The 2008 version of the Virtua Cup took place on June 7, 2008. This time, instead of being held at the Virtua rink, the tournament was held at the more spacious Rink 3 at the Lippincott Drive Rinks in Marlton. Every game was played as planned, despite it being the hottest day of the year. Temperatures were in the high 90s, even though the tourney was not played in the heat of the day as it started after 4 PM. Everyone had their own ways of dealing with the heat; everybody had enough to drink, while some sought refuge from the heat in their air-conditioned cars in between games. The most important question for the day: Could Team Pontonio, with a slightly different roster, defend their title from the December 2007 tournament?
Special thanks to Dave Rappaport for running the clock and Andrew Gelhaus for keeping track of statistics and retrieving the goalie pad that was left at somebody's house.
ROSTERS
Posted in order of round robin record
C denotes captain, G denotes goalie
Team Portugal (4-0): Chris Cordeiro - C, Kyle Koehl, Gavin Hopkins, John Hopkins, Franny Keegan - G
Team Pontonio (3-1): Dan Tavana - C, Nick Rubino, Chris Leig, Tim Horn, Brandon Gollotti - G
iDangle 08 (2-2): Dewey Doner - C, Ryan Doner, Zak Kudzmas, Ryan McCarty, Jeff Doyle - G
Pirates (1-3): Dan McShane - C, Brian McShane, Mike Lynch, Deb Mitra, Erik Bennett - G
Team Dancefest (0-4): AJ Schneider - C, Jon Kopytko, Dan Harber, Anthony Orner, Brian Weiss - G
GAME RESULTS
Round Robin:
Portugal 3, Pirates 1
iDangle 2, Dancefest 1 Shootout
Portugal 2, Pontonio 1
iDangle 2, Pirates 1
Portugal 2, Dancefest 1
Pontonio 4, iDangle 0
Pirates 3, Dancefest 0
Pontonio 4, Dancefest 1
Portugal 2, iDangle 1 Shootout
Pontonio 2, Pirates 1
Playoffs:
Play-in Game: Pirates 1, Dancefest 0
Semifinal 1: Pontonio 3, iDangle 1
Semifinal 2: Portugal 2, Pirates 1
Championship: Pontonio 2, Portugal 1
LEADING SCORERS - Total from Round Robin and Playoffs
Goals
Chris Leig, 7
Kyle Koehl, 5
Mike Lynch, 5
Nick Rubino, 4
John Hopkins, 4
Dan Tavana, 4
Ryan McCarty, 3
Anthony Orner, 3
Tim Horn, 2
Gavin Hopkins, 2
Dewey Doner, 2
Assists
Dan Tavana, 7
Nick Rubino, 4
Brian McShane, 3
Dan McShane, 3
Kyle Koehl, 3
John Hopkins, 3
Ryan McCarty, 2
Chris Cordeiro, 2
Total Points
Dan Tavana, 11
Nick Rubino, 8
Chris Leig, 8
Kyle Koehl, 8
John Hopkins, 7
Ryan McCarty, 5
Mike Lynch, 5
TOURNAMENT HONORS
Top Total Scorer - Dan Tavana, 11 points
Round Robin MVP - Chris Leig, 6 goals
Top Goalie - Brandon Gollotti, 1.00 GAA, 1 shutout
Playoffs MVP - Brandon Gollotti, 1.00 GAA
Three Stars:
3. Kyle Koehl
2. Chris Leig
1. Dan Tavana
After the tournament was over, the answer to the question above was an emphatic yes. Even without previous Playoffs MVP Rich Smith, Team Pontonio won their second Virtua Cup Championship with a hard fought 2-1 title game victory over Team Portugal, who finished as the runner up once again. Goals by Chris Leig and Tim Horn provided all of the offense Team Pontonio needed, as they were able to control the game like they had throughout the tournament. While playing a great tournament, Franny Keegan was unable to defeat his old team in the Finals, having backstopped Pontonio to the first Virtua Cup title. That was it from Marlton on a blazing hot, sunny day. Will there be another tournament? Who knows, but I sincerely hope there will be. Until then, I can only say I hope everyone enjoyed the hockey played on June 7, 2008, because I sure did.
