Florida Regionals-- Got Milk? 3 v 3

Summary of Results

After a great result in the Jacksonville Got Milk 3 v 3 where we placed 2nd out of 16 teams, some of our players qualified to go to the Florida Regionals. I was expecting tough competition at this prestigious tournament, but I wasn't expecting to be competing against 27 other teams in one of the largest divisions in the U.S. Despite the tremendous competition, and the fact that our kids had competed in only 1 or 2 tournaments prior to this event, our five boys, Andy, Cameron, Connor, Mitchell, and TJ, showed that they could compete with the best 3 v 3 teams in Florida, ending the weekend with only two losses to teams that ended the tournament ranked in the top five.

We were placed in a tough pool with four other excellent teams including the Dream Team, a team that would advance to the Regional Championship match. Ironically, the Dream Team was also the first team we played as a 3 v 3 squad when they went by the name, Firecats. They were already a veteran team then and had improved a great deal in the course of 2002, having beaten out 200+ other teams to become the Challenger Sports 3 v 3 champions recently. Although we gave them a run for their money, we looked a bit flat and didn't play as well as we were capable. Chalk it up to an early morning game and a poor night's sleep at a less than restful hotel. Mitch managed a goal and assist in this one and Andy knocked in a nice goal to give us a respectable 5-2 loss against one of the best teams in Florida.

"The five" making pregame plans.

In game 2 we played against another highly skilled and very aggressive team called Team Johnson. Although we let down on defense a few times, we were lucky to only give up one goal in this one. Andy scored an important tying goal for us giving us a 1-1 result, which I was happy with considering some of our tactical errors. In game 3, we had worked out some kinks and came out with a bit more intensity against the Cobras. Mitch's right foot got hot and he managed to knock in four goals and provided one assist. TJ knocked in two nice goals and Andy provided a nice assist as well. Although we gave up 5 goals in this one, we were playing much better and ended with a 6-5 victory. Game 4 in our pool was against a very strong team that we had met previously in Jacksonville. The Phantom 5 was pumped for us having almost knocked off the Dream Team and with memories still of a hard loss to us a couple of months earlier where we knocked them eliminated them in the Jacksonville semifinals. This was a well fought and very even game. Our defense had improved quite a bit. Cameron was on fire and covered the field like a mad man. Connor stepped up his intensity a notch or two and gave us some very scrappy play. Andy led our team with 3 goals and 2 beautiful assists, Mitch knocked in two more goals, and TJ had a goal and an assist to help us to an important 5-4 victory. Our 2-1-1 record was enough to allow us to advance to the second round with 18 other teams. As it turned out, we lost out in a tie breaker to Team Johnson and so were seeded 3rd in our pool, which meant we would compete for 5th place in the tournament.

A loyal fan... thinking... "I'd rather be watching Sponge Bob."

Our first consolation game was against Team Johnson, who had just come off a tough loss to the Warriers, the team that would eventually win the whole event.. We played much smarter soccer in this game and attacked the goal pretty well. At times we were a little too aggressive in our attempts to score and left our defensive end wide open. But fortunately Team Johnson wasn't able to capitalize and their many shots went wide of the target. Cameron gave us a critical goal in this one, we found ourselves tied again 1-1. Consequently, we went into a 3 min overtime period, but I think both teams were too tired to get off a good shot. So we went to PKs, shots taken from the mid field. Andy and Mitch both knocked their PKs in giving us a 3-2 (OT) victory.

Mitch concentrating on a critical PK.

Following a competitive game, the Rampage and Team Johnson pose together in a show of Sportsmanship.

This moved us into the second game of consolation play against a West Pines United squad. This was a rather strange game. While it was our best show of possession in any 3 v 3 tournament that we had previously played, West Pines played a frustrating but effective defensive strategy. Camping a player directly in front of the goal for the entire match, we couldn't get good look at the goal. We kept up an aggressive front and moved the ball well. But West Pines was more opportunist. On the few chances they had, they managed to break away quickly and score. While we possessed the ball about 80% of this match and had at least twice as many shots, we lost this one 5-2. West Pines eventually went on to win the bracket and end the tournament ranked 5th. Cameron gave us two goals, both off of nice assists from Andy.

Finally eliminated from Regionals, the Rampage pose with the team that knocked them out.

Andy led the team in the tournament with six assists! He also knocked in five goals of his own. Excellent job Andrew. Mitchell led the team with eight goals and two assists. Cameron and TJ each had three goals, and TJ had one assist. All five boys contributed a great deal to our defensive effort.

So we ended the weekend with a 3-2-1 record, our only two losses to teams that made it into the top five and gained national births. With their performance, I think we can reasonably place boys in the top 10 or so teams to emerge from the 2001-02 Got Milk Competition. A respectable showing for our boys in their first year's effort. But more importantly, our kids played with a great deal of sportsmanship and class. This was a high pressure tournament for kids of this age. I saw a lot of other teams buckle under the pressure. There were a lot tears and frustration shown by many of the teams. Our kids held their heads high after both wins and losses and handled both with a lot of dignity. Although all of our kids showed great sportsmanship this weekend, because of his exceptionally positive and humble attitude, our Sportsmanship Award for the Got Milk 3 v 3 Regionals goes to Connor. Congratulations, Connor.

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