Gators chomp way to intramural soccer title

  • Published
  • By Sam Miller
  • Intramural sports director
The 334th Training Squadron Gators avenged a regular season loss to the 338th TRS Dark Knights A-team by winning the inaugural Keesler 7 vs. 7 intramural soccer championship.

The Gators, led by head coach Steven Haro, took the crown with a 3-1 win over the Gators, the only team to defeat them in the regular season.

This matchup was very intriguing, because both squadrons have players that compete with Keesler's varsity soccer team. The players practiced with each other for most of the season in preparation for the Defender's Cup Alamo City Military Open Soccer Tournament held over the Labor Day weekend.

Both teams dominated the regular season finishing with 9-1 records and a five-goal average margin of victory.

The first meeting Aug. 2 between these two squadrons was highly anticipated, with both teams boasting undefeated records. The squads were tied, 3-3, after 50 minutes of regulation play, but the Dark Knights took the regular season victory over the Gators in a 2 to 1 shootout.

The defense was stern in the first half of championship. Both teams took a considerable number of shots before the Gators were able to score to take a 1-0 lead going into the half.

The Gators scored early in the second half of the match and looked ready to put the game away.

But four possessions later, the Dark Knights cut the score to 3-1. In spite of the Dark Knights late gain in momentum, the Gators pulled out the victory.