Intramural Soccer Playoffs: SPIRIT rallies for 3-2 victory

Published June 6, 2008
By John E. Banks
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- The winner's bracket semi-finals of the 2008 intramural soccer playoffs pitted the fourth seed. SPIRIT, and the number one seed, 965th Airborne Air Control Squadron.
   The two teamsd faced off May 28 at the Tinker Sports Complex and the outcome was an exciting 3-2 Spirit win.
   "This should be our toughest test to date. We played them earlier in the year and they beat us 2-1, however we had our chances to win," said Kevin Fairbairn, left half back for SPIRIT.
   The 965th AACS team got off to a quick and roaring start. They scored two goals three minutes apart in the first half giving them an early and decisive advantage 2-0. The first goal came on a corner kick as SPIRIT halfback Levi Garrett attempted to clear the ball from the penalty area and it deflected off the face of 965th AACS forward William Cody past the SPIRIT goal keeper, Jay Jarrett for 1-0 lead at the 2:25 mark of t he first half.
   The second marker of the game came as forward Carlo Tahmassian came in on a breakaway and lifted an right-footed strike to the left corner of the net giving his side a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes of play.
   Jarrett urged his team to get back to playing their game. And tha's just what SPIRIT did over the next 20 minutes of play..
   The rally started slowly. Garrett sent a penalty shot area shot past the 965th AACS goal keeper to cut the lead to 2-1 at the 15:23 mark of the first half.
   Three minutes later SPIRIT forward Hien Huynh raced into the 965th AACS penalty area and rifled a blistering shot to the right corner of the net knotting the score at 2-2 at the 19:45 of t he first half.
   "Our team normally plays a little better after we fall behind a couple of goals," said Fairbairn.
   The rally was complete as Huynh intercepted a pass at midfield and raced into the 965th AACS half of the field and sent a laser shot from the right hand side of the penalty area that just made it into the left corner of the net giving SPIRIT a 3-2 advantage as both teams went to the halftime break.
   The second half was much more of a defensive standoff than the first. Both teams turned up the defensive pressure.
   The 965th AACS controlled the play over the next 15 minutes and they peppered Jarrett with six shots on goal, however Jarrett was up to the task keeping AACS of the score sheet for the remainder of the game.
   The key play in the game came with five minutes to play as Tahmassian came in on Jarrett and sent a blistering shot towards the goal; however Jarrett was able to deflect the shot over the cross bar keeping AACS at bay.
   "Our defense was the key to the victory tonight. We got timely scoring and we were able to keep our opponents of the score board in the second half," said Jarrett.
   The stars of the game were Huynh who scored two goals for SPIRIT and Tahmassian who had one tally for the 965th AACS.