ATLANTIC ALLIANCE CUP 2004
8/4/2004 – by Brandon Blankenship
Figure 1: Brandon Blankenship.	On the weekend, the US “Revolution” National Squad and the US Uprising squad traveled to Toronto, Canada for the Atlantic Alliance Cup. The US has won this rivalry the last 5 years and this year would be no different. The weekend’s games were split up over two days. On Saturday, the two national development squads, dubbed the “Uprising”, would square off followed by the two national squads. On Sunday they would play the reverse; the US national squad would play the Canadian development squad, followed by the US development squad against the Canadian national squad. Our club sent two players: First year player Seth Haesecke and me. In Seth’s Revolution debut he played in the development squad that played Canada's development squad on Saturday. This was the first game of the day and we had to warm up during their game, so unfortunately, I only saw part of the game. But from what little I saw and heard, it was a good game where the US ran away with the game in the 4th quarter. Seth played on the ball that game. Hopefully Seth has the chance to write a report on his experiences this weekend and I can find out more about what he experienced in his first Revo event. The senior squad then played Canada's senior squad in the headlining game of the weekend. To the winner go the spoils - The Atlantic Alliance Cup.
It was a very intense game. I played halfback flank during the first half. I ran on the ball part of the third quarter and went back in at halfback flank in the fourth quarter. I honestly can't remember a whole lot about how the game flowed, or what was spectacular in general. I was so concerned with covering my man and moving the ball down the field when we got it in the back line. As a team, we moved the ball well. I was really impressed with our midfielders who played really strong and went hard at the ball all day. Chris (bluey) Carrol from St. Louis was awarded BOG for our game and Darryl (DB) Butler, also from St. Louis, was BOG for the development squad. Sunday, the senior Revo squad played the Canada development squad for the first game. Coach Alan rewarded 6 players from the development squad who played well on Saturday with the chance to play with the senior squad on Sunday, and all of them played really well. I played back pocket the entire game, and we held them to only a couple of goals all day, I think. Not sure on the exact score. Because we were moving the ball so well, I was able to run on from the backline several times to take a handball from the center square and help move the ball into the forward line. It was great being able to make that kind of run and knowing that if something happened and I couldn't get back to my man, one of my team-mates would pick him up. For only playing together a couple of times each year, it's amazing how well we play together as a team and the brotherhood that has formed between the players.
Next the US development squad played the Canada senior squad. The development squad played well together, and it was a hard-fought game. Canada led most if not all of the game, but usually by only a goal or two, and it wasn't until the fourth quarter that they really pulled ahead. The US development squad played hard the entire game and never gave up. Seth played on the ball and forward pocket and played the way you'd expect him to play; hard at the ball all day. It was a great weekend of footy and both US teams really played well. The ground was one of the best I've ever played on, despite the gravel cricket pitch in the middle. Oh, and I almost forgot - they had permanent steel posts that they had just put up that weekend. I think that's the first game I've ever played in where the posts were actually straight. Cheers, and thank you for all your support! Brandon ‘Revo’ Blankenship