NationStates Jolt Archive

Welcome to the first World Lacrosse Championships, hosted in the city of Mambaro, Kura-Pelland. Ten teams will compete in twenty-five matches over eight days for the distinction of world champions.

They start in two groups of five, playing each other once. The winners of each group go through to the semi-finals. The second and third-placed teams in each group play off in a repechage round, the winners going to the semi-finals.

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland
Lovisa
Taeshan
Kereca
Zongguo

GROUP B
Nuevos Aires
Land de Wood
Newmanistan
Vephrall
Secristan

SCHEDULE
MD1 (July 26): 1v2, 3v4 (5 bye)
MD2 (July 27): 1v3, 2v5 (4 bye)
MD3 (July 28): 1v4, 3v5 (2 bye)
MD4 (July 29): 1v5, 2v4 (3 bye)
MD5 (July 30): 2v3, 4v5 (1 bye)
Repechage (July 31): 2nd A vs 3rd B, 2nd B vs 3rd A
Semi-final (Aug 1): 1st A vs 2nd B or 3rd A, 1st B vs 2nd A or 3rd B
Final (Aug 2)

Post rosters here if desired along with RPs; you may optionally choose a style modifier between -1.5 and +1.5. Kura-Pelland have a style modifier of -0.1093 - yes, you can go to that many decimal places (or more!) if you're that crazy. You don't have to. You can stick to zero if you want with no penalty. In fact the style modifier has no effect whatsoever on the probability of winning, merely the number of goals (each full point of style modifier increases or reduces each team's score by one goal).

RP bonus will count for a lot with no ranking system!

The Taeshan National Lacrosse Team

Managed by the ilustrious air to th Zttrium throne
Prince Richfield von Jellylogenheicher
More Commonly known as the Red Faced Son of a B****

The Purple Knight Roster
Goalkeeper Greg Fornfelt #79 23
Left Defense Ryan Yelaylee #42 22
Centre Defense Zaxle O'Peerson #27 19
Right Defense Chrichenham Baker #19 26
Left Midfield Ollie Richenham #7 24
Centre Midfeild William Kelly #15 23
Right Midfield Xevenes Hutch #13 21
Left Attack Seth Thatcher #17 20
Centre Attack Peirs Fohneger #2 27
Right Attack Rowan Qwarant #14 18

Substitutions
GK Fred Geigar #56 22
D Alexandar Fwenchie #81 19
M Derese Sanchez #9 23
A Jack Smith #45 24
U Miles Beckett #66 21

The Team shall not be known as the sports administrators had earlier sugested as the Purple Knights instead going as the football team before it has done, striking out with a new and bold name. The Taeshan Lacrosse team shall henceforth be known as the Taeshan Flaming Falcons. With there bold purple flamed with gold jerseys.

Are style Modifier shall be -1.063456987241863

Land de Wood Sports obscure section

As mentioned in earlier addition, despite struggling to find anyone in the government who knows what this sport is, we are entering a team in the first ever World Lacrosse Championships. No doubt fueled by our superb gold medal performance at the Qazox Sports Festival in the Field Hockey and the possibility of multi-wood sponsorship deals, the following team has been announced.

GK Luca Gray 21
LD Issac Davidson 23
CD Deverick Brand 18
RD Avery Fisher 36
LM Ethan Hovsepian 23
CM Alfie Blair 19
RM Declan Basile 26
LA Courtenay Egger 29
CA Adelio Acosta 22
RA Kenichi Ikeda 24

Substitutions
GK Lewis Abdullayev 23
D Eishi Chan 22
M Carlos Campbell 32
A Billy Gelashvili 27
A Enzo Edwards 26

This brave team will be led into the unknown by Estevan Bloch

Our prime minister Andrew Wood has agreed with the players a pay as you win deal whereby they will get nothing for a loss, nothing for a draw, and 1350 woods [about £500] per player per win. Going upto 2700 woods a win after the group stage and a 27000 woods bonus if they win the competition.

As with all Land de Wood teams that seek to entertain our style will be attackive (square root of 2: 1.4142135623730950488016887242097)

from http://www.vephconnect.vf/~pprep15_mj/lacrosse.htm, a page on what has been identified as the personal website of one Preptyrs Pipletone

MMLEC - Vephrall National Lacrosse Team

The members of the Moje Metropolitan Lacrosse Enthusiasts' Club are going to participate in the World Championships!!!

The players are:

Wismalies Nastadgus - goalkeeper (#6)
Preptyrs Pipletone - left def (#61)
Dustele Whaariny - center def (#??)
Fyls Sutred - right def (#??)
Fyls Shuke - left mid (#11)
Wismalies Cegeeng - center mid (#??)
Sadiques Sanani - right mid (#22)
Persas Giisost - left att (#??)
Pentove Jehoepe - center att (#15)
Slistols Spelaad - right att (#??)

Substitutes (available for any position):
Sartiros Sanani (#17)
Kentisesh Taratchy (#28)
Praumbeted Pagliloe (#??)
Apyrphung Rutako (#??)
Hahnea Pipletone (#0) - guys, this is my little bro, he's not actually part of the club, but we needed another guy, so he's coming!

We're actually gonna get real uniforms for this one!! I think my uncle Spel can pull some strings down at the print shop. All of you whose numbers aren't listed up there, I don't know what number you want. Send me an e-mail at pprep15_mj@vephconnect.vf or give me a call, 202-1832336. Also let me know if anyone's willing to help out driving to Mambaro.

Kereca's WLC Roster Released

Although lacrosse is still very much considered a niche sport in Kereca, it is becoming increasingly popular amongst the nation's youth. Lacrosse is particularly prevalent in western Kereca, where a number of public schools and amateur teams have been competing regularly for a few years. Many of Kereca's best players have agreed to play in the inaugural World Lacrosse Championships, held in Kura-Pelland.

Starters in bold

Attackmen
Chris Lawson (21 years old) - Club/School: Claremont Attack
Jason Woodall (20) - Sharks LC
Don Lennox (21) - Sharks LC
Tim Miller (16) - Cobalt PS
Matt Felix (21) - Sharks LC

Midfielders
Seth James (21) - Veliz West Lacrosse
Cody Hale (16) - West End PS
Noah Brown (18) - SSG Tigers
Alex Collins (19) - Claremont Attack
Mike Taylor (16) - West End PS
Jeremy Miller (16) - Campbell PS

Defensemen
Phil Eastman (17) - West End PS
Ben Hill (21) - McCormick Stars
Anthony Collins (18) - SSG Tigers
Cameron Mills (17) - Campbell PS
Jesse Cunningham (20) - Claremont Attack

Goalkeepers
David Kahn (20) - Veliz West Lacrosse
Justin Gaston (20) - Cobalt Miners

Style Modifier: +1.5

Nine nations have decided to challenge Newmanistan at the Empire’s most popular sport. We wish them luck. They will need it. In addition, Newmanistan Lacrosse would like to let those around the world know that we have an extensive professional league in the Empire where all players are very well paid. If your players have been frustrated with the lack of professional opportunities to play the game they love in your country, and would be willing to play overseas in Newmanistan, please let us know.

Team Nickname: The Rockets
Style Modifier: + 1.2

RP Permissions: (I will probably RP first, but if not, you can do the following):

Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Godmod other events: No. This is my game, so we’re here exclusively for the competition of it.

Manager: Prince Michael
Age: 41
Team: Pocono City Capitals
Bio: Prince Michael is the brother of Empress Jessica and has made lacrosse his life. There were rumors that the Empress herself was thinking about going to Kura-Pelland to coach the team, but recent situations at home make it necessary for her to attend to her duties as the Empress. The Prince though, knows the game just as well, and has coached in Pocono City for just five years, after a stellar career as a striker. His tactical knowledge of the game is amazing, and being royalty will immediately get him the respect of the team, though he would have had it anyway.


Player: Jason Copeland
Position: G
Age: 27
Number: 31
Team: Centralia Cougars
Bio: Copeland reads the play very well, and doesn’t bite on the first move by attackers. He is confident and poised in front of the goal. Not only does he read the attackers well, but he has exceptional anticipation for options the ball carrier may be looking to pass too. This has made him the best goalie in the Empire, so likely, by association one the best in the world. He’s not afraid to give you a whack either, if you get too close.

Player: Pete Buckley
Position: LD
Age: 25
Number: 8
Team: Hastings Crusaders
Bio: Reads and anticipates the play as good as you could possibly want. He’s got average height, but Buckley is bulked up quite well. This gives him great strength to overpower attackers in nearly every situation. Pete knows this, and uses it on every possible chance he gets.

Player: Chris Mattison
Position: CD
Age: 26
Number: 4
Team: South Tier Seagulls
Bio: Mattison is speedy enough to be an attacker or play in the midfield, but his defensive awareness make him best suited to play in this spot. That speed and great reaction will help him always be in proper position defensively, and allows him to jump into an attack every once in a while if he sees an opening for himself. He’s led the NLL in goals by the defense the last three years. He’s not the type to be extremely physical, but he’s not a pansy either.

Player: Michael Leahey
Position: RD
Age: 24
Number: 3
Team: Pocono City Capitals
Bio: A very intelligent and physical defender. This may deceive those who are not as familiar with him, because Leahey’s physical frame doesn’t immediately strike you as someone who can hurt you. But once they’ve been hit a few times, they’ll become a believer. Though there is much more to him then that. Michael will completely take the person he is assigned to out of the game by smothering him with great defensive skills, especially in terms of knocking the ball lose and intercepting passes.

Player: Johnny Serrotta
Position: LM
Age: 26
Number: 13
Team: Loudon Leopards
Bio: Serrotta is more of a defensive minded player, so don’t look for him to jump into the attack unless the opportunity just screams for him to take part. He isn’t totally absent from the offsnevie rush though, as he has pretty good vision to get the ball down low to the attackers. Serrotta will overpower the majority of the wingers that try to come down his end of the field.

Player: Kyle Foster
Position: CM
Age: 25
Number: 25
Team: Tundra Falls Mariners
Bio: Foster is a highly confident player who believes he can do anything he pleases out on the field. His skill set makes this pretty easy. He has a cradle like you’ve never seen before, which enables him to maneuver around the opposing midfielders pretty easily. Foster will have more assists then he will goals, because he will always prioritize setting up the attackers, but he will quietly rack up a decent goal total for himself as well. His speed also allows him to get back very quickly, and be good on defense. He is a trash talker. But he can back it up.

Player: Matt Knight
Position: RM
Age: 28
Number: 19
Team: Putnam Lake Eagles
Bio: Knight is probably best compared to a power forward in hockey. He will jump right in to any offensive chance, and like to crowd the area in front of the goal and set a screen or a pick. His shot is very accurate. Knight will not be the first guy the Rockets look to to score goals, but you cannot forget about him.

Player: Jason Green
Position: LA
Age: 23
Number: 28
Team: Olympia Gladiators
Bio: Green, for the longest time, has been in the shadows of the great Keith Taylor and Curt Farrell, so now that he has an opportunity to play with them, in the same attack, he is just drooling with excitement. Look for Green to be impressive, and it will be worth watching to see the kind of chemistry that he can get with himself and the “Capital Connection.”

Player: Keith Taylor
Position: CA
Age: 27
Number: 14
Team: Pocono City Capitals
Bio: A complete playmaker. Taylor is one of the greatest players in the world, and as he graces the ground of Kura-Pelland for this tournament, he is expected to have a huge following. He is, already, a three time NLL MVP, with more trophies likely to come. He can find the back of the net with a level of accuracy that should be among the best in this tournament. Everything you could possibly ask for in an attacker is something in which Taylor excels in.

Player: Curt Farrell
Position: RA
Age: 27
Number: 10
Team: Pocono City Capitals
Bio: Taylor to Farrell or Farrell to Taylor are among the most frequently uses phrases within the Empire. These two have played together for the longest time, and will know where the other is on the field without even looking at them. This leads to a lot of razzle-dazzle finesse type plays between the two of them, and when they play some of the weaker teams in the tournament, look for them to deliberately try to put on a show. Farrell, himself, as an NLL MVP award to his credit.


Bench: (Bios will come if time permits)
– Scott Burnett- G (26, Putnam Lake Eagles)
– James Lyons- D (24, Southport Tigers)
– Aaron Applegate- D (23, Tundra Falls Mariners)
– Tyler Jamison- M (25, Centralia Cougars)
– Andy Jacobs- M (26, Stroudsbourg Panthers)
– Kirk Rowen- A (26, South Charlotte Condors)
– Robbie Ferguson- A (28, Springfield Thoroughbreds)
– Shawn Watson- Utility (28, Loudon Leopards)

Kura-Pelland are at least mildly fancied for this competition, although few are looking beyond Newmanistan for ultimate victory. That said, Land de Wood and Kereca are also looking like impressive attacking forces (though almost to the point of defensive naivety), while the hosts' defence is going to be a tough nut to crack.

The poster boy of Kura-Pellandi lacrosse is the giant goalie Benjamin Bennett. At 2.06m and 94kg, he could have ended up in basketball or rowing, but he chose lacrosse at least in part because of his reflexes and agility. He is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world at present, and has been constantly linked with a move to Newmanistan. While he has insisted he is happy in Kura-Pelland - not least because he does gain reasonable money and local hero status in his home city of Daryfield - the lure of the NLL is sure to tempt him, especially if he performs well in Mambaro. He has a fine defence in front of him, but the team's attack is mediocre.

The full squad lineup. Style rating -0.1093. You have my permission to RP injuries and choose goalscorers, but not godmodding.

STARTING LINEUP
GK: Benjamin Bennett (#1)
LD: Liam Dennis (#3)
CD: Clive Harrison (#4)
RD: Mickey Deary (#2)
LM: Thomas Larson (#6)
CM: Alan Petrovski (#8)
RM: Clifton Summers (#5)
LA: Aron Law (#11)
CA: Graeme Swallow (#9)
RA: Iain Skillings (#10)

BENCH
GK: Bobby Jilton (#14)
LD/CD: Paul Stenkov (#15)
CD/CM: Paul Zorr (#7)
RM/RA: Pip Skelton (#12)
LM/CM: Yves Mouchena (#16)
CA: Mark Edmonds (#17)

Those mildly familiar with us in the competitions that we have taken part in to date probably know that Secristan does not choose its team by talent, but instead awards positions to the highest bidders (meeting criteria, of course). In lacrosse, this is not going to be the case. The players in which Secristan is sending to the World Lacrosse Championships are indeed the best, and most talented players in the country. We are a regional rival of the more well known on these forums, Newmanistan (we also border them to the east).

Modifier: +1.3
RP Permissions: Yes for choosing goalscorers and goal scoring events. No to everything else.

Coach: Steve Cameron, 45, East Penthoria Marlins
– Cameron likes to emphasize speed in all components in of the game. On the national team, the attackers will be the quickest, but even the middies and defense run very well. So while the Millionaires will be explosive, they will be better defensively then you may think.

STARTING LINEUP:

GK: Eric Hutchinson, 33, Ocala Sun Devils
– Veteran leadership is something that Hutchinson will provide to this team as a true field general in directing the defense. He has good vision, and reads the ball off the stick extremely well. As a top goalkeeper in our league for many years, he will have the respect of everyone in the field.

LD: Chris Anderson, 32, Key South Islanders
– Anderson is another player who directs the play very well mainly in communication with the goalie so that he always knows where the ball is. Chris isn’t afraid to whack you with the stick a few times, but knows how to conceal it pretty well.

CD: Steve Traulsen, 29, Homestead Sailors
– Traulsen is a master with the stick and intercepting passes. Not just that, but he does a good job in getting the ball up the field, as the first pass from the defensive zone can be so crucial. He runs very well, making him ideal to play in the middle.

RD: Jack Benjamin, 28, East Penthoria Marlins
– Benjamin is a player that looks like he’d be better as a middie, but it’s because of extraordinary defensive awareness that he plays in the back. Opponents won’t sneak plays by him very often.

LM: Shane Ellis, 25, Manchester Panthers
– Ellis has blazing speed, and because of that, the opponent must know where he is at all times. He will get right up there with the attack, and then quickly get back to cover his man on defense. He could be a little soft, but that only matters when the opponent can catch up to him.

CM: Matt Gardiner, 26, Lakeland Sea Wolves
– First off, Gardiner is a master in the circle on faceoffs. His ability to position himself is unparalleled, and then he does a terrific job finding his man. But Matt will also take quite a few shots himself, and score frequently, though he will have more assists in the long run.

RM: Tim Pozniak, 24, Bridgefield Warlords
– Pozniak is a complete package. There isn’t one thing that immediately stands out at you, because he’s able to do everything so well and do it so effortlessly. If anything should be mentioned above all else, it will be that he will likely lead the team in penalties.

LA: John Dineen, 27, Stockton Firebirds– Dineen has the hardest shot on the team, and perhaps in the entire tournament, once clocked at around 103 MPH. This will make him absolutely deadly, and even scary playing besides the finesse playmaker Scott Cushman. You will see these two hook up quite a bit. Not only does he have the shot, and he is frighteningly (for everyone else) accurate with it.

CA: Scott Cushman, 24, Manchester Panthers
– Just an absolute delight to watch. The things that this man can do while carrying a stick are absolutely mind-boggling. He always knows where his teammates are, and passes with such precision. Scott also does a terrific job in confusing the other team, because they never know which teammate he is going to pass too. And to boot, he’s also very good defensively.

