University Recreation announced the inaugural 11-versus-11 Intramural soccer tournament for the spring semester. It will be the first time a soccer tournament has been organized in the spring by the organization previously known as Campus Recreation. The tournament will have 15 teams in three groups, each competing to be crowned the first ever 11-versus-11 IM soccer champion.

Student Director for programming, Shane  Ferrara said there were numerous reasons as to why his department decided to organize the tournament.

“We wanted to extend more sports opportunities to the students,”  Ferrara  said. “We know that the 7-on-7 community has asked for it for a long time we decided to do it this  time.”

Ferrara  also said there would be a lot of improvements in this semester’s event in comparison to what it had been in previous semesters.

“The biggest change is obviously it’s going to be 11-versus-11,”  Ferrara  said. “There are going to be 40-minute halves and we are doing off-sides and the fields are going to be pretty much regulation size. I think we are going to aim for about 110-by-75  yards.”

Favio Intriago , graduate student in civil engineering, felt playing with 11 players compared to seven would be a different ball game altogether.

“In the 7-versus-7 tournament the fields are smaller and players have more freedom to move from one position to another,”  Intriago  said. “This changing of zones is less common in the 11-versus-11 game where the field is considerably larger. Given this factor, players must have a better awareness of where they and their teammates are on the field.

“Since the 11-versus-11 field is larger, accurate and timely passes are essential to a team’s  success.”

Intriago , whose team swept the intramural championships last semester to win the men’s open, the  co-ed  and the men’s elite tournament, said he was expecting nothing less from his team this time around.

“Being the defending champion feels great. The T-shirts from winning all three leagues also contribute to this feeling,”  Intriago  said. “I am expecting my team to win it all. They are a very talented and passionate group of people and to expect anything less would be an insult to  them.”

Junior in Spanish language and literature, David  Cancio  whose team ‘The Zodiac’ is also playing in the league, felt it would be better to play with 11 players on the field in comparison to seven.

“I think it will be more organized from a team perspective,”  Cancio  said. “Most soccer players played on either a club team or a high school team where they played 11-versus-11 and so it offers a more familiar experience.”

Cancio expressed confidence in his team and felt his team was capable of going all the way.

“My team is filled with a lot of very responsible and talented guys,” Cancio said. “This is same team that I had in the 11-versus-11 season and it has carried over with some new recruits over to this spring season. It’s a team of 21 hard-working men.”

While a lot of people participate in the intramural sports just to have a good time, Cancio was expecting his team to be as competitive as it could be.

“My expectations for my team are that we will at least progress through the group stage,”  Cancio  said. “One can hope, but you really don’t know until you actually get there. Sometimes there can be a stroke of genius from your side or an opposing player that can change the game. Sometimes it’s a referee’s decision that goes your way and sometimes it’s the other.

“Regardless, ideally I’d like to take this team and win the league.”

Despite his optimism about everything to do with the tournament, Cancio felt he had some concerns.

“My only concern will be the rescheduling for rain should there be any and the surge of cold that we’ve been experiencing lately,”  Cancio  said. “I think that rained out games can become an issue and cold is never too fun to play in. Players become sluggish and reaction time is slower, which many times causes more  injuries.”

The tournament is scheduled to begin today at 2:30  p.m . on the Lower Miller Fields with games to be played every Friday.

Alt

2:30  p.m .

It Might Get  Messi

Skema   S.C .

Mother Earth

Phi  Delt

Team Shenanigans

4:00  p.m .

Griffy

YOLO

Alexander FC

D@ Ville

Galaxy

5:30  p.m .

SigEp  Raiders

The Zodiac

The Nukes

Modern Marvels