Well if that wasn't game of the tourney

Posted by swampdragonz on 7/19/2023 3:07:00 AM (view original):
Well if that wasn't game of the tourney

Actually, it might have been...

The First Round is now complete as the last two spot are taken. #2 kangaroo fc duplicates the opening game effort and wins the return marchup over #15 FC Cackalacky 2-0. The roos controlled both the pace and the flow of the game, doubling the number of shots taken and almost tripling shots on goal. Cackalacky, down 2-0 after the first game, simply couldn't get it going and, when midfielder Uuno Mantyla was sent off with a red card, the series was over. kangaroo added two goals during the 11 on 10 and won the series with a 4-0 aggregate.

In what might be the game of the tournament considering it was a sudden death affair, #5 Swamp City Dragons wins a thriller over #12 Burnaby Hillbillies in the tiebreaker. Burnaby jumped out to the early lead when Victoro Garay scored the first of his three in the 10th minute after Dragons' goalie Knight Mortimer muffed the save. The momentum then went back and forth. Swamp City scored twice to end the first half to take a 2-1 lead, Burnaby tied it, the Dragons scored two more to take the 4-2 lead. Burnaby scored twice in three minutes to tie the game at 4 apiece just to see Rollins Scherer snap off a shot for a clean winner that gave Swamp City the 5-4 adbantage. Not to be denied, Hillbilly midfielder Fidele Herrera then picked a great time to score his first of Cup XII with a blast in the 86th minute as the 5-5 tie looked as if a 2nd sudden death game would be necessary. But, thanks to all of the scoring in the 2nd half, the referee added more extra time than usual and Jeraldo Marechal put the game and the series away in the 94th minute when his strike sailed just past the outstretched arms of goalie Augustus Barth, giving Swamp City the 6-5 win and a 10-9 series aggregate.

I'll set up the Quarterfinals matchups later today and we'll get it going.

The Quarterfinals are now underway. The time frame is July 20th thru July 28th. Like the First Round, it is a home and away with aggregate being the only thing that matters. If an aggregate tie occurs, we'll go into sudden death.

Good luck, 24 teams down and only 7 to go.

Congrats roos! Good luck to the rest of the teams still in the tourney, we were thrilled to advance!

Swamp City and FC Kingston are set

Good luck jmjtrain

Posted by swampdragonz on 7/20/2023 3:03:00 PM (view original):
Swamp City and FC Kingston are set

Good luck jmjtrain

Should be a great matchup SD! Good Luck!

Good luck DW. Get to play twice in regular season and now twice in the tournament. I hope I fair better in tournament.

Looks like Quarterfinal action will get underway on the 22nd.

I predict that a World 92 French club will advance to the Semis. Vive la France.

lol on the World 92 France comment.

Aubie and I played a 3-3 draw when we faced off in league play a couple days ago, so I'm planning on a well matched series.

Both contests today are in the afternoon.

All Quarterfinals games are now scheduled. As it stands right now, the round goes between now and the 26th, barring any sudden death games.

A couple of good games to open the Quarterfinals this evening. #9 Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi and cinderella #16 VB Hibernian played the opening game at Easter Road. Hibs forward Mohamed Saylor proved to be the player of the game as he scored a hat trick in the first half, giving him a share of the Golden Toe lead with Volodya Zablosky at 13 goals apiece for the tournament. The thing is, the home side needed every one of Saylor's goals, as Cotopaxi weathered the one-man attack and equalized the game in the 65th minute when Sceley Ballouchy scored his 11th by knuckling a ball with the side of his foot past Hibs goalie Dema Rowe. A bunch of wasted opportunities followed and the game ended as a 3-3 draw. The series will head to South America on the 24th.

In the other opener, #3 butterfiles united won the World 92 francophonie grudgefest over #11 Space Olympics 1-0. The two French teams did a whole lot of nothing outside of a Che Cazorla header that found the corner of the netting in the 23rd minute. Both goalies, while happy for the defensive support, will be praying for a little bit more production from their attacking teammates as the return game is on the 25th. Considering Olympics is home for the next game, this series looks as drawish as the #9/16.

The two games tomorrow are both legs of the #2 kangaroo fc and #10 The Shield of the Cow series as they earn frequent flier miles between Zagreb and the US.

#10 The Shield of the Cow did what it could with its home game at The Cow Palace this morning as they ran away to a 5-2 win to open the Quarterfinals matchup against #2 kangaroo fc. The Cow started grazing early when Matthias Schilder scored on an unassisted effort in the 8th minute. The Croatians did manage to level three minutes later when Helge Buturajac's goal tipped off the fingertips of Cow goalie Luke Sengier but, after that, it was all farm animal. Three more Cow goals before halftime gave them a 4-1 lead and the final nail was driven in in the 54th minute by Emerson Heçija. The final score ended up being 5-2 as both teams jump on their chartered flights to be in Zagreb, Croatia in time for the return game later on today.

For the entire tournament, #2 kangaroo fc has been living off of an almost unreal defense and an underwhelming offense. Through the Group Stage and the First Round, the roos had given up only two goals and scored a modest 16. While 16-2 sounds like a great margin (and it is,) it did leave them somewhat vulnerable if they faced a high-powered offense. Traditionally one of the highest scoring teams in Cup history, #10 The Shield of the Cow proved to be the team that cracked the Croatian defensive code. This evening's game already had the Cow up +3 in the aggregate after this morning's 5-2 win. Tonight's game was confirmation that the Cow was the offense that could dominate play. Halbert Labazares scored 4 minutes into the game when his shot deflected off a defender's leg and the roos were never in it. A pair of 2nd half goals by Emerson Heçija topped of the night as the beef become the first Semifinalist with a 3-0 win and an 8-2 aggregate. It was a good run by the #2 seed, who goes back to the drawing board for Cup XIII.

Tomorrow, the 2nd game between #9 Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi and #16 VB Hibernian is the lone highlight.

The clock struck midnight on #16 VB Hibernian as their run ended this afternoon on the home pitch of #9 Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi. With the series tied 3-3 going into todays game, Maeyken Bastin broke that deadlock quickly with a little nugmeg, weaving his way through the Hibs defense in the 3rd minute to put the Ecuadorian club up 4-3 in the aggregate. Teammate Sceley Ballouchy then extended the lead to 5-3 when his header beat Hibs goalie Dema Rowe, as the match seemed to be getting out of hand. That's when Leonardo Sarmiento re-energized his side by scoring twice in 11 minutes to draw level the aggregate back to 5-5. But the visitors couldn't hold the line and Weyland Watkins' goal a few minutes later sent the crowd of 34,483 fans into a frenzy. A late substitution by the Hibs coach to send in forward Cipriano Pinillos for some fresh legs didn't work and Cotopaxi won the game 3-2 and the series 6-5. They will meet #10 The Shield of the Cow in the Semifinals when they get underway.

There are two games tomorrow, one from each of the remaining Quarterfinal match-ups.