Varsity soccer season ends with championship

  • Published
  • By Douglas Grabowski
  • Holloman Varsity Soccer coach and team captain
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The Holloman Varsity Soccer team ended its season with a very strong showing at the annual Copper Cup Tournament, held over the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, Jan. 14-16, in Tempe, Ariz.

Eighteen members of the Holloman community, including members from the German Air Force and the U.S. Air Force, traveled seven hours to compete in the tournament that fielded 59 teams in multiple divisions.

Teams traveled from across the country to compete in this national tournament, representing a variety of age groups and skill levels.

"Going into the tournament, I was a little nervous about how our team might perform but was still pretty confident we would come out with a winning record," said team captain Kyle Lipscomb. "We were still recovering from a tournament in Albuquerque in November, where we didn't play as well as we should have and came in fifth place."

The Holloman Raptors played four preliminary games, winning two and tying two games. The team started out by facing a tough team from Michigan early Saturday morning, the USC Lancers. After 60 minutes, Holloman scrounged out a 0-0 tie.

The afternoon game proved more favorable, with a 2-1 victory over the local favorite, the Scottsdale Arsenal. Goals were scored by Olumide Olorunfemi and Doug Grabowski.

"That was probably the toughest team we faced in the tournament," Lipscomb said. "The players on the other team were a lot bigger than us and played very physical. By halftime, neither of our teams had scored and we were beat up and tired. Within the next 25 minutes we scored two goals, so we switched to defensive tactics and tried to wait the rest of the game out by holding them off. With three minutes left they scored so we panicked a little bit, but everyone on the team turned it up a notch and we got the victory."

Sunday proved to be very similar to Saturday, with the Raptors winning a compelling victory over the Alamogordo-based German Sundowners 4-1, with two goals by Trevor Burden, and one goal from both Brett Dorey and Grabowski.

The final game of pool play resulted in another 0-0 tie against the Las Vegas-based Goblins FC. At the end of the day, the Raptors had enough tournament points to land a spot in the championship game against the Arizona-based Flagstaff Ravens.

The championship game was a grueling 70-minute match, but in the end, the Raptors proved to be the fitter team. Goals scored by two team captains, Dorey and Grabowski, made the difference.

Dorey scored in the early minutes of the game, setting the tone which led to a very well-played game by both teams. At half, the Raptors were ahead 1-0. The Ravens came out in the second half hungry for the equalizing goal, but were withheld by a very strong defensive effort from the Raptors.

With about 15 minutes left to play, a goal by Grabowski put the Ravens down for the count. As the minutes faded away, a defensive-minded Raptors team secured a 2-0 win to take home Holloman's first soccer championship.

"It was amazing," Dorey said. "As a team we've worked very hard to develop the varsity soccer program here at Holloman, and it has come a long way. Winning tournaments definitely isn't easy because it typically takes a sustained high level of performance, repetitiously, in a relatively intense, short period of time. So it was truly a special moment to share with all of the players on the team."

The championship in the Copper Cup capped off the team's inaugural season comprised of many highlights. The team, which was riddled by deployments, injuries, and untimely moves, managed to find time to practice, condition, and bond together starting in late June.

"While this past year has had its highs and lows, as a team we are growing," Dorey said. "It's tremendously satisfying to know the program we built and system of play we're coaching helped the team be successful at such a high level of play. More importantly though, it's incredible to know our Airmen here at Holloman are able to enjoy a quality program and have a healthy outlet from their very serious vocation of defending this country. I couldn't be happier or prouder of the team for how they finished the season."

In the team's first tournament, the Armed Forces Defender's Cup tournament held in San Antonio over Labor Day weekend, the Raptors were initially seeded 20th out of 22 teams. The team turned heads and walked away from the tournament with a very compelling fourth place finish.

The Raptors then returned home and completed their first season in the Mesilla Valley Soccer League with a third place finish. In November, the team competed in the New Mexico Fall Classic, finishing fifth.

The team will now continue to practice for the spring season which will begin in late March.

"The 2011 Raptors would like to thank all of those who were involved in making the season a success," Dorey said. "Without the support of all the supervisors, commanders, Bradley George, and the rest of the varsity sports department, none of this would have been possible. I also want to extend a personal invite to all interested players. I think they'll get a fair shot, meet some amazing Airmen, have a chance at playing on a great team and potentially make some life-long friends."

A tryout will be held in late February in effort to recruit new members to the team.

Further information can be directed toward the coaching staff (Grabowski, Dorey and Lipscomb), or to the team Facebook page, "Holloman Varsity Soccer."