46th TW reclaim soccer championship

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Anthony Jennings
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
The 46th Test Wing reclaimed the base intramural soccer championship title from the 53rd Wing winning 2-1, April 22.

The 53rd team, the reigning champs, took the title from the 46th last year in a stunning sudden death shootout in overtime. During their match-up earlier in the season, the 46th walked away with a one-point victory. Based on their history, the teams were evenly matched and knew each other well.

"We knew the 46th was a good team after our first match in the regular season, so there was no doubt it would be a close game," said 53rd's Danny Rodriguez.

The 46th team established an early lead scoring within the first 40 seconds of the game when Robert Wible kicked the ball to the far left side of the goal, just outside the reach of the goalie.

"I rolled my ankle just before the score so I was in a lot of pain during the play," said Wible, playing his first game in nearly two months after an injury during regular season. Last year, he missed the penalty kick in overtime, which cost them the championship. "It was a great feeling to get revenge and score the first point of the game."

53rd's Keegan Guthals answered back 10 minutes later when Paul Jeffords kicked a deep pass from near mid-field, setting him up for the goal and tying the game 1-1.

The stalemate lasted until 46th center mid-fielder, Junior Reid, scored on a fast break with four minutes left, giving them a 2-1 lead at halftime.

During the break, the 46th discussed focusing more on defense, but didn't see the need to make major strategic changes in their game plan.

"We started talking about playing more defensively, but we felt confident we could win if we kept up the intensity," said Matt Dillsaver.

Going into the second half, 53rd needed to switch up their strategy in order to clinch the title again. However, their passes weren't crisp and they took too long to get rid of the ball, allowing 46th to close in and keep them from scoring.

The 46th defense worked and a scoreless second half led to a victory for the Test Wing.

"They had a great defensive strategy and unfortunately we were unable to capitalize offensively," said Rodriguez. "I do think they got lucky with some mistakes we made on defense, but it was still a good game for us."

The victory meant a lot to the players on the 46th, considering the history between the two teams; but it was clinching the championship title, not just beating 53rd that meant the most.

"It always feels good to win, I don't care who we're playing."