The Justice

Players on the Super Hawks, light, and Selecao, dark, compete in the intramural championship Thursday. Photo by Rebecca Ney/the Justice

Just two minutes into the men's intramural soccer championship game Sunday, the bench of top-seeded Selecao was already screaming in frustration as the sixth-seeded Super Hawks controlled possession of the ball. Three minutes later, after striking quickly with two goals, Selecao's bench was screaming an entirely different tune.

Josh Hochman '09 and Zach Cohen '09 scored goals within 30 seconds of each other midway through the first half, and Selecao ended the Super Hawks' underdog run with a 7-2 victory.

"It's inexplicable," said Cohen, a former men's varsity player. "Words can't explain the feeling I have. It's phenomenal, and it still means a lot to me."

Earlier in the night, the Dali Lamannas, featuring athletics staff members including tennis coach Ben Lamanna, men's soccer assistant Gabe Margolis and women's soccer assistant Kerry O'Malley, defeated the Drunken Oysters 4-3 to claim the coed division title. Lucky's Ladies blew out Team Awesome 10-1 to win the women's division.

In the men's game, the Super Hawks, who had upset second-seeded Los Matadores 2-1 to reach the final, controlled possession early, but the Selecao defense prevented them from attempting any difficult shots on goal.

Selecao finally found a chance to counterattack, and the ball was slotted to Hochman, who rifled a shot into the top left corner of the goal to give Selecao a 1-0 lead.

Cohen then immediately stole the ball on the ensuing kickoff, and just as he crossed the middle line on the half-field, he cut left and ripped a shot into the same spot in the top-left corner of the goal to put the game out of reach.

"After that goal, we had a bit of momentum, and we were really knocking the ball around well," Cohen said.

The two goals deflated the Super Hawks, and they surrendered two more scores in the first half to fall behind 4-0. In the second half, Super Hawks captain Tapiwa Mushove '09 scored two goals, but it wasn't nearly enough to make up the deficit.

"In the last part of the first half, we played really badly in the defensive backfield, and that pretty much killed us," Mushove said.

Cohen added another goal midway through the second half, and Andreas Sarantopoulos '09 also had two goals to lead Selecao.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools