It was a glorious winter morning in Durham, North Carolina, when eight sides and countless supporters gathered on the pitch to clash for the Niko Cup. At the end of the morning, after fifteen 20-minute five-a-side matches were complete, The Knights Who Say Ni(ko)! emerged victorious and claimed the Cup. With Top Defender award winner Chris Cassalia anchoring the defense and former Taiwanese Foreign Player of the Year Chris Gaffney pulling the strings up top, The Knights we always favorites.Scott, Niko, Duke Men's Soccer Coach John Kerr, John...
My squad, Niko's Arsenal, benefited from an extra player, and rode our luck all the way to the final where we lost 0-1 to The Knights. Although we came up short in the quest for the Cup, the results from our five matches were enough to warrant the receipt of the Golden Ball for most surprising team. That means on paper we were not supposed to do very well. Hmmmm.
We gathered for Niko Harlan after spending weeks drumming up support for his fight against a brain tumor. Total donations are currently estimated to be around $8,000 with additional funds still trickling in.
The Knights may have walked away with the Cup, but nearly every team averaged $1,000 in donations.
For those who have already donated, thank you. For those who have not, please do so as soon as you can:
nikocup.com
Niko was in attendance that Sunday morning, as were other family members including his mother who had just arrived from Greece. For his family it means that they can focus a bit more on getting the right treatment and not worry as much about how everything will be financed.
Additional photographs from the event can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27548938@N08/sets/72157623356235621/
-Sanford
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