For the first time in the history of Boone, a team of over 30 players, LA Mountaineers,
represented Boone at the North Carolina Adult State Cup that was held in Asheville, NC.
To make this historic event even more memorable, LAMs won their division with a
superior performance and sportsmanship and are heading to the state championship game
to be held in Winston Salem early January 2008. The team was also qualified to play at
the National Championship Tournament that will be held in May 2008.
The LA Mountaineers Over 30 Soccer team was put together by Dr. Rahman Tashakkori
of the Department of Computer Science at Appalachian and was partially sponsored by
the Los Arcoiris Restaurant. The team comprised of players from several teams in the
Fall 2008 Parks and Recreation Adult League and the Hispanic community. This group
of extraordinary individuals had demonstrated leadership and provided role models to the
community. The team knew very well that they were going to have a challenging task
playing against excellent teams from across the state. Teams from Raleigh, Greensboro,
Winston Salem, and Asheville were in the division they were playing. However, the
tough three day tournament did not present a serious challenge for the dedicated playersof the team.
LA Mountaineers won the first place in the division undefeated; with 3 wins and 1 tie.
In their first game of the tournament, LA Mountaineers played against Team Nunya at
9:00 pm on Friday November 16. Nunya was a great team comprised mostly of players
who were coaching different high school teams across the state. The game was very
intense and the combination of a sub-zero temperature and artificial grass presented a
challenge. LA Mountaineers took a 2-0 lead after two fantastic goals by Charles (Roth)
Scott and Genaro Leon in the first half but that lead was cut to 2-1 on a Nunya’s free kick
from behind the line early in second half. The game got to its peak of excitement when
with just 5 minutes before the final vessel Nunya was awarded a penalty kick. For a
couple of minutes there was pure silence and that two minutes appeared much longer to
the players of both teams. The deadly silence ended with a fantastic save by one of the
greatest goal keepers in the state, Jarrett Franklin. The perfect penalty kick placed the
ball far to the right, inside the post, but it was the amazing dive by Jarrett that kept the
ball outside the goal line. The team celebrated this great victory shortly after.
On Saturday November 17, LA Mountaineers had to face the Telepathic Graphics of
Greensboro at noon. The game started very slowly as both teams were evaluating each
other. However, 12 minutes into the first half a long shot by Avery High School men’s soccer coach Lou Brancourt from behind the eighteen sent the ball, right in the top right-hand-side of the goal. Here is video of the goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_TQ3hPAYh8
That was the beginning of a storm that resulted in a 6-0 final score with goals by Rahman Tashakkori, Alfredo Alvarez (2), Roth Scott, and Genaro Leon. With the tireless work of Aaron Bachenheimer, Roth Scott, Andrew Kota, and David Jameson at the midfield, the LA Mountaineers were on their way to the next day matches with two valuable victories.
On Sunday November 18, LAMs had much tougher matches to play. They had to play
two games; one at 8:00 am and the other at noon in two different locations against two of
the top teams in the division. These two teams were both undefeated and were looking
for a win to take the first place. Ironically, playing two games within 2 hours of each
other in two different locations was not the most difficult problem LA Mountaineers had
to deal with on that day. Three of the youngest players on the team were unable to play
in the Sunday matches; one player was injured, and one player was unable to play in the
second match of the day. The eighteen man roster became much smaller and with fewer
substitutes the last two 90 minute matches appeared much more challenging.
The 8:00 am match against Phonix of Raleigh was a real tough one as that team was
coming strong for a win to take the first place while LA Mountaineers could hold to the
first place at least for another two hours with a tie or win and the control their destiny
depending on the outcome of their noon game. The match was pretty much even and
went 0-0 in the first half. LA Mountaineers had to save their energy against a team that
had a full roster and was playing extremely hard. Early in the second half, Phonix scored
on a penalty kick that put them ahead 1-0. LA Mountaineers had a tough job leveling the
match as the Phonix had one of the most disciplined and skilled defenses of the league.
With just a minute left to the vessel, Rahman Tashakkori’s pass from the left side of the
field put Matt McFall in an excellent position to score from behind the center of the box,
but he was brought down just short of the eighteen line. A superior kick by Alfredo
Alvarez sent the ball to the left side of the goal where the Phonix keeper watched the
equalizer kiss the net.
The tough match was tiring, but there was no time to rest. The team had to run across the town to play in their last game against a well-rested home team which was playing their first game that day. Smush of Asheville had come to the game to play the tired LA Mountaineers which had only a couple of substitutes for their last game. This game demonstrated the greatness of the LA Mountaineers and was the highlight of the tournament. As everyone had safely bet on an easy win by the Smush, LA Mountaineers took the lead in the middle of the first half on a Phonix own goal. The substitute situation got worse for LA Mountaineers when Juan Bautista was injured in the 55th minute. Now LAMs had to play with only one substitute. In minute 70, the team watched a beautiful goal by Alfredo Alvarez when he sent a ball above the Smush’s
keeper’s head who had come out to challenge Alfredo’s great run. There was a
significant pressure from Smush, but the strong LA Mountaineers defense, Mark Minis,
Todd Wood, Cliff Hampton, and Victor Rangel appeared like a concrete wall. Due to the
superior performance of Matt McFall, Lou Brancourt, Chris Arquette, Leonardo Garcia,
Rahman Tashakkori and Genaro Leon and David Lynch at the midfield, Phonix was left
with nothing but frustration. The LA Mountaineers’ win against Phonix sealed the first
place title in the division. By the time game ended, the players had given it everything
they had. LA Mountaineers of Boone was impressive both in and outside the field and
had impressed everyone with great characters and team work. The best keeper-defense
pair of the tournament had only given up two goals, one on penalty kick and another on a
free kick from behind the line.
