Competition proved to be tense on Wednesday during the intramural soccer championships at the Preston Complex.

The women played first and Team Emanon (“no name” backward) took down Team Chaos to claim the women’s title.

Chaos came out strong and scored within the first three minutes. Both teams moved the ball up and down the field well, but scoring was the problem.

The goalies from Chaos and Emanon continued to hold their ground until Emanon broke through and scored.

Tying the game with only a few minutes left in the half, Chaos raced downfield to score again, getting the lead before the sound of the halftime whistle.  

Trailing 2-1 in the final minutes, Emanon drove downfield and was given a corner kick. The kick was at first deemed a goal, but Chaos players erupted with anger and said the ball missed.

After further discussion by the referees, the first call withstood, tying the game 2-2.

Emanon won a penalty kick shootout and the championship by saving two kicks more than Chaos.

Mount Washington freshman and Emanon captain Lynsey Milburn said she was surprised at how far her team came this season.

“We didn’t expect anything, and then we come out with a championship,” Milburn said.

Milburn said the team didn’t come together until just before the season began.

 “I decided I wanted to play because I love soccer,” Milburn said. “I had a few people that wanted to play, and anyone that asked me, I was just like, ‘Sure, come play,’ so we stuck this team together.”  

Within those two weeks, she gathered 11 players and said that, after winning the title, she couldn’t be more proud of them.

“I think we did great,” she said. “We stuck with it even though we were down in the start and then came back, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Her brother, Shane Milburn, agreed to coach Emanon under his sister’s request. He said the team had come a long way from the beginning of the season.

“We never expected them to do this,” he said, “We expected them to just play and have fun, but this is definitely great too.

“They played the same way every game — it’s just different because they got to know each other.”

As Emanon celebrated their victory, the men’s championship match began between Team Big Green and Team KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).

After another tight game, KSA took home a 2-1 win.

Each team scored a goal during the first half, but once again, the forces between the goalposts didn’t allow very much.

The second half was relatively calm, other than a couple of close saves by the teams’ goalies.

With less than a minute of play remaining in the second half, KSA rushed to Big Green’s territory and scored to win the game and the title.

Big Green captain and Louisville sophomore David Mauser considered it a tough loss, but he found some positive things in their game play.

“We played good,” Mauser said. “We dominated the second half, but then our defense left.”

He also made a point to compliment KSA on their skill and determination.

“They stepped to the ball before we did and finished it right before the end of the game,” Mauser said. “They had really good players and a really good team.”

Saudi Arabian graduate student and KSA captain Hosam Batarfi said he told his team before the game about the “key to winning this game.”

“I told them to play as one team, and if we can do that then we can win,” Batarfi said.

Batarfi said this is the third year KSA has entered the tournament, and he was glad to have been victorious this year.

“We’re very happy right now,” he said. “We’re all just really happy.”