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UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION Related Pages |
 Generals Resolve Capitol City Clash What tournament featured all top ten teams, a ones game and indisputably the best food on the Quad Rugby circuit? That would be the Capitol City Clash held in Montgomery, Alabama on October 31 through November 2, 1997. The four teams that attended could all attest to this being a great early season test laced with Alabama hospitality. With only four teams in for the weekend event, the schedule was modified to give each team five games. Round robin play between Lakeshore Demolition, Atlanta Rolling Thunder, GulfCoast Hurricanes and the Tampa Generals began on Halloween night. Results of the round robin would determine seeding for the semi-final round. The Tampa Generals, who are currently ranked #2 in the USQRA rankings, were dealt back to back games by the schedule maker. They opened the night with the GulfCoast Hurricanes who were playing their last tournament under the name GulfCoast. They will soon be known as the TIRR Hurricanes. The Canes carried a #4 national ranking into the Clash. Tampa was playing their first tournament game under their new coach, Joe Soares. Soares opted to start class 3.0 Mark Hickey and 1.0 Norm Lyduch instead of 0.5 Rick Marshall and himself. The Generals took an early 2-0 advantage before the 'Canes went on a three-goal run to go up by one. After a GulfCoast substitution, the Generals came back with a three-goal run in the middle of the first period to go up 6-4. The Canes were able to knot the score at eight by scoring the last two goals of the period. In the second period, Tampa was able generate a four-goal lead which they took into the half-time break. Both squads were subbing freely, knowing that a loss didn't knock either of them out of the running for the championship. Tampa was able to maintain their four-goal lead all the way to the final buzzer, as they put a 35-31 victory in the books. In their second game of the evening, Tampa faced the Atlanta team, minus 2.0 Bert Burns and Kirk Bonnel, a 0.5 who transferred from Chicago's roster. Tampa was able to build an early 10-6 lead in the first period and they cruised to a 40-26 victory. The third and final game of the evening featured GulfCoast and Lakeshore Demolition. The Demolition finished 5th in the nation last year and have added phenomenon Cliff Chunn to their roster. Unfortunately, Cliff is concentrating on academics and did not compete in this tourney. The two squads used their benches gratuitously knowing there was a lot more rugby to be played. GulfCoast took an 8-5 lead late in the opening period. Lakeshore bounced back with two straight goals to pull within one at the period's end. Lakeshore actually took a brief lead in the second period only to have GulfCoast come back with two unanswered goals to lead 12-11 at half time. In the second half, the Canes were able to build an insurmountable seven-goal lead thanks to a six-goal run. The 29-22 victory evened up their round robin record at 1-1. Day two of the tournament started with Atlanta surprising Lakeshore or more like it, Lakeshore surprising Atlanta. Lakeshore hardly ever used their best lineup. It appeared that they were holding back for a later game or to pour it on at the end. That moment never came as they fell back into the key and Atlanta was able to milk the clock for a 28-19 win. In Lakeshore's second game of the day, they played Tampa even for one period until Tampa put together two four-goal runs to bury 'Bama 40-24. After a hearty lunch, Atlanta and GulfCoast locked horns. This was another surprising game, as Atlanta stayed close throughout. The Hurricanes took a narrow three-goal lead into the last period. The Canes' went up by five in the sixth minute only to have Atlanta come thundering back with four unanswered goals to pull within one. Time ran out on the Atlanta comeback as GulfCoast narrowly defeated them 32-30. Undefeated Tampa would play the last place team in pool play, Lakeshore, who had not won a game. Tampa was expecting to see a different Alabama team than they saw in pool play. In the opening period, the Demolition fielded their strongest line but Tampa was able to build a 9-6 lead after the first eight minutes of play. The Demolition went to their bench, but the Generals went with their bench also. The Generals bench proved stronger as they mounted a nine-goal lead by the end of the first half of play. The third period lacked offense as only seven goals were scored. Tampa masterfully worked the clock on Lakeshore's key defense, which never came out of the key after the Generals despite being down. Tampa allowed just two goals all period. The last period, in contrast, was a score-fest as 22 goals were scored. Tampa cruised to an easy 38-21 semi-final victory. In the other semi-final game, Atlanta and GulfCoast had a rematch of the tournament's closest contest so far. This was an action-packed affair with plenty of scoring. GulfCoast appeared to put it away early when they closed the first period with the last five goals to take a 13-7 advantage. Atlanta fought back to trail at half time by three. They narrowed the gap to two goals by the end of the third period. The Thunder tied the score at 33 in the third minute of the final period. GulfCoast didn't panic. However, a dribble on the half court stripe, which is now a violation, cost them a key possession. That gave Atlanta an opportunity, but the Canes' defense came through with a stop and managed to stay one ahead of the Thunder in a nail biting 40-39 win. The final day of the Clash started with the 3rd/4th place game between Atlanta and Lakeshore. This game was definitely different than their first meeting. The two teams played even for the first twenty minutes. The Demolition took a two-goal lead for most of the third period. Atlanta then struck at the period's end, scoring four of the last five goals to go up 19-18. The Thunder took the first possession of the fourth period in for a score by Mark Zupan, whose 20 goals were a game high. The Demolition had trouble stopping Zupan and tournament MVP Curtis Palmer. 'Bama managed to get within one but could not produce a needed turnover. Trying desperately for that turnover, they ended up with two players in the box and Atlanta was able to work the clock in route to a 26-24 win. In the Capitol City Clash title game, Tampa and GulfCoast played even until a three-goal run netted Tampa a 14-10 lead. The Hurricanes were able to get one of those back by half time as they trailed 17-20. In the third period, the Generals exploded for five straight goals. This gave Tampa a six-goal lead that the Canes' were never able to cut into. The Generals held GulfCoast's 3.5 Brad Updegrove to eight goals while their player/coach Joe Soares tallied 17 goals and teammate Dave Gould added 12 scores in a 40-31 win.
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