We march out to the pool for our game with Australia. As we walk, Team Manager Sandra Miller wishes us luck. We arrive in the staging area and Aussie Coach Chris Cleaver and I shake hands. Team Captain Richard Cleary wishes us good luck. Coach Chris and I take the time to talk as our teams warm up. We share our hockey story and there is good will between us.
It's time. We go to our teams. Coach Tom Brown is in the water and I'm on deck for this game. We bring the boys in and tell them to do their best. Buzzer, strike, It's a great match and the boys are battling the Aussies and making them work. Weak side protection is good but often a little late. Australia scores but there are no cheap goals.
The Refs are controlling the game with tight fast calls and there are only a few penalties. I'm thrilled with the boys performance. No need to call time outs. Their playing well and in position. Yes, the Aussies spend more time attacking our goal but we take it to them as well. We get close and try to score but we fail. Final score: USA 0 Australia 3.
The boys cheer each other and curl out to shake hands in a line. The Aussie players extend me the courtesy by coming over to the deck and shaking my hand as well. The Aussies are a class organization and I wish Chris good luck in the second round. On deck, our boys give the Aussies patches and pins and wish each other luck. Earlier, Refs Nathan Peall and Steve Kars walk by and wish us luck. The French and Italian coach wish us luck.
On the upper deck, two Colombian men are frantic because their sticks have been rejected at inspection. USA Team Manager Samuel Mariani offers them our spare elite sticks, but they manage. Still, they know we are supportive of them and they turn back around and come back to shake hands with gratitude in their eyes and rush back down to the pool
Our boys are high in spirits as is the entire USA delegation. We performed well against a seasoned, well coached Aussie team. We wish the Aussie delegation good luck! We head back to the hotel with Dave Kennedy in our van. Having just arrived from the airport, he sees our boys as they climb out of the pool. He's anxious to see us play and that will be with the French U19 team. We scrimmaged with them during the practice round and they schooled us. We hope to be better tonight.
John Meisenheimer is on a crutch. He thinks he can heal his sprain and come back to play, but his tournament is over. He tells me that this was an incredible experience. Losing John is losing one of our "horses". He is big, fast and strong. John can take home the the fact that he scored in this world tournament and was a teammate on Team USA U19.
Our final round robin game is in three hours. We'll do our best for everyone at home and for those folks here who wish us well.
It's time. We go to our teams. Coach Tom Brown is in the water and I'm on deck for this game. We bring the boys in and tell them to do their best. Buzzer, strike, It's a great match and the boys are battling the Aussies and making them work. Weak side protection is good but often a little late. Australia scores but there are no cheap goals.
The Refs are controlling the game with tight fast calls and there are only a few penalties. I'm thrilled with the boys performance. No need to call time outs. Their playing well and in position. Yes, the Aussies spend more time attacking our goal but we take it to them as well. We get close and try to score but we fail. Final score: USA 0 Australia 3.
The boys cheer each other and curl out to shake hands in a line. The Aussie players extend me the courtesy by coming over to the deck and shaking my hand as well. The Aussies are a class organization and I wish Chris good luck in the second round. On deck, our boys give the Aussies patches and pins and wish each other luck. Earlier, Refs Nathan Peall and Steve Kars walk by and wish us luck. The French and Italian coach wish us luck.
On the upper deck, two Colombian men are frantic because their sticks have been rejected at inspection. USA Team Manager Samuel Mariani offers them our spare elite sticks, but they manage. Still, they know we are supportive of them and they turn back around and come back to shake hands with gratitude in their eyes and rush back down to the pool
Our boys are high in spirits as is the entire USA delegation. We performed well against a seasoned, well coached Aussie team. We wish the Aussie delegation good luck! We head back to the hotel with Dave Kennedy in our van. Having just arrived from the airport, he sees our boys as they climb out of the pool. He's anxious to see us play and that will be with the French U19 team. We scrimmaged with them during the practice round and they schooled us. We hope to be better tonight.
John Meisenheimer is on a crutch. He thinks he can heal his sprain and come back to play, but his tournament is over. He tells me that this was an incredible experience. Losing John is losing one of our "horses". He is big, fast and strong. John can take home the the fact that he scored in this world tournament and was a teammate on Team USA U19.
Our final round robin game is in three hours. We'll do our best for everyone at home and for those folks here who wish us well.