Two of the futsal championship games, in the men’s open and men’s 37-plus division, that were played Saturday night at the Sportime Arena in Amagansett were decided in shootouts, testimony to the evenness of the teams. The women’s open championship was won by John Romero’s East Hampton Futbol Club, which edged South Fork United 2-1 in regulation time.
The women were the first to go. Esmeralda Trujillo, arguably E.H.F.C.’s best ball-handler, cashed in a long shot with about six minutes gone in the fray, after which she and her teammates continued to test S.F.’s goalie, Tania Pineda, who wasn’t to let another shot get by her until midway through the second half.
Turning the tables, South Fork had the upper hand when the second half began, pressuring the Futbol Club’s goalie, Dayanna Anguamarca, who, in the 28th minute, gave up a goal to South Fork’s Maria Baque that knotted the score at 1-1.
Two minutes later, South Fork’s center forward, Rubia Diaz, fell down hard on the tiled floor for the second time that night, and after lying there for a while, hobbled off. She was to return in the game’s final minutes, but by that time E.H.F.C., enjoying a six-on-five advantage inasmuch as South Fork didn’t have a player to replace Diaz, had wrested the lead back, on a goal by Yenifer Lizarazo in the 34th minute, and it held up through the remaining 11 minutes of play.
John Romero Jr., the team’s coach, said afterward that it was the second championship that the Futbol Club had won in its five years in the league. “We won the first year, and now this time,” he said as his players exulted and had photos taken of themselves with the impressive trophy.
The men’s 37-plus championship game was contested by Fenix Club and Oriente F.C., two evenly matched teams familiar with the subtle footwork that indoor soccer demands. Cesar Maurad, the quickest player on the floor, came close to getting Oriente on the scoreboard in the 13th minute, but his rocketed bid sailed wide.
With 3:45 to go in the first half, Fenix’s Paul Falcones, assisted by Hugo Erazo, broke the ice, but 30 seconds later, like lightning, Eddison Guzman slid one into Fenix’s nets to send the teams into the second half at 1-1.
Ricardo Hurtado, who anchored Fenix’s defense, but who also was a periodic offensive threat, came within a gnat’s eyelash of making it 2-1 Fenix Club five minutes into the second frame, Falcones’s spot-on pass to him somehow slipping by at the right post. There was much back-and-forth action thereafter, but it was still 1-1 at the end of regulation time, bringing about a penalty kick shootout, which Fenix Club was to win 4-2 thanks to goals by Ivan Guanga, Hernan Sacaquirin, Marco Herrara, and Erazo, whose shot into the upper-right corner of the nets won the championship.
Men’s open division play was said to have ended with P.S.V. Contracting as the champion, Liga S.B. as the runner-up — as the result of a penalty kick shootout — La Calle third, and Napoli F.C. fourth. La Calle and Napoli’s rosters were at the announcers’ booth before play commenced Saturday night, not P.S.V.’s or Liga S.B.’s.
