Difference between revisions of "Cup of Harmony 16"

Revision as of 20:37, 24 November 2005

The sixteenth edition of the Cup of Harmony was hosted by New Montreal States and the Archregimancy. While both nations are heavily Orthodox Christian (in the case of the Holy Monastic Republic of the Archregimancy, exclusively so), the Orthodox elements were largely restricted to the opening ceremony and Archregimancy home games.

In fact, the tournament rapidly became characterised by an outbreak of haiku and love-sharing group hugs, culminating in Bettia, Hockey Canada and the Archregimancy posting entire match reports in multi-verse haiku, and New Montreal States judging a love haiku contest eventually won by the Lowland Clans with the following effort:

We love lots of beer

There should be beer for all peeps

Then we will have love

Group Stages

Fourteen teams, divided into two groups of seven, entered the tournament. The top team in each group progressed to the semi-finals while the second and third-placed teams entered a second round play-off. The groups were, for the most part, extremely tight, with most teams still dreaming of reaching the knock-out stages going into the final match. Only PopularFreedom and Praying2God did genuinely poorly, though Harlesburg - the highest-ranked team in the tournament - disappointed. The groups were won by Hockey Canada, who took a while to click, but looked good once they started winning, and Casari, who showed early signs of the form that would eventually qualify them for World Cup 25

Group 1 P W D L F A GD Pts

Hockey Canada 6 4 0 2 12 9 +3 12

Kaze Progressa 6 3 2 1 9 7 +2 11

The Archregimancy 6 3 1 2 9 7 +2 10

Bettia 6 2 3 1 13 10 +3 9

Oliverry 6 2 3 1 11 10 +1 9

Ruventsoria 6 2 1 3 7 9 -2 7

PopularFreedom 6 0 0 6 12 21 -9 0

Group 2 P W D L F A GD Pts

Casari 6 3 2 1 10 7 +3 11

NMS 6 3 2 1 8 6 +2 11

Milchama 6 3 1 2 13 12 +1 10

Lowland Clans 6 3 0 3 12 10 +2 9

Hypocria 6 2 1 3 7 11 -4 7

Harlesburg 6 2 0 4 9 10 -1 6

Praying2God 6 1 2 3 11 14 -3 5

Playoffs

The hosts were forced to play each other in New Montreal States, while the vile heathen excelites of Kaze Progressa took on Milchama in the Archregimancy.

Kaze Progressa 2 - 0 Milchama

New Montreal States 2 - 1 The Archregimancy

Semi-Finals

Hockey Canada played New Montreal States in the Archregimancy, while Casari played Kaze Progressa in New Montreal States. Both matches were desperately close, but wildly contrasting affairs. In an extraordinary match, Hockey Canada eventually defeated NMS on penalties after a 4-4 draw in regulation became a 5-5 draw in extra time. In the other match, Casari eventually won 1-0 in extra time after no goals were scored in regulation.

Hockey Canada v. New Montreal States

90 minutes: Hockey Canada 4 - 4 New Montreal States

AET: Hockey Canada 5 - 5 New Montreal States

Pens: Hockey Canada 4 - 3 New Montreal States (HC: 11011 NMS: 01110)

Casari v. Kaze Progressa

90 minutes: Casari 0 - 0 Kaze Progressa

AET: Casari 1 - 0 Kaze Progressa

Final & Third Place Match

So both of the group winners made it to the final, with Hockey Canada in their second consecutive Cup of Harmony final. But before the final, co-hosts NMS narrowly defeated Kaze Progressa at home in the third place match:

New Montreal States 1 - 0 Kaze Progressa

Perhaps inevitably, the final itself was an anti-climax after the extraordinary semi-finals, with Hockey Canada strolling to an easy victory. But no one could complain about the result - after a couple of early hiccoughs, Hockey Canada had clearly been the form team of the tournament.

Hockey Canada 3 - 1 Casari