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SALT LAKE CITY - After three long days of intense games, the Chicago Inter women's team and the New York City THC men's squad came away victorious.
The Salt Palace played host the 2011 BURRDA Handball National Championships this weekend and they finished up play Sunday afternoon with the Elite Championship games. While the women's game went down to the last minute, the men's game was one sided from the start.
NYC TCH came out strong in the first half jumping out a 11-2 lead at the 10:52 mark. Chicago Inter put themselves in a hole by drawing multiple penalties and could never get stops on defense. New York finished the half on top 15-6 and built on their lead from there.
The second half followed the same storyline of the first. Djole Radovanovic and Sayed Shalaby led the unrelenting scoring attack of NYC that had nine players that scored goals. NYC took home the championship with a final score of 31-13 and Radovanovic earned tournament MVP honors.
The final game in the Elite Women's division had a lot more drama. New York looked to be in control of the game as they went into the half with an 11-9 lead, but in the second half Chicago Inter was able to keep things interesting with a great team effort.
At one point late in the second half, Inter took a two goal lead but tournament MVP Annika Schmid of New York tied the game with back-to-back goals. In the end it came down to some clutch play from two of Chicago's best players.
With one minute left and the score tied 19-19, Gabriela Stillwell gave Chicago the lead with a clutch goal and then on the defensive end Jacque Messel made a huge kick save to preserve the lead.
NYC had one final chance to tie things up with ten seconds left but they turned the ball right over and never got a final shot off. The victory sealed Chicago Inter's third championship in four years.
The championship matches concluded the three-day tournament that featured 28 teams and over 500 athletes. The Salt Lake City clubs were emanated in the first round of the tournament but had a good showing considering their relative inexperience.
Email: onlinesports@ksl.com