RA: Tom Sutterby, 25, Kleric City Mustangs
– Sutterby is more like Dineen then Cushman in that he had a blistering hard shot that also gets into the triple digits. But he is also a playmaker himself, so look for a ton of creative type passes between Sutterby and Cushman.

BENCH
G- John Printzky, 29, Stockton Firebirds
D- Craig Genski, 31, Kleric City Mustangs
D- Mark Keating, 28, Key South Islanders
M - Aaron Proctor, 22, East Penthoria Marlins
M - Mike Vincelli, 26, Cloverfield Hurricanes
A- Eric Hopkins, 25, Lakeland Sea Wolves
A- Michael Stark, 23, Ocala Sun Devils

THE ROCKET REPORT

LACROSSE COMPETITION READY TO BEGIN

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- So there’s a World Lacrosse Championship taking place in Kura-Pelland, and nine nations have decided to actually attempt to defeat Newmanistan at the sport in which the Empire holds dear. A couple of these nations have mentioned that this sport is no big deal to them, and their collection of players are likely not as well polished as our professionals will be. Make no mistake, either, the Empire is ready to send these nations to Lacrosse School. Not all of them should be counted out though, as we are well aware of Secristan’s ability in the sport. The group draw however appeared to erase hope of an all One Big Island Newmanistan-Secristan championship as we saw in the International Basketball Championships, but given the setup, it’s not completely impossible. We have heard that there is a high quality of lacrosse played in Taeshan as well, so look for them to be a contender. It’s a safe assumption, too, that Kura-Pelland would have a great program given that they are hosting the event. Maybe one of the other nations will surprise us, too. So the Rockets winning the championship is not a forgone conclusion, they will still have to go out there and work hard, and not dare we say, go into the match with every opponent with a superiority complex.

The groups are assigned. Ten teams, two groups of five. Nothing fancy. The group winner advances to the semifinal. The second and third place teams in each group go into the repechage for the right to meet the first place teams in the semifinals. Newmanistan will do their dirty work from Group B, the group that looks as though it will be the tougher of the two because of the drawing of both us and Secristan, our regional rival who’s lacrosse program we are also familiar with. I would imagine that just abut anyone caring to make a prediction has to be penciling in the Rockets and the Millionaires to have the top two spots in the group, but which way it will go will likely be determined when they go head to head. It’s going to be hard for the other teams, but you never want to count anyone out. We don’t about the quality of lacrosse in Land de Wood, Vephrall, and Nuevos Aires. They may be just as good. Vephrall, after all, is a nation with success at the interregional level, though not in this particular sport. Land de Wood could be a pesky bunch. They’ve shown grit in the two world football competitions they have participated in, as well as various sports in the Qazox Sports Festival, so if they show that here as well, they could be a force too. Nuevos Aires, we admittedly don’t know much about, but that doesn’t mean they will be a pushover. Newmanistan may be the favorite, but rest assured, they know that these games are not played on paper and they aren’t going to be awarded a semifinal berth simply by showing up and going through the motions. We don’t think we have to worry about that though, as the likes of Kyle Foster, Keith Taylor, and Curt Farrell have been yearning to show their skills in this kind of competition. They’ve watched Newmanistan participate in other interregional events of late, and deep down wanted their opportunity to come soon, never knowing if it would come at all. Now, it is here, and you just know that they will give it their all and want to show the world that Newmanistan lacrosse isn’t just about the hype. Newmanistan lacrosse will go out there, and take care of business.

Isn’t it great, though, to see the world come together and play lacrosse like this? Here’s to hoping this competition will grow and become a staple on the world scene. In Newmanistan, we love this sport and aren’t afraid to admit it. In fact, we believe that most people who don’t consider themselves a fan of lacrosse think that way because they: A) Have never actually watched a game, or B) Never bothered to learn the rules, so therefore, they don’t understand what is happening, and why it is happening. I’ve always tried to avoid superstitions, I have to mention the spirits of Tundra Falls. Why have they always been so kind to Kura-Pelland? Kura-Pelland was the first interregional team to ever win at the Proving Grounds, as they did so in World Cup 40 qualifying. They had a good showing in the World Bowl. Maybe the spirits knew something we didn’t then, and they were thanking Kura-Pelland in advance for bringing our sport to the world scene. Sometimes, things are funny the way they work out, aren’t they? We hope Kura-Pelland is ready for tens of thousands of Newmanistanians to descend on Mambaro.

We can’t wait. It all starts against Vephrall soon.

Schedule:
MD1 vs Vephrall
MD2 vs Nuevo Aires
MD3 “THE SHOWDOWN” vs Secristan
MD4 a nicely timed bye day after the showdown.
MD5 vs Land de Wood

This is the Part of the Inquirer were we talk about the national lacrosse team the Flaming Falcons

I bet all you fans don't know why we call them the Flaming Falcons its because if you look at the other world all there Lacrosse team have really cool and flaming names like that. They just instill coolness and awseome spirit. Going into this first World Lacrosse Championship the team wants to look good and this is one of a few ways they can do they are extremely awesome with a name like Flam,ing Falcons, even though out ofthe billions of people in Taeshan Lacrosse is the fourth favorite sport after Baseball, Basketball, and then football just above Soccer, Handball, Water Polo, and Ice Hockey, things might change just a little and Lacrosse will gain a few fans.

Looking at the two groups of five teams entered in the tounament you can see a lot of talent on both s both haver in group 2 Secristan and Newmanistan both have pretty good teams and you should look to see them winning a lot in the group, the second and final repechage place in there group after the loser of those two should be Vephrall or Land de Wood to international teams who should really make an impact on this tournament. In Group 1 you have the Flaming Falcons, the hosts from Kura Pelland, Zongguo, Kereca, and Lovisa. The battle for first shall be between the Falcons and Kura Pelland and maybe even Lovisa as thos three seem to be i9n the best position to win the group.

Land de Wood Lacrosse Speical

While it seems everyone is naming a 10 man starting line up for the World Lacrosse Championships, news is reaching us from the Olympiad that they are having a 12 man starting line up. Seems we are not the only ones to be confused by this sport.

The Imperial City Guardian - Sports/Page B7

MAMBARO, Kura-Pelland - Unless you're a devotee of obscure sports, or perhaps in the Imperial Armed Forces, it's likely that you weren't even aware there was a lacrosse tournament being held. And certainly you'd have no idea that not only was the WLC being held, but that Zongguo was sending a side in to compete. Lacrosse is not exactly a well-known sport in the Empire, though there is a distinct lack of proffesional sporting leagues in the Empire period.

However, lacrosse is played as a competitive collegiate sport, as well as widely played in the Imperial military. The Imperial Armed Forces encourage personnel to play some kind of competitive sport in order to build character and teamwork. More physical sports are especially encouraged in order to also build an aggressive mindset for military personnel. Hence, lacrosse - which one Imperial Army officer likened to 'hockey on grass or turf, with slightly less padding' - has been one of the sports that the military actively encourages personnel to participate in.

Last year, the first official Imperial Armed Forces Cup was held; sides from each of the three branches of the military (Army, Navy and Air Force) as well as a national Police side played each other to determine which branch was truly the best. In the end, the Imperial Army fell to the Imperial Navy in overtime, giving the IZN (Imperial Zongguo Navy) side bragging rights. Due to the suprisingly high levels of play in the IAFC, the decision was made to send a national side to the first-ever NS World Lacrosse Championships.

Only ten nations are participating in the competition, but already some interesting dynamics have surfaced. The projected front-runner for the competition is Group B's Newmanistan, seemingly the only participant with a domestic professional lacrosse league. Other nations have openly stated that they either don't know much or care little about the sport, raising questions as to whether they can truly compete with the Newmanistanis (ed. note: exact terminology for a Newmanistan national was unknown at time of writing). Newmanistan's supremely active press corps is also reason to believe that in Group B, the team to beat is.. well, Newmanistan.

Fortunately, the Empire's side is in Group A and therefore will not be playing Newmanistan until the semi-finals at earliest, should Zongguo make it that far. However, that does not mean that the Empire's side will have an easy time of it in Group A. Amongst oppponents in its group are the host nation, Kura-Pelland, who almost certainly will feed off the home crowd. Home field advantage, as the term goes, is never something to be underestimated. In addition, Zongguo faces Tasehan and Kereca, two more nations who have made their rosters known. Lovisa's side, however, remained a tightly-guarded secret at the time of this writing.

It appears that none of the nations in Group A have professional leagues, though some do have amateur and scolastic ones. How Zongguo's national side, comprised of military personnel, will fare against them is unknown. Most certainly it will be an entertaining competition to watch. The Imperial Sports Network's ISN-3 has agreed to pick up coverage of all Zongguo matches, as well as selected others.

With a bye on the first matchday, the Empire's side will have an extra day to prepare for their first opponent, the as-yet mysterious Lovisa side. All Zongguo practices are reportedly going to be closed to the public. Once the first match begins, we will see whether all that preparation will add up to victory.

The Coach of the national side, Rear Admiral Li Chen, said this, "We're going to do our very best to go out and compete with every opponent. The chief philosophy we'll be employing is to take one match at a time, and to never underestimate an opponent. With this being such a new competition, any nation could beat any other nation on any given day. It will take a lot of preparation, and simply playing Zongguo-style lacrosse, to ensure we are at our very best when our match with Lovisa rolls around. Make no mistake, we will be ready."

For those interested in the WLC, and Zongguo's national team, here is the official group draw and schedule:

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland (hosts)
Lovisa
Taeshan
Kereca
Zongguo

Zongguo Schedule:
MD1: ~Bye~
MD2: v. Lovisa
MD3: v. Taeshan
MD4: v. Kura-Pelland
MD5: v. Kereca

Please see page B8 for full coverage of the national side's roster, kits, and other miscellanious tidbits.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS SEEK QUICK START

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- Looking around the streets of Mambaro, you see fans of all nations wishing to catch their lacrosse stars take to the field. The most common color, though, is the sky blue and white of Newmanistan, almost to the point to where Mambaro may just look like a suburb of Pocono City. Gametime is nearly upon us. We sent our Jason Richards on assignment to Kura-Pelland to cover the tournament, and he sat down with head coach, none other then Prince Michael; the brother Empress.

JR: Okay, uhmm, well, this is the first time I have ever interviewed a member of royalty. Prince Michael, I am most honored to have this opportunity. Thank you for your time.

PM: Thank you Jason.

JR: So, how does it feel to be coaching lacrosse out here in Kura-Pelland for this great interregional tournament?

PM: It feels great, it’s nice to go to other countries like this while not being on a diplomatic assignment.

JR: What do you think of it here so far?

PM: I haven’t seen a lot of it yet. I flew into Mambaro yesterday, and this has been the only city I have been in. It looks like a nice city, and the people here seem to be very into sports. I know that a lot of the locals are also hoping for their World Bowl team to have success back home in the Empire.

JR: Newmanistan has been tabbed by many as the team to beat. That must feel good.

PM: Well, it’s nice to see that our lacrosse league at home has generated a lot of respect and the realization that we are bringing a highly skilled group here. There are other good teams here too, though, nothing is guaranteed at all.

JR: Given that, do you worry about complacency at all, or the team trying to put on a show rather then going out there and doing the little things.

PM: I’m not worried about us being complacent. We are well aware that just because we should be a top contender, it doesn’t mean we are the only ones. None of these nine other nations would have come here if they didn’t feel they could win the competition.

JR: How about being too fancy?

PM: We just have to take care of business, we’re not looking for style points. Though we’re aware that things we may do on the field might look as though we are trying to put on a show, but it’s really just how we got about doing things. What looks like tough plays are things that these guys have been doing forever.

JR: Keith Taylor and Curt Farrell come to mind with some of the great plays that they make look so easy. Their familiarity at the club level should really come in handy here.

PM: You bet it will. Taylor and Farrell will do a great job, and they are really excited about being here and taking their game to this level. Also, don’t forget about Jason Green. Jason is really excited about playing with them, and so far in practice has looked real good with the Capital Connection.

JR: Will the team become too offensively focused? How about the defense?

PM: We are an offensive minded team, but on defense we will stack up well and am confident that we will be alright.

JR: Alright, Your Highness, thanks for the interview. We wish you the best of luck.

PM: Thank you, we are really excited about bringing our game here to the world.

Imperial City Guardian - Sports/Page B8

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/snarfjackson/zongjack.jpg

Here is the official roster for the Holy Empire of Zongguo's national lacrosse side. The national side's nickname, as chosen by vote of the players, will be the 'Golden Dragons'. As for kits, the Golden Dragon's 'home' kits will feature a gold jersey with red and blue trim, gold shorts, and blue gloves/headgear. 'Away' kits will boast a white jersey with red and gold trim, red shorts, and gold gloves/headgear. Both will have a patch of the Imperial banner on the left breast area.

Without further ado, here is the roster for the Zongguo 'Golden Dragons' national side:

Manager: Rear Adm. Li Chen
Age: 52
Branch of Service: Navy
Bio: The rear admiral has been in the IZN since graduation from high school in the heart of the Imperial City. He was one of the first officers to actively encourage lacrosse as an off-duty passtime to encourage a team spirit and aggressiveness. Once a submarine commander, and more recently instructor of undersea warfare tactics at the Imperial Naval Academy, Chen also was manager of the IZN's side during the IAFC. Having guided the Navy to victory there, he has hopes of leading the Golden Dragons to success in Kura-Pelland.

Player: Mao Haidong
Position: G
Age: 25
BoS: Army
Rank: Sergeant
Number: 1
Bio: Sgt. Mao was the starting keeper for the IZA's side during the IAFC, and gained a reputation as a sensational stopper during the competition. Not one to be easily fooled, he seems to have a sixth sense about opponents' intentions when they're coming at the goal. Despite a stocky frame, he's surprisingly agile, which surprised a good share of opposing offensive players.

Player: Cao LiHuang
Position: LD
Age: 29
BoS: Army
Rank: Lt, junior grade
Number: 2
Bio: Lt. Cao, as part of the IZA's mostly stellar defense, contributed to the Army side's success heading into the Final against the IZN. A very physical defender, not afraid to get in an opponent's face after a big hit. Quick on his feet, he is known to be able to make a big play fast, gaining him the nickname 'green cyclone' (IZA uniforms for the IAFC were Army green).

Player: Shen Yunin
Position: CD
Age: 22
BoS: Air Force
Rank: Tech. Sergeant
Number: 3
Bio: Another stout, physical defender, Shen adds his height and bulk to the Golden Dragons' back line. A little more aggressive than even Cao LiHuang, Shen has been known to literally knock out opposing players with devastating hits, though that much damage rarely occurs.

Player: Wu TeShen
Position: RD
Age: 32
BoS: Army
Rank: Master Sergeant
Number: 4
Bio: Wu TeShen is your typical Army drill sergeant - he's short, doesn't look like much at first, but is far tougher than he appears. Despite his size, his own aggressiveness and fierce competitive streak made him a feared defender during the IAFC. Also known to be able to keep overzealous teammates under control, making him a valuable addition to the Golden Dragons' defensive unit, already being called the 'Great Wall'.

Player: Lu Zhong
Position: LM
Age: 23
BoS: Navy
Rank: Ensign
Number: 5
Bio: Lu Zhong started off playing defense for the IZN, but switched up to the midfield due to superior mobility. He won't fly around the field like a whirlwind, but he can boast fancy footwork that helps him place himself in the way of opposing midfielders. More defensive-minded, he tends to observe the attack rather than charge in, but has been known to make a few long shots when called upon.

Player: Tan WuTse
Position: CM
Age: 25
BoS: ODH (national police)
Rank: Adjutant Inspector
Number: 6
Bio: The only ODH player selected to the national side's starting lineup, Tan is a well-balanced midfielder who can do a bit of everything. He's equally skilled in defense and offense, and while he won't burn the opponent for many goals, he can help make things happen on offense. On defense, he's always the first to run to assist in a stop, and isn't afraid to put his body on the line if neccessary.

Player: Zhu Rong
Position: RM
Age: 30
BoS: Air Force
Rank: Senior Flying Officer
Number: 7
Bio: Zhu Rong is the more offensive-minded of the Golden Dragons' midfield unit, but he isn't likely to be taking the first shot. His real talent lies in getting the ball to the attackers - assists. Combined with admirable dexterity, he's able to set up goals from almost any spot on the field.

Player: Watarase Junko
Position: LA
Age: 22
BoS: Navy
Rank: Seaman
Number: 8
Bio: Seaman Watarase is one of the 'stars' of the Zongguo national side, having been part of the IZN's superb attacking style during the IAFC. During the competition, the diminuitive (1.524 m) Watarase used her speed and agility to maneuver around larger defenders and an accurate shot to find the goal. She was second in scoring for the IZN's side, and was runner-up in tournament MVP voting.

Player: Shao MeiMing
Position: CA
Age: 28
BoS: Navy
Rank: Lt. Commander
Number: 9
Bio: Shao MeiMing holds the center of the front line for the Golden Dragons, and is the oldest of the three starting attackers. Her military experience, as well as being captain of the IZN side during the IAFC, makes her a natural leader for Zongguo's attackers. While she has the most accuracte shot of any attacker in the Empire, she finished only third in scoring for the IZN. She moves well away from the ball, though, which has confounded most opponents.

