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The
Paintball Club @ LSU takes 3rd at Xball Collegiate World
Cup It's October 24th, fans and spectators crowd their way into the stands to cheer on their favorite team. Music can be heard playing in the background while both teams take time to stretch and focus on the game that it is about to begin. What was about to take place had never been done before: a collegiate tournament at World Cup, X-ball style. Among the 12 teams participating were the loud and proud LSU Tigers. The LSU team, only in their second year of organization, came out of the pit area roaring with excitement. Their first game was to be played against Illinois University and would end up in a 5-4 victory for the Tigers. When asked what he thought about his first X-ball game Curt Colson, club president and team captain, replied, " . . .20 minutes of pure adrenaline". Rutgers was now the only team that stood in the way of the Tigers moving on to the semi-finals. The superior Tigers made short work of Rutgers by making it a 9-2 game in favor of LSU. This meant that LSU would be playing against the defending National Champions, the Purdue Boilermakers. The Boilermakers scored the first point of the game. However, the Tigers were not going leave without putting up a fight. To the amazement of Purdue and the whole crowd, the Tigers matched the point made by Purdue. The score is now 1-1. Both teams put up one more point each before the half making the score 2-2. . .a tie game. Purdue couldn't believe this school, who had never even competed in the collegiate Nationals, was playing neck to neck with them the National Champions. It was unheard of! The second half began and fatigue was apparent on the LSU side of the field having already played one game only 2 hours before. Purdue was able to put 2 unanswered points on the board against the Tigers making the score 4-2. However, LSU is not a school that likes to lose. In true Tiger spirit, LSU fought back. They were able to put 2 more points up on the board making it a tie game. This was the first tie in X-Ball history! Sudden death overtime would be the determining factor in who would go on to play the coveted Championship Game. After a hard fight, the Tigers fall to the Purdue Boilermakers 5-4. To the amazement of the Tigers, Purdue rushes the field hugging and cheering on the team from Baton Rouge, LA. Karen Dunn, Purdue team captain, said, "that was the hardest game we've ever played. . .We're glad we don't have to play you guys again tomorrow". While the Tigers didn't take 1st place they accomplished what they had set out to do 2 months prior to 'Cup. They earned their place in the national spotlight by taking 3rd place! Congrats guys and gal!
The Paintball Club at LSU would like to thank: Draxxus for supplying the paint and format for us to play; Also, thanks to Zap for contributing their paint as well; National Paintball Supply for purchasing our jerseys; Ivan and Jamie of customsportsgear.com (the jerseys rocked!!); David Shaw and Chris Raehl for setting this up for us; Mondo of animalpaintball.com for his interest in us; Chris Havlock of Crossfire for his interest in us; Paintball Command in Mandeville, LA for allowing us to call their field home; Team Regulatorz for their help (Chad and Bronson); and thanks to everybody else who contributed to the club in whatever way you did that made this opportunity possible for us! |
