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U.S. Men’s Goalball Team Advances to Semis in Lithuania
By Nicole Jomantas // U.S. Association of Blind Athletes // June 3, 2005
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – With only one veteran carrying over from the 2004 Paralympic Team that claimed bronze in Athens, the U.S. Men’s Goalball Team demonstrated its depth Friday, going undefeated in pool play to advance to Saturday’s semi-finals of the Vilnius Telekonas International Goalball Tournament in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Continuing its reputation as an offensive force, Team USA defeated Lithuania II in a 10-0 mercy rule shut out and won 12-7 over the Netherlands.
During the final game, Team USA battled back from a four-point deficit at the half to beat Finland, 9-8, holding the Finns to a single goal in the second half.
With 31 seconds remaining in the game, two-time Paralympian John Mulhern (Lebanon, Pa.) scored on a Finnish high ball penalty, securing the 9-8 win.
This tournament marks the first major competition for the U.S. men since the Athens Paralympic Games and the first international competition for Tim Dornbrock (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.) and Stephen Denuyl (Clinton, Mich.) The rookies demonstrated their skill from the onset with Denuyl tallying two scores against the Netherlands and a third against Lithuania II and Dornbrock adding an additional goal against the Netherlands. Both athletes are members of the U.S. Boys’ Junior National Goalball Team that will compete at the World Youth Goalball Championships in Colorado Springs, August 4-9.
Teammate Daryl Walker (Jacksonville, Fla.) is making his return to elite competition after winning the silver medal at the 2003 World Goalball Championships.
“We’ve done really well so far, particularly as we haven’t had a lot of opportunities to all play together,” said Sydney Paralympian Joe Hamilton (Wayne, Mich.) “We’re communicating really well and winning some big games, so hopefully tomorrow we’ll continue the success.”
Team USA will meet Lithuania I at 9:50 a.m. Eastern European Standard Time (2:50 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) in the semifinals. The winner of that game will meet the winner of the Sweden-Finland semifinal in the tournament championship.
Goalball is a team sport played by blind and visually impaired athletes around the world. A team of three athletes on each side of the court aims to launch a ball at speeds of more than 30mph into the opposing side's goal on an indoor volleyball-sized court. All athletes are blindfolded to create a state of total blackness and nine bells encased in a ball the size of a basketball help the athletes track the ball's location.
For more information, contact Nicole Jomantas, USABA Communications Director, at (719) 630-0422, ext. 10 or njomantas@usaba.org
USABA, a member organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is a non-profit organization that provides training for blind and visually impaired athletes for competition in nine sports. USABA members range from blind children developing sports skills to elite athletes who train for competitions such as the Paralympic Games, the world's second largest athletic competition that draws more than 4,000 disabled athletes.
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