Player: Yokota Haruhi
Position: LA
Age: 20
BoS: Navy
Rank: Petty Officer, 2nd Class
Numer: 10
Bio: Petty Officer Yokota is only slightly taller than counterpart Watarase Junko, but is unquestionably the speediest member of the national side's attacking corps. She led the IZN in scoring, and had an almost uncountable number of seemingly impossible goals. With a good eye for goal, she has a pretty good chance of scoring if she even gets so much as a half-second's glimpse of the goal. Strangely enough, she's also one of the bigger trash talkers of the Golden Dragons, known to lay it on thick especially after scoring. Her efforts to lead the IZN to an IAFC victory over Army won her MVP of the tournament, and sealed her position on the national side.

Bench:
Deng RenDao - G (22, IZAF)
Liu Ren - D (27, IZN)
Shun DuZhe - D (26, IZA)
Dun Xiao - M (21, IZN)
Lu Bu - M (30, IZA)
Narusegawa Mineko - A (21, IZN)
Aoyama Yuuma - A (19, IZAF)
Yamato Ooren - A/M (22, IZA)

Style Modifier: +1.0

RP Permissions:

Choose my goalscorers: No
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Godmod other events: Yes, within reason

We wish to inform everyone we do have an eight sided lacrosse league and an eight sided box lacrosse lague. Look at the olympic thread a champion team will represent us ther. and soon i will be opening up a Lacrosse newswire.

DON’T FORGET US: LOOKING FOR RESPECT IN ROCKET SHADOW

Everyone is tabbing Newmanistan as the team to beat. Newmanistan will do good, but let’s hold off on giving them the trophy just yet. There’s another lacrosse powerhouse on One Big Island looking to make a name for itself. Yes, on the Eastern shore of the Penthoria River lies our nation of Secristan, looking to do to Newmanistan what we did in the International Basketball Championships, which was properly dubbed the “Penthoria River War.”

Newmanistan has become a known international power now with their line of second place finishes in prestigious sports tournaments. It was in the International Basketball Championships, another first time competition where the unknown Millionaires from Secristan made their presence felt, and won the title over the rivals. The similarities don’t end there either. Like the IBC, Secristan has been drawn into the same group has their highly touted neighbors, and furthermore, like that competition, Secristan has a bye on matchday one. Newmanistan mentioned that they have a tie with Kura-Pelland because they won some big game on some harrowed grounds in their Empire. Secristan has a similar tie, as Kura-Pelland was the first nation we ever travelled out of One Big Island to play a sporting contest when our teams met on the second matchday of the International Basketball Championships, to play a road game (this therefore excludes the World Baseball Classic when all games were played on neutral territory in Green Wombat). So once again, the Rocket Report looks for their creative little things to mention, only to find out that there are other nations within their group that can say the same thing. Newmanistan and Secristan’s national lacrosse teams have met on numerous occasions. It will be nothing new when they meet up again in group play here in Mambaro. When they meet here, it will be a war, and hopefully the organizers will have it be the last game scheduled for the day because it will certainly be the most entertaining, and have the highest number of visiting fans in attendance. There will be plenty of people in green and white as well roaming the streets of Kura-Pelland in support of the great nation of Secristan.

So what’s it gonna be? Of course, Secristan can’t be going into this thinking that the game against Newmanistan is their tournament. There are three other group stage games that need to be played, and they could all present a strong challenge. Vephrall, Land de Wood, and Nuevos Aires represent our other competition. The winner of Group B will advance right to the semifinal, as will, obviously, the winner of Group A. The second and third place teams will play in a repechage where the 2nd of A will play the 3rd of B, and vice versa. You can therefore see why winning the group will be important. The 1st and 2nd place teams in Group B, if they both advanced that far, could play in the championship. So, don’t count out another Penthoria River War, here. Newmanistan isn’t the only threat to us here, though. Taeshan looks formidable, Kura-Pelland will be strong on their home turf. Zongguo or Land de Wood could be sleepers. We have a full scale tournament on our hands, and it will be fun. Let’s enjoy the ride.

(Team Meeting Prior to the Vephrall match)

Prince: Greetings team, you may be seated.

Green: Coach, and your Highness, since this is the first time I have ever played for you, I want to make sure I have protocol right. Is just calling you coach alright, or is the Your Highness and the bow necessary at all times, too?

Foster: Yeah, no offense, Your Majesty, but some of this is a little different.

Prince: Keith, tell them what proper protocol is for addressing me.

Taylor: Prince Michael, while coaching, wishes to be addressed simply as your coach. The bows are not necessary.

Prince: Thank you, Keith.

Green: That’s good, thanks coach. It is a pleasure to play for you.

Prince: It is important that we come together as a team. We are all equals. Nevermind the fact that Empress Jessica is my sister, and nothing is off limits to me in my personal life while at home. Here, we are in another country, and none of that matters. We have come here to show the world how great Newmanistanian lacrosse truly is. And perhaps, it can be a recruiting mission?

Serrotta: A recruiting mission?

Prince: Yes, Johnny. Some of these nations that we will be playing have legitimate professional lacrosse leagues within their borders, but others do not. We will let them know that we are welcome to all foreigners to play in Newmanistan, where they can be well played and play the game that they truly love.

Serrotta: Cool.

Prince: It is, we can make the NLL even better to erase all doubt that we have a better domestic league then Secristan.

Knight: Secristan will probably recruit too, though.

Prince: Probably, but come on now, where would anyone rather play. In the Empire, or on the other side of the Penthoria River?

Leahey: I heard the Kura-Pelland goalkeeper Bennett might be a target.

Taylor: Man, he would be a great signing by a team at home. They’d be an instant championship threat.

Farrell: He’s solid, I’ve seen the tapes, he knows what he’s doing. I could definitely see someone offering him a huge contract.

Prince: Yes, Benjamin Bennett is quite a talent, and should we face him, he will be a tough adversary. But I’m not sure if he wants to leave Kura-Pelland or not. We’ll see. Maybe Pocono City will go after him.

Taylor: Sweet!


Copeland: Hey coach, is it true that Empress Jessica herself would have coached us if not for the war at home?

Prince: My sister is one of the greatest players that ever lived. She kind of wanted too, but being an Empress is a lot of responsibility.

Serrota: Everything’s fine, like, with the war and all, right?

Prince: Yeah, diplomatic talks have begun sooner then expected, so the situation may resolve soon. Anyway guys, against Vephrall, we need to remember to play our game. Don’t take them for granted, and we should get the win. We can’t show vulnerability early.

Taylor: Heck no!

Prince: Good, now lets go out there and open this up with a win.

SDOS WILL TRY TO BE HANDS OFF

Unlike in the International Basketball Championships, the Secristan Department of Sports has announced that they will at least try, in the beginning, to be hands off, and allow the World Lacrosse games to be shown on free television, with a commercial ratio of no more then 35 minutes per hour. This is a stunning announcement by the SDOS, especially considering the record profits that they brought in from the basketball competition; and since lacrosse is a much bigger sport then basketball is, you would think that they would have been putting the games on pay-per-view immediately. One SDOS representative, a woman by the name of Cassie Duran, mentioned that, “After the team won in basketball, there is somewhat of a sense of national pride that has been running throughout the upper classes of the country. So much so, that the upper class are actually trying to show that on our lesser citizens, and perhaps inspire them to do something with their lives besides life paycheck to paycheck.” Does Duran think that this will last, “Absolutely not. If we advance past the group stage, you better believe the games will be on pay-per-view. The cheap peons of the country won’t get the entire tournament for free. And I have to say that the SDOS will likely have the Newmanistan game on pay-per-view, at a rate of 39R per half, or 77 for the entire game, which is an incredible savings of 1 rusa from paying for each half separately.”

The team is off in matchday one, and so far the mood of the team appears very calm and eager to get this thing going. Attacker Scott Cushman, who figures to be the Millionaires main scoring threat had this to say, “Right now were just chillin’ in the Kay-Pee. We’ve checked out the city, there’s a lot to do. We were able to party a little bit when we got here because it’s cool to know that like on the first matchday we have an offday while everyone else is like, playing.” Coach Steve Cameron knows that it will all balance out, however, “We have the off day now, but once we get going, we have no breaks, four tough games with the Rockets right smack in the middle. We will have our work cut out for us. That’s why I let the guys enjoy Kura-Pelland a little bit last night into today. But we picked it up with an intense practice session, and things went really well. We will be ready on matchday two.” Secristan starts off against Land de Wood.

RP cutoff
Scores inside 15 minutes

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland 13-8 Lovisa (scorinated by Sorthern Northland)
Taeshan 17-11 Kereca

GROUP B
Nuevos Aires 12-13 Land de Wood
Newmanistan 12-8 Vephrall

Well it is not often that Lacrosse makes it into this paper at all, let alone having a special page devoted to it, but in honour of the first world lacrosse championships being held in Kura-Pelland we feel it is our duty to do what we can to promote this sport.

So our first ever international Lacrosse match was against Nuevos Aires.
Unfortunately no one could actually be spared from other sports reporting duties (and rebutting a certain other nation in a certain u-21 cup) from our paper at the time to actually go and watch the game so we can't actually bring you much of a report from this game, and we don't seem to be able to find a roster for Nuevos Aires either.

However, what we can tell you is that we won. Yes, believe it or not our players obviously spurred on by rumours of foreign club scouts watching for new talent managed to win.
The final score was Land de Wood 13 v 12 Nuevos Aires
We can break that down by quarters as follows:
1st quarter: Land de Wood 3v3 Nuevos Aires
2nd quarter: Land de Wood 5v6 Nuevos Aires
3rd quarter: Land de Wood 9v9 Nuevos Aires
So I would say it must have been a close game, with our brave men just sneaking it in the last quarter
Goals were scored by
Adelio Acosta 4 (including the winner)
Courtenay Egger 3
Kenichi Ikeda 2
Declan Basile 2
Ethan Hovsiepian 1
Enzo Edwards 1

Man of the match:
Declan Basile as well as grabbing two goals for himself, he also set up another 4 and certainly looked like he knew what he was donig.

Worst player:
Issac Davidson really didn't know what he was doing, and we are hearing will be replaced in the next game by Eishi Chan

We are also hearing Kenichi Ikeda picked up a knock in that game so Enzo Edwards is going to start the next game in his place, which is against Secristan who are expected to be fresh not having played this match day. We have received reports that Secristan are screening this match live on free to view channels. We are pleased to report that our countries TV stations are following suit, mainly because no one will pay to watch a sport they know nothing about. But who knows, if we keep up this winning streak it might pick up interest across the country.

_________________________________
ooc note on roleplays
Forgot to mention these earlier
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Godmod other events: No

Knights Win first international Lacrosse Game

The Knights won there first ever International Lacrosse game 17-11 over Kereca behind young Attackmen Rowan Quarant who score 7 goals. William Kelly had four goals, while Seth Thatcher, and Ollie Richenham each had 3 to drive the Knights over the Kerecans. In the other grouip one game Kura-Pelland defeated Lovisa

THE ROCKET REPORT

VICTORY IN OPENER

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- We are off and running in the World Lacrosse Championships here in Mambaro. The anticipation over its beginning has been great, and the pageantry displayed the those here in Mambaro was really quite fascinating. Then, we got to the action, where the highly touted Rockets met up with a squad from Vephrall, a group determined to make a good name for themselves in the opener. There’s nothing like success in an interregional tournament that can make the sport take off in your own country, and this seemed to motivated the opponent. It didn’t matter in the end though, as the Rockets came away with a 12-8 victory.

The game started with the Rockets being patient and cautious. They had never seen these guys from Vephrall before. How good were they? What were their strengths and weaknesses? You could see in Newmanistan’s approach that they were using much of the first quarter to just have get this feel. In such, the game began very uneventful, with the two teams tied at two at the end of the first. A predominantly Newmanistanian crowd taking over the seats not owned by neutral Kura-Pelland fans were a little anxious as they viewed this as their team playing way to non-chalant, and perhaps doing exactly what they had feared the most. Thinking that they could come in here and get victories simply by showing up. After Persas Giisost scored the his second of three early goals to put Vephrall out in front by the score of 3-2, the Rockets switched up to a 1-3-2 offensive strategy designed to use their speed, and Vephrall had a hard time dealing with this, and the Rockets went on quite a run, scoring six unanswered goals before the halftime whistle sounded. Vephrall had no answer for Keith Taylor and Curt Farrell as they worked their magic behind the net, passing the ball back and forth to one another, or to fellow attacker Jason Green, who was also truly enjoying this. Middie Kyle Foster was a great instigator of these rushes as well, keeping plays onsides, and behind get the ball down low. With Vephrall scrambling, their goalie Wismalies Nastadgus did not have an enjoyable stretch of play. The Rockets were beating with different kinds of shots, and scoring in several different locations. Taylor and Farrell, in this stretch, each had one goal, but had 3 assists apiece. The scoring beneficiary was Jason Green, who tallied three, and Foster one, during this 6-0 run. The Rockets fans were going crazy, their team was up 8-3, and in full control of this game.

To start the second half, the Rockets played a standard formation and were rather content to just let minutes tick off the clock, knowing that they were never really going to be threatened. The offensive flurry that ended that first half had seen it’s momentum dissipate, but the Rockets were playing with a true swagger, and never felt as though the game was in jeopardy. Vephrall played a little better, but for the most part, they were just matching Newmanistanian goals in the second half. Farrell and Taylor, as the game began to wind down, decided to showboat a little bit, leaving many in the stands in awe of their talents, mainly because of how completely effortless they made the plays look. Perhaps too, they were sending a message to the remaining opponents on the schedule that this team is for real, and that they would have a hard time stopping them with conventional defensive tactics. Newmanistan’s lead peaked at 12-6, before Vephrall got a couple in the games final two minutes, well after the Rockets were exchanging high fives on the bench in recognition of the team’s first interregional lacrosse triumph. Future opponents will be tougher, perhaps, but still a statement was made here that Newmanistan is one of the teams to beat, if not the leading threat to win the championship. The Rockets will take on Nuevos Aires next, a nation that lost a heartbreaker to Land de Wood in Group B’s other action today.

(Rockets players gather after the victory)

Farrell: Woohoo! That was fun!

Taylor: Damn right!

Prince: Well done today boys, well done. Things went really good for us today, and I think this is just the starting point of maybe even better games for us down the road.

Knight: Yeah man, we probably could have whooped those guys by more then four, it makes the game not look like we dominated it.

Farrell: Domination, while always nice, is not necessary.

Taylor: So did the assistants get a look at Nuevos Aires so we don’t have to go into our next game knowing absolutely diddly squat about out next opponent?

Prince: Of course, our scouts and assistants are always up to that task. I’m going to give you videotapes of what they came up with for you all to watch before our next game. (Passes them out)

Farrell: Cool.

Foster: Yeah, guys, let’s not look past this next game because of who’s after them.

Taylor: Not gonna happen, buddy.

Prince: Just one problem with those tapes, guys.

Several players: what?

Prince: Their names all got blurred out, so we don’t really know their names, but you can tell by their uniform numbers. We were trying to get a roster from them or from the Land de Wood media, but the Nuevos Aires media is no where that we can find them, and the Land de Wood folks say they never got a roster with names, either.

Knight: They don’t need no stinking names.

Foster: Meat. That’s their name.

Knight: Good enough for me.

Prince: Alright guys, look we did a great job today. I was especially impressed with the run we went on to end the first half, but also with the way that we began the second to not let them think that they were about to make a comeback. The defensemen deserve a lot of credit. They’ve been quiet. Speak up boys!

Leahey: Thanks coach, we’re just doing our job. Jason was great in net for us and I’m sure that we can shut down Nuevos Aires whether we know their names or not.

Foster: After we’re done with them, they’ll be glad their names aren’t public.

SCOUT THEN PLAY

The Millionaires spent their bye day on matchday one attending the contest between Land de Wood and Nuevos Aires, to get a look at the two clubs, but especially their next opponent. Land de Wood was victorious in their opener, and will be looking to build on that confidence when they take on the Millionaires in Mambaro today. The other Group B game will see Newmanistan play Nuevos Aires, but the only concern right now for coach Steve Cameron is getting this thing off on the right foot. Land de Wood just may be the team that can sneak between the two One Big Island rivals in the group, and the Millionaires will be ready.

“We had a good look at Wood guys and several of their players seemed to be a little confused, while others were on great form,” said coach Cameron, “We believe that we should be able to earn a victory in this contest, but it is going to take and require a lot of hard work on our part. We are sure that they will make the proper adjustments, and those who seemed a little confused will either be replaced.” It is probable that the Millionaires will attempt to gain control of the match early, perhaps by bringing the middies in a little more in a bit of an inverted 2-3-1, as they look for early goals. This could be somewhat of a gamble, so look for the defenders to be a little further back then normal, especially if the Millionaires are unable to jump on the opponent early. Cameron will likely depend on the speed of his team quite a bit and look to capitalize on the fast break as often as he can. None of this will matter though if the team does not play smart, so above all else, the team must remain disciplined. We’ve looked forward to this in Secristan for a real long time. Now, the time has arrived. Let’s hope it all goes well.

