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Not even the threat of approaching Hurricane Debbie could keep Miami-based
Raider Water Polo from coming to Atlanta to defend its "three-peat" of
its PowerBar Cup championships and a perfect 19-0 record over the history of the
event.
"I know it sounds cruel," mused PowerBar Cup organizer Stuart Sheldon, "but
Hurricane Debbie had me thinking that the Raider unbeaten streak might
actually end at 19 games. Not exactly how I wanted to see a new champion's
name go up in lights, but it was a real possibility." By Thursday night
Hurricane Debbie looked more like her sibling of snack cake fame and Raider
head coach Felix Mercado jokingly said "Enough about Hurricane Debbie! Tell
your teams to batten down the hatches, buy some water and get ready for
Hurricane Raider."
With eight clubs sending ten teams including PowerBar Cup rookies Houston
Obsolete Polo (HOPs) and Mules WPC (Army Alumni) there were several surprises
in Saturday round robin play. It was quickly apparent that the defending
champion's bracket was the less challenging of the two groups. In the other
pool, the young and physical NOVA, older and very experienced HOPS and
fast-swimming, balanced host Dynamo A all made their case to advance to
Sunday's championship game. After Dynamo A rallied from a late three-goal
deficit to tie HOPs all eyes turned to the nightcap match-up between NOVA and
Dynamo A to see who would face Raider A in the championship battle. NOVA
held the lead for the entire game, but the outcome was in question until
halfway through the third when NOVA scored to open a three goal margin at
5-2. Dynamo A tried to use its speed to force tempo but NOVA used its better
ball-handling and size advantage to grind out a 10-3 and advance to face
Raider A on Sunday.
"The brackets didn't quite work out the way they were projected" explained
Dynamo player/coach Tommy Kaye after the tournament "but you can't complain
too loudly when it's your own tournament, can you? We hosted yet another
quality tournament and the PowerBar Cup is probably the most prestigious
annual tournament in the Southeast in just four short years. I think we've
done well."
"When we heard that Raider was 23-0 in four PowerBar Cups we were plenty
motivated" explained NOVA player/coach Peter Clifford. "Plus the champion
gets twice as many free PowerBars as the runner-up, so we wanted to win in a
big way." The stage was set for another classic PowerBar Cup championship
game featuring swimming speed, ball handling and physical but fair play.
It was a white knuckle ride for the entire first half as the two teams traded
their best shots for over 30 minutes. Raider A notched the go-ahead goal
with just :17 seconds remaining in the second quarter and half-time came with
the score 3-2.
Players, coaches, referees, spectators, lifeguards and anyone involved with
the Raider A vs. NOVA game can tell you: the pivotable moment of the game
came with 1:05 left in the third quarter with Raider up 4-3 when NOVA two
meter man Trevor Rodin committed an obviously aggressive (but not violent)
foul against a Raider player and was ejected for the game with substitution.
Raider converted the power play to end the quarter up 5-3 and then scored on
the first possession of the fourth quarter to go up 6-3 and it seemed as
though you could hear the buses cranking up in the parking lot. Even missing
their starting two meter man (Rodin), NOVA put their heads down and worked
hard, earning four power plays in the final 4:10 of the game. NOVA's Bill
Blackburn converted the third such possession to bring NOVA within one (5-6)
with just :47 seconds left. If you blinked you missed it, and NOVA was man
up again with only seven ticks on the game clock. NOVA sharpshooter Peter
Clifford blasted away at Raider goalie Felix Mercado with just two seconds
left but the shot hit the low post and Raider escaped with the championship
for a second year in a row.
"I've said it before: Raider loves coming to Atlanta, Dynamo is a great host
and the PowerBars are yummy!" grinned Mercado as his team packed up their
cases of PowerBars for the flight home. "The play is always challenging, and
we're already committed to going for number five in 2001."
For the fourth August in a row Raider flew out of Atlanta the undefeated
champions of the PowerBar Cup, their streak in tact. Raleigh CAPS goalie
Jeff Doyle was unable to grab his fourth consecutive PowerBar Cup most
valuable player award, however, as NOVA goalie Tony Paster took this year's
MVP honors.
