# 2018 USA Team Handball Nationals – men's elite division

The 2018 Nationals was the 48th Men's Nationals. The Nationals was a team handball tournament to determine the National Champion from 2018 from the US.

## Venues

The championship was played at venues at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

## Qualification

| Competition | Dates | Vacancies | Qualified | Wildcard standings |
| 2017 Nationals - Men's Elite Division | 19 - 21 Mai 2017 | 1 | New York City Team Handball Club | 12 |
| 2017-18 Northeast Team Handball League | 18 November 2017 – 22 April 2018 | 2 | DC Diplomats Team Handball Boston Team Handball | 11 5 |
| 2017-18 Midwest Team Handball League | 30 September 2017 - 18 March 2018 | 1 | Chicago Inter Handball Club | 26 |
| Wildcards | | 4 | San Francisco CalHeat Team Handball Club New York Athletic Club West Point Black Houston Firehawks Team Handball Los Angeles Team Handball Club | 20 16 11 each 9 each 9 |
The Air Force Academy which ranked 3rd at the Wildcard Standings will not attending the competition.

## Modus

First there is a playoff game between Houston Firehawks and Los Angeles THC for the last wildcard. The loser play in the Open Division
After that the eight teams are split in two pools A and B and they play a round roubin.
The last two teams per group were qualified for the 5-8th place semifinals.
The losers from the 5-8th place semis played a 7th place game and the winners the 5th place game.
The best two teams per group were qualified for the semifinals.
The losers from the semis played a small final and the winners the final.

## Results
### 4th Wildcard Playoff

| 17 Mai 2018 17:00 (UTC-4) | Houston Firehawks | 10-0 | Los Angeles | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 17 Mai 2018 17:00 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |

### Group stage
#### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| New York City (1) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 67 | +22 | 6 |
| San Francisco CalHeat (5) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 80 | 78 | +2 | 4 |
| Chicago Inter (3) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 76 | 88 | −12 | 2 |
| West Point Black (7) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 82 | 94 | −12 | 0 |
| 17 Mai 2018 17:00 (UTC-4) | Chicago Inter | 24-33 | San Francisco CalHeat | Court 1, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 17 Mai 2018 17:00 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 1, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 9:15 (UTC-4) | Chicago Inter | 32-25 | West Point Black | Court 1, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 9:15 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 1, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 9:15 (UTC-4) | New York City | 26-18 | San Francisco CalHeat | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 9:15 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 14:30 (UTC-4) | Chicago Inter | 20-30 | New York City | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 14:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 15:45 (UTC-4) | San Francisco CalHeat | 29-28 | West Point Black | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 15:45 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 19 Mai 2018 10:30 (UTC-4) | West Point Black | 29-33 | New York City | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 19 Mai 2018 10:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |

#### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| New York Athletic Club (2) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 77 | +16 | 6 |
| Boston (6) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 68 | 66 | +2 | 4 |
| Houston Firehawks (8) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 80 | 87 | −7 | 2 |
| DC Diplomats (4) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 80 | −11 | 0 |
| 17 Mai 2018 17:00 (UTC-4) | Boston | 21-17 | DC Diplomats | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 17 Mai 2018 17:00 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 17 Mai 2018 21:00 (UTC-4) | New York Athletic Club | 35-30 | Houston Firehawks | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 17 Mai 2018 21:00 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 10:30 (UTC-4) | Boston | 29-25 | Houston Firehawks | Court 3, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 10:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 3, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 10:30 (UTC-4) | DC Diplomats | 29-34 | New York Athletic Club | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 10:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 15:45 (UTC-4) | Boston | 18-24 | New York Athletic Club | Court 3, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 15:45 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 3, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 16:00 (UTC-4) | Houston Firehawks | 25-23 | DC Diplomats | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 18 Mai 2018 16:00 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |

### Championship

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| A1 | New York City | 23 | | | |
| B2 | Boston | 19 | | | |
| B2 | Boston | 19 | A1 | New York City | 31 |
| | | | A2 | San Francisco CalHeat | 18 |
| B1 | New York Athletic Club | 37 | A2 | San Francisco CalHeat | 18 |
| A2 | San Francisco CalHeat | 38 | Small Final | Small Final | Small Final |
| | | | B2 | Boston | 25 |
| | | | B1 | New York Athletic Club | 34 |