Imperial City Guardian - Sports/Page B4

Golden Dragons Prepare for Lovisa; Fans Arrive in Swaths

MAMBARO, Kura-Pelland - The World Lacrosse Championships kicked off in Mambaro yesterday, featuring four matches - two per group. While the media of certain nations covered the events surrounding their sides extensively, Zongguo held its first closed-door practices on Kura-Pelland soil. Despite the secretive nature of the practice, the national side is reported to be 'quietly optimistic' about their chances heading into their first international match.

One of the major stories of this competition so far has been the fan bases for those nations where lacrosse is better known. Most notably, Newmanistan's side enjoyed a large friendly crowd during its tournament-opening victory over Vephrall. Such a large amount of supporters from home may well give the Newmanistanis a de facto home-field advantage against most opponents, lest they encounter hosts Kura-Pelland in the playoff rounds.

As for Zongguo, it was unclear whether there would be any supporters from home travelling to Kura-Pelland at first. However, a large number of fans has reportedly arrived in the past 24 hours to give support to the first national side in any support to compete on foreign soil. The number is unclear at the moment, but a very large amount of Zongguoese nationals are known to be in Kura-Pelland, ready to make gold, red, and blue one of the most common colors in the stands.

"To be honest, we're still not completely certain how lacrosse works, but these young people are representing the Empire. Besides, we watched the IAFC, so we know enough to have some grasp of what's going on," said a man who travelled from the Imperial City to Mambaro with his family to cheer on the Golden Dragons.

The first day's action revealed some of the strengths and weaknesses of the other sides competing in this tournament. From what is generally known to our sources, there were few surprises in the opening day's action. Amongst the results, Newmanistan stopped Vephrall 12-8, Taeshan pulled out a win over Kereca 17-11, Land de Wood edged Nuevos Aires 13-12, and hosts Kura-Pelland beat Lovisa 13-8. It was the Kura-Pelland/Lovisa match that interested the Golden Dragons the most; Lovisa is Zongguo's first opponent.

Before the action, a few nations put out general predictions about who might be favorites in each group. Certainly, Newmanistan fulfilled expectations with its win. One source was qouted as saying that first place in Group A would probably be a three-way race, featuring the hosts, Taeshan and Lovisa. Notably, the Secristan press suggested Zongguo could be a 'sleeper'. In all, it seems that the Golden Dragons will be flying under the radar heading into their first match.

The opponent in that match, as mentioned above, is Lovisa. While considered a potential contender in Group A, Lovisa was shut down by the host Kura-Pelland side on Matchday One. Without any knowledge regarding the names of Lovisan players, or even what sort of general strategy the opponent will employ, the Golden Dragons face a mysterious opponent. Yet despite this Rear Admiral Li Chen, the Dragons' manager, wasn't at all phased.

"We're not really sure who the Lovisans are; are they the cotenders that some people thought they were, or are they not quite as good as expected? Kura-Pelland plays a slightly defensive minded style of lacrosse, and beat them by five," he told the Guardian, "We can't worry about the mystery surrounding them. All we have to do is focus on this match, set a tempo we're comfortable with, and show them Golden Dragons lacrosse. If we attack enough at the right times, I feel we've got a fairly good shot at turning a few heads tonight."

Having the growing number of incoming fans in their corner should help as well. A anonymous source close to the Dragons said they expect to see a goodly number of Imperial banners in the stands during the Lovisa match. Whatever the result, the Dragons will have made history for Zongguo - this is the first-ever international sporting tournament in which Zongguo has taken part.

This evening, the Golden Dragons will hear 'Gods Save the Emperor' played before the match, then will attempt to get that history off to a positive start.

Golden Dragons Schedule:
MD1: ~Bye~
MD2: v. Lovisa (0-0-1)
MD3: v. Taeshan (1-0-0)
MD4: v. Kura-Pelland (1-0-0)
MD5: v. Kereca (0-0-1)

CUTOFF! Scores come next!

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland 11-12 Taeshan
Lovisa 11 - 9 Zongguo

GROUP B
Nuevos Aires 11 - 14 Newmanistan
Land de Wood 14 - 15 Secristan

Land de Wood News Lacrosse Special
Well we are pleased to say that while one of our reporters was not able to get to the game, thanks to one of the TV companies actually showing the game we were able to watch it from the comfort of our office and report on it here.
Having won our first game we now faced Secristan. Here we would be at a disadvantage while a few of our players were tired from the first game and one or two had knocks, Secristan had the luxury of the first match day off, and what is more came and watched us play gaining valuable insight into our team, insight we would not have on them. So it was going to be a tough game.

In the first quarter, Secristan really took the game to us, scoring 4 to our 1. Adelio Acosta got a fine goal set up by Declan Basile. Scott Cushman got a couple for them while Tom Sutterby and John Dineen got one each.

In the second quarter, our lads started to play some good stuff, and technically won the quarter 5-3 thanks to two more goals from Adelio Acosta along with two from Enzo Edwards and one for Declan Basilie. While Tim Poznia scored twice for them and Tom Sutterby got one. So after two quarters we were only 7-6 down and starting to get back into the game.

The third quarter was played at a blistering pace, both teams playing some great attackive play, but our lads seemed now to have found their form and won the half 5-4. Courtenay Egger got two, Adelio Acosta, Ethan Hovsiepian, Declan Basilie all got one each. While for them John Dineen and Shane Ellis got two a piece. So after 3 quarters it is all level at 11 all.

So the final quarter and all to play for. However, our lads seemed to be tiring having played two games in a row and Secristan forcing the game to be played at a higher pace than normal in the third quarter seek to take advantage of this in the fourth quarter. While Adelio Acosta got an early goal, this was soon canceled out by Matt Gardiner who got not one but two goals inside the first 5 minutes of this quarter. 12-13 down and our lads struggling to keep up the pace, John Dineen scores again for them, Declan Basile pulls it back to 13-14, but then Shane Ellis uses his blistering pace to surely kill the game in the 13th minute of the quarter sending his team 15-14 up. Adelio Acosta managed to pull one back but it wasn't enough. 14-15 we lose. But it was a good effort against what looks like one of the stronger teams.

Man of the match:
Adelio Acosta scored 6 times for us and kept going right to the end.

Worst player:
The tiring defense! Unfortunately the blistering pace that Secristan forced the game to be played at left our defense tired and full of holes towards the end.

It looks like we've got a bye next and boy do our defenders need the breather before they take on Vephrall and Newmanistan as they go in hunt of qualification.

Flaming Falcons Beat Hosts

First i would like to apologise to all the Flaming Falcons about the last article about the team referring to them as the Knights, that reporter has since been fired for his stupidness. The Falcons won again today over the host Kura-Pellandi national team behind star Attacker Rowan Qwarant. It seemed every five seconds in yesterdays game you heard the same thing."Score #14 Rowaaaaaan Qwaraant". He scored 8 of the teams twelve goals. Two out of the other four were scored by middie William Kelly, and one each for Seth Thatcher, and Ollie Richenham. In there next game the Falcons face off against Zongguo a young nation we do not know much about.

MAMBARO, Kura-Pelland - No matter of prepartion, it turned out, could help the Zongguo national side gain a victory in their first match. In a dissapointing start to the WLC, the all-military side found itself overwhelmed by a side that may or may not exist. With no official word from Lovisa regarding their side, not even a single solitary word, it was unclear whether or not Lovisa even had a national side present.

All of the fans that made a harried trip to watch the side play, all of the domestic media attention... no amount of effort could help the Zongguo national side. In an extremely dissapointing affair, the nameless Lovisans topped Zongguo 11-9. After the match, it was reported that manager Li Chen launched a tirade before his side.

At a press conference after the match, Chen stoically told reporters, "It was a complete and utter disaster from start to finish, and surprising it was this close. These players came here to represent our Empire, but have proven unfit for this job - there was no heart in their play during that match. With so many people from home watching them, they should've gone out there and hammered these nameless wonders."

"Instead, they fell flat on their faces and embarrassed themselves before the fans and the Emperor. I'm deeply ashamed at the result of this match," Chen continued, seeming to radiate anger as he spoke, "You'd think that with all the attention we've focused on this one match, we should've been able to defeat a nation that cares so little about this competition that they've yet to post even an official roster! We didn't even know who we were facing out there! This match was a disgrace... a complete, utter disgrace."

It was seemingly a close match by the final tally, but that tally is deceptive. Most of the match, the Zongguo players seemed lacksidasical and lost on the field when playing a metaphorically invisible opponent. By midway through the first half, it was so bad that most of the Zongguoese fans packed up and left. Those that stayed actually booed their national side as they failed to keep up with an opponent that, by all rights, they should've beaten.

"After today, I don't see how these players can rightly represent our nation. The way they played out there, they don't deserve to wear the Imperial banner over their hearts," Chen added, then explained, "Due to this embarrassing display, the starters have been pulled from the rotation indefinitely. Our reserves refuse to go out and further embarrass themselves before the Empire. We're honestly contemplating sending our players home early after this debacle - far too much effort put in for nothing."

To solve the roster difficulties, it's rumored that the few fans that remained in the stands through the entire match will be allowed to compete in the starters' places. Rear admiral Chen has stated that he believes such a move, 'couldn't be any worse than the lack of effort we saw out there today.' It may well be these few fans who suit up and take the field against a Taeshan side that would probably steamroll the Zongguo side no matter who was on the field.

(Scene in Zongguo locker room after a humiliating 9-11 loss to the phantom Lovisa side... players all sitting or standing, all looking dejected)

Chen: What in the hell was that? You wait until the last five minutes to start scoring, and by then it's too late?! I don't believe it, the pride of the Imperial armed forces, beaten by nameless, apathetic opponents! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!

Watarase: We are, sir.

L.Zhong: Very much so, sir.

Chen: Well you should be. Do you have any idea what you did to those fans, those people who came thousands of miles to watch you play here?

Rong: Other than get booed by 'em, you mean, sir?

Chen: Exactly. You got booed by those fans. You wanna know why? Because you had no heart out there! You let these inivisble Lovisans walk all over you. You took a rusty kitchen knife and stabbed these fans in the heart, then twisted it in the wound!

Cao: Th-that's a little graphic, sir.

Chen: Good. It's supposed to be! Right now, I don't see the best athletes in the Imperial military. No, I see a bunch of amateurs who embarrassed themselves in front of the entire Empire tonight!

Rong: Sir, it was only our fi-

Chen: First match, flying officer? A match against a side that's made no effort to even tell anyone who's on their roster! A side you men and women should've beaten out there! Tell me, Rong, do you really feel worthy of wearing the Imperial Banner on that jersey of yours right now?

Rong: ... No, sir.

Chen: I thought not. Anyone feel differently?

(All players shake their heads.)

Chen: Just as I thought. Now, we could just pack up and go home. That's the impression the media's gonna get. The fans are already moving up their return tickets to the Imperial City, they're going home too. I'll put out some kind of fairy tale about fans jumping in to replace you chumps.

Watarase: You're not really going to do that, are you sir?

Chen: Not as such. Just a smokescreen, Seaman. What we're going to try is to come out and fix what went wrong out there. We know who we're facing tomorrow. They have names, and they have two wins. What do we do, troops?

Wu: Hit 'em hard, sir. Get physical... knock 'em down and don't let 'em get back up.

Chen: Good. We are going to get physical, like Sgt. Wu suggested. We're going to get in their faces, take them out of their gameplan. The Great Wall and our middies are going to make life as miserable as possible for these guys, and we're going to send a message that we're not afraid to play some defense! And when their attacks falter...

Yokota: We blitz the goal. Pick apart the defense and let the ball fly.

Chen: Exactly. I don't care if you have to knock their attackers on their butts, just do it! Get mean! Play with some heart out there, don't just lay down and take it! Put up a fight, for the Gods' sake!

Yunin: Sounds like fun, sir. Let's push these guys around..

Chen: Good to hear you say that, Yunin. Now, who's going to show up for the match tomorrow? The doormats we saw today, or the Golden Dragons?

All: Golden Dragons, sir!!

Chen: Good. And if you embarrass the Emprie again, drastic correctional measures will be taken. Remember that. Dismissed!

THE ROCKET REPORT

LOOKING AHEAD: ROCKETS SURVIVE

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- It stands out on the schedule more then any other game. Matchday three, vs Secristan. Understandable, sure, but there will come a time to worry about that. That is, when that matchday arrives. Apparently, someone forgot to tell the Rockets that this was still matchday two, and they needed to take care of business against Nuevos Aires, first. If the Rockets want to be intimidating anyone, this isn’t the way to do it. Unless, of course, if the fact that a team playing poorly can still win by three sends a message of what they could do when they are on top of their game.

The final score shows a 14-11 victory for Newmanistan. But it was not pretty. In the first quarter, they fell behind 4-1 early as the passes were sloppy, allowing Nuevos Aires to have way too many fast break opportunities. It doesn’t matter how good of a team you are in comparison to your opponent, if you’re allowing the fast break constantly, you’re not going to find success. Particularly sloppy early on were Kyle Foster and Jason Green, which then had its effects on the Capital Connection of Taylor and Farrell. Because with Foster and Green struggling, Foster and Taylor found themselves either trying to do too much themselves, or doubting whether they should make logical passes to them, and forcing passes that should be there. The middies of Nuevos Aires picked up on this quite well, and jumped in a little bit to help out their defense, and to start up the fast break. It was working well, and the Newmanistan defense seemed a little agitated with it. They tried, but you could see a lot of finger pointing going on. The opponents sensed this as they jumped out to their 4-1 lead, and eventually held an 8-4 cushion at the end of the first half. In the second quarter, the Rockets slowly looked as though they were piecing it together, as Taylor and Farrell were setting up Matt Knight a little more. Knight had two of the Rockets four goals in the first half, with the Capital Connection splitting the other two. There was an upset in the works, and the Rockets fans in the stands did not like it one bit, letting the players hear it as they headed to the locker room at the intermission.

The fans booing only told part of the story, the other, was the lashing out at the team dished out by Prince Michael. He was infuriated. The Rockets, obviously, took Nuevos Aires way too lightly, that he even wondered if they had watched the game tapes that he had provided to them leading up to the game. They were unprepared for the opponent that they were dealing with today as it wasn’t the fact that Nuevos Aires was winning, and in control of the match that bothered the Prince as much as the fact that they way in which they had done so was because of his own team’s ineptness. He called for the team to step up to the challenge, and assert control of the match immediately. There would be no tolerating a loss to this team, and the players gradually began to look at one another and heed the message. They would come out aggressively in the second half, and erase the deficit as quickly as they could. That would be the plan, anyway.

Naturally, Nuevos Aires would have anticipated exactly this, and they tried to focus exclusively on defense and protecting the lead by sitting back in a 2-3-1 zone. This worked, somewhat, in the beginning, but instead of the Rockets erasing the deficit quickly it was more of a gradual chipping away, and the bigger problem faced by Nuevos Aires was their defense focus left them struggling to find offense. The Rockets got four goals in the third quarter, playing patiently against the zone, and knowing that if they could just hold them from scoring further, things could work out. With the Rockets winning the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter and scoring on an aggressive fast break just 14 seconds into the quarter to take a 9-8 lead, suddenly the pressure was on the opponent, and the Rockets sensed it. It began to get like the Vephrall when they scored a bunch of goals in a bunch. Now, the passes were connecting. Kyle Foster had rediscovered his forum, and the Capital Connection was back in business. Soon it was 10-8.... 11-8.... 12-8, and the Rockets fans in the stands, once in a bad mood, were now celebrating what seemed to be an inevitable victory. Eight unanswered goals were just what the team needed, showing their ability to score quickly. Ultimately, Newmanistan would prevail by the score of 14-11 to improve to 2-0 in the tournament.

Perhaps, this was a tale of two games within one. You could make two separate and opposite arguments from the game we witnessed between these squads. The first being that the Rockets are very vulnerable, and it may build up confidence to future opponents, other then our next one. But the second one may well be that the Rockets can play poorly for half the game, and then, as like turning on a light switch, just kick it into high gear and score goals in bunches. That, may lessen confidence among the others. We’ll have to see how it all plays out. Naturally, our next game is huge, against Secristan. The Millionaires won a tight one over Land de Wood which could either be looked at in two ways: Secristan had the same kind of “looking ahead” as we did, or that Land de Wood is a very formidable team themselves. We’ll have a look at them eventually, but coming up, it’s all about the money, and beating the Millionaires. Lock the doors, buckle those safetly belts, and hold on tight because it should be a great one.

