U16 Storm win their Pool at USAFH National Hockey Showcase

Feb 7, 2017, Lakewood Ranch, FL : U16 Storm team took first in their pool at the USAFH National Hockey Showcase in Florida over the weekend in what turned out to be a very physical and exciting tournament!

After a surprise 2-nil loss in our opening match to the girls from Argentina – St. Brendan’s – we knew our only chance to win the tournament was to win our remaining games and win the inevitable goal differential tie-breaker.  It seemed like a monumental task but our girls knuckled down and focused on the task ahead – one game at a time.

In our second match on Friday a determined Storm team took the pitch against Rampage. Controlling the entire game, Storm team won 4-nil.

Saturday matches were against familiar foes – Total Dutch and Princeton. The Total Dutch Game (as always) was an exciting end-to-end battle with some great hockey played by both teams and Storm coming out on top with a 2:1 victory.  The Princeton game was live-streamed by Touchline Video and Storm decided to put on a show for all the parents watching at home…coming away with a 6:0 victory.

After a little bit of R and R Saturday night – relaxing on the beach, ice cream, and dinner for the players and some wild pool games in the hotel rec area for the parents – we were primed for competition on the final day.

We faced the first place team in match 5 on Sunday, Freedom Hockey Club.  It was a physical encounter with both teams needing a win.  Again the Storm players controlled most of the match.  After a couple of green cards and a yellow card the Storm team won the match 3-1 but needed to overcome a -3 goal differential heading into the last game of the tournament.

Match 6 was against Kentucky Bluegrass Premier. The first 10 minutes of the match were evenly played as both teams battled to control the midfield. Then the flood gates opened as the Storm scored 5 goals to win the game 5-nil and head to the awards ceremony for their hard-earned and well-deserved championship medals and “Champions” shirts!!

Well done girls!!