Author: Emily Phillips
After championship games in basketball, 5v5 soccer and doubles volleyball this month, spring intramurals (IM) have come to a close with just two weeks left in the semester.
According to Student Intramural Commissioner Sam Rossi (senior), basketball has traditionally been the most popular spring intramural sport. This year, basketball had 25 teams participating, which is five more than last year’s total. “Every year we always get more basketball teams,” Rossi said in an e-mail interview. “However, this year volleyball and soccer have both grown and this is only their second year.”
Intramural soccer – with 15 teams this year compared to last year’s 10 – is played 5v5 as opposed to the usual 11v11, which makes the game much quicker paced.
“In IM soccer, more skill is involved because the field is smaller, forcing each touch and pass to be more exact,” David Ostrow of Team SAE (senior) said. “Also, the goals are much smaller so shots have to be put exactly on target.”
Team SAE was the powerhouse of ‘A’ League soccer with a 5-0 record for the season. At the end of an arduous Oxy Cup match-up on April 3, Team SAE won the IM soccer championship for the second year in a row.
“The championship was a tough game,” Ostrow said. “We had a great goal early and that allowed us to play a more defensive, possession game. Our second goal sealed it for us, and we ended up winning 2-0.”
“I think I speak for many when I say SAE is our greatest rival. They represent a hegemonic dynasty in Oxy IM sports,” Messi Finish team member Jamie Thalman (senior) said. Messi Finish, named after Barcelona’s superstar Lionel Messi, suffered a string of bad luck, losing every game except one by one goal in the last minute or two of play, for an overall record of 1-4.
Team Jamie Souza, also know as the Bonecrushers, was the only ‘A’ League team made up of all women. Although their season was not as successful as they had hoped, the Bonecrushers played competitively and in good humor. Another female-dominated team, the Ligers, took home the ‘B’ League championship for a final record of 3-2.
While Team SAE dominated on the soccer field, they were not so fortunate when it came to doubles volleyball, losing all but one of their six matchups. Da Kine, however, went undefeated to win the ‘A’ League championship, and Ian Powell’s ABs clinched the ‘B’ League. Unfortunately, after just two weeks of play, Natalie Kolodinski (senior) and Brittany Mally (senior) of May and Walsh Strike again saw their season end early due to an injury. Both Kolodinski and Mally are members of Occidental women’s basketball and have past volleyball experience. “It was a great way to continue playing a sport that I used to in an organized way,” Kolodinski said.
Nick O’Connell (senior) shared a similar sentiment about intramural basketball. “Getting a chance to play some competitive basketball instead of pick up games is one of the best parts [of intramurals],” he said.
O’Connell starred on Team DS – the ‘B’ League champions for 2010. Team DS, which includes seven members of the Occidental football team, beat their rival team, Team GTL, in the championship game last week after an undefeated regular season. “It was a very physical game against a group [of football players] we all know, but we managed to play solid defense and work the game plan to win,” O’Connell said in an e-mail interview.
Team DS attributes its flawless season to team chemistry and a sound game plan. “The Grizz [Nick O’Connell] and I had discussed a give-n-go before the game, and we performed it successfully on consecutive offensive possessions,” Jordan Inabnit (senior) said. The dynamic Grizz-Inabnit duo had several other highlights of the season, including an alley-oop attempt. “It would have easily made the ESPN Top Ten if Jordan could only dunk,” O’Connell said.
Despite their 7-0 record, Team DS did not go unchallenged. “Our toughest game was against Prestige Worldwide. They had some ex-varsity women’s basketball players so they knew how to play,” Connor Smith (senior) said. “We had our hands full, but still came out on top.” In fact, Prestige Worldwide was the only team that Team DS did not beat by double digits.
While intramurals have come to a close for the 2009-2010 school year, students can look forward to their return come fall with two Oxy favorites: 3v3 basketball and flag football.
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