New York Knights|
New
York
then
looked
poised
to
win
the
Championship
Match
in
regulation,
but
the
Miami
Sharks fought back tenaciously and managed to send the match
to the Blitz Tiebreaker. It appeared early on that 2009 might be
a repeat of 2006 for the Knights, where New York had fallen in the
Blitz Tiebreaker, as Miami
eliminated all but one player from the New York squad in the Tiebreaker
while still having three players left themselves. But New York's
rock, GM
Giorgi
Kacheishvili,
pulled off a heroic performance, knocking out all three remaining
Sharks and bringing the USCL Championship home to the Knights.
In
addition
to
Kacheishvili's
heroics
in
the
Championship,
the
Knights
had
many
other
bright
spots, with SM Yaacov
Norowitz
going undefeated in eleven games, making the All Star Team and
receiving Rookie of the Year Honors. Also, GM
Pascal Charbonneau did very well winning some
critical games for the team and also making the All Star Team while NM
Matt Herman had
a very solid season, scoring fifty percent despite being outrated in
all of his
games,
including a key victory in the Championship which assured New York of
reaching the Tiebreaker.
It's
really
anyone's
guess
at
this
point
how
the
Knights
might
construct
their
2010
Roster
with Norowitz having a much higher rating
at this point. But given their players' great tenacity, it seems
certain that they will defend their 2009 Championshp with great
determination, and it should be an interesting storyline as to whether
New York, like their Championship predecessors, the Dallas Destiny, can
also manage to win two Championships in a row. |

