Team Members Standing lft to rt: Coach Hugo Cepeida, Brian Oliver, Manny Mandeita, Brad Golden, Edgar Ramos, Geoff Carlson, Sean Norwood, Joey Stevenson, David Blake, Pasqualy Salado, Kevin and Coach Don Barfield. Kneeling: Moises Gomez, Joel Dominguez, Mark Hubert, Luis Interiano, Scott Burkett, Beto Duenas, Brian Rivas. Not present in the photo but contributed as players: Kenny Pintado, Kevin Bonilla and Javier Ramos, Jesse Reyes and Jamie Guiterrez.
Weekend of April 26th & 27th, 2014.
In our first major soccer tournament of 2014, the Los
Angeles County Sheriff’s Department hosted their annual Spring Soccer Cup at
Mount San Antonio College, CA. This is
an annual event where the Sheriff’s Department Athletic Foundation invites the
top law enforcement and fire department soccer teams to compete in this
grueling two day tournament. We play
four games in 2-days at a very high tournament level.
Teams in the competition:
LA County Sheriff’s Gold Squad
Los Angeles Police Department’s #1 Squad (LA United F.C.
LA County Sheriff’s Green Squad (2nd Unit)
Los Angeles Police Department’s #2 Squad) - Centurions
Fire Department Combo Team – LA City and LA County Fire.
Western Select – a local Club soccer team
Barcelona – a local Club soccer team.
Our first match pitted us against the LA County Sheriff’s
Green Squad.
LA United started off shaky, realizing that this was their
first soccer tournament of the year, they proved to be off the mark with their
passing and tactics on the field. LA
Sheriff’s Green Squad took full advantage of that and scored the first goal of
the match. LA United continued to struggle
through the game, missing several “A” chances to score. With time running out and about 1-minute to
play, Joey Stevenson received a crossing ball for a corner kick to tie the
game. It was an exciting and timely
goal.
In our 2nd match of the same day we took on
Barcelona – a very young, fit and explosive club team. This turned into a shootout between the two
teams. Barcelona was extremely fast and
was able to get a 3-0 lead on us in the first 20-min. With our backs to the wall, LA United made
the necessary adjustments to curtail the onslaught. LA United began to put pressure on their
defense and slowly reduced their lead, however, not without allowing several more
goals. In the end, LA United dug deep
within themselves and managed to tie this very talented team 6-6. Amazing comeback for LA United.
In the 3rd game on Sunday, we drew the other Club
team, Western Select. Now that we had gotten
rid of the cobwebs from last year, we moved positively and with precision and determination
to win this game. LA
United won, 4-0.
Due to the point system used by the game officials, LA United
did NOT qualify for the gold medal round, rather we played for the 3rd
place medal. Our opponents were our old
allies, the 2nd LAPD soccer team, the Centurions. Because this was the culmination of a two day
soccer event, all were extremely sore and tired. LA United prevailed in this match winning 5-0
and that allowed us to claim 3rd place in the tournament.
We wish to express our sincere appreciation to Sgt Ruben
Nava, LA County Sheriff’s Dept. for putting on this wonder soccer tournament.
Joey Stevenson attacks the defender and forces an errant pass.
Geoff Carlson protects his turf from a well placed corner kick by the opposing team
Pasqualy Salada using his speed to dribble past a challenging player
Luis Interiano (goalie) aggressively snares a shot on goal
Joel Dominguez gets into the air to thwart a crossing ball.
Pasqualy muscles past the defender to set up a shot on goal
Brian Rivas challenges his opponent for the ball
Mark Hubert stands his ground defending his turf
Joel works the ball up field into the attack
Moises Gomez shields the ball from the defender
Gomez looking for teammate support
Pasqualy uses his magical touch to avoid the defender
Pasqualy darts past the defender using his strength and position
Pasqualy looks to pass the ball into the attacking zone
David Blake springs free on a break-a-way to develop a scoring threat
Brian Oliver makes a long pass down field
Brian Rivas using his one-touch passing skills
Kevin passes up field to initiate an offensive surge.
Brian Oliver working hard on the attack
Mark Hubert challenges for the ball
Mark Hubert goes into the air to make a scoring threat - heading the ball
