LAS VEGAS – The Evansville Crush made it out of group play Friday, March 4 at the PASL National Tournament in Las Vegas, but found their elimination round opponent too much for them Saturday as they lost to Colorado Blizzard and were eliminated from competition. The Crush struggled early on in the tournament. They first took on Tijuana Revolucion Premier in group play, fighting to keep a lead through the game, losing the lead twice; once before the half and then again during the second. But a surge forward in the last six minutes from the Crush let Adem Ali find the net first, followed by Zach Roesch scoring the winning goal to see Evansville beat the Revolucion 7-6.
The second group game pitted the Crush against 2009 PASL champs, Vitesse Dallas. Evansville was looking for an upset against the Texas team, but found themselves down right at the start, giving up three goals. Players fought back for a lead on four goals with two minutes in the first half. But poor defending allowed Vitesse to slip in another goal, sending both teams level into the half. Crush keeper Khalifa scored a goal at the end of the match, but the 2009 winners would go on to beat the Crush, 9-6. “Vitesse wore us out with their possession,” said Crush Head Coach Andy Hines. “We were banged up from our first game against Tijuana and fought hard to get back into the game against Dallas. We just lost our legs in the second half.”
Heading out of group play and into eliminations, the Crush were seeded second in Group B with a 1-1 group play record. Going up against Colorado Springs Blizzard, who had a record of 0-2 in group play and allowed 12 goals in the first games, Hines said the team thought they had a great chance to win.
But a slack defense hurt Evansville early as Colorado scored two quick goals, and poor defending once again haunted the Crush. The early goals gave Colorado a little confidence and the Crush paid the price. “We allowed them to get off to a good start and they found their rhythm and made us pay,” Hines said.
Evansville would go on to fall to Colorado 8-3. Hines said tired players played a part in the short Nationals run. “We ran out of gas after playing three games in less than four hours and after a very long season, we were spent during Nationals,” he added. He believes the Crush had a good shot and the players “know we were better than what we showed, but this past weekend was not our weekend”
“We had a great season and now we will rebuild for next year,” Hines said.
