Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
The quick-paced and game-to-game action in Western Oregon’s intramural soccer and basketball recreational leagues concluded in championship triumph on Feb. 28 and March 1.
IM playoffs in women’s indoor basketball were played on Feb. 28, while the men’s basketball and indoor soccer culminated the very next day on March 1.
Tournament play in indoor soccer was scheduled throughout the day and an anticipated first round matchup between We Like It Messi and The Republic started things off. The two squared off a month earlier, on Feb. 1 as We Like it Messi one-upped The Republic in their full-throttled first meeting, 5-4.
In bad timing, We Like It Messi, named after professional soccer athlete Lionel Messi, forfeited for the second time because of an inadequate number of players with three. The Republic didn’t budge for their opponents misfortune and optioned to advance. Every indoor soccer team must have four players in play or they’re disqualified.
“They were scared,” said We Like It Messi’s junior striker Hatim Alhamdin, commenting after The Republic’s decision.
A fourth player arrived later, but The Republic had already made their decision. Nonetheless, the fact that The Republic advanced was due to its togetherness all season.
“The strong point of our season was that we were real supportive of each other,” said senior goalie Keegan McMurry.
But The Republic’s team play wasn’t enough to outdo No. 1 in the division Unreal Madrid — a name in reference to the professional soccer club Real Madrid — who awaited them in the final. Unreal Madrid had not been conquered once, and waited in the final after earning a bye round in the semi-final. Madrid scored the most points on the season and showed for it, and won in penalty shots, 5-4.
Intramural basketball championships in the women’s and men’s competitive leagues were also finalized on Feb. 28 and March. 1.
On Feb. 28, Cool Name won the title in the women’s competitive field after defeating The Bouncemasters, in a revenge match, 42-21. The two met twice before and split the meetings, 45-33 and then 48-37. Both also had significant point differentials against their foes as Cool Name owned a 72 point difference while the bouncemasters totaled 49. But the 5-2 bouncemasters couldn’t bounce 6-1 Cool Name in the final grudge match.
In men’s competitive, two teams came into the finals with 5-0 records. Both Strong to the Hole and FreeBallers, had significant margins over their competition. But there’s a reason Strong to the Hole inched ahead of the Freeballers in the final, 71-70, and that’s from the scoring output versus their opponents. Strong to the Hole outscored their counterparts all season by nearly 25 points per game, and won only one game by a single digit outcome. That more than doubled the Freeballers’s 11 ppg margin.
IM title games in co-rec soccer and basketball, as well as men’s regular recreational basketball, finish up on March 7.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Photo by: Paul F. Davis
