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Honor Guard wins soccer crown

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  • By John Parker
  • Staff Writer
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Honor Guard seized the 2015 intramural soccer championship Monday in a 2-0 victory over No. 1 playoff seed 552nd Maintenance Operations Flight.

The teams met in the finals after Honor Guard defeated the 552nd Hooligans earlier in the playoffs. The 552nd, 8-2 in the regular season, clawed back from the loser's bracket and needed two wins to claim the trophy, but Honor Guard shut them out in one game.

Honor Guard, No. 3 in the regular season at 7-2-1, was undefeated in the playoffs.
"We earned it," team captain/coach Gabriel Castillo said. "It was hard, challenging. We and the 552nd were the most equal teams, so it was pretty competitive."

There were no major scoring scares for most of the 30-minute first half. With about 6 minutes left, two opposing players collided and both drew yellow cards for unsporting behavior, the center referee said.

The carded 552nd player was verbally warned about abusive language and received a second yellow, which is an automatic red card ejection, when the language didn't stop, the referee said.

That left the 552nd a player short for the rest of the match, which was a major blow, captain Chris Torres said.

"We had to switch our formation up, and we had some guys in positions that they weren't as comfortable with, including myself," he said. "I don't think the better team won, but they played better. They played like adults. They didn't argue. They got it done. They're a good team, and we'll see them next year."

Castillo said he was "was sorry to see a red card on their side. It would have been a much more equal match if that guy had stayed on. He's really, really good."

Honor Guard's two second-half goals came off the foot of Junior Frederic on two breakaways. The first was from about 10 yards out, followed by another about 7 minutes later.

"We played those guys last time and it was tough," Frederic said after the game. "It was a really hard game, but we came into this game motivated and ready to win."

Honor Guard roster: Homero Morales-Arellano, Joseph Bowers, Gabriel Castillo, John Fenn, Junior Frederic, Luis Garcia, Omar Garcia, Josh Green, Roger Hill, Harold Keck, Abimael Kercado, David Miller, Kimberley Ostrander, Uvaldo Padilla, Tavarus Powell, Justin Ross, Corey Wade.