December 17, 1997
The USS Carl Vinson United varsity soccer team captured the SUBASE Bangor Captain's Cup championship Saturday with a nail-biting 4-3 victory over Los Andes Imports in sudden death overtime.
The Carl Vinson team advanced to the final as the winner of the military division playoffs, and Los Andes represented the best of the civilian division. The title match reflected the competitiveness of both divisions.
The winning goal happened quickly, barely a minute into overtime. Left forward Journalist 2nd Class Sean Gano brought the ball down the left wing to the end line, he then crossed the ball five feet in front of the goal where right forward Legalman 2nd Class Christopher Lehmann beat out a Los Andes defender for the goal.
"When I got the ball, I saw all the open space down the left side, and I had only their sweeper to beat," said Gano, a native of Makakilo, Hawaii. "Once I got past the sweeper and near the goal, I knew that if I passed it to the middle, one of our guys was going to be there."
Lehmann was glad to be the one there.
"That goal felt pretty good," said the native of Riverside, Calif. "But it didn't really hit me that we won until I turned around and saw everyone running onto the field and coming at me."
Although the teamwork between the two forwards scored the winning goal, the most valuable player of the game for United was goal keeper Hull Technician Fireman Richard Hernandez of Los Angeles. Hernandez, the reserve keeper for most of the season, stepped up to the challenge of starting in the championship match and made a number of leaping and diving saves.
"I was pretty nervous and excited before the game," he said. "After the game started I was still pretty pumped, but I calmed down and just tried to stay alert and aware. I knew we could win, and I'm happy we did."
United struck first, less than 15 minutes into the match, when Gano curved a direct free kick around the defensive "wall" set up by Los Andes and past the outstretched arms of the goal keeper.
It remained 1-0 until Carl Vinson scored 20 minutes into the second half using offensive pressure to force a defensive mistake by Los Andes. Lehmann deflected an attempted clear by the Los Andes sweeper right to the waiting feet of center forward Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Jim Ritchie, who dribbled through two defenders into the middle of the penalty box and placed a shot right by the keeper into the left corner of the goal.
Although down by two goals, Los Andes did not lose their composure. They came right back five minutes after United had made it 2-0 and scored off of a corner kick for their first goal of the match.
United, however, again went up by two goals when Lehmann took the ball down the right wing and with a defender on his heels shot the ball over a leaping Los Andes keeper into the far left corner of the net.
Los Andes, finding themselves down by two goals with less than 15 minutes left in match, made a strategic move that paid off. Needing more offense, the team brought their primarily defensive sweeper up forward. Not long after making that move, he rocketed a shot from the right side of the pitch, just outside the penalty box, into the upper left corner of the goal to make it a 3-2 lead for United.
Then with less than a minute remaining in the match, Los Andes was awarded a free kick in the middle of the pitch, 30 yards from the goal. The shot was taken by the sweeper, who zoomed the ball just over the United "wall," where it was then deflected by Hernandez, but went off the goal's crossbar and was then kicked in by a Los Andes player.
To United players, the scenario was all too familiar.
During the regular season, the team's only loss came in overtime. The opposing team had scored the tying goal with 10 seconds remaining in that match, and then went on to win with a free kick in the first overtime.
"I was getting serious flashbacks," Lehmann said. "The overtime loss we had before was heartbreaking, and I just prayed to God that we would win this one. I'm glad we did."
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