Our favorite indoor tournament of the year has come and gone once again! The Big Apple International Indoor Championship took place at the WC Eagles Training Center in Pennsylvania, and was run on March 2nd-3rd. Tournament Director, Nigel Traverso, started this showcasing event in order to bring together men and women teams from all over North America – even internationally. The BAHF, Inc. formed this tournament to seek out a more competitive field hockey environment on the East Coast. The tournament allows all teams to compete in a fun, festive and competitive atmosphere within a familiar community.
The tournament concluded with three intensive and high-scoring finals: In the men’s finals, OKD controlled the tempo with a 9-3 win; while the women’s final finished with a strong 7-1 score from the USA Women. Our collegiate final was a nail biter with a closer score of 2-1 for the University of Maryland.
Our high scoring men’s final started quickly in the sixth minute of the game when OKD earned their first penalty corner. Tarnpreet Singh wasn’t hesitant to sink his first goal of the finals. Within the next four minutes for the game, OKD started to take over the game with two more goals from Jeevan Jammu and Lyle Fernandes. Keeping up the fight, Maroons FHC player, Nick Hignell, scored their first goal of the game in the twelfth minute. However, OKD came out resilient and sank six more goals to secure their spots as champions, finishing the final game with a 9-3 score.
OKD (CAD): Jagpreet Singh, Jeevan Jammu, Gaganpal Dhanju, Ken Pereira, Gurjot Singh, Lyle Fernandes, Tarnpreet Singh, Adam Kapasi
Maroons FHC (CAD): Manvir Grewal, Kenneth Serrien, Nick Hignell, Ryan Toy, Jordan Tse, Nick Ewasechko, Roop Kullar, Tanveer Kullar, Josip Krleza, Shane Rajaraman, Balmeet Kullar
Umpires: Philipp Hesselman (GER) and Rob Abbot (IRL)
Technical Officer: Aaron Dudek (USA)
In the women’s final, USA Women’s Hope Rose opened and closed the scoring for the final game…she scored her first goal of the game in the third minute…her performance helped the USA Women reign champions as she scored five out of the seven goals in the finals. STX fought hard to keep up with the USA Women, playing with a kicking back for the first 10 minutes of the game. By the end of the first half, Carissa Vittese earned herself a penalty stroke, and made sure the ball met the net. USA Women refused to lose, leaving the match with a 7-1 score.
USA Women: Sam Carlino, Sierra Espeland, Allyson Fuller, Ali Campell, Hope Rose, Nathalie Friedman, Rayne Wright, Evelyn Murray, Hannah Prince, Josephine Palde, Beth Yeager, Mia Leonhardt
STX: Maddy Sposito, Martu Loncarica, Linde van Schaik, Kasey Tapman, Melissa Gonazalez, Jeoly Helder, Carissa Vittese, Michelle Vittese, Nicole Profita, Anna Willocks, Katie Bam
Umpires: Tanja Schafer (RSA) and Ashley Hahn (USA)
Technical Officer: Rene Zelkin (USA)
The Collegiate division concluded with a highly intense and suspenseful final. University of Maryland and Rutgers Scarlet met in the final game of the Big Apple 2019 Tournament. Both teams had consistent defense, and kept the scoring to a minimum. Mayv Clune, from the University of Maryland, scored the first goal of the championship game within the thirteenth minute. But that was the end of the action for the first half. Shortly into the second half, University of Maryland earned themselves a penalty corner, where Bodil Keus finished the ball on net. Just before time expired, Rutgers skilled their way to receive a penalty corner. Rutgers player, Austyn Cuneo, made sure the ball crossed that line, but still left Rutgers in second place.
University of Maryland: Noelle Frost, Emily Thomas, Kyler Greenwalt, Brooke Deberdine, Mayv Clune, Bodil Keus, Elizabeth Dessoye, Riley Donnelly, Reece Spann, Megan Munley
Rutgers University: Gianna Glatz, Gianna Mancini, Kassidy Shetler, Kerrie Burns, Gracey Butsack, Milena Redlingshofer, Austyn Cuneo, Olivia Drea
Umpires: Gerrit Farren (GER) and Alex Miles (CAN)
Technical Officer: Kim Scott (USA)
Dita MVPs: Hannah Prince (USA Women), Bodil Keus (University of Maryland), Jagpreet Singh (OKD)
For complete standings and results visit https://jph.altiusrt.com/competitions/
Special Thanks to all participants, Umpires and Technical Officers, especially the Umpire Manager Yolande Brada (Netherlands) assisted by Dean Wenwich (USA), Wendy Stewart (CAN) and Susie Gomes (TTO) and Tournament Directors Cameron Burke (BAR) and Laura Hess (USA) who made sure this event ran smoothly and was a huge success.