BIG WIN PRECEDES BIG GAME

Secristan finally opened up their World Lacrosse Championship campaign last night with a contest against Land de Wood, the nation that is likely the biggest obstacle to a 1-2 One Big Island finish in Group B. It was a close contest, one in which the lead changed back and forth many times in the late stages of the game, but in the end, it was our Millionaires that prevailed, by the score of 15-14. Secristan accomplished one of the early goals, and that was to get off to a good quick start, trying to use the information they had gathered in scouting the Land de Wood side and the fact that there were a bit fresher then their opponent. It worked to perfection, at least early as we jumped to a quick 4-1 lead. Scott Cushman had a great start, scoring two of the goals, and setting up the markers scored by Sutterby and Dineen. “It was a great beginning for us, no doubt. We just never maintained it,” Cushman said after the game. Maybe, it was overconfidence. Maybe it was a superiority complex, but the Millionaires began to get a bit sloppy and were being beaten to the majority of the loose balls. Land de Wood chipped away at the lead with Adelio Acosta looking very impressive, perhaps motivated knowing that a Secristan professional team could be willing to sign him to a huge contract if he had a big game. After going into halftime up by goal, both teams sought to press the issue in the 3rd quarter, each in aggressive attacking formations, leading to exciting end to end action. That is, unless you are a goalie. The fans were on their feet as both teams were on top of their game, and with an 11-11 tie after three, we were in for quite an ending. Secristan’s plan then seemed to open up the game to several different shooters. They began passing the ball around, in a beautiful 1-3-2 triangle rotation, using their speed quite well. Land de Wood tried to match it, but it seemed to take its toll on them as they began to get a little leg weary. The Millionaires capitalized, getting two goals from Matt Gardiner early in the quarter. That made it 13-11, and each time Land de Wood scored to cut it down to one, the Millionaires responded. Your final, 15-14.

This sets up the Penthoria River War of Kura-Pelland. Newmanistan and Secristan will go head to head in a matchup that will probably determine which team finishes first in the group based on what the results have been to this point. First place is a big deal, as both teams would love to avoid the repechage. It is probably the biggest group stage game of the tournament.

Ha Ha Zongguo laughed at man im gonna get killed by them due to this post

RP Cutoff. Scores soon...

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland 12-12 Kereca (scorinated by Sorthern Northland)
Taeshan 13 - 11 Zongguo

GROUP B
Nuevos Aires 11 - 12 Vephrall
Newmanistan 10 - 14 Secristan

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland 12-12 Kereca (scorinated by Sorthern Northland)


Huh?!? Why no overtime?!?

Flaming Falcons stay undefeated

The Falcons again won last nigth over Zongguo 13-11, and pretty much are assured first place in the group going into there last group play game against Lovisa. The team ws led by a deifferent person then in the first 2 games as Rowan Qwarant only scored 4 on the day. Seth Thatcher led the team with 7, and William Kelly scored the other 2 goals. The Falcons look forward to there next game.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS FALL TO RIVAL

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- The highly anticipated match with Secristan did not go according to plan. The one nation considered to be the biggest threat to the Rockets lived up to their reputation as they scored a convincing 14-10 victory over our squad here in Mambaro in front of an extremely passionate crowd. It seems as though most of the hometown neutral Kura-Pelland natives knew it would be best for them to sell off their tickets, for up to as much as ten times their face value, to fans from either Newmanistan and Secristan. At the end of the day, one nation and it’s fans leaves happy. As happy as they were when they won the International Basketball Championships. For us, it may just mean the repechage as it will take two Secristan losses, plus us beating Land de Wood, which by no means is a given, in order for the Rockets to win Group B. The hosts had an interesting final score in their own game, we must mention. A 12-12 tie with Kereca. Leaving everyone in Newmanistan wondering..... we’re not playing overtime in this?!?!?!?!

Some of the harsher critics of Newmanistanian lacrosse now are wondering if the team is simply not as motivated as others. They have their professional league, their multi million dollar contracts, and a known reputation. Secristan has their league too, but they refer to themselves very often as the little brother that doesn’t get as much attention as their older sibling. In each of the two games prior to these, Newmanistan needed a rocket-charged boost on quick flurry of goals to take control of the game. While it was good that it happened, these critics wondered if it was a motivation issue. Motivation, should not have been an issue against Secristan as each wants to outdo the other. Neither may win the championship, but believe us when we say that both want to have a better overall finish then the other, no matter what overall place it is.

As for the match, once again the Rockets struggled to score early. But unlike the match against Nuevos Aires, this time they were playing an opponent with the ability to clamp down defensively and protect the lead. After Curtis Farrell and Matt Knight opened up the scoring for the Rockets, giving us a 2-0 lead, the Millionaires completely smothered us for the rest of the first half. Their goalie, Eric Hutchinson of the Ocala Sun Devils was outstanding, and he really deserves a lot of the credit. The one time transfer target of the Loudon Leopards did a great job directing his defense, and in turn, the defense responded. It may have helped them, too, that they were actually familiar with the Rockets’ main playmakers Keith Taylor and Curtis Farrell, otherwise known as the Capital Connection in that they had played against them at the regional level, so there was no surprising anyone. Chris Anderson was particularly smothering, but the big weapon ended up being Steve Traulsen back there as he showed a great ability to intercept passes, and then simply do an incredible job in getting the first breakout pass up to the middies, allowing the Millionaires to have a great transition game going, especially in the first half. So while the Rockets were not scoring, Traulsen’s play was putting the attackers of his team in some great positions, and they capitalized. Once they got the ball to Shane Ellis or Matt Gardiner, they had a lot of running room, and when your playing someone with the speed of Ellis, that is basically like committing suicide. At the end of the first half, Secristan held an 8-4 advantage, and if not for fine goalkeeping by Jason Copeland, it could have been much worse.

Being down 8-4 at halftime was familiar territory to the Rockets as it was the same exact score they trailed by against Nuevos Aires. In that game, though, you had the feeling that you hadn’t seen the best of the Rockets and that they could bounce back. Here, it was different. Secristan had a greater ability to protect a lead, and when they sat back in a zone to protect it, guys like Anderson and Traulsen would be far more effective then the Nuevos Aires’ defensemen were. The second half started the same way the first half did, with Newmanistan getting the first two goals, both of which were scored by Keith Taylor. The first came off a faceoff win and furious rush and the second simply the result of hard work down low. Maybe the Rockets could make another comeback. But Secristan, knowing our ability to score in bunches, quickly adapted, and the Rockets would not score again in the third quarter. The third would follow the same script as the first and second did, and after three, the game looked to be over, with the Millionaires ahead 12-6. The fans wearing green and white (or suits) in the stands were rocking the joint, cheering in support, and mocking our team. You can’t blame them, we would have done the same thing. But the Rockets had one more gasp of life in them. They tried to dig down deep and make the big comeback. Kyle Foster was the initiator, setting up two quick goals, to Farrell and Taylor, and then getting one of his own. A few minutes later, Foster set up Jason Green for a score, and with four minutes left the Rockets had closed to 12-10. Then came another turning point. A disallowed goal. An apparent backdoor goal by Curtis Farrell was waved off as Kurtis Taylor was ruled to have interfered with the goalie Hutchinson. Questionable or not, the Millionaires sprinted up field and scored just 20 seconds after to take a 13-10 lead. It was a dagger. As with three minutes to play, there was a big difference between 12-11 or 13-10. Secristan would add another to secure a 14-10 victory.


Newmanistan falls to 2-1 in group B, and are in second place overall, ½ a game ahead of 3rd place Land de Wood, who was idle on matchday three. The Rockets will enjoy their offday coming up, and perhaps it will be some much needed rest after this showdown, before taking on Land de Wood in the final group stage game. It is a contest that will probably determine second place. Secristan is 2-0, and holds the tiebreaker on both us and the Woodpeckers, so you have to say that the Millionaires may have unofficially wrapped up the group, as they really only need to beat Vephrall or Nuevos Aires, when the fact is, they’ll probably beat both of them.

Well with our lads enjoying a matchday of, it gave us a chance to examine the results so far and build up a picture of what they need to do in the next couple of games to qualify. First the table as it stands:


Team W D L GD GF GA
Secristan 2 0 0 +5 29 24
Newmanistan 2 0 1 +3 36 33
Land de Wood 1 0 1 0 27 27
Vephrall 1 0 1 -3 20 23
Nuevos Aires 0 0 3 -5 34 39


Assuming the organisers are using head to heads to settle ties then Secristan are sitting comfortably having beaten both oursleves and Newmanistan already, so unless Vephrall suddenly find their form and beat them and us, then Secristan only need one more win to qualify and as they still have to play group whipping boys Nuevos Aires then they are fairly safe.
So it looks like we are heading for the repechage if we want to get through to the next round.
Our next opponents are Vephrall the winner stays in contention for a place in the repechage, defeat and the losers can start thinking about packing their bags. Though it is still possible if we beat Newmanistan in our final game we might sneak 3rd place of them. However, a win against Vephrall guarantees us at least 3rd place and our lads must aim for this.
If the game ends in a tie then we will need to get at least the same if not more out of our game against Newmanistan then Vephrall do against Secristan, if we do the same, then it will be done to the hosts to work out the complicated qualifying format. It is possible we will end up with another situation like we did in the u-21 football where it was impossible to separate us and Yafor 2 and we needed penalties to do so. But it is less likely especially as we have scored more and conceded less.
After the Vephrall game we have a tough game against Newmanistan. Don't be fooled by Secristan thrashing them, Newmanistan are tough opponents and they will be looking to win to secure 2nd place for themselves and an easier repechage game. That is assuming we beat Vephrall as if we lose, then the Newmanistan game could end up being about 3rd place, assuming Vephrall win against Secristan.
This is where it would get very complicated if Vephrall beat us, and lose to Secristan and we then beat Newmanistan then it would take a mathematical genius to work it all out but I'm guessing it would come down to goal difference or goals scored.
S at the end of the day, when all is said and done, all our team needs to do is win their last two games and they qualify. A win and a lose may be enough but it is cutting it fine.

Clarification:

In the group stage draws count, for one point (wins three, as per association football) and yes, head to head results count first, then points difference. If neither of those sort the ties out, I'm the most unlucky guy in the world... and there'll be a rematch between the two.

SWEET VICTORY

Secristan is rocking. In case you hadn’t heard the news, first of all, what kind of Secristan citizen do you call yourself if you haven’t heard the news? The Millionaires grounded Newmanistan’s Rockets by the score of 14-10 in their second game in the World Lacrosse Championships to improve their record to two wins against no defeats. Making it extra sweet is the fact that our two wins so far have come against the teams that are likely the best in the group. We are in a position now where we win the group if we win just one more game.

Despite giving up the first two goals of the contest, Secristan took control of the match against their neighbors scoring eight of the game’s next 10 goals to go into halftime with a very comfortable lead, 8-4. With respect to the Rockets, the halftime locker room’s atmosphere remained very calm as they knew there was a lot more work to be done, and they went out and executed, allowing just two goals in the third quarter, extending the lead to 12-6. From there the Millionaires were able to put it in cruise control. The Rockets may want to make it seem like they launched a big comeback at this point, but the real story was our boys simply took the foot off the gas pedal. When they needed to step back on it when it was 12-10, the responded.

As expected, the nation is a jovial mood. Secristan recently has had a lot of success against Newmanistan in this world stuff. They beat them in the International Basketball Championships, and then last night they earned a convincing win in Mambaro. There’s another game to be played tonight, but as fans, we can still savor the victory. The team, they’ll be ready for the next one.

We at Land de Wood News would like to take this opportunity to thank the hosts for their quick reply as to the tie breakers for the group stage.
This means that if our lads beat Vephrall then we are more or less guaranteed a place in the repechage.

We also have had a quick word with manager Estevan Bloch.

Harry: Good afternoon Estevan,
Estevan: Good afternoon Harry
Harry: So how do you think things have gone so far?
Estevan: Fairly well, it was great to win our first game, and I'm not too disappointed to lose to a Secristan team that look quite capable of winning the whole competition.
Harry: There were concerns going into this competition that we didn't know enough about this sport.
Estevan: While admitably it is not one well known in Land de Wood, it is one I know from my younger days and I am delighted to be given the chance of leading the lads. All of these lads had watched the sport and most had played it at one time or another and they are all quick learners.
Harry: So what do you make of Vephrall?
Estevan: Well they seem a well-equipped side and it should be a good game.
Harry: Do you reckon we can win?
Estevan: Of course we can, and we shall.
Harry: Any changes to the team that started the last game?
Estevan: No, I thought the players all put in a good performance and deserve the chance to make amends for the defeat.
Harry: Adelio Acosta has been hitting the back of the net and indeed the headlines, rumours are he is on the verge of signing a big money move away from Land de Wood.
Estevan: He certainly has been doing a good job for us upfront, and if he can secure a big money move then good luck to him and indeed any of are other players.
Harry: Is it true that you nearly sent Issac Davidson home after that first game?
Estevan: While I was disappointed with his performance, he is one of the lads who had never played the sport before coming here, so it was always going to be difficult, but he has been paying attention in training and I have every faith that if we need him, he'll do a job for us in defense.
Harry: Good to know, well I'll let you get back to the lads.
Estevan: Thanks and enjoy the game.
Harry: You to.

So no change to the starting line up, which to remind you is:
Luca Gray
Avery Fisher Deverick Brand Eishi Chan
Declan Basile Alfie Blair Ethan Hovsepian
Enzo Edwards Adelio Acosta Courtenay Egger

Substitutions
GK Lewis Abdullayev
D Issac Davidson
M Carlos Campbell
A Billy Gelashvili
A Kenichi Ikeda

Kura-Pelland are looking to avoid humiliation tonight, with their final group match against the armed forces team of Zongguo looking like a must-win after the draw with Kereca. It would improve their record to 2-1-1, which should be enough for the repechage.

Fine play from Benjamin Bennett has not always been backed up by the rest of the defence, who have underperformed. One man does not make a team, that much is clear, and you can be sure that the coaching team here will be making that clear. As if the fans aren't already. Bennett is reported already in Kura-Pellandi press to be set to move to Newmanistan, but nobody else in this team looks likely to be wanted at the moment. This is a critical test.

In other news, Secristan have assumed the burden of favouritism, after defeating Newmanistan 14-10 in a match that didn't really live up to its billing, mostly because Newmanistan were disappointing especially in the second quarter.

RP CUTOFF - scores in under 30 minutes

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland 11 - 13 Zongguo (score generated by Bostopia)
Lovisa 10 - 12 Kereca

GROUP B
Nuevos Aires 10 - 17 Secristan
Land de Wood 12 - 9 Vephrall


GROUP A
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Taeshan 3 3 0 0 42 33 9 9 Q
-------------------------------------------------
2 Kura-Pelland 4 1 1 2 47 45 2 4
3 Kereca 3 1 1 1 35 39 -4 4
-------------------------------------------------
4 Lovisa 3 1 0 2 29 34 -5 3
5 Zongguo 3 1 0 2 33 35 -2 3

GROUP B
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Secristan 3 3 0 0 46 34 12 9 Q
------------------------------------------------
2 Land de Wood 3 2 0 1 39 36 3 6
3 Newmanistan 3 2 0 1 36 33 3 6
-------------------------------------------------
4 Vephrall 3 1 0 2 29 35 -6 3
5 Nuevos Aires 4 0 0 4 44 56 -12 0 E

So it was us or them effectively, the winner of the Land de Wood verses Vephrall game was more or less guaranteed a place in the next round, while the loser could think about going home, baring some complicated maths.

Land de Wood were quick out of the blocks, well rested from their off day, Adelio Acosta got three in the first quarter, Ethan Hovsepian also grabbed one as they won the first quarter 4-2.

Vephrall were quick to try and stamp their mark on the 2nd quarter, bringing the score back to 4-4, only for Ethan Hovsepian to go another of his mazy runs and score a beautiful solo effort to make it 5-4, Enzo Edwards and Courtenay Egger also grabbed one a piece. Making it 7-4 at half time.

Going into the 3rd quarter, Vephrall were again the first to score, but then followed a tit-for-tat episode as Land de Wood scored a goal then Vephrall scored again. In the end there were 5 goals scored in the quarter, 3 by Vephrall and 2 by Land de Wood (Declan Basile, Adelio Acosta). End of 3rd quarter score was 9-7.

So into the 4th quarter, and our lads quicker extended their lead as first Adelio Acosta and then Courtenay Egger scored in the 3rd and 5th minute respectively. Vephrall pulled one back in the 8th, but Declan Basile put it beyond doubt in the 11th minute. Vephrall to their credit kept playing right to the end scoring virtually on the whistle. Final score 12-9

Elsewhere Secristan thrashed Nuevos Aires by 17 to 10, to secure top spot in the group.

So it is effectively a 2nd place play off between Land de Wood and Newmanistan with the winner getting the supposedly easier game in the repechage. The loser should still finish in 3rd above Vephrall even if they do the seemingly impossible and beat Secristan, based on their head to head results.

In the other group Taeshan have run away with things and they will be tough competitors in the semi-finals.

As for who will finish 2nd and 3rd, well that's anybody's guess with just 1 point separating 2nd and 5th.

Yeah were still undefeated after an off day and we have qualified for the second round with no repechage as we lead the group by 5 going into the last game versus the Lovisans

GROUP CLINCHED

The Millionaires officially don't need to worry themselves with a repechage, unlike other teams, as they defeated lowly Nuevos Aires by the score of 17-10. It was a one-sided contest from the beginning, with the Millionaires scoring the game's first five goals, and never having a lead of less then four throughout the contest. Scott Cushman referred to it as a cakewalk, "We knew there were some teams in this who really didn't belong on the same field as us. This is clearly one of those teams. They really weren't a high level opponent at all, and if we needed to keep scoring and pressing the issue, we could have really done some damage." Cushman led the Millionaires with seven goals, and he also had four assists. He played sparingly in the fourth quarter as several of the backups got some playing time.

Secristan will finish off the group stage with a completely meaningless game against Vephrall. The loser of the Newmanistan-Land de Wood game would probably like us to put in a quality effort, though. Matt Gardiner confirmed that the team will still play for pride, "We're not going to just take a stroll out there. We'll play hard as we'd like to finish undefeated."

