HOUSTON FIREHAWKS

After an overall amazing performance of its captain Alexander Voronov, 2009 USATH Nationals Most Valuable Goalie, the Firehawks accomplished its main goal by bringing the silver medals to Houston.

With a full roster, Adnan Selak, Aleksandr Jeremic, Aleksandr Voronov, Arturo Rosas, Boban Zivovic, Bojan Ikonic, Carson Leung, Henning Stensrud, Ivan Paz, Jose Garcia, Milan Ciric, Octavio Hernandez, Oscar Grisales, Raphael Renault, Rodrigo Palacio, and Sebastian Arango, the Firehaks left Elgin with only one court defeat. On the bench, Oscar Grisales, Jose Suarez and Lourdes Martinez directed the team.

Out team tied Cal Heat during the first match on Friday morning. A penalty shootout decided to give the points to Cal Heat. Our first victory came by facing Polish Folklore during the second game. Defeating New England Freeze allowed us to get into the second group pool play. Friday was a very busy day with three games, but we were making progress as planned.

The first game on Saturday brought a very aggressive ATH United, but our defensive disciple paid off leading us to the victory. We were surprised by the speed of the Army team next. Only our experience and use of our deep bench made possible to grab win over the "guys in black". At this point, Los Angeles THC and the FireHawks were tied with two wins each. The direct match between the 2 teams was going to decide the finalist. Our first half lead disappeared and only until the end of the game we were able to tie the game by scoring an agonizing penalty shot. We were in the final due to the better overall goal difference.

A nine goal lead was not enough to defeat NYC THC in the final. Losing our only left handed back court player before the game hurt badly. In addition, red cards to other two back court players didn’t allow us to fluently move the ball which is one of our strengths. An increase in the intensity and concentration of the defense of NYC THC resulted in our defeat.

After seven games, the Firehawks hammer Rodrigo Palacio was nominated Top Scorer of the tournament.

Men's Final Results:
1. NYC THC
2. Houston Firehawks
3. NYAC
4. Los Angeles THC
5. ATH United
6. Cal Heat
7. Condors
8. Army
9. Chicago Inter Red
10. New England Freeze
11. Florida Hurricanes
12. Knight Air
13. Chicago Inter Blue
14. NYC THC II
15. Carolina THC
16. Seattle Speed
17. LA Team Handball II
18. Polish Folklore
19. Minnesota Team Handball
20. Victorious Secret

On the women’s side, the Firehawks was well represented by the girls from Nuevo Leon. With a very young team nine teenagers brought the bronze medal to Houston.

Women's final results:
1. Chicago Inter
2. Lady Condors
3. Houston Firehawks
4. New England Freeze
5. Carolina THC
6. Smurfs
7. Army

Pictures here:
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