By Coco
The 2016 USATH Open Championships was held May 14th-16th at the Utz Arena at the York Expo Center in Pennsylvania.
San Francisco Calheat Women started their tournament against Boston on Friday May 14th. Boston came through as a strong team as usual but with a good defense and the amazing job of their goal keeper Nur Ata the Calheat girls were able to secure a victory 18 to 15.
The women then went on to play against Army Gold in the afternoon. Army Gold is the reserve team of Army Black which played in the other group. Calheat used this as an opportunity to work on their combination of players as well as offense and defense tactics. Although it was an easy win 27 to 3 the Calheat needed to score as many goals as possible in case of a tie in the group.
After two consecutive wins Calheat met Canadian team Champlain on Saturday morning for an intense game. Both teams were about the same level and showed a lot of determination. Calheat won the low scoring game 16 to 14 which speaks for the good defense on both sides. This 3rd win secured the Calheat women’s team a spot in the semi finals!
The women’s last group game against Chicago was livestreamed on court 1. It was not an important game as the Calheat women were secure a spot in the semi finals. After battling much to get to the semifinals Calheat appeared tired against Chicago and lost 24 to 19.
The quarter finals against Odenwald proved to be exhausting. The team was up against a very good team which evolves in the 3rd division back in Germany. It was clear that these women have a lot of practice. Their passes and shots were on point and they were in perfect physical condition. Pressure defense, fast break offense that’s the secret to Odenwald’s early success. Calheat lost the semi finals 19 to 29 but had nothing to be ashamed of as Odenwald later in the tournament unsurprisingly won the championship.
Calheat played NYC in the little final for the 3rd place and lost. The fatigue became apparent as the shots and passes were inaccurate.
San Francisco Calheat Men ended up 6th behind NYAC, 2nd NYC, 3rd United, 4th Boston, 5th Army Black, and before 7th DC Diplomats, 8th LATHC, 9th Chicago Inter and 10th USADTH. The Women’s team in the Open Divisions ended up 4th behind Odenwald (Germany), 2nd Chicago Inter, 3rd NYCW and in front of 5th LATHC, 6th Boston THC, 7th Champlain (Canada), 8th Army Black, 9th Ocean NJ and 10th Army Gold. Some of the games on Court 1 were live-streamed this year which allowed friends and family to watch our players from home.
It was a great weekend filled with sweat, bruises and glue!
SF CALHEAT 27 – 21 CHICAGO INTER: It took a while for our boys to get their heads into the game. Although they tried to come back during the last minutes the game ended 27-21 for Chicago who played a very smart game and relied a lot on their goalkeeper Patrick Jalaber’s great performance. It was a very unexpected defeat for Calheat as they had taken a win against Chicago in the Semi Finals of the California Cup in January.
SF CALHEAT 27 – 24 DC DIPLOMATS: After their first loss this game became an early “all or nothing” for the guys. The game started strong with the team very focused since the very beginning. It was a tough game but the good defense and a better understanding in the offense made things easier this time. This was a game where Calheat showed all its potential and playing style: good goalie saves, fast-breaks for the wings and strong shots from the back. The game left a very good impression on everybody and we got an important victory!
NYC 1 25 – 16 SF CALHEAT: Calheat was underdog in this game the team tried to play smart and lower the injury risks as it was the third game in less than 24 hours. Everybody got to play and the team showed a very good defense that kept them in the game during the first half. At the end of the game they lost by 9 goals but felt ready for their crucial battle against United. NY played a great game, made very little mistakes and played simple yet very effective handball.
SF CALHEAT 25 – 25 UNITED: This was the “win or go home” game for our guys. They needed the victory to make it to the semifinals and they gave a 100%. The game was very intense and fast paced, with beautiful goals and both teams fighting for every ball. Calheat played very good defense staying all together and making contact with the offensive players and interrupting their game. In the offensive side Lars on fire scoring and playing for the team creating spaces and giving the chance to score to Slave, Joaquín and Soren. The game was even until the very last second where after a series of mistakes from our players and referees -with a very polemic refereeing call- the game ended with a penalty for United and a tie. The team was frustrated and hurt as they felt robbed for that last second call but they played their best and wished good luck to United for the semifinals.
The Men and Women teams both gave good fights but the challenging reffing and the high level of competition led the teams to the 6th and 4th place respectively. We are very proud of our girls and boys who showed tenacity, spirit and teamwork!!!