In another announcement, it appears as though the Secristan Department of Sports is ready to take the games off of free TV after the Vephrall contest. SDOS representative Cassie Duran stated, "I said before that after the group stage, games will move to pay-per-view. If anyone objects to that they should just realize how nice and thoughtful we were to allow it to be on free TV for this long as it was. The games will be shown at a rate of 19R per quarter, 37R per half, or 73R per game. Buying the whole game is an absolutely incredible offer that will save you 5R over purchasing each quarter separately, and not to mention it is the only way in which you would be able to view a potential overtime." The SDOS also reminds you that anyone caught trying to steal the signal will be charged with attempted freeloading and sentenced to 15-20 years in jail.

THE ROCKET REPORT

MORE THEN A WIN NEEDED

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- After a day off to reflect on what went wrong against Secristan and ways in which it could be corrected, the Rockets get set to play the final game of the group stage against upstart Land de Wood, a nation that even though it claims to have nothing to do with the sport, is actually doing quite well. A win, is important. The Rockets are heading to the repechage, but whether or not they finish 2nd or 3rd is to be determined by this match. But that is not why a win is important here. Whether Newmanistan plays the second or third place team in Group A doesn’t really matter as it’s a game they didn’t want to have in the first place. No. It’s important for the psyche of the team. Who out there can say that Newmanistan lacrosse has brought “A” game to this tournament. You almost could make a case that they are lucky not to be sitting at 0-3. It’s always better to peak late in a tournament, rather then early. So maybe, our Rockets are just hitting their stride. I (Jason Richards) sat down with the coach, his Highness Prince Michael to discuss several things. Here’s the transcript.

JR: I’m here with his Highness, Prince Michael. Your Majesty, thank you for joining us. (Bows)

PM: Thank you Jason.

JR: Your Highness, what’s wrong with the team right now? The consensus in various media forums and internet blogs is that there are some considerable problems with the team.

PM: It depends on what your reading. We had one bad game, and it was against a good team. I know it’s hard to lose to them, but they have a great program over there, a great team.

JR: Yes, but not everyone is sold on the way the team played in the first two games either, even though you won them.

PM: If people aren’t happy with a win, then you can never please them. We played very well against Vephrall and Nuevos Aires. The people who weren’t satisfied with those wins are the same people who expect Newmanistan to win World Cup 42. They’re not being realists. If you thought we were going to be winning those games 16-6, then you’re not being fair to us, or to the opponent.

JR: But they’re not really happy about us having to play in the repechage.

PM: I wanted to win the group, we all did. But face it, either us or Secristan, two of the best lacrosse nations were going to play there. It’s going to be us. There’s no shame in that.

JR: What about shame in losing to Land de Wood, a nation where lacrosse hasn’t historically been their strong suit?

PM: Just because the nation might not be in love with it doesn’t there isn’t talented players that play it. They have a good squad. We would be very disappointed if we lost to them, but we wouldn’t feel shamed. They have good players, as evidenced by some of them getting contract offers from Newmanistanian clubs.

JR: Yeah, in case all the fans aren’t aware, Adelio Acosta was offered a 6 year deal worth $27.5 million from Loudon as well as a 4 year deal worth $18 million from Olympia. Tundra Falls offered Courtenay Egger a 4 year deal worth $16 million, and Deverick Brand was tendered a 7-year deal by Centralia worth $35 million. We await responses from those players.

PM: Yeah, that fact alone shows those players have skills, those are some big contracts being offered. Though they may be waiting to sign those contracts because they are being advised that they could see more offers after we go head to head with them.

JR: And we should also mention Tundra Falls also offered Kura-Pelland’s Benjamin Bennett a 4-year deal worth $20 million, and Putnam Lake offered 5 year deal worth $13 million to Thomas Larson.

PM: Again, those offers show that there is a lot more talent out there in the world then what we have here.

JR: It would be exciting to see the international talent come here.

PM: Yes, it would.

JR: Back to the matter at hand, do you have a preference in the repechage?

PM: No. Whoever it is, we have to beat them.

JR: What is the mood, and overall morale of the team right now?

PM: It’s pretty good. The off-day re-energized, and the players are eager to make amends from the disappointing loss in our last game.

JR: Do you plan on making any tactical changes?

PM: I might, but if I did it wouldn’t be anything too drastic.

JR: Confident in the players then?

PM: Yes, we have the personnel that can get the job done. It’s all about the execution.

JR: Alright, thanks Your Highness for your time, good luck today.

PM: Thank you very much.

Land de Wood Sports Lacrosse Special
While we may not have a league of our own it seems that there will be a few of our players playing league Lacrosse next season.
Adelio Acosta has been offered a sensation 6 year deal reportedly worth 6 million woods a year with a signing on fee of over 1/2 million woods by Loudon which we can exclusively reveal he has accepted whilst rejecting a deal worth a similiar amount a year but only for 4 years by Olympia. Courtenay Egger has been offered by Tundra Falls a deal worth over 5 million woods a year for the next 4 years, but he is holding out for a 5 year contract.
Meanwhile Centralia have offered an amazing deal to teenager Deverick Brand. The 7 year deal will be worth nearly 50 million woods when it is complete. It starts of at 4 million woods a year for the first 2 years, then goes up to 6 million woods a year for the
next 2 years, before hitting 10 million woods a year for the final 3 years. However, he has stated that he will not be signing any deals until the World Championships are over.
Perhaps the surprise is that Declan Basile who was apparently man of the match again in the last game (though we neglected to mention it) has yet to be made an offer, though rumours are that he may be going to another country.
However, are these offers an attempt by Newmanistan's club sides to put the players of their game for the national side in tonights crucial encounter.
Andrew Wood has flown in from Starblaydia to watch this game after the u-21 football team went out at the quarter final stage of the Di Bradini Cup.
He has reminded all players to keep their focus on the game ahead and to ignore any big money offers they may have been made.

For our international readers 1 wood is appoximately $0.75

Benjamin Bennett has finally let go of the minor cult hero status in Daryfield after an 'unbelievable' contract offer to play professional lacrosse in Newmanistan.

A four-year deal worth almost K4m per year has been offered, and Bennett - seen by some as the world's best goalkeeper, a reputation he has had plenty of opportunity to prove as the rest of the team have failed in the World Lacrosse Championships - has accepted the deal.

But he says it is far from a distraction. 'It gives me a massive point to prove. I've got to show I'm worth it.'

As has Thomas Larson, who has received a five-year deal worth over K2m per year from another club.

If Taeshan are beaten by Lovisa, neither will play any further part in this tournament. Surely that won't happen? Surely?

RP CUTOFF...

GROUP A
Kereca 10 - 14 Zongguo
Lovisa 12 - 12 Taeshan

GROUP B
Vephrall 12 - 14 Secristan
Land de Wood 11 - 17 Newmanistan


GROUP A
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Taeshan 4 3 1 0 54 45 9 10
----------------------------------------------
2 Zongguo 4 2 0 2 47 45 2 6
3 Kura-Pelland 4 1 1 2 47 45 2 4
----------------------------------------------
4 Kereca 4 1 1 2 45 53 -8 4
5 Lovisa 4 1 1 2 41 46 -5 4

(Head-to-head tiebreaker table)
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Kura-Pelland 2 1 1 0 25 20 5 4
2 Kereca 2 1 1 0 24 22 2 4
3 Lovisa 2 0 0 2 18 25 -7 0

GROUP B
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Secristan 4 4 0 0 60 46 14 12
-----------------------------------------------
2 Newmanistan 4 3 0 1 53 44 9 9
3 Land de Wood 4 2 0 2 50 53 -3 6
-----------------------------------------------
4 Vephrall 4 1 0 3 41 49 -8 3
5 Nuevos Aires 4 0 0 4 44 56 -12 0


REPECHAGE
Zongguo v Land de Wood, winner plays Secristan
Newmanistan v Kura-Pelland, winner plays Taeshan

Ah we tied crap, anyways were still undefeated and i know were gonna lose to Newmanistan after they beat Kura-Pelland. We can never defeat them in big games

Land de Wood sports lacrosse special
So it was the big game to decide 2nd place, Land de Wood verses Newmanistan.
Well Newmanistan seemed to have their heads sorted in the first quarter going into a 4-1 lead! Only Enzo Edwards finding the back of the net for the Woodpeckers against the Rockets. Our players seemed to be distracted by all the big money talk of moves to Newmanistan's club sides and not focused on the game in hand.
2nd quarter wasn't much better, we lost that 4-2! Ethan Hovsepian and Adelio Acosta grabbing the goals.
We then saw Prime Minister Andrew Wood head down from the stands, no doubt to give the players an inspirational speech (or a right good going over) as they were now 8-3 down and needing something extra special to get back into this game.
Whatever Andrew Wood said, obviously worked as our boys came steaming out of the blocks, catching Newmanistan, who must have thought they were coasting by now, by surprise and scoring 3 times in 7 minutes through Adelio Acosta, Courtenay Egger and Declan Basile. Newmanistan found their way back in this half, and pulled 3 back only to concede another 2 to Adelio Acosta and Declan Basile, before scoring one on the whistle, quarter score 5-4 to us, game score 12-8.
So the final quarter, our boys needed to score 4 without reply to tie the game and edge the group on goals scored. Unfortunately the Rockets who no doubt had had a rocket at half time, were soon scoring again putting 3 in as many minutes to go 15-8 up, but our boys weren't going to go down without a fight and scored 3 themselves through Ethan Hovsepian, Adelio Acosta, and Declan Basile, but alas they also let two more in, final quarter score 5-3, final game score 17-11.

So a real hammering for the Woodpeckers there, but Secristan beat Vephrall to prevent a tie breaking situation appearing there, so we were through to play Zongguo who finished 2nd in Group A, where hosts Kura-Pelland just scrapped through in 3rd on a head to head tie breaker.

If we manage to get through against Zongguo then we face Secristan again in the semi-finals, a chance to get revenge we hope, but first we must beat Zongguo.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS DOMINATE IN GROUP FINALE

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- With some criticism of the team’s performance in the group stage thus far, the Newmanistan Rockets took out on the Woodpeckers of Land de Wood, by the score of 17-10. Land de Wood, with their performance thus far in the tournament, were seen as a legitimate opponent for the Rockets, so this win should erase all doubts about the play and overall motivation of our team. Newmanistan finishes the group stage with a record of 3-0-1, which at the end of the day is a very good record. Unfortunately, it means that the Rockets have to play in the repechage, and even worse, the opponent is Kura-Pelland. No matter what the tournament has been, Kura-Pelland has defeated the Rockets. The two world cup 40 qualifying games that went their way, sure, you can understand that. But then in the International Basketball Championships when the Rockets went 10-2 in the Group Stage, 0-2 vs Kura-Pelland and 10-0 vs everyone else, coupled with the fact that Kura-Pelland was only like 4-8 or 5-7 in the Group, is something that bears concern. It leads to the belief that when Margaret puts the nations together, she sees only one possible result. Tomorrow, it’s a hex in which our boys will need to break. Not making that matter easy, is that it must be done here, on their home turf. Maybe, the fifth time will be the charm after all.

But getting back to tonights game with Land de Wood, it is possible that some of their players were a little bit distracted by the big contract offers in which they were presented by Newmanistanian clubs. It was announced prior to the game that three players from the Woodpeckers have signed to play in the Empire, including leading scorer Adelio Acosta, who signed with the Loudon Leopards. Also, Courtneay Egger, another top scoring force signed a deal with Tundra Falls, and Centralia takes somewhat of a gamble on young defensemen Deverick Brand. There more scouts in the stands tonight, so who knows if people who have yet to see an offer shall see one very soon. From the beginning of the match, the Rockets looked good, and this is something that they most definitely lacked in their last two meeting. They outscored the Woodpeckers, getting an early hat-trick from Jason Green. Green was really on his game and rotating well with Keith Taylor and Curt Farrell, and it seemed as though Taylor and Farrell wanted to get him in the game a little more. Green had been a little quiet thus far in the tournament, so it was a welcome sight to see him be such a force, and perhaps it caught Land de Wood a little off guard. The fourth goal was scored by Taylor of a pretty feed from Farrell behind the net. In the second quarter, Newmanistan kept on the attack. Yes, it was quite obvious that one of Prince Michael’s biggest messages was for the team to get off to a better start. Green had his fourth goal of the game, with Kyle Foster now nabbing a pair, plus one by Loudon’s Johnny Serrotta. It sent the Rockets to an 8-3 lead at the break, and it was rather comforting to see only one of those goals scored by the Capital Connection. Newmanistan was rotating extremely well and passing the ball around very smoothly. Even though Taylor and Farrell combined for just one goal, they did combine for seven assists, so it’s not as if they were non-factors. Not in the slightest.

Perhaps the fact that a few Land de Wood players signed big contracts with Newmanistanian clubs served as a wake up call to the team. If club teams were well to spend this kind of money, which was much like the contracts they, themselves, were getting, then they knew these must be a much better opponent then what some may have made them out to be. And in the third quarter Land de Wood showed some of that character as they came out flying, and Newmanistan took a little bit to respond to it. It wasn’t a matter of complacency, because when the Rockets needed to respond, they did. No, instead, it was more of a team being more inspired to play hard for two more quarters of lacrosse when down 8-3 then when leading. Yeah, the Rockets were coasting a little bit, and when the Woodpeckers suddenly got back in the game, Newmanistan had the answer in terms of the Capital Connection. Instead of passing the ball around as much as they were before, Keith Taylor and Curtis Farrell were clearly looking for goals, and they split the four scored in the quarter, two apiece, and in the long run the third frame was not as bad as it looked like it would be in the start. The Woodpeckers only managed to trim the lead by one goal after three compared to what it was after two. This gave the Rockets quite a bit of confidence as well in the way that they answered a furious comeback attempt. There was no way that Land de Wood would come all the way back if they could play as well as they did in the third and only cut one goal off the deficit. The Rockets could have put it on cruise control, but instead, they wanted to tack on a few more goals. Maybe, this wouldn’t have happened if the critics hadn’t been on their backs, saying that they should be dominating all their opponents. Just maybe, Prince Michael would have given his reserves more playing time. And maybe, they would have taken their foot off the gas pedal. But no. This had nothing to do with Land de Wood. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. This was about making a statement to all the doubters in our own country. Johnny Serrotta, Matt Knight, and Jason Green were the goalscorers in the fourth as Newmanistan tried to score as many as they could, to win as big as they could. The final score ended up being 17-11.

So now, Newmanistan gets ready to play the role of spoiler to the host’s fans and to try and knock out the hometown team. Kura-Pelland is led by goalkeeper Benjamin Bennett, who also has signed a contract to play professionally in Newmanistan as he accepted an offer from Tundra Falls this morning, as did his countrymate Thomas Larson, who signed with Putnam Lake. Both players obviously will want to put on a good showing, as will others who would like to see similar offers come there way as well. Expect to see a great game, and maybe, the Rockets can beat Kura-Pelland in something. The winner will play Taeshan in the semis.

Narrator: And now.... back to your Pocono City Sports Report (OOC: First “segment” of report in Di Bradini Cup thread)

Collins: We are back and better then ever. Ok maybe not, but at least we are back. And this time it did not take the full 2 ½ minutes to make sure Meghan’s makeup was perfect.

Traynor: Nah, just under two that time!

Collins: They’re getting so much better. So let’s move to lacrosse. Finally, Newmanistan laid the smack down on someone in this tournament. Those poor Woodpeckers.

Traynor: Who you predicted would win the Baptism of Fire if they missed it in the previous segment.

Collins: Absolutely. I do not, however, think that they will win the World Lacrosse Championship. They’ve done well but when they’ve played us and our rivals from Secristan, they’ve gotten beat up. It’s pretty clear then, they’re the “best of the rest”, and a step down from the best.

Traynor: But perhaps getting there, a few of their players signed on with Newmanistanian teams.

Collins: There was a report out too that after failing to land Acosta, that Olympia has tendered a four year deal worth $14 million to Declan Basile. (OOC: This is true, LDW, if you wish to respond).

Traynor: They don’t have a true professional league over there, so it’s great that they are going to now make a living playing the game they truly love and that they are really good at.

Collins: By the way, in case you don’t know, Meghan Traynor was an outstanding attacker herself in college.

Traynor: You know it! Still proud of my Hastings University days!

Collins: It’s just more proof that we have the best lacrosse program in the world. You don’t see these quality names signing with Secristan, or with Taeshan.

Traynor: Do the Rockets need this title though, to cement that? If they don’t win this tournament, and even if they lost in an early stage like in the repechage?

Collins: That’s a very good question. I think deep down to our fans, it wouldn’t matter. But yet in the eyes of the world, it might. Especially if we lost now. It’s be hard to convince people that a nation that couldn’t even get into the semifinal was the best in the world. Though when the NLL season starts up, it’s not going to matter.

Traynor: These new names will give such a new flavor to the upcoming NLL season too.

Collins: Absolutely.

Traynor: Can the Rockets beat Kura-Pelland? I know that they should, but will they? We don’t have a good history against them in sports, and we’re on their home turf.

