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UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

U.S. Undefeated on Day 2 of World Wheelchair Rugby Championships

September 13, 2006
by Susan Katz

Christchurch, New Zealand - The U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Rugby National Team continued its winning ways on the second day of competition at the 2006 International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF) World Championships, rolling over Germany, 47-30, and crushing Denmark, 53-17.

The Germans had posed a serious challenge to the Americans earlier this summer at the 2006 Canada Cup, with the U.S. escaping with a narrow 1-goal victory. Today's rematch provided much less excitement.

Both teams employed a full-court press on defense through most of the first half. The U.S. press wore down the German team and on offense the United States was patient and meticulous in setting pick after pick to keep getting across the goal line. The U.S. held just a 22-18 lead at halftime, but the continual rotation of line-ups and fresh arms kept the Americans strong going into the second half.

The third quarter of this game showed just how dominant this American team can be. The U.S. forced eight consecutive turnovers and scored nine consecutive goals to run the score up to 31-18. The Germans did not score their first goal of the quarter until nearly five minutes had ticked off the clock and they only managed to score two goals in the entire quarter. The U.S. cruised on to the 47-30 win with Bryan Kirkland (Leeds, Ala.) scoring 12 goals to lead the team. Mark Zupan (Austin, Texas) added nine goals and Will Groulx (Portland, Ore.) contributed seven goals.

"It felt like there were six of us out there," said Groulx. "They weren't able to move the ball at all and we were really having a lot of fun out there."

The U.S. did an excellent job of carrying over the momentum from the morning game into the afternoon contest against Denmark. The Danes are making their first ever appearance at the IWRF World Championships and their inexperience showed against a superior United States team.

Denmark never posed a threat to the U.S., who had an insurmountable 33-10 lead at the break and continued to build on that, leading to the 53-17 victory. Groulx led this U.S. effort with 13 goals.

"I'm happy with where we're at right now, but we still have things we need to improve on," said U.S. head coach James Gumbert (Austin, Texas). "Our challenge tomorrow is for us not to look past Switzerland in the morning game and when we do face New Zealand we'll have to play our game, as team. We know we're capable of beating any team here on any given day if we play to the level of our capabilities."

The United States finishes pool play on Thursday, facing Switzerland in the morning, and then taking on the top ranked home team, New Zealand, in the afternoon. The previous meeting between these two teams was a thrilling, 1-goal, triple overtime victory for the U.S.

For more information, or to request an athlete interview, please contact Susan Katz at susank@lakeshore.org.

Complete tournament results are available at www.wwrc2006.co.nz.

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