National Water polo 16U Champions 2018 are the MAVERICKS!!!!

The water polo Canadian National U16 Championship celebrates the 14 year old Konstantinos Athanasiou, and the Mavericks who prevailed 8-6 to Pacific Storm at the final game of the Final-4 held in Montreal.

The 2017-2018 National Championship League (NCL) season came to close this past weekend in Montreal with the playing of the 16U National Finals. Mavericks captured the National Championships in the 16U Boys.

Spectators at the 2018 Nationals Finals were treated to three days of intense competition, teams played to determine who would claim the title of National Champion.

The Finals featured a little bit of everything; perfect seasons, upsets, rivalries, shootouts, last second heroics. There was seemingly no time to catch your breath over a whirlwind weekend at the Olympic Stadium and Claude-Robillard in Montreal

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The 16U Boys competition also was contested using a round robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the gold medal game. Pacific Storm and Spartans represented the Western Conference, while Mavericks and Montreal Machine qualified from the East.

Mavericks, the defending National Champions, would finish tops in the round robin, going a perfect 3-0-0 by defeating all three of their opponents by identical four goal margins. The key for the Mavericks in the round robin, much like the regular season, was their ability to get hot and go on goal scoring runs that would put the game seemingly out of reach in a matter of minutes. 

Against Storm in their opener, it was a three-minute stretch at the end of the 3rd quarter/start of the 4th quarter that saw them turn a 3-3 game into a 7-4 game. Against Machine, Mavericks scored the first eight goals of the game to put the game out of reach from the start, and versus Spartans, Mavericks had a run of four goals in four minutes to open the game and to close the game. Mavericks was outscored 8-5 in the other 24 minutes of the game, but those 8 minutes alone were enough to ensure a 13-9 victory.

The 2nd spot in the National Championship game came down to Pacific Storm against Montreal Machine. Machine, who’s slow start had doomed then against Mavericks, also got off to a slow start against Storm, falling behind 4-0. Machine was able to right the ship earlier in this game, reeling off four straight of their own to tie the game in the 3rd quarter. Machine was never able to pull in front of Storm however, and the Montrealers would fall behind by one goal three more times in the 3rd quarter. Over the course of the 4th, Storm was able to keep Machine off the scoresheet until Liam Milne provided the crucial insurance goal to give the BC boys a two-goal lead. The goal would prove critical when Machine was able to add a later marker; but there was simply not enough time for an equalizer, and Storm was off to the finals.

The bronze medal game was between two of the newer NCL clubs, who both have had great success in their early years. The Montreal Machine were the defending bronze medalists after having qualified for the National Finals in their first year of play. Spartans were looking to match the Machine’s feat, having qualified for the Finals in their inaugural year of play as well. The round robin match between the two teams had ended in a tie after Spartans scored three goals in the last two minutes to tie the game. The bronze medal game once again saw Machine holding a large lead late in the fourth quarter, ahead 8-4 thanks in large part to Liam Masley’s four goals. Spartans would start their comeback once again with two minutes left, pulling within 8-6 with still over a minute to play. This time the Machine defense would hold up, and Montreal was able to win their 2nd consecutive 16U bronze medal 8 to 6.

The gold medal game was a rematch of the 2017 National Finals between Mavericks and Pacific Storm that was an absolute thriller that saw Mavericks emerge victorious 14-13. The gold medal game would once again see Mavericks go on one of their patented runs, using a four-goal streak late in the first quarter and early in the 2nd to pull ahead 4-1. In this game though, Pacific Storm would not let that Mavericks run do them in, responding with a four-goal run of their own to put themselves ahead 5-4. Mavericks were able to tie the game at five, but Storm responded quickly with a strike of their own to retake the lead at 6-5. Storm was not going to be pushed aside.

Mavericks were the highest scoring team in the 16U NCL this season, scoring nearly 400 goals, but one overlooked fact is that Mavericks were also the best defensive team in the 16U category, giving up just 91 goals. In this game, with Storm holding Mavericks to their lowest goal scoring total of the season, Mavericks defense along with MVG Matej Mandic would be a difference maker, holding Storm to their lowest goal total of the season as well. The Mavericks did need a little offensive to win the title late in the game however, and while Storm was shutting out the rest of the Mavericks, team captain Patrick Almasi was just too strong on the day. Almasi would score the last three goals in the game for either team, flipping a 6-5 Mavericks deficit into an 8-6 victory that clinched a 2nd consecutive National Championship for Mavericks, as well as MVP honours for Almasi. The win also extended Mavericks 16U unbeaten streak to an incredible 50 games.

Results

1st Leg, May 24 2018 

Pacific Storm- Mavericks 6-10

Spartans-Montreal Machine 7-7

2nd Leg, May 25 2018

Spartans-Pacific Storm 5-9

Montreal Machine- Mavericks 5-9

3rd Leg, May 25 2018

Montreal Machine-Pacific Storm 7-8

Spartans-Mavericks 9-13

Bronze Medal Game

Montreal Machine – Spartans 8-6

Gold Medal Final Game

Pacific Storm- Mavericks 6-8

Final Results

1. Toronto Mavericks

2. Pacific Storm
3. Montreal machine

4. Spartans

http://www.waterpolo.ca/News3666.aspx

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https://sportin.gr/article/protathlitis-ston-kanada-o-patrinos-konstantinos-athanasioy

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