MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Marines and sailors from Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24 and Headquarters Battalion on Marine Corps Base Hawaii gathered their soccer teams at Riseley Field to begin the intramural soccer league, June 10, 2013.
In the beginning of the first 30-minute half, both teams had many opportunities to score. Headquarters Battalion and MALS-24’s defense held up to keep the score at zero for both teams.
As the game progressed, the tide began to shift in the favor of MALS-24. They scored the first goal with 18 minutes left in the first half. Unfortunately for Headquarters Battalion, MALS-24 scored a second goal two minutes later and a third at eight minutes left.
Even though it was the first game of the season, MALS-24 figured out how each other played and started to gel as a team.
“Our offense really started to come together half way through the first half,” said Franklin Junaylemus, a midfielder for MALS-24 who scored the third goal. “I dodged one defender and set myself up for a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper. I just tapped the ball into the side of the goal for the score. It was my first goal of the season and I’m excited for the rest of the games to come.”
The first half ended with MALS-24 on top with a 3–0 lead. At half time, players huddled together on opposite sides of the field to receive some coaching for the second half.
Headquarters Battalion stepped up their game in the second half. Liam Lamarine, a forward for Headquarters Battalion, scored the first goal with 10 minutes into the second half to ignite the flame to lead his team back into the game.
Another Headquarters Battalion forward Ryan Harris, scored another goal shortly after Lamarine to bring them one step closer to topping the MALS-24 lead. Headquarters Battalion came within one goal of MALS-24 with a score of 3–2.
“It looked like we were going to rally back and take the lead,” Lamarine said. “The Warriors have some good players and after we scored our two goals, they got back into their groove and scored two more. We are missing a few key defensive players that could have played a huge role in tonight’s game.”
To Headquarters Battalion’s misfortune, MALS-24 put up two more unanswered goals to end the game, 5–2.
“I noticed the goalie came out of the box, so I kicked it in right over his head,” said Miguel Sandoval, a MALS-24 forward who scored the final goal to end the game. “We took advantage of many mistakes they made throughout the game. We have a lot of new players on the team this year, and we are only going to get better as the season progresses. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”