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Raider Water Polo came to the 1999 PowerBar Cup from South Florida to win.
Host Dynamo WPC wanted to play as many players as possible and finish with
both teams in the top four of this eight team tournament. While both teams
would realize their goals, no one could have guessed how they would get
there during the tournament, held in the Dynamo Swim Center "Dynadome" in
Atlanta.
Round robin play on Saturday ran true to form with one alarming exception:
the 17-9 pounding that Raleigh CAPS gave to Dynamo Green, one of the host
team's split squad entries. Under the direction of coach Matt Finnergan,
Raleigh CAPS has shown steady improvement over the past three years, and
this decisive win established a bench mark for their future. It also meant
that Raleigh would play top-seeded Raider for the PowerBar championship on
Sunday.
"With the Raleigh win, our plan for Sunday was a little off," reflected
Dynamo head coach Stephen Andreades after the tournament. "We built our two
teams to have the best chance of advancing both into the medal round of the
PowerBar, but didn't think we'd play ourselves," Andreades continued.
In an ironic twist of fate, the 3rd place game between the Dynamo Green and
Dynamo Gold squads would end in a 12-12 tie. "This is for the best," smiled
club veteran John Testa afterwards "because one team would never hear the
end of it otherwise."
The struggle to determine the 1999 PowerBar Cup champions began at high
noon. Raider took control 4-1 in the first quarter, including converting a
penalty shot and one of two power plays.
Half-time saw an even wider Raider margin at 6-2 with two for two on power plays.
Just into the third period, Raleigh lost John Miller, one of its best
players for the game and the die seemed cast. Raleigh lost team "tough guy"
Gordon Adelsberg in the fourth. Adelsberg had taken an elbow to the face on
Saturday and had ten stiches in his right eyebrow for the championship game.
Raleigh hung tough and played well, scoring three of its six goals in the
fourth. Raider's experience and balance was too much, however, as they
hoisted the PowerBar Cup, winning 9-6.
For the second year in a row, Raider was crowned champion of the PowerBar
Cup. Also repeating was tournament MVP Jeff Doyle, goalie for the Raleigh
CAPS. Both received $50 worth of PowerBar products. Raider seemed most
excited about the quick shots of PowerGel, but Jeff was clearly most
interested in as many of the new Vanilla Crisp PowerBars as his $50 credit
would buy. His Raleigh team enjoyed an additional $25 PowerBar credit for
their second place finish.
| Saturday: | Time: |
|---|
| Dynamo Green 27 - ART 4 | 8:00 am |
| Raleigh 20 - Raider B 2 | 9:00 am |
| Raider A 24 - Columbus 8 | 10:00 am |
| Charlotte 11 - Dynamo Gold 14 | 11:00 am |
| Dynamo Green 20 - Raider B 1 | 12:00 noon |
| Raleigh 21 - ART 2 | 1:00 pm |
| Raider A 16 - Dynamo Gold 12 | 2:00 pm |
| Charlotte 5 - Columbus 0 | 3:00 pm |
| Dynamo Green 9 - Raleigh 17 | 4:00 pm |
| ART 2 - Raider B 14 | 5:00 pm |
| Raider A 17 - Charlotte 7 | 6:00 pm |
| Columbus 12 - Dynamo Gold 15 | 7:00 pm |
| Sunday: | Time: |
|---|
| ART 5 - Columbus 0 (7th) | 9:00 am |
| Charlotte 16 - Raider B 4 (5th) | 10:00 am |
| Dynamo Green 12 - Dynamo Gold 12 (3rd) | 11:00 am |
| Raider 9 - Raleigh 6 (1st) | 12:00 noon |
- Raider A
- Raleigh CAPS
- Dynamo Green (t)
- Dynamo Gold (t)
- Charlotte Sharks
- Raider B
- Atlanta Rainbow Trout
- Columbus (OH)
- Jeff Doyle (G), Raleigh CAPS
|
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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
Past headlines...
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