Indiana University Wins Hurling National Championship

June 16, 2011
Indiana University wins the historic, first ever, national collegiate hurling championship in a soggy, hard fought match against the Northern California champs from UC Berkley by a margin of 13 (3-4) to 9 (1-6).

May 28th and 29th marked a historic first in the steady rise of American hurling as Chicago's Gaelic Park played host to the first ever national collegiate hurling tournament. The tournament brought together college teams from across the United States to compete in the unprecedented event. Players took to the pitch representing such schools as the University of California - Berkley, Akron University, Ohio State University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Minnesota, Stanford University, Purdue University, and Indiana University.

Much was uncertain and ultimately proved to bear plenty of excitement as most of the young teams met on the pitch for the first time. The squads from UC Berkley, Indiana, and Purdue faced off in a round-robin format, while all others were able to join for an East vs. West match.

The tournament opened as rousing as it ended, as Indiana squeaked past the boys from UC Berkley with a final score of 17 (3-8) to 16 (4-4). The Golden Bears of Berkley next faced Purdue in a dramatic match that finished in a draw, 20 (3-11) apiece after overtime. The hurlers reconvened at Gaelic Park the following day to continue with Indiana vs. Purdue. The boys (and girl) of Indiana outpaced Purdue to a final of 18 (3-9) to 11 (2-5), to find themselves facing off, once again, against UC Berkley for the national collegiate championship.

The East vs. West match resulted in another great demonstration from the Eastern and Midwest players with a 17 (5-2) to 7 (2-1) victory for the East.

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