San Antonio XFactor WINS World Cup – PSP 2013

Leave it to World Cup to have one of the most exciting games of the year. One can’t ask for much more than a back and forth scoring match in the Finals of this all-important tournament of the 2013 season.

Some teams depend on World Cup to lock in the series title, some teams come to enjoy the great paintball vibes, and still others show up to make a statement. San Antonio XFactor was ready to set their franchise bar with their first World Cup win. With a bumpy road in the prelims winning and losing two matches each they certainly didn’t skip into their Sunday presence. While arguably it’s best to grind it out until you make it to the podium, sharpening your sword and fine tuning the game plans, it definitely isn’t the easiest way to bring home a medal labeled “1st Place”.

Fast forward, Edmonton Impact is winning 3-1, 14:14 remains on the clock, and XFactor is looking diminished on the field after conceding the last point. The snake side of a field is more often than not a focal point to the advantage, and Impact is making good use of this with Justin Cornell playing well while Justin Rabackoff starts to heat up. The fifth point rolls in and XFactor slows down, plays methodically, registering a turning point in the game with a win after drawing five minutes off the clock. This is when it really matters and although Impact leads for a total of 12:44 throughout the game, the deciding factor is when they start losing their momentum.

San Antonio moves forward with one slow point pushed with a deep dorito side cut by Colt Roberts, while the next point more snake side focused by Billy Bernacchia (William Bernacchia III headed their snake side attack for a majority of the match with their rotation player Demetrius Ninios trying to contribute as much as he could while wearing a cast from the broken hand he was suffering from). By the seventh point Impact was showing their control of the game dwindling as they tried out different player rotations to find a squad that can take back their lead. Rabackoff whom took over much of the snake presence for Edmonton, had a solid “impact” with a quick run conceded by XFactor, and leading into the ninth point it was a tied game at 4-4 with 4:37 left to go.

In what would be shattering to their cause Justin Rabackoff collected a Major penalty for Impact, and after the field was cleaned up by XFactor’s Archie Montemayor the end game was in their grasp. For the remainder of the match Impact would suffer from having a player in the penalty box because of Cornell’s penalty next.

XFactor road out their starting players throughout most of the game to the point of exhaustion, and it paid off. To the victor goes the spoils, San Antonio XFactor WINS World Cup, and makes their statement in the process.

-Preston Rodriguez

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