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U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Rugby Team Wins 2006 North American Cup
By Susan Katz
// Lakeshore Foundation
// June 17, 2006
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The U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Rugby Team went 5-0 in two days of action against three of the four top-ranked teams in the world.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Rugby Team defeated Great Britain, 31-26, to win the 2006 North American Cup championship Saturday at the Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Ala.
The U.S. had earned a spot in the title game by cruising past New Zealand, 34-28, in their early morning semifinal and Great Britain’s 28-25 semifinal victory over Canada determined the U.S. opponent. After the nail-biting, triple overtime victory by the U.S. over Great Britain on Friday, the large crowd gathered at Lakeshore Foundation’s U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Site was expecting an edge-of-your-seat match-up in the championship game. What they saw was a defensive display by the U.S. that never allowed Great Britain an opportunity to contend for the win.
The United States started out playing strong pressure defense that forced several Great Britain turnovers and led to a 13-9 halftime lead for the home team. Despite the large lead, the U.S. never let up on either end of the floor, continually pounding the ball across the goal line on offense and defensively forcing Great Britain to make mistakes. There was never a point that Britain got closer than within three goals of the U.S.
“We learned that it’s going to take more than four players to win in this day and age. We were glad to see our bench went five, sometimes six deep,” said U.S. rugby coach James Gumbert. “This was a good step for us to take toward our goal of winning World Championships, but we have a lot of work to do.”
New Zealand was finally able to notch a win in this year’s North American Cup, defeating Canada, 29-25, to win third place. This contest was close throughout, with New Zealand holding a slim one-goal lead all the way through the third quarter. But, nearly halfway through the final quarter, three consecutive turnovers by the Canadians put the Kiwis up 27-22 and New Zealand went on to the 29-25 win.
“We got more out of the loss this morning in the semifinal than we did out of the three losses we suffered yesterday,” said New Zealand head coach Grant Sharman. “What we have to do has become very clear, now it’s just up to us to do it.”
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