We are the Champions!!

After a 10-2 victory over Red United, the Mean Team claimed their second consecutive HBS Indoor Soccer Championship, which was this year impeccably organized by Ryan McMonagle (NE).

After last year’s victory the Mean Team was forced to split this year, due to the tournament rule that allows a maximum of 3 HBS A-team players per team. Brian O’Connor (OA) and Ali Ashurov (OG) graciously volunteered to join other teams – who reached the semifinals and the final, respectively – while Yasu Oba (OJ) remained an invaluable backup for Hendrik “Salsa” Almstadt (NJ) in a couple of matches.

After strong performances throughout the tournament, with the closest challenge coming from archrivals Penta in the quarterfinals (10-7), MT2 went into the final game with great confidence.

However, after an early MT2 goal, Red United pulled back and went ahead 2-1. For a moment MT2 looked vulnerable, but then stepped up to the challenge. The relentless defense of Franco Hauri (OJ), Pierre Pujol (OH) and Francois “Mon Capitaine” Dufour (OJ), combined with another superb performance by star keeper Hendrik Almstadt (NJ) kept the strong Red United team from scoring again in the rest of the game. At the same time MT2 pulled out their trademark rapid passing game, combining to create plenty of goal opportunities. The inspired attacking trio of Axel Bonnassies (OE), Frederik Evendt (OB) and Hysam Galal (OJ) put constant pressure on the Red United defense and in spite of some strong goalkeeping by the Red United keeper, MT2 could not be stopped. 10-2 was the final result and most of the team now graduates undefeated.