Intramurals championships are full of excitement

COED 5v5 SOCCER

Every Monday and Wednesday night, indoor soccer intramural teams gather to play friendly games. Friends and fans of the teams sit in the stands, cheering them on.

But now the soccer intramurals are over. The top four teams – Asian Invasion, The Immigrants, Yak Attack and Eastern United – battled each other in the semi-finals Nov. 17 and the championship Nov. 19.

The first-seed team, Asian Invasion, had a ranking of 6-0 going into the semi-finals. On Nov. 10, they played against That Team and won 4-3 in a close game.

Co-captain sophomore Hannah Anderson thinks that their team has a good shot of winning the championship. “I really want that t-shirt,” she said.

The Immigrants, the second-seed team, had a record of 5-1, and they played against seventh-seed Dominance Through Excellence on Nov. 10, beating them 3-0.

The team was formed by senior men’s lacrosse player Dan Sharbaugh through a Facebook group. According to junior Michael Hofmeister, The Immigrants often get together for “Monster Mondays,” where they eat chocolate chip pancakes and drink grapefruit juice.

“It’s the best class I’ve ever taken,” senior Ben O’Donnell said.

The third-seed team, Yak Attack, went by another name last year: Republic of Chicago. In their Nov. 12 game against Edem United, senior Pedro Reis scored two goals. Yak Attack won 5-3, fighting hard against Edem United’s defense.

Co-captains senior Drew Krupp and Jamie Wert have worked hard to create the perfect team, even going so far as to have tryouts.

“We’re seniors this year so this is it,” Krupp said.

The surprise fifth-seed team, Eastern United, pulled a 3-2 overtime win against fourth-seed Sp-az Attack Nov. 12. Despite their win, Eastern United acknowledged the great effort of Sp-az Attack’s goalie, junior Andrew “Spo” Spoelstra.

Shockingly enough, none of the losing teams have hard feelings. Instead, they are now resolved to do better than ever.

“Losing is not an option next semester,” first-year Jake Galewski of Edem United said.

As of today, one of the four teams above have won the soccer intramurals championship. It could be anyone, but every team has their own plans for celebration.

“If we win the championship, then we’ll celebrate,” Anderson said. “And maybe I’ll do a little dance, but in the privacy of my room.”

VOLLEYBALL

Anything is possible at playoff time – at least in Tuesday night’s volleyball league. During the quarterfinals, many of the top-seeded teams found themselves on the brink of being eliminated.

The craziest game of the night ended up being between the second seed, Team Awesome, and seventh seed, Mad Mandarins. At first it appeared as if the Mandarins, who were at a disadvantage with only five players on the court, pulled the incredible upset, 2-0.

However, after the game was over, some controversy stirred things up, changing the results later in the week. One of the Mandarins players was not on their original roster, making her ineligble to compete. Without a fifth player, the Mandarins were forced to forfeit, giving Team Awesome a spot in the semifinals.

Joining Team Awesome is the top-seed Jack-O-Lopes, third-seed Team Hainer and fifth-seed Moo-Knucks. Coincidentally, the only team to win their match easily was the Moo-Knucks, who defeated fourth-seed Sparkle Motion in two games.

Junior Josh Sholly of the Moo-Knucks said their biggest roadblock will be the Jack-O-Lopes, who defeated them during the regular season.

The Jack-O-Lopes had not lost a game going into the playoffs, yet they barely squeaked past the eighth-seed Republic of Chicago. The Jack-O-Lopes battled from 19-20 to win the first game 22-20 before dropping the second game. They were able to regroup and came back to win the third game and move on.

While visibly frustrated about the game, junior Kelly Roberts said she believes the semifinals and finals could go either way, based on how well her team “clicked.”

Teammate junior Dan Ison agreed. “It all depends on our chemistry,” he said.

Roberts said the team to watch was Team Hainer, who competed with them in the closest and most intense match of the year.

After splitting their first two games with sixth-seed Monstars, Team Hainer pushed themselves to the limit, extending the third game past its 15-point mark, winning 21-19.

“I never want to play volleyball again,” first-year Daniel Ziegler said after the match.

The championship game was held Nov. 18, with the t-shirts going to either the Jack-O-Lopes, Team Awesome, Team Hainer or the Moo-Knucks.

The Men’s 3v3 Basketball Intramurals playoff coverage will be included in the next issue of the Waltonian. On Nov. 20, first-seed Nubbies will play fourth-seed Detlef Schrempf, and second-seed Team Outta Here will play third-seed Teekna. The championships will be played on Dec. 4.