KNIGHTS CAPTURE CHAMPIONSHIP

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By Regina Shiroma

St. John’s School Knights’ Christian Schweizer (in red) attempts the get the ball around the defense of Southern High’s Eddie Lee Lorenzo. (courtesy photo)

In a repeat of last season’s championship, the St. John’s Knights once again upset the No. 1 seeded Southern High Dolphins, coming from behind to take the 2-1 victory Saturday night at the GFA field.

With 1,012 spectators in attendance, the Knights and the Dolphins put on an exciting, intense championship game for soccer enthusiasts and supporters alike.

Tied 1-1 opening the second half, a free kick by Cedric Sevilla allowed Christian Schweizwer to head in the tie-breaking and what would be the game-winning goal in the 52nd minute.

Schweizwer, a senior said, “It was amazing to do it back to back, our team always set out to come here in the finals and win it. It’s amazing because I didn’t play all the games in the season, but our team helped us get here, the quarters and the semis, and our national boys, me and Thaddeus Atalig we really performed in the finals.”

Sevilla tied the game at 1-all off a penalty kick in the 12th minute after some aggressive Southern defense in the box was penalized.

“I just wanted to put an equalizer into the game, make sure I hit the corner of the goal,” said Sevilla.

McDonald’s player of the game: Knights’ Reed Meyer

Sevilla led the Knights’ rock-solid defense, preventing numerous would-be breakaways.

“We keep it tight and try to win the balls up high, so we just play on their side. But if we get beat, all we have to do is just track back and hopefully cover each other,” said Sevilla.

The Knights covered each other all night. If one got beat, the other was there once the ball-handler turned around, constantly suffocating the strikers who came too close to their goal. And even if their defenders got beat, their All-Island goal keeper, Reed Meyer, was there as the last line of defense.

Southern’s Nick Roberto and Austin Cruz pestered Meyer all game long sending a variety of shots his way. Meyer remained calm under the pressure, and after the first goal of the game, never let one slip past his grip again.

Southern High’s Eddie Lee Lorenzo (3) leaps for a header from a corner kick to open scoring. (courtesy photo)

“Early in the game, I got jitters, it just slipped through my hands,” said Meyer. “We just have to keep our composure, make sure we can fight back, we can’t get frustrated we can’t fade into the background and we got to make sure we can catch up, get back into the game,” said Meyer after being down 1-0.

Southern’s Eddie Lee Lorenzo scored the lone goal for the Dolphins, finishing off a corner kick in the opening minutes of the game.

Meyer was awarded the championship game MVP award.

“We have been working long and hard this whole season to defend our title and it all paid off in another championship,” said Meyer.

“It’s something really special. Freshmen year we had a really bad season, you know going from worst to first, it feels amazing,” said Meyer of their back-to-back championship in his senior year.

In the consolation match, the FD Friars defeated the GW Geckos 3-1. Friars’ Keigo Kitadate’s hat trick gave the Friars their third place finish. Devin Maluwelmeng scored the only goal for the Geckos off a free kick in the first half.

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

St. John’s School Knights’ Christian Schweizwer (in red) tries to gain possession of the ball from Southern High School’s Eddie Lee Lorenzo. (courtesy photo)

The Southern High School Dolphins pose for a photo with the runner-up trophy. (courtesy photo)

Knights head coach Jimmy Okuhama smiles in the background as his team raises their championship trophy. (courtesy photo)

The defending champions St. John’s Knights pose for a group photo with the IIAAG Boys High School Soccer League championship trophy. (courtesy photo)

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