Orange County ends San Diego’s winning streak
The finale of the San Diego Game Series concluded today as Game 4 saw rival Orange County Octopus ending the Sea Lions’ 5 game winning streak. A large contingent of San Diego fans showed up in force for stop number 3 of the 2005 Quiksilver California Cup. Fans for both counties were undeterred by bad weather which included heavy rain and a strong south wind. The weather made surf conditions challenging to say the least while both teams battled through the elements coming .75 of a point of each other as Orange County led for the first time at the end of the 3rd quarter. The Octopus’ tremendous 4th quarter prevented the San Diego Sea Lions from continuing their winning streak with OC defeating San Diego, OC: 95 – SD: 87.
Orange County’s traveling team roster included X Games veteran and world ranked surfer Shane Beschen, Chris Ward, Timmy Reyes and Pat O’Connell, amongst a solid group of beachbreak specialists. The San Diego Sea Lions decided to have OC surf first, breaking the trend seen in Game 1 through to Game 3 of the Sea Lions Game week. Shane Beschen’s 7.0 score in the opening quarter saw the tall veteran surfer boost a clean front side air, earning him the most radical maneuver of the day award.
OC’s first quarter only amassed a score of 18.5 allowing San Diego’s first quarter group led by Taylor Knox, Che Stang and Daryl Goodrum to create the gap necessary to distance themselves from their arch rival. "First heat felt really good, I got loose on a couple", said Daryl Goodrum after scoring a 6.0. San Diego’s first quarter of 24.25 set the precedent with a 5.75 lead and three quarters left.
In the second quarter, OC sent out Ward, Reyes, Losness and Mike Hoisington, pushing the OC quarter score of 23.5 to a cumulative score of 42. Mike Losness’ 7.25 score showed the goofyfooter’s ferocious backside assault that included 4 radical maneuvers. Losness would eventually earn the Game MVP.
In the last two games, San Diego Sea Lions’ Rob Machado experienced a few low scores but today delivered solid scores in the SD second quarter with a 7.0. San Diego’s earlier lead narrowed to 3.75 points with a half time score of SD: 45.75 – OC: 42. "At half time we were staring at the scoreboard and we all knew we needed a major comeback" said OC’s Timmy Reyes.
By the bottom of the 3rd quarter, the Octopus upped the ante with a strong 25.5 quarter while the Sea Lions were only able to score a 21 quarter score, giving a .75 of a point lead to OC before the final quarter. OC’s Nate Yeomans’ amazing display of power and flow on a righthander wave scored a 7.25 while teammate Pat O’Connell also brought in the same score. The Sea Lions led by Che Stang and veteran surfer Taylor Knox could not post anything higher than Stang’s 6.75, creating the perfect situation for OC to turn on the heat for the fourth quarter.
The weather conditions continued to decline in the fourth quarter but it would prove to be one of the most successful of quarters for the Orange County Octopus in Game 4 of the Sea Lions Series. Initially, the OC fourth quarter looked like it would be a low scoring quarter as the group struggled with weak scores before lighting up the ocean with Reyes’ 7.5, Losness’ 8.5 and Ward’s eventual 6.5. Hoisington scored a 5.0 adding to the explosive 4th quarter score of 27.5 with just over 4 minutes left.
Quick calculations dealt a blow to the San Diego team dugout as the Sea Lions now needed a 28.25 fourth quarter to tie the game. Rob Machado and Austin Ware led the group’s journey towards the 28.25 benchmark only to fall considerably short of a possible tie game outcome with a quarter score of 20.25 and a cumulative
score of 87 to OC’s 95 points.
Orange County Octopus assistant coach Garth Tarlow said, "It didn’t look like it was going to happen, we started off slow and they were ahead at half time then at the 3rd quarter it turned around for us".
The 2005 Quiksilver California Cup features 5 teams from 5 counties in California with 100 of the top surfers in California competing for local pride. Today’s Game 4 marked the finale of the San Diego Sea Lions Game Week at Oceanside Pier. The Sea Lions continued their winning streak after defeating the Santa Cruz Stormriders at Steamer Lane, Los Angeles Arc Angels at Leo Carillo followed by three wins at home which included a close win over the talent stacked Ventura Pelicanos. Despite today’s loss against the Orange County Octopus, the Sea Lions continue their lead in the 2005 Quiksilver California Cup series. The Cup continues to Ventura’s C-street for yet another exciting battle in stop number 4, The Ventura Pelicanos Game Week series. The action begins May 4th through to May 8th.
