National Surf League | The Game

Game 2 of the Los Angeles Arc Angels series had LA fans and surfers standing in anticipation of a possible overtime win over Orange County Octopus. Both teams battled it out in shoulder to head high surf only to reach a surprising tied game of 102 points a piece. In a challenging four quarters where LA led OC, the Orange County Octopus defeated the Los Angeles Arc Angeles in overtime — 124.5 to LA’s 114.25.

OC’s powerhouse brokers, Chris Ward, Timmy Reyes and Pat O’Connell were in town with Reyes traveling half-way across the globe from Sydney straight to LAX the night before, "My back is feeling pretty sore and I have a tick in my neck but I’m stoked to be here" said Reyes.

OC’s first quarter of 24.5 set the rhythm with Mike Losness scoring a 7.5 with super vertical hits. Pat O’Connell’s 6.25 ride was on a decent sized wave however O’Connell had a slight error on his second hit, but recovered well as he threw to the inside and utilized every section thereafter nearly perfectly.

Los Angeles’ first quarter crew sent a message to the OC bench that the Arc Angels were not intimidated by OC’s deep roster. Jordan Tappis’ incredible 8.25 had the LA bench going crazy with each hit. Anthony Petruso’s 7.25 carried the group to a 26 first quarter score, creating a margin of 1.5 over OC’s first quarter.

In the second quarter, a superstar group of Chris Ward, Timmy Reyes, Mike Hoisington and Mike Todd hit the water. Ward’s 8.0 score which broke the second time out, wowed the crowd with a crucial air with 100 yards still left on the shoulder of Ward’s wave. Had he fallen, one of the best waves of the day would have gone unridden. Reyes scored a 5.25 on a small wave displaying his agility in challenging conditions. Hoisington charged in the lower half of the quarter, upping his zero score straight to a 7.0. Hosington explained the sudden jolt in scores, "I’m just stoked to be here and watching Pat O’Connell, Reyes and Chris Ward, they inspire me. I just love to surf and when I got on that wave I got excited and wanted to blow it up". OC’s second quarter ended with a 23-point total and a 47.5 cumulative running score.

LA’s second quarter showed coach Mike Lamm’s determination to set the momentum over OC. Alex Grey’s decision to break the time-out within seconds, proved to be one of Grey’s top waves with a stellar 8.25 wave. Shaun Burrell pulled a 7.25, making the best of a waist high wave while throwing an alley-oop for good measure. LA continued their lead over OC with a quarter score of 24.25 and a cumulative running score of 50.25 over
OC’s 47.5.

Pat O’Connell and Mike Losness led the 3rd quarter for OC. Losness’ well linked vertical maneuvers scored a 7.5 while O’Connell’s 8.5 text book surfing displayed why "Pato" is no where near retiring from competitive surfing. Dino Andino was substituted by Chris Waring, improving a 4.25 to 4.75 as OC pushed hard to narrow the LA’s leading margin with a quarter score of 27 and a cumulative running score of 74.5. Pre-season forecasts for top performing teams of the 2005 Quiksilver California Cup certainly did not favor the LA Arc Angels. Yet at the 3rd quarter mark, the Arc Angels continued to lead over the very strong if not intimidating OC Octopus. Jordan Tappis’ 7.25 along with strong scores from Hearne, Stansfield and Petruso pushed LA to lead over a very narrow margin of 75.25 to OC’s 74.5.

In the top of the 4th quarter, the heavily stacked OC crew of C. Ward, Hoisington, Todd and Reyes went off. Reyes had scored a 5.25 in the 2nd quarter only to show his true skills, scoring an 8.0 with big linking maneuvers displaying power and flow without a single flat spot. While Ward raced down a section trying to repeat last heat’s score but failed to stick the air reverse ending up with a 4.25. Ward later scored a 5.5 best wave after digging his rail on a second turn. Hoisington’s 6.75 pushed OC over the century mark to a cumulative running score of 100.75. OC ended their 4th quarter with the highest quarter score of 27.5 between both teams and a final score of 102.

By this point, Los Angeles was fired up to taste their first win ever as an expansion team especially after yesterday’s loss to Santa Cruz. Bron Huessenstamm substituted Justin Swartz while Colin Giles followed by Yves Bright were thrown in to push Greg Browning’s scores. LA started the bottom of the 4th quarter with a blown take off and two flat waves. However, Bron turned things around with a super critical wave, yet lacked flow and control scoring a 6.25. The young Alex Grey taking the lead off Bron, took off on another critical wave linking an incredible floater to a lip bash to end his 7.5 wave. Coaches Lamm and Wasilewski pumped up Shaun Burrell to get ready for the next set as he sat on a low score of 3.5. With wave priority and the support of his team mates, Burrell took off on a solid wave to improve his 3.0 to a 6.25. With moments left in the final quarter, Colin Giles was thrown in to substitute Browning. Giles would not be able to improve on Browning’s 3.5 as the LA coaches make a split decision to throw in Yves Bright as Bright lit up Leo Carillo State beach with a miracle 6.75 wave tying the game 102 points for the LA Arc Angels and a very surprised OC Octopus.

Not expecting an overtime quarter, the OC crew of O’Connell, Losness/Hoisington, Chris Ward and Timmy Reyes quickly suited up for the 12-minute overtime battle. Wave conditions at this point continued to dwindle, yet the group was able to pull in a 22.5 overtime score with O’Connell and Reyes posting the highest scores of 6.75 each. Los Angeles was not as lucky as wave opportunities were scarce and the OT group of Tappis, Stansfield, Grey and Burrell posted only a 12.25 OT quarter score ending their quest for their first victory with a final score of 114.25 to OC’s 124.5.

Although LA has lost 3 straight games, LA’s Brendan Hearne expressed, "It was a valiant effort we went against some really good guys and we had a good showing, we have underground guys like Jordan Tappis and a lot of the guys on the team and it was really cool to go against guys like OC and come out like we did".

Coach Lamm, "OC before they went for warm ups, they were laughing and had their groms thinking that they were going to blow us out, but we had their backs against the wall till the fourth quarter. I’m really proud of my guys."