Major Beach Soccer News Release
Saturday, December 17, 2011
CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. – The semifinalists at the Major Beach Soccer National Championship Men’s Open Division are set, but the four teams still standing will meet on Sunday morning to determine which sides will meet in the semifinals.
Calvary Christian and the Quick Hands Galacticos secured their berths in the semifinals from Group A with a pair of victories, as did Florida Beach Soccer FC and Team Spartan in Group B with the Michigan side taking the most dramatic victory of the day as it rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory against ESPN Deportes in its opening group game. Matthew Vandermeer scored the decisive goal for the Spartans early in the overtime period, and the side was the able to hold off ESPN Deportes’ efforts to send the game to a shootout.
“We knew that was going to be our toughest game, so we came out extremely focused,” Spartans captain T.J. McDermott said. “We knew if we won that game we had a pretty good shot at making it into the playoffs. After the first period we just found our groove a little bit and started to get things going.”
Team Spartan trailed 3-1 in the third period, but was able to rally back and force overtime. According to McDermott, the ability to come back has been a trait the side has shown in the past.
“All of these guys on this team goes 100 percent, 100 percent of the time,” McDermott said. “That’s pretty much why we picked this team, we knew we had a close-knit group that could give everything it could no matter if we’re down five goals or one or two. We’ve been practicing for a while, playing together since we were about six, so the group is just extremely close-knit.”
That resilience will be challenged by Florida Beach Soccer FC in the final group game on Sunday morning. On paper one of the favorites to win the event, with U.S. Beach Soccer national team players Francis Faberoff and Oscar Gill among its ranks, FBCFC took a pair of convincing wins against Team SLFD and ESPN Deportes to book their place in the semifinals.
Their presence in the field will make Sunday’s contest between Calvary Christian and Quick Hands Galacticos all the more important. Calvary Christian rode a tight defense to its two victories, defeating Sons of a Beach 5-2 and Dirty Sand 3-1 in their opening two games, but it will likely get a bigger challenge from the Galacticos, whose attack was impressive in their two wins against the same opponents,
For Quick Hands captain Jared Dombrowski, winning the group and having the opportunity to likely avoid FBSFC until a potential final means there’s still something at stake in their final group game.
“Obviously, every game you want to win whether it’s the first of the round or the last of the round,” Dombroski said. “It’s one of those things that ideally, if we can avoid certain teams, then yeah, that would be great. We want to give ourselves the best chance of going to the final, so if we can avoid [FBSFC] and get that win tomorrow, and set up a final with them, that would be idea.”
PEACE PASSERS, SOCCER IN THE SAND TO MEET FOR WOMEN’S TITLE
CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. – The Peace Passers and Soccer in the Sand each won their opening two games of pool play to set the final for the Major Beach Soccer National Championships Women’s Open Division, both teams taking victory against the Lakeland Reality and the No Names on the opening day of the tournament.
The Peace Passers, from Charlotte, N.C., cruised to victory in their opening group game against the No Names, but got a tougher test from Lakeland Reality in a 3-1 victory. Soccer in the Sand was also challenged by Lakeland, but earned a 3-2 victory before securing their spot in the final with a second win later in the day.
Soccer in the Sand and the Peace Passers will meet early on Sunday morning to complete pool play before meeting in the Women’s championship game at 3 p.m. Peach Passers player and founder Candace Murray believes fitness will be a key to Sunday’s contests.
“I think on the second day the fitness becomes a big factor, who can maintain a high fitness level when you’re running in the sand,” Murray said. “Then of course there’s ball control and keeping your head in the game.”
Murray is expecting a strong challenge from their California-based opponents, who won the Seaside, Calif. and Oregon titles to qualify for the event. But Murray also believes that if her side is able to maintain the level of play it showed on Saturday that the championship can be theirs.
“If everyone shows up, meaning if everyone comes with their ‘A’ game, we have the potential to click,” she said.