Collins: People need to give the whole thing a rest with them having our number. Really. Was anyone expecting another result when we played them in World Cup 40 qualifying? They are superior to us, I hate to say it, when it comes to the World Cup.

Traynor: I know. But what about the International Basketball Championships? That’s when it all started. We were 10-2 in the group stage. 0-2 against Kura-Pelland, who didn’t even advance to knockouts, and 10-0 against everyone else. That’s the real basis of it.

Collins: Well, then we’re due. Huh?

Traynor: I guess so.

Collins: Newmanistan is going to take care of business against Kura-Pelland. And watch their goalie, because he’s going to be in Tundra Falls next season.

Traynor: He’s done well, but obviously you hope that playing the Rockets here won’t give him extra motivation and really pump him up.

Collins: No, it will pump him too much, and lead him to make mistakes, in which the Rockets will capitalize.

Traynor: So Newmanistan wins, then beats Taeshan?

Collins: Of course, we always beat Taeshan. Newmanistan-Secristan in the final, just like it should be.

Traynor: On that note, it’s time for our next break. In the next segment will look at the World Bowl.

Collins: Don’t miss it.

And that's the cut-off...

REPECHAGE
Kura-Pelland 9-12 Newmanistan (scorinated by Sorthern Northland)
Land de Wood 12 - 10 Zongguo

SEMI-FINALS
Newmanistan v Taeshan
Land de Wood v Secristan

Land de Wood Sports Lacrosse Special

Well what a game. Land de Wood verses Zongguo, our Woodpeckers having got through the group stages to this repechage game faced of against Group A's second team.

In the first quarter, our Woodpeckers too a 3-1 lead, with goals from Adelio Acosta (2) and Declan Basile. Then in the 2nd quarter Zongguo came back at us and won 4-2, our goals scored by Declan Basile and Courtenay Egger. So it was all square at 5-5.

Then the fun begun, in the 2nd minute of the 3rd quarter, Ethan Hovsepian made a great run down the left, played a one two with Courtenay Egger as he moved inside and then scored a beauty. Ethan Hovsepian is at his best, as he goes down the wing again plays it of Alfie Blair then into Adelio Acosta who makes it 2-0 in this quarter after just 5minutes. Declan Basile not to be out down on the right then goes on a mazy run, plays it of Enzo Edwards before scoring himself, 3-0 and 6 minutes gone
Zongguo then responded, grabbing two goals in quick succession and the tide is turning against the Woodpeckers now after mistakes from Avery Fisher and Deverick Brand. But never fear for Basile is here, another run down the right, another goal this time its Courtenay Egger who receives the pass and scores the goal. The quarter ends 4-2 and our Woodpeckers are 9-7 up in the game.

Fourth quarter and Zongguo try to get back in with some lovely play grabbing two quick goals and making it 9-9 over all in just 3 minutes, then score a 3rd, to take the lead in the 5th minute. Then the Woodpeckers make a shock change, hauling off Alfie Blair who is better known for his defensive duties and sticking Billy Gelashvili a forward in midfield, this plays dividends as Billy Gelashvili with fresh legs bursts from the middle of the park and knocks it to Adelio Acosta who scores. Then Adelio Acosta is given the ball by Declan Basile, and scores again. 11-10 and the Woodpeckers are back in it.
The clock is counting down, there's just 30 seconds left on the clock when Eishi Chan wins the ball in defense, knocks it to Billy Gelashvili who plays it to Declan Basile who plays it into the path of Courtenay Eggar who scores. 12-10 the final score and the Woodpeckers are through to the semi finals where they face a rematch with Secristan.

Man of the match: Declan Basile, who we are hearing has just put pen to paper on a deal worth nearly 20 million woods over 4 years with Newmanistan side Olympia. It seems Newmanistan club sides have a lot of faith in the Land de Wood players, but no other nation seems keen to take a risk on them.

Worst player of the match: Avery Fisher made a few mistakes at the back, and will be looking to make amends against Secristan.

INSTANT REPLAY

The Millionaires rested up and attended a Land de Wood game last night in preparation for their head to head game against the Woodpeckers. Where did we see this before? Oh yes, it was in matchday one where the Millionaires had their off day, allowing our players to sit back, kick up their feet and relax, watching a lacrosse game from a luxury box in Kura-Pelland while members of Land de Wood’s team did two things. First, play an exhausting repechage game, and second, begin to make plans on how they were going to spend their money they will be getting from their new contracts that they signed with Newmanistan teams. Why didn’t Secristan go after such players? Well, did you see the way they played against us? That wasn’t particularly awe-inspiring. Acosta was really the only player being considered, and Eggar to some extent, but since both people went to the other side of the Penthoria River first, that basically sealed the deal of no Woodpeckers coming here. Several Millionaire players made extra special use of their relaxing off day by getting a deep massage from a well known spa in Mambaro after watching Land de Wood have such a tiring encounter with Zongguo.

Oh yes, the fruits of having won the group and not having to worry about a repechage like the Woodpeckers and even those Newmanistanians did. They took advantage of it, and enjoyed that day to the fullest, but tomorrow they know it will be time to play once again. A win against Land de Wood, and they will be in the championship against either Newmanistan or Taeshan. Sources put Newmanistan as the betting favorite in that game due to their history of always beating Taeshan in anything they play, so we’ve heard, from the national media of both participants. It would be a nice final, but the Millionaires would take either the Rockets or Taeshan, but that’s a topic of conversation for another day. Only one team matters right now, and that’s Land de Wood. The Millionaires will not be looking ahead, and expect to take care of business.

Were gonna lose. Ha Ha Ha. Shitocki

THE ROCKET REPORT

GREAT DAY FOR TUNDRA FALLS; ROCKETS WIN

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- It was a game that the Rockets really didn’t want to be in. The repechage. It was a team they didn’t really have a good history with. Kura-Pelland. It was in a stadium that despite a fair number of Newmanistanians in attendance, would be a hostile environment to those wearing sky blue and white. All against a goalie who wanted to do nothing less then to put on a great show. The ingredients didn’t seem to mix, but the finished product was all the Rockets could have wanted. A victory and advancement into the semifinals where they will attempt to continue their mastery of Taeshan, as has occurred in other sports.

All of Newmanistan is going crazy over the victory. It was a great win for fans all across the Empire, but perhaps moreso in Tundra Falls. You see, Kura-Pelland’s Benjamin Bennett was absolutely incredible in goal tonight. All the hype we heard about him was shown right here on this night. Bennett was a great player, and the type of player that seemed to rise up to the pressure and challenge of the big game. Tundra Falls fans may be smiling wide knowing that he will be their new goalie for the upcoming NLL season. Another person seemed to be motivated by Bennett’s big game and soon to be initiation in to the NLL, and that was Jason Copeland, that goalie on the other end. Centralia’s Copeland knew he had to pick his game up too in this one, and it led to an all-around great contest between the teams. They made the game be all about them, especially in the first quarter. Everytime the Rockets seemed to have a nice play set up, Bennett was equal to the task. Newmanistan was sound with their offensive fundamentals, working a smooth 2-3-1 triangle rotation. The passes were smooth and on target with the shots coming at good angles, Bennett just read the movement very well. They did get two by him in this frame, and Kura-Pelland managed to do the same thing, making it 2-2 after one, with a similar script in the second making it 4-4 at the half. Jason Green had a pair for the Rockets with Kyle Foster and Curtis Farrell having the other two.

During halftime, there really wasn’t much that could be said by the Prince. The Rockets were playing fairly well, they were simply running into a hot goalie who may have been motivated also by the fact that this could be one of his last games in his home Kura-Pelland for quite some time. The Prince congratulated Jason Copeland for his own spectacular goalkeeping, as well as the defense for keeping the Rockets in the game.

In the first two games the Rockets played during this tournament you may recall that they had that one burst of goals which ultimately put their opponent’s away. That explosion happened here in the third quarter as Newmanistan outscored Kura-Pelland 7-2 in the stanza to take a commanding 11-6 lead. As much as Bennett tried to keep his team in the game, he could not do anything about all the fast break opportunities the Rockets were starting to generate. Bennett’s teammates began to get sloppy with their ball movement, and the Rockets were getting frequent interceptions, and there was nothing Kura-Pelland could do to break the momentum. Keith Taylor was initiator, taking the game on his shoulders and scoring five goals during the third quarter alone. Three of which were assisted by Curtis Farrell. It’s not that Taylor solved Bennett, he just got himself into positions where your goalie is going to helpless more often then not. After the quarter, many of the Kura-Pelland fans began to head home, and the support of those in sky blue and white that made the trip could be heard even more. During the fourth, Curtis Farrell put the Rockets up 12-6 in the first minute of action to quickly erase hopes of a comeback. Kura-Pelland showed life late and scored three goals, but they were spaced out enough to where you never really sensed that they were going to overcome the entire deficit.

Newmanistan gets the victory, 12-9, and will advance to the semifinal to take on Taeshan in what should be a very entertaining contest. Looking at other sports, Newmanistan has had a pretty good history against Taeshan, with the World Baseball Classic being the biggest thing that comes to mind, but history means nothing now and the Rockets know it. After all, the Rockets had been 0-4 vs Kura-Pelland in various sports before this win last night, so they know there’s no keeping Taeshan from doing the same. The Rockets should be ready to bring their A game. They can sense another Penthoria River War, but they must get by Taeshan first.

Land de Wood Sports Lacrosse Special
So it is rematch time. Last time out Secristan taught as a lesson in Lacrosse, but we've had plenty of time to learn since then, so our lads know what to expect and what they have to do. We interview Prime Minister Andrew Wood who is overseeing things here.

Larry: Good afternoon Andrew,
Andrew: Good afternoon Larry,
Larry: So Andrew, do we have any chance of beating Secristan here today?
Andrew: Yes, I do in fact believe we have a chance, Secristan will be expecting an easy game, but we intend to take the game to them and attack them as always, we are not going to sit back and roll over.
Larry: Do you have any concerns over the big money moves to Newmanistan that some of your players have planned.
Andrew: Well, first we have yet to agree to release the international documents needed for those players to move abroad. We will be looking for the clubs to pay us 10% of the wages they are paying the players, this money will go towards setting up a national Lacrosse league and building the stadiums required.
Larry: Interesting news indeed.
Andrew: Indeed, I also believe that the fact that Secristan's clubs have not followed Newmanistan's lead and signed any of our players, will work to our advantage as our players will be wanting to show they are good enough.
Larry: Are we expecting anything surprising in the teams?
Andrew: Not to start of with but as the game progresses we will see what happens, Billy Gelashvili did a good job breaking from the centre and may yet be used again in that role.
Larry: Indeed it certainly surprised Zongguo a bit.
Andrew: It did indeed, and I think our players are now playing at a higher level than they were when they started the tournament.
Larry: That's good to know, well we wish the team well tonight and look forward to speaking to you after the game.
Andrew: Thank you and goodbye for now.

So Andrew Wood, feels our Woodpeckers have a chance against Secristan tonight.
Here to remind you is the starting line up and it is going to be an interesting game. Can Adelio Acosta get the goals needed tonight? Will Ethan Hovsepian and Declan Basile make some of their great breaks from the middle?

Luca Gray
Avery Fisher Deverick Brand Eishi Chan
Declan Basile Alfie Blair Ethan Hovsepian
Enzo Edwards Adelio Acosta Courtenay Egger

Substitutions
GK Lewis Abdullayev
D Issac Davidson
M Carlos Campbell
A Billy Gelashvili
A Kenichi Ikeda

NO LOOKING AHEAD

It just occured to me that Land de Wood has it all covered in its initials. Is there any other competing nation in any of these sports whose national three letter acronym, LDW, covers all possible results? Losses, draws, and wins? Pretty cool, huh? You don’t need to be a millionaire to get excited over that one. But the order in which those letters occur, is completely backwards, and since the “L” is first, they have probably, without knowing it, assured themselves of having a losing history in sports. Unless the L also refers to this great sport of Lacrosse and it means “Lacrosse Does Well” in their country, or “Lacrosse Debutant Win”, as in their first major championship. Sorry, their Gold Medal in women’s field hockey during the Qazoxian Sports Festival isn’t considered a “major” championship. At any rate, team LDW has had an impressive run in the lacrosse championships, and hopefully it will generate interest in the sport within their country so all their good players don’t decide to go to Newmanistan. They’ve had a good run in this tournament, but now, it’s going to come to an end.

Well, that’s what we hope anyway. It might not come to an end, but the Millionaires will be playing with a lot of confidence. They came into this as one of the favorites and they have delivered thus far, finishing first in Group B, winning every time they have taken the field. That’s a streak they hope to ride until the very end, where they lift the coveted championship trophy here in Mambaro. Coach Steve Cameron in an recent interview confirms that his team has its focus on the right spot, “I think it’s pretty obvious that we are not looking ahead. We attended the Land de Wood against Zongguo repechage game for that reason, got rested up, and are now ready to go. We are sure that Land de Wood will be an improved team when we meet them this time, so we will need to be prepared for the new things they will bring to their game. This is why I really found it to be important for us to be in attendance for their repechage game. We are rested, healthy, and very excited to play. I expect nothing less then for us to be on top form.”


Also enjoying success is the Secristan Department of Sports, who reported profits on two games that didn’t even involve the Millionaires. Cassie Duran, our contact in the SDOS says that millions of people chose to watch the repechage games, both the Newmanistan vs Kura-Pelland and the Land de Wood vs Zongguo contests on pay-per-view TV, giving the SDOS a surprise source of revenue. “It was real refreshing to see our citizens willing to pay for two games that didn’t even feature us,” commented Duran, “Despite the Land de Wood game having the greater interest to our team, the Newmanistan game was the game of choice for much of people that only purchased on game.” The SDOS will obviously be hoping the Millionaires make the final as well, so they can rack in big profits from the contest. Even though, here, we saw people purchase games that didn’t even involve the team, that’s probably not going to happen if the Millionaires are out of the tournament.

(Players gather for a pre-game discussion)

Prince: Good morning everyone, it’s time to play. How is everyone feeling this afternoon?

Taylor: Your Highness, err, Coach, I feel great. That game against Kura-Pelland just rocked and we want so much more it isn’t funny.

Farrell: There’s no way we’ll let Taeshan beat us, our legacy against them must remain!

Foster: Taeshan doesn’t phase me, they’re a good side, but if we play our game, I know that we can take care of them. We have the better team right here, and we showed that against Kura-Pelland.

Mattison: They have good players in their lineup, but I know that on the back end, we can handle their rotation.

Prince: So do I. Look, you guys practiced real well earlier today, and I think we are on top form. We’re peaking at the right time, and we know what’s at stake. Actually there’s more then just a final at stake.

Farrell: What else?

Prince: Well, do we really want Taeshan to be able to say that they did something productive against us, at last, in a big important game?

Taylor: Absolutely not.

Knight: That’s as good of motivation as anything right there.

Prince: Jason, how are you feeling?

Copeland: I’m ready to go coach.

Prince: That’s good.

Taylor: I wish the Empress could have come see us, all the other teams had a chance to when they got to this point. It really sucks that she had to stay at home.

Foster: Yes, but Keith, we’ve had her brother the entire time leading us as the coach. What more could we have wanted?

Taylor: I know. Prince, since your sister was such a great lacrosse player herself, I’m sure it really pains her that she can’t be at these games, huh?

Prince: She wishes she could have my job! Well, thanks to her, things are going pretty well at home, and we can catch some World Bowl action when we get back.

Farrell: Sounds awesome!

Knight: I don’t plan on going back for a while. Two more games to win.

Taylor: Without a doubt.

Foster: Let’s have a great game everybody. Let’s keep the hex on Taeshan! Rockets on three! 1... 2....

Team: ROCKETS!!!

SEMI-FINALS
Taeshan 9 - 11 Newmanistan
Land de Wood 16 - 15 Secristan

FINAL
Newmanistan v Land de Wood

MILLIONAIRES ELIMINATED

Secristan’s run in the World Lacrosse Championship came to a sudden end this evening as Land de Wood’s Courtenay Eggar scored the game winning goal with just 11 seconds remaining, giving his team a 16-15 victory. Frustrating, yes, it’s always frustrated when you don’t accomplish the main goal that you set out too. But our team played hard and committed, in the end, they just couldn’t outdo a team that has shown dramatic improvement over the course of the tournament. When the teams met early in the season, Secristan got off to an early jump, and they were able to do that again, pulling ahead 6-1 at one point. Though a charge that began late in the first half and ended early in the second half saw the Woodpeckers score eight of the next nine goals to pull ahead 9-7. They pulled even at 11 after three, and gave the fans in Mambaro a classic finish. Just not the one we wanted. Land de Wood takes on Newmanistan in the final. We’ll be watching anyway!

The fairy tale comes to an endl
Well it had happen sometime or other, that our heroes at the World Lacrosse Championships would come to their end, and tonight against Secristan exactly that happened.

Stop the Press!
Once in a while a writer starts writing something before a match even takes place and that surely was what our writer would have written but he would have been wrong!

The fairy tale continues
In an astonishing performance our heroes at the World Lacrosse Championships continued their amazing run and find themselves in the final having beaten favourites Secristan who beat them early on in the tournament.

Secristan came out of the blocks committed as ever and ended the first quarter 4-1 up, with only Adelio Acosta able to find the back of the net, set up beautifully by Ethan Hovsepian.