San Diego narrowly defeats Ventura in final quarter
The San Diego Sea Lions look like the next NSL dynasty, defeating the Ventura Pelicanos in the final moments of the fourth quarter, SD: 100.75 – VC: 93.75. Ventura led only by a quarter of a point throughout the game until the 3rd quarter saw both talent stacked teams tie. San Diego’s incredible 4th quarter of 29.5 lay down the pain as the Ventura Pelicanos were unable to close their first win.
Today’s game 3 of the San Diego Sea Lions series of the 2005 Quiksilver California Cup had better wave conditions with shoulder to head high sets, providing more scoring opportunities than Game 1 and 2.
The Ventura Pelicanos arrived in Oceanside hungry for a win with a dismal 0-2 record. The Pelicanos’ traveling team roster included Tom Curren, Tim Curran, Keith Malloy and a strong group of beach break specialists ready to set the momentum as San Diego again decided to surf first in the top of the first quarter. The Sea Lion’s first quarter group led by Taylor Knox posted an opening quarter score of 23.75 setting the benchmark for Ventura to post up strong scores.
Legendary surfer, Tom Curren began the Ventura first quarter with a 7 point best wave score. Midway through the heat, Curren delivered a massive cutback off the top of th wave, hitting the end section and rotating backwards in classic Curren style, earning an 8.0 score. Along with veteran power surfer Keith Malloy, Ventura was able to post a 24 point quarter, leading the Sea Lions by a mere quarter of a point.
In the second quarter, both teams generated an impressive 26.25 quarter with Ventura still leading by a quarter of a point at halftime. All four scorers for San Diego delivered over 5.0 scores with Austin Ware showing his true potential posting a 7.5 score.
Ventura’s second quarter group featured the incredible Tim Curran who scored a 9.0 on a left with three power snaps, 1 floater and an insane 360 air reverse grab stomping the landing. "I was looking at the waves earlier in the morning and was hoping to get a medium size wave where I could do two turns and an air. When I caught that wave I realized, wow, this is the wave I had been looking at" said Curran after earning the Most Radical Maneuver of the game. With only minutes left in Ventura’s 2nd quarter, Nick Rosza pushed the quarter score from 23 to 26.25 with a huge 7.0 score improving on substantially on his previous weak scores. Ventura continued to lead 50.25 to SD’s 50 points.
Third quarter action had the Sea Lions bench and fans screaming as world class surfer, Taylor Knox boosted a frontside air on a tricky righthander wave to score a 7.0. SD’s 3rd quarter again remained close with SD scoring a 21.25 quarter score and a cumulative score of 71.25. Wave conditions became increasingly challenging as the wind played a factor in lower scores for both teams. Ventura’s lead of a quarter of a point (.25) equalized as the Pelicanos could not post above a 21 quarter score, forcing both teams to enter the final 4th quarter in a dead tie.
San Diego’s fourth quarter will go be talked about for a very long time as Rob Machado faced a low scoring dilemma seldom seen throughout the 2005 Quiksilver California Cup. "The last two days for me have been out of rhythm, yesterday I had a shocker, a 4.0 but I have been posting 6.5s to 7.5s, not bad scores but I haven’t been in rhythm with catching the right waves" said Machado. With 6 minutes left, Machado sat on scores less than 4.0 in the 4th quarter until Machado broke a time out unleashing his fury on a righthander with 12 mind boggling maneuvers to score a 7.5. Along with substitute Benji Weatherley’s 6.5, the quarter score for the Sea Lions rose fr
om a respectable 25.5 to an astounding final quarter score of 29.5.
Ventura now needed to meet or beat the 29.5 as San Diego now led with a cumulative score of 100.75. However it was not to be, the Pelicanos could only post a quarter score of 22.5 losing to the San Diego Sea Lions, 100.75-93.75.
Game MVP went to San Diego Sea Lions Austin Ware whose total game score of 15.5 contributed greatly to San Diego’s win. "I was trying to stick to the lefts as I had better potential and I got a new board that I’m psyched about" explained a jubilant Ware.
Ventura Coach, Davey Smith said, "We’re not losing by a whole lot, we don’t have all of our main guys, yet our younger guys are gaining invaluable experience so I’m not down at all, I’m stoked. I knew we needed to win this game but we laid it all on the line."
Game 4 of the San Diego Sea Lions series continues tomorrow at Oceanside Pier between the San Diego Sea Lions and the defending 2004 California Cup champions, the Orange County Octopus. Game introductions will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a game start time at 9 a.m. The San Diego Sea Lions lead the series with 5 straight wins and zero losses, Santa Cruz 4-2, Orange County 1-1, Ventura 0-3, Los Angeles 1-5.
