Photo By Cpl. Crystal Druery | Marine Corps Recruit Depot's goalie, Adrian Mejia, blocks a penalty kick. The...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO - Marine Corps Recruit Depot’s varsity soccer team put an end to its nine-year championship slump against Fleet Readiness Center, who played an undefeated season until June 7.
FRC soccer teams from Naval Air Station North Island played a tough game, but didn’t quite reach their goal.
“We came in motivated, it has been the best season we’ve had,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Edwin Rodriguez, aviation support and coach of FRC. “We thought we had this team, but this is the best I’ve seen from Marine Corps Recruit Depot,” he added.
No doubt about it, FRC started off strong. Minutes into the match the unbeaten team scored first. However, depot goalie, Seaman Adrian Mejia, denied three consecutive scoring opportunities that undoubtedly kept MCRD in the game.
Just before the halftime whistle sounded, MCRD received a penalty shot after a foul in the penalty box. Petty Officer 3rd class David Barrientos, dental technician, capitalized and tied the score 1-1.
“I wanted to make that shot really bad so we could come back,” he said. “I felt a little pressure but kept my composure, afterwards I felt relieved and it gave the team a little energy to feed off of,” he added.
At half time Cpl. Kofi Agyeman, the team captain, finance, Headquarters and Support Battalion, saw the need for a little motivation and gave a pep talk to make sure his team kept their heads in the game.
“We feed off each other’s energy, so at half time I tried to pump everyone up a little since we weren’t playing as well as normal,” said Agyeman.
Gunnery Sgt. Marvin HernandezGarcia, combat cargo, USS San Diego, spoke to the team and reset their strategies for offense and defense.
“We were a little shaky in the beginning but by changing strategies I feel it gave us more chances to score,” he said.
As the second half began, neither team was able to dominate the other. A back-and-forth battle filled the atmosphere with intensity and the teams’ desire to be titled champions.
MCRD nearly sealed the victory just prior to the end of regulation. A hand ball in the penalty area resulted in yet another penalty shot. But with the pressure rising and the game at stake, he missed the goal.
In the final seconds of the game, neither team was able to get past each other’s defenses resulting in a tie.
A heart-pounding shootout followed the end of the game. Each team chose five players for penalty shots to determine a winner. Still neither team could prevail.
To close the match, teams alternated penalty shots until Maj. Phillip Peche rifled the game-winning goal just out of the reach of the FRC keeper.
“I play defense, so I’m just glad the coach let me score that goal,” said Peche, operations officer, Recruit Training Regiment.
HernandezGarcia commented to Peche, “You had the composure for it.”
The coach explained how Peche and Mejia really made the difference for the team this year. Both brought different assets to the team. Mejia walked away as most valuable player of the season.
“You need a good defense and offense, having that backbone helps out a lot,” HernandezGarcia added.
Now MCRD’s varsity soccer team will be preparing for regional’s starting in September.
“We plan to take home a trophy for Maj. Gen. Bailey,” said HernandezGarcia.
| Date Taken: | 06.07.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2011 17:56 |
| Story ID: | 71793 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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