Austin Crows Take the Tournament of Champions

By air and by road, the Austin Crows made the 957 mile journey over the weekend from the Live Musical Capital of the World to the famous Music City.  In what was billed as the "Tournament of Champions" the Crows took a young but eager roster to Nashville to put their talent to the test against the 2013 Division II National Champion Columbus Jackaroos and hometown Division I power, Kangaroos.  Though at times the sun was baking, the players were fortunate to get decent cloud cover and low winds throughout the afternoon making the day ripe for some great footy.  All three teams showed up with something to prove, and the footy was of a very high level and especially physical for only the middle of the season, and all teams left with plenty of bruises and sore bodies from the day's hard and tough competition.

Austin vs. Columbus

Squaring off against the Columbus Jackaroos in their first game of the day, the Austin Crows jumped out to an early lead, but despite a strong effort from the jump, the Jackroos broke down the Crows defense to rally late in the first half cutting the margin to 3 goals.  The second half would tell a similar tale as the Crows’ fresh legs would outlast a Columbus squad who just came off a tough match early in the day against Nashville.

Austin 11.5.71 defeated Columbus 2.0.12
Best: Jeff Talmadge (mug), Rob Custer, Dean "Midget" Capewell, Jon Moscoe, Ben May

Nashville vs. Austin

In the final match of the Tournament, the Austin Crows faced a Nashville Kangaroo team who were coming off a strong win against Columbus that afternoon, and by all indications, are a contender for the 2014 Division I title.  The Kangaroos set the tone for the match physically from the start and let the Crows know they were in for a dog fight after kicking the first goal of the game.  Forced to dig deep, the Austin Crows rallied to head into half time with a short 2 goal lead which they would not relinquish. 

Austin Crows 5.7 (37) defeated Nashville Kangaroos 2.2 (14)
Best: Bronson Bartel (mug), Daniel Spiers, Aaron "Tulsa" Fields, Jesse Aguirre, Andy McGuire