#### Semifinals

| 19 Mai 2018 14:30 (UTC-4) | New York City | 23-19 | Boston | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 19 Mai 2018 14:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 19 Mai 2018 16:00 (UTC-4) | New York Athletic Club | 37-38 (ET) | San Francisco CalHeat | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 19 Mai 2018 16:00 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |||

#### Small Final

| 20 Mai 2018 11:00 (UTC-4) | Boston | 25-34 | New York Athletic Club | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 20 Mai 2018 11:00 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |

#### Final

| 20 Mai 2018 13:30 (UTC-4) | New York City | 31-18 | San Francisco CalHeat | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 20 Mai 2018 13:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 2, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |

### Consolation

| 5-8th Place Semifinals | 5-8th Place Semifinals | 5-8th Place Semifinals | 5th Place | 5th Place | 5th Place |
| A3 | Chicago Inter | 36 | | | |
| B4 | DC Diplomats | 22 | | | |
| B4 | DC Diplomats | 22 | A3 | Chicago Inter | 35 |
| | | | B3 | Houston Firehawks | 29 |
| B3 | Houston Firehawks | 35 | B3 | Houston Firehawks | 29 |
| A4 | West Point Black | 30 | 7th Place | 7th Place | 7th Place |
| | | | B4 | DC Diplomats | 37 |
| | | | A4 | West Point Black | 29 |

#### 5-8th Place Semifinals

| 19 Mai 2018 14:30 (UTC-4) | Chicago Inter | 36-22 | DC Diplomats | Court 3, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 19 Mai 2018 14:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 3, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 19 Mai 2018 14:30 (UTC-4) | Houston Firehawks | 35-30 | West Point Black | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 19 Mai 2018 14:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |

#### 7th Place

| 20 Mai 2018 8:00 (UTC-4) | DC Diplomats | 37-29 | West Point Black | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 20 Mai 2018 8:00 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |

#### 5th Place

| 20 Mai 2018 9:30 (UTC-4) | Chicago Inter | 35-29 | Houston Firehawks | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |
| 20 Mai 2018 9:30 (UTC-4) | | Report | | Court 4, Myrtle Beach Sports Center |

## Final ranking

| Rank | Team |
| | New York City |
| | San Francisco CalHeat |
| | New York Athletic Club |
| 4 | Boston |
| 5 | Chicago Inter |
| 6 | Houston Firehawks |
| 7 | DC Diplomats |
| 8 | West Point Black |

## Statistics
### Awards

| Most Valuable Player: | Djordje Radovanovic | New York City THC |
| Most Valuable Goalkeeper: | Ivan Ignjatovic | New York City THC |
| Top Scorer: | Philip Altong | Houston Firehawks |

### Top scorers

Source:
| Rank | Name | Goals | Games | Average | Team |
| | Philip Altong | 45 | 6 | 7.5 | Houston Firehawks |
| | Jan Ziegler | 39 | 5 | 7.8 | DC Diplomats |
| | Stefan Asceric | 37 | 5 | 7.4 | Chicago Inter |
| 4 | Nicholas Schebler | 36 | 5 | 7.2 | West Point Black |
| 5 | Ty Reed | 35 | 5 | 7 | New York Athletic Club |
| 6 | Jawad Bichri | 33 | 5 | 6.6 | Boston |
| 7 | Philipp Wieschollek | 32 | 5 | 5.33 | Houston Firehawks |
| 8 | Lars Schorlemer | 29 | 5 | 5.8 | San Francisco CalHeat |
| 9 | Eloy Rubio Blanco | 29 | 5 | 5.8 | Chicago Inter |
| 10 | El-Sayed Shalaby | 27 | 5 | 5.4 | New York City THC |

### All-Tournament Team

| | | Pivot |
| | | Vladimir Bicvic |
| | | New York City |
| | | Center Back |
| | Left Back | Slave Jovanovski | Right Back |
| | Lars Schorlemer | San Francisco CalHeat | Benjamin Briffe [fr] |
| | San Francisco CalHeat | | New York City |
| Left Wing | | Goalkeeper | | Right Wing |
| Thomas Harper | | Ivan Ignjatovic | | Djordje Radovanovic |
| New York Athletic Club | | New York City | | New York City |
| | | Most Valuable Goalkeeper | | Most Valuable Player |