Championship night at the Corvallis Sports Park delivered drama and excitement to an overflowing crowd. All three finals to determine the top team for the Coed Competitive, Men's Competitive and Men's Premier divisions were closely contested and a ton of fun to watch. Here is a highlight video from the night for you to enjoy.

In the Coed Competitive division the Rabbits failed to field three women and took the field a player short against Crown Royals. The Rabbits managed to take the lead and it seemed as if they might pull it out. Early in the second half with the Rabbits leading 2-1, two female players tangled near the boards which somehow led to two male players engaging in some pushing and unfriendly hugging. After both men were ejected from the match the Rabbits quickly tired. Crown Royals turned up the heat and the Rabbits just didn't have enough bodies to keep up. The closer-than-the-final-score-indicates game ended 6-3 for Crown Royals.

The Tigers won the previous night by exactly the four goals required to earn their spot in the final against the undefeated Optimators. The Optimators who lost in a tight final last season were looking to avoid becoming the Buffalo Bills of the Corvallis Sports Park. The relatively fresh Tigers team played goal for goal with the more experienced Optimators. With just five minutes remaining the Optimators took the lead behind their powerful scoring duo and it seemed that they were in a good position to close the game out. The young Tigers with a slew of chanting fans behind them never quit and managed to draw level. With just seconds left in the match the Optimators allowed themselves to be distracted by the referees' play-on decision that gave the Tigers the opportunity to score the game winner. Tigers win 8-7.
Wrecked-Em and the Minute Men split their two contests during the Men's Premier season. This final would decide who is the top indoor soccer team in Corvallis. Both teams feature great local talent and fantastic players from OSU. There were a few nice exchanges during the game but much of the game consisted of individual battles between very athletic players. A number of great stops by the Minute Men keeper helped keep the score close. Some of the Minute-Men players may have been guilty of disappearing however. The confident Wrecked-Em team never seemed worried about the outcome despite the close final of 6-5.
Now I'll shamelessly point out that that all three of my predictions from earlier in the week were correct. I even selected the Tigers to win a championship before it was a sure thing that they would be in it. But it is all of the teams played (yes, even the those that lost) that deserve our credit for competing hard and providing us all with some great soccer to watch.