VTMBH Article: Body
On Nov. 17 in Oneonta, New York, Keio Academys boys soccer team (Captains: Hirofumi Kinoshita and Junji Okawa) defeated veteran Byron-Bergen High School 1-0 to capture the New York State C Class Soccer Championship. Last year, Keio Academy shared the honors with Spencer-Van Etten High School, but this year, they walked away with the prize alone.
Snow plagued the game throughout and made for less-than-favorable conditions. In the last 16 minutes of the first half, however, Katsuyuki Kobayashi scored the goal that would decide the game. The second half was a defensive fight with both keepers struggling to defend their goals. Keios goalie did an excellent job and ended up protecting the teams 1-0 lead.
Keio won in the first round of the tournament 2-1. In the quarterfinals, they won again in overtime. In the semis, Keio found themselves losing 2-1 in the first half, but by the end of the second half, they had tied. In overtime, they fought to win an impressive victory. More than 200 schools from all over New York State competed in the tournament.
More than 250 fansparents, students, teachers, and even the Headmaster, Takuji Odatraveled with the team to cheer them on in the finals. This years final match held special meaning beyond just a championship bid. Dave Symes, Keios soccer coach for the past nine years, died of heart failure in his home in early August of this year. The students had a great amount of trust and respect for Symes. The students, still in shock over the loss of their beloved coach, played with a hardened will that allowed them to take home the championship alone, as opposed to last year when they had to share it with another school.
Co-captain Shuji Okawa said, Everything we did this season was for Coach Symes. We truly came together for him and played our hearts out.
Goalie Eisuke Murakami added, I think Coach Symes was watching over us from heaven, and I bet he was smiling with pride when we won.
Tom Brown, the new coach for Keio had this to say: The boys played a fine game today, passing the ball well even in the mud. Everyone played an aggressive game, 110 percent. I think it was a great game in the tradition of Keio Academys boys soccer team.
Snow plagued the game throughout and made for less-than-favorable conditions. In the last 16 minutes of the first half, however, Katsuyuki Kobayashi scored the goal that would decide the game. The second half was a defensive fight with both keepers struggling to defend their goals. Keios goalie did an excellent job and ended up protecting the teams 1-0 lead.
Keio won in the first round of the tournament 2-1. In the quarterfinals, they won again in overtime. In the semis, Keio found themselves losing 2-1 in the first half, but by the end of the second half, they had tied. In overtime, they fought to win an impressive victory. More than 200 schools from all over New York State competed in the tournament.
More than 250 fansparents, students, teachers, and even the Headmaster, Takuji Odatraveled with the team to cheer them on in the finals. This years final match held special meaning beyond just a championship bid. Dave Symes, Keios soccer coach for the past nine years, died of heart failure in his home in early August of this year. The students had a great amount of trust and respect for Symes. The students, still in shock over the loss of their beloved coach, played with a hardened will that allowed them to take home the championship alone, as opposed to last year when they had to share it with another school.
Co-captain Shuji Okawa said, Everything we did this season was for Coach Symes. We truly came together for him and played our hearts out.
Goalie Eisuke Murakami added, I think Coach Symes was watching over us from heaven, and I bet he was smiling with pride when we won.
Tom Brown, the new coach for Keio had this to say: The boys played a fine game today, passing the ball well even in the mud. Everyone played an aggressive game, 110 percent. I think it was a great game in the tradition of Keio Academys boys soccer team.