53rd clinches championship in overtime shootout

  • Published
  • By Airman Anthony Jennings
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Rarely do championship games live up to the hype, thrill and excitement they've built up to be. That was not the case when the 53rd Wing and the 46th Test Wing met at the base Intramural Soccer Championship April 16. 

The 53rd team clinched the championship winning in a sudden death shootout in overtime. 

"Classic," said 53rd coach Staff Sgt. Danny Rodriguez. "What better way to win a championship than in overtime?" 

The last time the two teams met the match ended in a draw. This time around, both teams were looking for closure and the stakes couldn't have been higher. 

Two minutes into the first half, Rob Jenson scored giving 53rd the early lead. The 46th Matt Dillsaver answered back with a goal halfway through the first half evening the score 1 to 1. 

"The 46th team was very skilled and played with a lot of passion," said Col. Steven DePalmer, 53rd Wing commander. "But when it comes down to it, one team had to lose."
With six minutes left in the game Benjamin Price of the 53rd scored, giving them the lead, 2-1. 

As time ticked down on 46th, they caught a lucky break when Frank Lampard scored off a penalty kick with two minutes left. 

That pushed the championship game into overtime, tied at two. 

"We all played with such passion," said Lampard. "This will go down as the best game of the season, and might be that way for a while until a championship game goes this far to determine a winner." 

In the event of a tie, the game goes into two, five-minute sudden-death overtime periods. If a winner cannot be determined in the first and second periods the game will be decided in a sudden-death shootout. 

After two overtime periods, the score remained deadlocked at 2-2 and the game went into a shoot-out. Both teams picked five players to kick, alternating turns. The 53rd team scored four out of five of their shots. The 46th team scored three shots and the last kick of the game came down to Lampard to tie the game once again. His penalty kick in the second half tied the game and sent it into overtime. 

But victory was not meant to be for the 46th. Lampard's kick went wide left ending the game. 

"The best way to win a championship game comes down to the team that communicates effectively, remains motivated and plays the way they practiced," said 53rd Eric Heiple. "That's what we did."