4 minutes into the 2nd quarter, things had got worse for our Woodpeckers, going 6-1 down to two quick goals. But then a master stroke, Avery Fisher looking obviously tired out after a long tournament came of for Issac Davidson. Now Issac had a torrid first game and hasn't really been seen since but now he was back and had a point to prove.

Now playing on the right of defense (whereas he had been on the left in that first game) he seemed to play better linking up well with Declan Basile to send Enzo Edwards for our 2nd goal, 6-2 after 10 minutes of the 2nd quarter.

And that was it, someone lit the touch paper and the Woodpeckers were off, Ethan Hovsepian set up Courtenay Eggar for the 3rd, then Declan Basile sent Adelio Acosta clear for the fourth, then Alfie Blair's good work in the middle of park paid dividends allowing him to set Courtenay Eggar up for the 5th. 6-5 as the whistle blew for the end of the half. What a come back by the Woodpeckers but could they keep up the pressure in the 2nd half.

Yes, they could Ethan Hovsepian again linked up with Courtenay Eggar to level things at 6-6 but then Secristan regained the lead in the 5th minute of this the 3rd quarter would this stop the Woodpeckers in their tracks?

No it wouldn't, as first Ethan Hovespian and then Declan Basile set up Adellio Acosta making it 8-7 before Courtenay Eggar scored a splendid solo effort to make it 9-7 at around the half way mark in the 3rd quarter. Could this game get any more exciting? Yes it could, Secristan scored 3 in 3 minutes to give them a 10-9 lead in the 12th minute of the 3rd quarter. But then Adelio Acosta and Courtenay Eggar set each other up to regain the lead 11-10, before Secristan equalised with 20seconds to spare at the end of the 3rd quarter. 11-11 and all to play for in the 4th and final quarter.

The game then seesawed, first Secristan regained the lead 12-11 then Land de Wood did so 13-12 (2 goals from Courteny Eggar) then Secristan went 15-13 up in the 11th minute and surely it was now game over, did Land de Wood have anything left in the tank.

Then in what looked like a shocking move Kenichi Ikeda came of the bench for Adelio Acosta, taking off the golden goal scorer himself seemed madness with just 4 minutes remaining and 2 goals urgently needed. But Kenichi Ikeda's fresh legs, ran Secristan's defense ragged, setting up Enzo Edwards for 2 more goals, it was all level at 15 all with just 40 seconds left on the clock, surely we are heading for overtime.

23 seconds remaining Issac Davidson has the ball, throws it long across the pitch to Declan Basile.
20 seconds remaining Declan Basile throws it across to Kenichi Ikeda
17 seconds Kenichi Ikeda runs at the defense
13 seconds Kenichi Ikeda throws it across to Courtenay Eggar
11 seconds Courtenay Eggar knocks it in

16-15 and just 11 seconds left on the clock, Secristan stunned but committed to the end try one last attack but it breaks down and the whistle goes full time 16-15.
Land de Wood are in the final of another international competition.

Despite attempts by Secristan to play down our field hockey triumph, it was never the less a triumph in our first appearance in an international competition for that sport, and here we are heading towards the World Lacrosse Championships Final where we face another rematch, it is another chance for our Woodpeckers to prove that they can beat all comers, it is against the only other team to beat us all tournament, Newmanistan, and if it is half as good as the Secristan game we are in for a real treat.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS ELIMINATE TAESHAN (AGAIN)

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- It might just be right that Taeshan wishes that Empress Jessica never decided to bring the Empire into these interregional competitions. As once again, their country was eliminated by Newmanistan in a sport, this time on the lacrosse field in the semifinals of the World Lacrosse Championship. Newmanistan was victorious by the score of 11-9 and now prepare to take on the country’s minor league affiliate, Land de Wood, in the championship. We mean that in a joking manner as several players on the Woodpeckers have signed contracts with Newmanistanian clubs during the tournament. Land de Wood’s caliber of play has certainly been world class.

But last night, it was Newmanistan against Taeshan, two nations with a rich lacrosse history that likely looked forward to a potential meeting as the tournament began. The Flaming Falcons were a bit of a changeup to the type of team that we had seen in this tournament thus far, as they are primarily a defensive team. Also led by a Prince, this defense seemed ready to key in on the Capital Connection. Our Prince was aware of this, but yet he wasn’t about to do anything differently, as even though Taeshan won their (dare we say it now, inferior) group and Newmanistan was in the repechage, he felt as though the Rockets were the favorites in the contest and felt it needed to be Taeshan that made the adjustments. Newmanistan got off on the right foot, scoring two goals in the first 90 seconds. Keith Taylor just would not be denied on the first one, and on the second his pass from behind the net to Jason Green was simply a thing of beauty, and we don’t think the goalie Fornfelt even saw the pass. Green had an easy goal, and we were off and running, 2-0 in favor of the sky blue and white. Things settle quite a bit at that point, as the Falcons tried to ignite their defensive flame. It began to work, but they team still had a tough time scoring. Jason Copeland, who was outstanding in the repechage against Kura-Pelland, had another big game in net, and his defense protected the crease with outstanding force. They managed just one first quarter goal, with the Rockets putting two more behind Fornfelt. Newmanistan, who never trailed nor ever tied in the contest, was up 4-1 after the first and then up 8-4 at halftime. Taylor was having a big game, but so too was Kyle Foster, who also fired home a pair.

At the intermission, Prince Michael was thrilled with what he saw. Yes indeed, his team ever since their loss to Secristan in the group stage, had absolutely been peaking at the right time. Here again, the team was in control. He expected that the Flaming Falcons would generate more offense in the second half, but was very confident in the ability of this team to protect the lead. After the Rockets scored the first goal of the second half to go up by five, Taeshan had it’s best stretch of the contest. They had to show some kind of pride, and for a moment it looked as though they might crawl back, as after three they closed to within 9-7. Seth Thatcher scored all three of the goals in the quarter for the team. But when the fourth began, the Rockets put the doused the Falcon’s flame for good. Kyle Foster hit Johnny Serrotta up the right wing, and what looked to be a soft shot on net and an easy save for Fornfelt, somehow ended up behind the goalkeeper. Taeshan was frustrated by this, and the Rockets countered with an aggressive fast break, and scored just 27 seconds later, this one by Curtis Farrell to make it 11-7. Those goals sealed the deal. The comeback that Taeshan tried to erase was wasted as once again they were down by four. The Newmanistan defense tightened up, and did not allow another goal until there were a mere 90 seconds left in the game. For good measure, Taeshan added another basically as the finally whistle sounded to make the final score look a little closer, at 11-9. But really, this game was all about the Rockets who had a great performance against one of the top lacrosse playing countries in the world. Up next, they will take on Land de Wood. And it will be for the coveted inaugural World Lacrosse Championship Trophy. Expect to see a great game, as players on both sides will be in Newmanistan for the upcoming NLL season.

THE ROCKET REPORT

TO END A HEX

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- Later today, the winner of the inaugural World Lacrosse Championships will be crowned. Ten nations took to the field here in Mambaro, but only two remain. One a nation where lacrosse is followed religiously by the everyday sports fan, and the other a nation where the sport has been an afterthought of afterthoughts. The first nation considered a top contender from the beginning, the other, at best would be a sleeper. Whether lacrosse will ever pick up in Land de Wood, we don’t know. You would hope that the success of their national team in Kura-Pelland would lead to that, but still it remains to be seen. Just because it might not have the fan support doesn’t mean they don’t have players who are high quality. They came here ready to make a name for themselves with several leaving with multi-million dollar contracts. Not to play in their home country, but to play in that other country. The country in which they will first be playing in the final. The big contracts signed by players such as Adelio Acosta, Courtenay Eggar (who scored the game winner against Secristan), Declan Basile, and Deverick Brand shows the respect in which Newmanistanian clubs have provided to the Woodpeckers.

That is just one fascinating story to watch, but let’s not hide it. We have to talk about this hex. This nagging “lose in the final” curse that seems to have plagued Newmanistan recently. While it’s always a great accomplishment to get to a final, and something that we can never take lightly, eventually you want to win in a final. Since winning the Baptism of Fire in the world’s football, Newmanistan has made it to four other finals, and have lost all four. This includes the 5th Di Bradini Cup, the 6th Oxen Cup, the 7th World Baseball Classic, then the first International Basketball Championship. It’s a reputation that is starting to get a little nagging, and if it continues may make Newmanistan start to become the new “Buffalo Bills” of sports. Now, here we are again. Another final, in the game that we truly love and a chance to cement ourselves as the world’s greatest lacrosse playing nation. To be a runner up again, is not something that will be too exciting but we know there would be no better sport to end this hex in then the great game of lacrosse.

We have a special interview with Prime Minister Andrew Wood who is here overseeing the endeavours of our Lacrosse team.

Larry: Good afternoon Andrew
Andrew: Good afternoon Larry
Larry: So who would have thought it, a game that hardly anyone in our country knows how to play, could bring us another championship?
Andrew: Indeed it could, it just shows how great the sporting skills are in our country, the determination to succeed against the odds, and that while a sport may not be well known, there are those who play it who are actually good at it. Don't forget our people have come from many different lands to form this nation so it is no surprise that some know how to play this sport.
Larry: I hear that you have imposed a 10% tax on the big contracts that have been agreed with our players.
Andrew: I think more of it as a donation back to this country so that we can build our own Lacrosse stadiums and start our own league.
Larry: So what are our chances against Newmanistan considering the thrashing they gave us in the group stages.
Andrew: The same was said before our game against Secristan but we beat them and I feel we can beat Newmanistan as well. Don't forget our lads had already gone beyond expectations and qualified before the Newmanistan game so did not have the same incentive as a Newmanistan team that needed to impress their fans.
Larry: I guess that's true. Still it will be nice to beat them for once in sport.
Andrew: Indeed after we lost to them in the Di Bradini Cup and the group stages here, it is time we beat them.
Larry: Indeed it is. I guess either Newmanistan will lose their "lose in the final" hex or we will lose our hex against them.
Andrew: I guess, Newmanistan do seem to have a habit of coming second and of course we will be aiming to see that continues but it is going to be a difficult game. But we will be giving it everything.
Larry: Good to hear and good luck.
Andrew: Thanks, and enjoy the game.

So there you have it Andrew Wood hoping his team can pull something out of the hat and complete what has been a fairy tale of a championships.
We've had Adelio Acosta scoring goals for fun, Issac Davidson go from disaster in the first game, to outstanding in the semis, and we've just heard that Issac Davidson will play tonight, the manager obviously feels his pace will be the vital thing tonight. here is the team:


Luca Gray
Issac Davidson Deverick Brand Eishi Chan
Declan Basile Alfie Blair Ethan Hovsepian
Enzo Edwards Adelio Acosta Courtenay Egger

Substitutions
GK Lewis Abdullayev
D Avery Fisher
M Carlos Campbell
A Billy Gelashvili
A Kenichi Ikeda

THE FINAL
Land de Wood 16 - 17 Newmanistan


Congratulations to Newmanistan, the first ever World Lacrosse Champions!

The fairy tale ends

It had been a dramatic run by our brave Woodpeckers winning their repechage then getting revenge against Secristan but sadly against Newmanistan it came to an end. The pre-tournament favourites winning the final. They have been gradually getting better and better as the tournament went on and peaked just at the right time to win the first ever World Lacrosse Tournament.

We only have time to give you a brief quarter by quarter breakdown:

1st quarter, our Woodpeckers fell behind 3-0 in the first 5 minutes but managed to get 3 back only to lose it 5-3.

2nd quarter, Newmanistan showed their class again extending their lead to 7-3 but our Woodpeckers kept pecking away at their lead and brought it down to 1 goal as the quarter ended 7-6.

3rd quarter, Our Woodpeckers looked to take control going at one point 10-9 up but the quarter ended level on 11.

4th quarter, this was a real sea-saw of a quarter, Newmanistan went 12-11 up, then we were 13-12 up then they went 15-14 we brought it back to 16-16 but a late late goal won the game and the championships for Newmanistan 17-16.

Acosta grabbed 7 goals.
Egger got 4 goals
Edwards got 3 goals
Basile and Hovsepian got a goal each.

Our boys can feel proud of their achievements throughout the tournament and some look forward to a big payday next season in Newmanistan.

THE ROCKET REPORT

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

Mambaro, Kura-Pelland- Tonight the final of the World Lacrosse Championships was held in front of a sellout crowd in Mambaro, with a huge contingent of Newmanistanian fans in attendance prepared to show their support towards their Rockets, all while catching a glimpse of some future NLL players. Land de Wood has come a long way in this sport, and this showed in the stands as well, as they actually had a few supporters around the place, something that you didn’t necessarily see in the early games. When Newmanistan came here, though, there was only one goal, and that was to win the championship and cement their status as the top lacrosse playing nation in the world. They would only lose once, in the group stages to their neighbors from Secristan, and that was a result that seemed to fire up the Rockets. It was after that loss and the subsequent bye day that the team played their best lacrosse. Now, in the championship, with so much on the line, and an annoying streak of losses when they reached the finals of these events, the Rockets outlasted the Woodpeckers, in a classic 17-16 result.

Before the game, the players shook hands, as for the most part much of the key players in the Land de Wood lineup will themselves be playing professionally in Newmanistan during the upcoming season. The Rockets went on the offense quickly, with Kyle Foster racking up three quick assists, to three different goalscorers (Taylor, Farrell, and Knight), to put the team up 3-0. Foster’s play has been strong all tournament, but he is one of those, along with Jason Green, that picked up their game down the stretch and could be the most responsible players for the team playing better at the tournament rolled on. In goal, Jason Copeland seemed strong in the first part of the opening quarter, but then the Woodpeckers seemed to catch on to something and ended up tying the score pretty quickly. Loudon’s Adelio Acosta got his national team’s scoring going with two goals, each coming off nice assists by Tundra Falls’ Courtenay Eggar. They kept the momentum going and tied the contest up on a goal by Enzo Edwards, a player that got noticed after the game by the Southport Tigers and was offered a 3 year, $10 million contract from them. Edwards’ goal also sent the message that the Rockets would have a game on their hands, even though by the efforts of our players, they were well aware of that and did not take the opponent lightly. Johnny Serrotta, a player that may soon be setting up Acosta in Loudon, set up Jason Green for two late first quarter goals to put the Rockets up 5-3, a lead which would extend to 7-3 as Kyle Foster again worked his magic, setting up both Keith Taylor and Curtis Farrell for goals. Though every time it looked like the Rockets might pull away early, it was Land de Wood answering with a flurry, and they closed the deficit to just one goal as the halftime whistle sounded.

During the break, Prince Michael talked about the importance of staying sharp throughout the game, and having the killer instinct if the team jumped out to an early lead again. On two occasions in the contest, it looked as though Newmanistan could pull away from their opponent, only to have Land de Wood come back. He wanted the team to play aggressively to open the third quarter, as he fully anticipated that Land de Wood would do the same thing. When the third quarter began, it really went much the way that the first two quarters did. Newmanistan got the first two goals, but this time, the Woodpeckers rally was stronger, scoring four answered to go up 10-9 at one point. Acosta and Eggar had a great quarter, each netting two goals, and assisting on the two scored by the other. With the fourth quarter beginning, and the scoreboard reading a pair of 11's, everyone on the field knew it was crunch time. The players had to dig down deep, and we saw some fantastic play from both sides. The execution on each team in their rotation and in their ball movement was near flawless, and there was little that the defense or the goalkeepers could do to stop it. They were exchanging goals, and with each time the ball hit the back of the net the tension was rising. Back and forth it went, with neither team able to gain an edge over the other. With 39 seconds left on the clock, the Woodpeckers tied the game up at 16. Newmanistan knew they could play for the last shot once they won the face off, and deliberate ran about 20 seconds off the clock before making a charge on the net. Kyle Foster moved the ball around well, and even a couple defenders joined up in the charge when it would become clear that Land de Wood would not have time to score should they intercept a pass. Foster’s vision set up Keith Taylor with eight seconds remaining, but a pretty behind the pass back to Matt Knight could not be defended, and the goalie seemed to be screened. Knight, in a prime scoring position let the shot go. GOOOALLL!!!!!! GOOOALLLLL!!!! And with just two seconds left on the clock. Once they tick away, victory was realized. Newmanistan had won!! The Rockets are the first ever World Lacrosse Champion!!!!

The final score, 17-16. And as you can imagine the celebrations on the field were quite awesome. Keith Taylor accepted the trophy as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. They came here, expecting to win a championship, but things do not always go your way. There were obstacles. A known regional rival, a tough repechage game against the hosts, and then this, a battle against a team representing a nation where lacrosse is not a big name sport, but their players had big name talent. Perhaps when Acosta, Eggar, Basile, and Brand, and perhaps Edwards if he accepts the Southport offer left the field, hearing the crazy Newmanistan fans in the stands, they could muster up a smile. They didn’t win a championship, but soon much of those same people will soon be cheering for them. It is a glorious moment for Newmanistan. No longer is it just a claim that we have the best lacrosse players in the world. Now, we have a trophy to back it up.

We would also like to give a shout out to Kura-Pelland for their fine hosting of the event, for the fine hospitality in which our players and fans received while in Mambaro. For dealing with the influx of Newmanistanian “tourists” while this was going on. It was a great tournament for all.