The Pats' John Stewart takes the ball to the net against the Canadians
USA Teams show grit, skill and determination at the prestigious International Ultimate Road Trip Ball Hockey Event
The USA Ball Hockey “Patriots”and “Mid-atlantics”teams both went into this years Ultimate Road trip event knowing the competition would be at a world cup level. Returning champions, The Red Phoenix from Montreal is one of the premier Canadian club teams, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands entered their World Championship National Teams and the national teams of the Turks & Cacaos and Barbados were much improved. The USA teams felt they were prepared as well, with the addition of some new talent and lessons learned from the 2005 event, the players felt they were more prepared for this year’s event.
Patriots:
The USA Patriots started the event with a win against the Cayman Islands and then played an inspired game against the defending champions Red Phoenix going down by 1 goal with 3 minutes to go and eventually losing by 2 goals. The next game was a back and forth battle against a very good Bermuda squad seasoned with international experience. The Patriots came back from a 2-goal deficit to tie the game but eventual losing by a goal. The patriots responded with a hard fought tie against an inspired Barbados team. With the tie it set the stage for a battle with the host countries national team to decide which team would advance into the A pool. The Patriots came in and played their best game of the tourney winning againt a very talented Turks team. The win set the stage for a rematch with the Red Phoenix whom the Patriots felt they out played in the preliminary loss. With a USA short bench the Red Phoenix using their incredible ball control/movement style It wiped out any hope the Patriots had and quickly became the Pheonix's game and end to the tourney for the Patriots. The Patriots were lead by all tourney selections, Defensemen George Tarantino and Goalie Sam Schall both from the Lancaster Wizard elite club team.
