| U.S. Women’s Kayak Polo Wins Irish Open |
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| Sunday, September 23, 2007 |
U.S. Kayak Polo athletes (left to right) Molly Cummings, Rachel Lamb, Eva Lau, Stephanie Schnorr, Cheryl Crawford and coach Karl Wall celebrate following their Irish Open victory. |
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KILCOCK, Ireland -The United States Women’s Kayak Polo Team scored with less than two minutes remaining in the second half of their women’s division final on Sunday to defeat Wales 3-2 and win the ICU Irish Open in Kilcock, Ireland.
Representing the U.S., the Slow Kids at Play team of Molly Cummings (Austin, Texas), Rachel Lamb (Dallas, Texas), Eva Lau (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Stephanie Schnorr (Austin, Texas) and Cheryl Crawford (Boston, Mass.) countered an early Welsh lead in the first half, scoring two unanswered goals to take a 2 -1 lead into the intermission of their finals match with Wales. |
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Following a game-tying Welsh goal early in the second half, the two teams remained deadlocked 2 – 2 for most of the half until the U.S. scored with just under two minutes remaining to seal the victory. "The final was a hard-fought game, but we kept our composure and played our own game," said Lau, whose team capitalized on a break-down in the Welsh attack to sprint to a long ball and net the match-winning goal.
In preliminary round-robin play, the U.S. allowed just four goals as they advanced to the semifinals with a second-place 5-1 record. The only U.S. loss came against the third-place Foxy Choppers of Ireland. In the semifinals, the Americans defeated North Stars of Northern Ireland 7–1 to advance to the final against Wales.
Other Irish Open winners included the Demons from Kilcock Canoe Polo Club (Ireland) in Division 1, AZAD University Canoe Polo Racing Team (Iran) in Division 2, Wales U-21 Development Team (Wales) in Division 3 and Polo Mintz in the U-16 Division. Over 50 teams from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, South Africa, Finland, the Netherlands, England, Scotland and Wales competed in the Irish Open.
Complete results are available at www.canoepolo.ie/open.
About Canoe/Kayak Polo
Combining elements of water polo, basketball and canoeing, Canoe/Kayak Polo is played with a water polo ball and two teams of five, paddling short and maneuverable kayaks. Through two ten-minutes halves, teams attempt to score into a net suspended above each end of a "playing pitch", which is often a swimming pool. The game produces fast, robust action, where a wide range of skills, including the Eskimo roll, are displayed by players. |
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About USA Canoe/Kayak
USA Canoe/Kayak is a non-profit membership organization promoting canoe and kayak racing in the United States. A member of the United States Olympic Committee, Charlotte, N.C. based USACK is the national governing body for the Olympic sports of Flatwater Sprint and Whitewater Slalom and official U.S. federation of the International Canoe Federation. Other paddling sports sanctioned by USACK include Marathon, Rodeo, Wildwater, Kayak Polo, Outrigger, and Dragon Boat. USA Canoe/Kayak’s National Team Sponsor is Bank of America and its National Team Apparel Sponsor is NIKE. To learn more about USACK and its other sponsors and suppliers, visit www.USACK.org.
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