And Ronholt began to lose steam in their tight match against Ballern Factory, taking a 4-3 in what should have been a much quicker matchup. They would see the end of the line in the semis in a hard fight against ALA.
But as the weekend reached it crescendo, it was the Polish teams at the pinnacle. The finals shaped into a head-to-head matchup between the Polish rivals: ALA Warsaw and Ranger Warsaw.
The stakes were high, as both teams were competing in their first-ever finals appearance. Despite injuries to two of ALAs core players, they dug deep into a young roster for support. And although Ranger experienced a deep run last season at the European Championship that resulted in their first finals matchup, they took a frustrating 4th place at the event behind the Lucky 15s and missed the opportunity to stand on the podium.
From the first buzzer of the finals match, it was clear that this time would not be the same.
Capitalizing on a great break, Ranger threw a quick hey maker to go up 1-0. But they followed with a second point that was painfully slow. Methodical paintball from both teams locked up the field, and it is unclear if Ranger struggled with communication to execute moves, or made a disciplined decision to wait for the younger guys to make mistakes. As time ran down, Chavez would surprise ALA by breaking out to the Dorito corneer and utilizing a part of the field that had been quiet most of the weekend, but after seven minutes the move proved futile and the clock expired with no score.
At halftime, both teams made adjustments, and ALA came out of the gate answering with a quick pint in under 30-seconds. Dawid Staniaszek took the opportunity to make a name for himself with a two-pack and aggressive move down the snake for a 1-1 tie.
Ranger would answer back with solid shooting off the break to give a two-body advantage, but again, they pulled up to slow the match down and play clean. Chavez filled out to the Dorito corner once more, but Staniaszek made him pay for it and then made a break through the center of the field to stack another two-pack gave ALA a 2-1 lead. www. paintball. media
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