Lehigh Valley Crocs vs. North Carolina Tigers
After an 8 1/2 hour trip to Raleigh Durham NC we went out against a very well recruited and solid team - the NC Tigers - made up of 8 Australians and about 16 to 17 UNC college students and Grads. They were tough, tall and physically, they outmatched us. However the 12 guys who went down, half of whom are still in high school, played the tigers closely.
We hadn’t played outside for more than 5 months, and had only just really started training; therefore this proved to be our downfall. We basically ran out of fitness! The final score of 8.12 to 3.9 may seem a little one sided but as I said it all boiled down to our lack of fitness.
Even as undermanned as we were, playing 15 a side with the 3 players they gave us, the difference halfway through the 3rd quarter was only 8 points! Our backline had been outstanding in defense - repelling attack after attack. The Loring brothers, Chris Elphick and Dale Ward were nothing short of awesome. They took on players that were bigger and taller and were often outnumbered. They gave the NC forward line a bath. North Carolina only scored goals from guys who ran down the field unchecked. Five of these goals
came in the last 5 minutes of both the 3rd and 4th Quarter - otherwise the
contest was even.
Best players: Josh Loring, Chris Elphick, Jon Loring, Dale Ward and Terry
Huff.
Goalkickers: Dustin Jones 2, Rob Giabardo 1
Our real season starts the 25th of March against the powerful New York
magpies and from then we have a loaded schedule, including a return match
against NC Tigers here on Memorial Day weekend.