UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION
January 2005
13th Annual Coloplast International
by Bill Renje
The 13th annual, 2005 Coloplast International took place January 21-23, in Tampa, Florida. with three subplots playing out on the court throughout the weekend. First and foremost, the Nordiques, a combination of high-low line-ups from the Canadian National Team, proved that the best high pointers in the world reside north of the longest and unguarded border in the world. In subplot #2, the Hoveround Lightning proved that it might have its best squad ever, while firmly establishing itself as a top three team with it’s eyes on a National Title in April. And finally, the Denver Harlequins are arguably the most up and coming team in the USQRA, setting its sights on the program’s first D1 appearance since 1995.
With rumors swirling that the Harlequins will transfer to the Atlantic sectional, Friday’s match-up against the Tampa Generals was pivotal towards which team would have the upper hand in March. The end result was a well-balanced dominating performance by Denver in which the game was over early. Led by their table setter, 0.5 Jason Regier, Denver used a suffocating press and capitalized on a lethargic Tampa performance, building a six goal, first half lead en route to a 39-28 victory.
The other notable game in pool play, came on Saturday morning when the Lightning capitalized on their new found height in the person of 2.5 Ross Morrison to neutralize the height of the #1 seeded Phoenix Heat. In a re-match of a crossover at last year’s national’s, dominated by the Heat, the Lightning utilized Morrison as an always available outlet to compliment the veteran core of Pat O’Connor, Dave Jenkins, and Joel Post. Taking an early two-goal lead, the Lightning grasped control, and the lead early, never giving either up. Hoveround won the game and the pool 32-31.
After cruising through its pool, the Nordiques squared off Phoenix in one semi-final, while Hoveround and Denver dueled in the other match-up.
The Nordiques built up a four goal, first half lead behind an unmerciful high-point rotation of Tournament MVP Ian Chan, Mike Whitehead, Fabian Lavioe, and Garett Hickling. While their low-pointers, led by Danial Paradis and Patrice Simard set the escort service up the court as Canada won 41-38. In the other semi, Denver’s balance was no match for Hoveround’s combination of size, speed, and strength as the Lightning moved into the title game with a convincing 33-25 victory.
With the Nord’s looking to cement its weekend of dominance, Hoveround proved it was not going to be content with improving on its #3 seed. Both teams traded goals early, as the Lightning took Canada’s best punch time and time again. Hoveround took the inbounds to start the third quarter, and scored to take a one-goal lead. With their backs against the wall for the first time all weekend, Canada responded by overcoming its only second half deficit of the weekend with a three goal run after forcing two Hoveround turnovers in a row. While they traded goals for most of the rest of the quarter into the fourth quarter, Canada sealed it in the fourth with a ball control game by Hickling and Whitehead, giving them their first ever Coloplast championship.
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