bryce E.. Congratulations James and Bryce... and everyone else!

Emilio heading around the horn.

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