The first sports fund-raising held by the Grace Helping Others Sampson County branch was a memorable one for both organizers and players, with all the proceeds raised by the tournament benefitting Sampson County Toys for Tots.
Volunteers of the organization put together a community soccer tournament Saturday afternoon in Clinton. Seven teams signed on to participate, with six of them taking part (one disqualified for not showing).
A notable matchup occurred between United FC and VIP. In the first half, the game stayed level, as both sides fought for possession. The first goal was scored by Irvin Ocampo, who slotted it into the bottom of the net to put United FC up. Right before halftime, United netted another goal to go up 2-0. In the second half, VIP cut the lead in half with a goal scored by Julio Mondragon. VIP continued to pressure United from goal, but were unable to net another score. On the next United possession, both sides pushed close to VIP’s goal. As the defenders from VIP tried to clear the ball, a mistouch caused the ball to slip past goalkeeper Edye Carr, resulting in an own goal to put United up 3-1 and seal the game.
A pivotal match between Mi Arca and Clinton FC determined who United faced in the championship. In the first half, Mi Arca scored first with a shot that rolled past Clinton FC’s Jonathan Carcamo. Clinton didn’t stay down for long, scoring the equalizer right before half to tie both sides. In the second half, both sides battled to a stalemate, which sent the game to penalties, where Mi Arca won 3-2.
The title game between United FC and Mi Arca started with a goal from the very first few seconds. As the whistle blew to start, Mi Arca shot the ball from the midfield line in an effort to catch United FC’s goalkeeper Josefad Gutierrez off guard. The ball went through the top left corner to give Mi Arca a 1-0 lead. The momentum flipped in favor of United FC, as Henry Garcia scored to tie the game at 1-1. After halftime, both sides scored to keep the game leveled. Halfway through the second half, it was United’s Ocampo who put his team up 3-2
There was a heated argument from both sides that required the ref to separate them near the end of the game, but things settled down and play continued.
United FC held on to its lead, winning the tournament. Mi Arca finished the tournament in second, while VIP earned a third-place finish.
“We played really good,” Gutierrez said following the game. “We kept most of the possession the way we wanted to. We knew we had to come at 100% in the final, because we knew they (Mi Arca) were going to come out strong. We just had to fight through it, and at the end we got the goal that we needed.”
Right at the very end of the game, Mi Arca had a shot to equalize the game, but Gutierrez made two saves to keep the ball out, along with help from his backline.
“When the shot hit the corner, I thought one of my players was going to head it out, but I had to react really fast, and go for the save. As soon as I saved the first one, the second one bounced off of me and I saved that one as well. It was a crazy moment right there, I was turned up. That was one of the craziest moments I had in the tournament,” Gutierrez continued.
The volunteers and Veronica Sanchez, Sampson County coordinator for Grace Helping Others, said they believed their first event went well.
“I think we had a good turnout,” Sanchez said. “We saw the support. When we started the tournament, we only had five, and we needed six teams. But we ended up with seven teams at the last minute, so we tried to make it work for other teams.”
Over the course of the day, the staff felt they learned valuable lessons from some mishaps made from the event.
“We learned from our mistakes,” Sanchez emphasized. “(For example), we were supposed to have some refs, but they didn’t show up … things happen and we have to work with what we have. We want to make this annually, but we’re focused to do better. But with this being our very first event, I think it went pretty well.”
Jorge Juanchi, a recurring volunteer for Grace Helping Others, helped ref some the games, along with coordinating the turnout.
“This was a new adventure that we came upon,” he said regarding his experience. “I think we learned so much. We hope that we keep growing, having more teams participate and more vendors as well. So we’re just hoping for the best.”