The Shamrocks, who lost several key players in an early season parity trade, turned the tables on the league-leading Runnin' Rebels Thursday night and it was the Rebels who struggled with personnel shortages. Taking advantage, the Shamrocks ran out to an early lead and managed to hold off the Rebels 13-6.

Missing for the Rebels were starting attackmen Jon Reda and Shawn Handy, and midfielder Kevin Raspet did not arrive until the third quarter from the Riverside-Chapel Hill PAC-6 soccer tournament match. Raspet wasted no time, scoring four seconds after he took the field, but the score was 7-4 in favor of the Shamrocks at that point, and the lead only widened in the final two periods.

The Shamrocks, after a four-game losing streak following the loss of several players, seemed to find some chemistry lately, especially in Tuesday's semifinal game. That continued on Thursday as Coach Sean McCarthy's Shamrocks struck quickly for five first-quarter goals. The Shamrocks rattled the Rebels early, with John Hall and Owen Ham leading the charge, each tallying twice in the opening period.

"We started pressing and making bad decisions and bad passes," said Rebels Coach Glenn Estacio after the game.

The Shamrocks led 5-1 after one period and 7-3 at the halftime break. They outscored the Rebels 6-3 the rest of the way to finish with a seven-goal lead. Rebel goalie Zach Brewer, left to fend for himself on too many occasions during the game, came up with 11 saves while Shamrock goalie Mark Peck had five.

Scoring for the Shamrocks were John Hall with four, Owen Ham with four, Rob Christensen with two, Stephen Barksdale with two and Adam Bolt with one. Assisting for the Shamrocks were Christensen with two and Hall and Ham with one each.

Scoring for the Runnin' Rebels were Ben Clauson with two, Kevin Raspet with two, Chris Wells with one and Patrick Schultz with one. Assisting for the Rebels was Wells with one.

The consolation game at 6:30 p.m. showed why consolation games shouldn't be played in tournaments, said Coach Jim Kirkley. There was a distinct lack of enthusiasm and both teams were so short of players that both coaches had to suit up to fill out the squad, he pointed out.

The Blue Crabs, the league's doormat through most of the season, managed a 9-8 overtime win, continuing their strong play in the last four games. The Flids were once again without their goalie so Rob and Will McNaughton split duty in the cage, Rob playing stopper in the first half and Will in the second.

Coach Pete Kitrinos scored the winning goal for the Crabs as the game went into an extended fourth quarter sudden death. Scoring for the Crabs were Graham Murray with three, Jon Koritz with two, Anthony Howard with one, Blake Gaulden with one and Pete Kitrinos with two. Assisting for the Crabs were Murray, Gaulden and Kitrinos with one each.

Scoring for the Flids were Will McNaughton with four, Chris Feifs with two, and Colin Rossi and Rob McNaughton with one each. Assisting for the Flids were Feifs with three and Will McNaughton with one.