ALBION soccer team claims victory at Hawai’i Thanksgiving Invitational
An ALBION soccer team, made up of mostly Maui players, brought home the gold from Oʻahu at the annual Hawai’i Thanksgiving Invitational Tournament. The tournament, put on by RUSH Soccer Club, took place Nov. 24 – Nov. 26 in Honolulu.
This ALBION team won their first game on Nov. 24 (7-0), their 2nd game on Nov. 25 (3-0), and these strong victories secured them a spot in the finals game on Nov. 26. In the last “pool game” before finals, they lost 0-3.
The game was particularly emotional for the players and spectators. Multiple players sustained injuries and needed to be carried off the field, multiple yellow cards were given out to both sides, and the teams knew they would be playing each other again a few hours later in the finals match.
In the finals game, the other team received credit for a goal in the first few minutes of the game, but ALBION recovered, and were up 2-1 at the half. The teams battled, and the other team scored again, tying up the game 2-2. A stunning shot by ALBION near the end of the game, that sailed over the keeper and into the top back of the net, got the team the lead they needed.
There was a foul right in front of the goal (which was blocked by the 3 ALBION wall of defenders), but the team held onto the win and finished 3-2.
After the game, Coach Ron praised the physical and mental achievements of the players and said, “After that first game, you really dug deep and did what you needed to do to come out with the win.”
The Coaches for this team were Ron Kapaku and Cheyenne Ranis, Team Manager was Kaui Souza and ALBION Hawai’i Technical Director is Brent Nunes.
For more information about the club, contact admin@albionschawaii.org
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