| Time |
Saturday, Course 1 |
Saturday, Course 2 |
| 8:00 |
Raider A 12 - Dynamo B 6 |
NOVA 5 - Raider B 0 |
| 9:00 |
CAPS 4 - Mules 2 |
Dynamo A 19 - ART 0 |
| 10:00 |
Sharks 11 - Dynamo B 13 |
HOPS 5 - Raider B 0 |
| 11:00 |
NOVA 23 - ART 0 |
Raider A 11 - Mules 9 |
| 12:00 |
Dynamo A 5 - Raider B 0 |
CAPS 8 - Dynamo B 8 |
| 1:00 |
Break |
Break |
| 2:00 |
Raider A 18 - Sharks 8 |
NOVA 13 - HOPS 10 |
| 3:00 |
Mules 13 - Dynamo B 9 |
ART 5 - Raider B 0 |
| 4:00 |
CAPS 12 - Sharks 9 |
Dynamo A 8 - HOPS 8 |
| 5:00 |
Break (Zone Meeting) |
Break (Zone Meeting) |
| 6:00 |
HOPS 34 - ART 0 |
Sharks 10 - Mules 5 |
| 7:00 |
NOVA 10 - Dynamo A 3 |
Raider A 10 - CAPS 5 |
| Time |
Sunday |
| 8:00 |
Sharks 5 - Raider B 0, 9th place |
| 9:00 |
Dynamo B 23 - ART 4, 7th place |
| 10:00 |
Dynamo A 10 - Mules 4, 5th place |
| 11:30 |
HOPS 9 - CAPS 5, 3rd place |
| 1:00 |
Raider A 6 - NOVA 5, Championship |
- Raider A
- NOVA
- HOPS
- Raleigh CAPS
- Dynamo A
- Mules
- Dynamo B
- Atlanta Rainbow Trout
- Charlotte Sharks
- Raider B
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Latest Headlines:
5/9/10 - Results from Dynamo's appearance at the Cinco de Mayo Invitational in Tampa have been posted.
Cinco de Dynamo
4/27/10 - Pictures from Dynamo's competitions at the 2010 Dogwood Invitational are available.
Dogwood Pics
4/25/10 - The stormy weather cleared over Saturday night and Dynamo sprinted off against N.C. State under sunny, windy conditions Sunday morning. At stake: a spot in the 5th place game against the winners of the Florida Gators/Ohio Squirrels game. True to form, DWPC started slowly against the Wolfpack. The second quarter started with the score tied at 3-3. Sean "Wild Berry" Fitzgerald won the sprint (he was 4-4 in the game). DWPC worked the ball to Stu Sheldon on the lefty wing while Chris "Hairy Spider" Sirras set strong-side 2meters. Stu put the ball right in and Chris efficiently finds the back of the net with just 15 seconds off the clock. Dynamo notched two more and held NCSU scoreless to finish the first half 6-3. State capitalized on several Dynamo gaffs on defense to climb back into the game in the third but never got within 1. High school senior Alex "Baby Dynamo" Olbrych added great counter-attack swims to his good weekend of defense and score three of his four break-away shots in the second half. Paced by Olbrych, Dynamo pulled ahead by as many as five goals and prepared for the 5th place game. On the other side of the tournament brackets, UF and the defense-minded Ohio Squirrels squared off to determine which team advanced to face Dynamo WPC. The Dynamo squad watched with great interest as they refueled with PowerBars and PowerBar Recovery drink. With a former USA National Team-er in goal, the Squirrels held the score down until halftime. As much as the Ohio team tried to go nuts on offense, the Gators seemed always able to clamp down and took control in the third. After their win over the Squirrels, UF informed tournament officials they would forfeit the 5th place game. UF started finals on Monday and the Gators had an 8 hour drive to complete. Dynamo left Knoxville 5th out of 14 teams, proud of their 1 loss, to Ohio University in round-robin play, in what may have been the best game of the
tournament. 
4/10/10 - Dynamo Water Polo Club continued a busy April travel schedule with the Spring in the Swamp tournament in Gainesville, FL. As always, the team looked forward to a weekend of sunshine in the Gators' outdoor pool in the shadow of "The Swamp," the UF football stadium.
Dynamo won its first two games against UF and the Tampa Thunder. The game against Thunder was a close one, with a number of lead changes as both teams searched for control of the match. Dynamo utility player Tim Hansen put away the winning goal in the final seconds of regulation time.
Dynamo lost 10-7 to the Central Florida Suns in the semis. In the third place game, Dynamo beat cross-town friends from Georgia Tech.
Dynamo closes out April at the Dogwood Invitational in Knoxville, TN in two weeks. The UT trip is the third away tournament of the month for DWPC.
Too Much Sun in Swamp
6/17/09 - The USWP Masters National Championships has been announced for June 10th - 12th, 2011. The event will be hosted at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
To learn more or to reserve your team's spot in the event, please register for the 2011 Masters Nationals Email List.
2011 Masters Nationals
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