MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The Mighty Strikers defeated the Yellow Jackets 2-0 during a 10- to 12-year-old youth soccer playoff game at the Penny Lake soccer fields here Saturday.
This eliminated the Yellow Jackets from the tournament, leaving them in third place for the season.
The Yellow Jackets previously beat the Mighty Strikers twice before and were the only team to defeat them during the entire season.
“Beating them was a really big accomplishment for us,” said Robert Downing, coach for the Mighty Strikers. “They’ve beat us twice before, so the kids really had to come together as a team for this win.”
The Mighty Strikers kept the ball near the opposing goal for most of the first half, and efforts by Cameron Villarouel and David Shoebrook who each scored a goal in the first half, put the Might Strikers up 2-0.
Hayden Vesprey, assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets gave his team words of wisdom during halftime to prepare them for the second half.
The Yellow Jackets put up a better defense during the second half, which prevented the Mighty Strikers from getting any more goals.
Becoming more aggressive toward the end of the game, the Yellow Jackets managed to get the ball down the field but couldn’t capitalize on the chances they had to take shots on the goal.
The Yellow Jackets just couldn’t overcome the first-half deficite, and the game ended 2-0 with the Might Strikers victorious.
Despite their loss, Vesprey said he felt his team did very well throughout the season.
“We didn’t have a lot of kids that were very experienced in soccer and we still finished third in the season,” said Vesprey. “They have really learned a lot.”
Although the Mighty Strikers have only lost twice Downing said they have also come a long way since the beginning of the season.
“They’ve really started playing as a team instead of as individuals,” he said.
The Mighty Strikers went on to face the Hi-Liters in the championship game.
The youth soccer closing ceremony is scheduled to be held 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Penny Lake fields.