San Diego defeat Santa Cruz in marginal conditions
The 2005 Quiksilver California Cup continued today with a crucial Game 2 of stop number 3 with the San Diego Sea Lions defeating the Santa Cruz Stormriders 87.25 – 72.25. The Sea Lions now take over the 2005 Quiksilver California Cup lead from the Stormriders with 4 wins and zero losses. In challenging surf conditions today at Oceanside Pier, both teams fought hard to score points as the SD Sea Lions series has seen lower final scores than in previous games in Santa Cruz and Los Angeles.
In Game 2, San Diego opted to surf first, a strategy used yesterday in Game 1 of the Sea Lions series between SD and the Los Angeles Arc Angels. San Diego’s first quarter started off slow as the group led by Taylor Knox struggled to post a quarter score above 20 until the last few minutes. Taylor Knox’s 7.0 displayed the power surfer’s skill as he worked his magic on a chest-high wave with onshore winds. Austin Ware pushed the group along with a 6.25 with SD scoring a 20.75.
Santa Cruz, known for their skill in large point break surf, sent out a strong squad including veteran surfers, Jason "Ratboy" Collins, Peter Mel, Josh Mulcoy and Tyler Fox. Fox, an experienced beachbreak surfer attacked the lefts and rights with a best wave of 5.25. While Ratboy’s vertical hits earned him the highest score for the SC crew of 6.0. Peter Mel was not as well suited for the beach break as he scored only a 2.5, "I’m a bigger guy so I’m not expected to do well in the small stuff. My best waves were not best waves" laughs Mel who is known for his big wave endeavors. SC finished their first quarter with a low score of 18 and all 3 timeouts used however the Stormriders only trailed San Diego 2.75 points.
San Diego’s second quarter group included superstar Rob Machado along with a contingent of small wave specialists. The wave conditions continued to challenge both teams, as Machado could not score above a 4.0. Che Stang and Matt Yates helped push the group forward with substitute Sean Marceron delivering an astounding 7.0 score. The Sea Lions ended their second quarter with a 22.75 and a cumulative game score of 43.5.
Santa Cruz’s Kieren Horn opened up the bottom of the 2nd quarter with 2 solid snaps and a cutback while remaining impressively fluid despite the wave conditions to score an 8.0. "It was a wave with good shape, and in certain beach breaks you aren’t necessarily looking for the biggest wave, but a wave with shape," said Horn. However, Santa Cruz was unable to deliver collective high scores, scoring a low quarter score of 18.25 and a cumulative score of 36.25 allowing San Diego to pull ahead with a 7.25 lead.
Coach David Barr of the Sea Lions knew right away that the 3rd quarter allowed many opportunities to turn up the heat on Santa Cruz. With a 7.25 lead, SD’s 3rd quarter had the San Diego crowd cheering loudly as Taylor Knox delivered an explosive 7.5 along with strong scores from Daryl Goodrum and substitutes Dane Johnson and Kyle Knox. The Sea Lions 3rd quarter score was the best of the game with 24.75 and a cumulative game score of 68.5.
Santa Cruz’s Josh Mulcoy and Ratboy scored above 6.0s with Mulcoy on one of the biggest waves of the day. Ratboy scored a 6.5 on a monster backside air with back to back aerial maneuvers. Santa Cruz would finally end up in the 20 point range for the quarter however the differential had become quite large with San Diego’s 68.5 to SC’s 56.25.
In the 4th quarter, The Sea Lions’ Rob Machado scored a 7.0 with lightning-quick precision as wave conditions continued to drop. San Diego’s 4th quarter score was the lowest of their game with a score of 19 points and a cumulative score of 8
7.25.
Santa Cruz now needed a miraculous yet not impossible 31 points to tie the game. At the end of the Stormriders’ 4th quarter, SC could only score a 16 point quarter score losing to the Sea Lions, by 15 points, SD: 87.25 to SC: 72.25.
Game 2 of The San Diego Sea Lions series continues tomorrow through to Sunday, April 24th with the San Diego Sea Lions (4-0) taking on a stacked Ventura Pelicanos (0-2) and the defending 2004 California Cup champions, the Orange County Octopus. "The big games are this weekend, but we didn’t take LA or Santa Cruz lightly and we aren’t taking anyone likely but I’m really pleased with how things are right now" said Sea Lions coach Barr.
The 2005 Quiksilver California Cup continues with team introductions at 8:30 a.m. with a 9 a.m. game start, Saturday, April 23rd at Oceanside Pier, Southside.
