Marine Forces soccer title chase tightens
as Division tips 3rd Force in shootout
By Dave Ornauer, Stars and
Stripes
Jason Carter / Stars and Stripes
1st Marine Aircraft Wing goalie Casey Schramm takes the ball away from Marine
Corps Air Station Iwakuni's Cpl. Curtis Grimsley Wednesday. Iwakuni won in a shootout. |
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Clang!
The ball bounced off the top of the crossbar and sailed high, marking the end of 3rd
Force Service Support Group’s early domination of the Marine Forces Pacific Regional
Soccer Tournament.
The missed penalty shot by Dawodu Ibidayo also signalled that the title chase was
suddenly wide open.
As Okinawa’s 3rd Marine Division/Expeditionary Force celebrated its 1-0 victory
over the defending champions in a seven-round shootout, Division coach Bob Brillant
breathed a sigh of relief.
"The guys knew what to do and did it," Brillant said. "We talked before
the match about the game plan and we stuck with it."
Thanks to that game plan, 3rd Force and Division found themselves tied for second place
in the round-robin standings at 3-1, a half-game behind Japan’s Iwakuni Air Station
(4-1).
Jason Carter / Stars and Stripes
Wing's Timothy Suarez controls the ball while holding off Iwakuni's Leonel Lora on
Wednesday. |
According to Brillant, Division’s game plan involved:
- Keeping the ball on the ground.
- Completing every pass.
- Marking up on 3rd Force’s key scorers, Kevin Pierre and Ibidayo.
- Keeping the ball on the wings.
Goalkeepers Edgar Delacruz of 3rd Force and Kalechi Iwu of Division kept the match
scoreless through 60 minutes of regulation play, combining for 15 saves.
Mike McIntosh’s goal to lead off the penalty-kick shootout marked the first tally
allowed by 3rd Force in 291 tournament minutes, dating to last year’s final.
After each side missed and Aaron Greear tied the shootout for 3rd Force, the sides
netted their next four tries until Brian Schoenfeld put Division ahead to stay in the
seventh round.
That brought Ibidayo, with a tournament-leading four goals, to the line. Had the shot
been a few inches lower, it might have kept the shootout going.
"Back to the drawing board," 3rd Force coach Clinton Dyer said. "I think
we relaxed too much in the first half. But this may be a good wakeup for us, to remind us
that this won’t be a cakewalk."
Shootout madness
Jason Carter / Stars and Stripes
Iwakuni's Glenn Cross makes a diving save during Wednesday's shootout against
Wing. |
Okinawa’s 1st Marine Aircraft Wing must be getting used to working overtime. Their
three matches spanning Monday night to Wednesday afternoon went to penalty-kick shootouts,
with Wing winning one.
"We just don’t give up. We’re the underdogs," coach Rafael Trivino
said after Wing fell to Iwakuni 2-1, losing the shootout 4-2. "It would have been
nice to have won, though."
Wing lost to Division 3-2 Monday, falling in the shootout 5-3. On Tuesday, Wing edged
Hawaii 3-2 on the strength of a 3-1 performance in the shootout.
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