The Seattle Speed recently hosted a holiday tournament. A round robin was conducted amongst the four teams and Vancouver won the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record.
Final Results:
1st – Vancouver BC Federation 3-0 (87-73)
2nd – Portland Handball 2-1 (77-71)
3rd – Cal Heat 1-2 (75-79)
4th – Seattle Speed 0-3 (65-81)
Seattle Speed Website: http://www.seattleteamhandball.com/
See the extended summary for a detailed summary of all 6 games. (Thanks to Seattle's TJ Ogden for the write-up)
Game 1
Vancouver BC Federation 27 – Cal Heat 26 (17-16 half)
The tournament got underway with the first match between the Vancouver, BC Federation and Cal Heat. This game was intense and close throughout. Each team looked poised to make their mark on this tournament and get that important first win. The Cal Heat held a slim lead for most of the first half. However, Vancouver went on a charge to take a 1 point lead at the half. The second half was heart pounding with intense up and down action that would go down to the final seconds. Cal Heat lead 26-25 with over 2 minutes left as Vancouver scored to tie the game. After a failed Cal Heat possession, Vancouver took te lead with 1 minute left in the game. As the clock ticked down a Cal Heat shot was saved by the goalie in fantastic fashion, as Vancouver took over possession and ended the game. Both teams fought hard and played very well. What a great way to start a tournament!
Game 2
Portland 26 – Seattle 17 (14-10 half)
The host team got underway with a healthy crowd on hand to root for the home team. The host team struck blood first and actually had a 3-1 lead. However, the hosts then gave up an 8-0 run, which allowed Portland to build a lead which Seattle could never come back from. Seattle was able to keep the lead to a slender 4 points at the half, but the Seattle offense just had no answer to the Portland keeper on this day who made great save after great save.
Game 3
Portland 29 – Cal Heat 22 (10-14 half)
This game was a game of runs! Cal heat started the game off and jumped out to a fast 12-4 lead after just 15 minutes of play. It looked as though Cal Heat was going to run away with this game. The final 15 minutes of the first half had Cal Heat only score 2 more goals. Portland was able to keep it close and trim the lead to 4 goals by halftime. The 2nd half was completely dominated by Portland. It simply looked as though Cal Heat had expended all of their energy in the first half. After Cal Heat jumped out to a 12-4 lead, they were outscored the rest of the game 25-10 by Portland. Portland surprisingly won by a comfortable margin and stamped their ticket to the championship game. Meanwhile, Cal Heat looked to regroup for their final match.
Game 4
Vancouver BC Federation 28 – Seattle 25 (18-12 half)
This was the game that the newly established Seattle team had waited for. A game in which all of their hard work had come together. After getting easily defeated in their first match. Seattle had the daunting task of bouncing back against a long established and talented team. Seattle jumped out to a 5-1 lead and put BC on notice that this would not be easy. BC fought back and tied it up at 5-5. Each team exchanged punch for punch and Vancouver went on a run and ended up taking a 6 point lead at the half. Seattle battled back in the 2nd half and held Vancouver to just 2 goals scored in the 2nd half with 10 minutes to go. Seattle then took its first lead of the 2nd half with just 8 minutes left at 21-20. The home crowd was electric as it had just observed the home team make a 9-2 run. BC answered with 3 quick goals to re-take the lead. The Seattle goalie had all of the fans in the gym roaring as he stopped 3 straight 7m penalty shots in a 3 minute span as things got chippy. The score was 26-25 and BC put the game away with a man advantage in the final minute, scoring 2 goals and winning by 3. Vancouver once again escaped defeat with solid play and clinched its spot in the championship game.
*Note* The 2nd day of competition was shortened due to weather and travel situations.
Game 5 – Consolation Game
Cal Heat 27 – Seattle 23 (14-10 half)
Seattle and Cal heat both hard luck losers of day one, met in a game which would see someone get a win. Both Seattle and Cal Heat were missing several key players for this match as adverse weather struck the area. The game was still very competitive which saw much back and forth action in the first half. The two teams basicaly exchanged goal for goal up until a late Cal Heat run to take a halftime lead. The late Cal Heat run would prove to be the difference in the game as each team scored equally the same amount of goals in a very evenly matched 2nd half. The lead was tight several times but never dropped below a 2 point cushion for the visitors from California. Seattle was able to string together 2 solid performances against 2 very established teams. Cal Heat was able to recover from their surprising loss to Portland and grab 3rd place in the tournament.
Game 6
Vancouver BC Federation 32 – Portland 22 (16-9 half)
In a tournament that saw several closely contested games, the biggest margin of defeat was in the title game. In what was at times a very sloppy game by both teams, Vancouver was able to take advantage of a very depleted and watered down Portland team (several left due to weather travel situations) and easily beat Portland. It was a disappointing loss for a Portland team that had quickly built up a reputation of good defense, fast offense and solid keeping. Vancouver simply continued to build on its' solid play throughout the tournament and was never threatened in this game. Congratulations to Vancouver BC Federation for their victory!