On Monday January 20th, The Wide World of Indoor Sports in North Smithfield hosted an MLK Day holiday soccer tournament for several age groups.

Among those teams was the CLCF Green Machines 8U squad that competed in the 4-on-4 tournament.

After falling in the first game, the club would have to win consecutive matches, as well as avoid any tiebreakers, and it did just that by rolling to a win in the second game and a 3-0 shutout in the third to advance to the championship. The club quickly fell behind 4-0 in the title match but once again beat the odds.

Trailing 5-2 with seven minutes remaining, the Green Machines would catch fire and score three unanswered goals to knot the score at 5-5 with two minutes remaining.

As overtime loomed, CLCF’s Malin de Roxas would steal the ball with 15 seconds left and net the game-winner with 10 seconds remaining to lead the Green Machines to the crown. “I’ve always loved a good underdog performance. Win or lose, I just love coaching or playing with everything I’ve got and I try to instill that in those young competitors. Play hard, play fast, and the fun will follow. It was awesome and you could feel the competition in the room,” said CLCF coach Chris Braddock.

Keeping their foot on the gas was key in the final minutes, according to Braddock. “I wasn’t sure how to play subs at this point. I looked at coach Paolo (de Roxas) and asked his opinion and we agreed on a certain lineup to see what came next. I’ll tell you one thing, when the next two minutes went by and we quickly made it 5-4, I looked out at the field at my daughter Lorelei, Malin de Roxas, and Hannah Shone, and I looked into their eyes and said ‘keep pressuring them,’ and I was even scared on their look back to me. It was the look of Tom Brady-type determination and I knew they were in it to win it.”

Angela Thompson, Elizabeth Vang and Ariana Iorfida also played tough defense throughout the tournament, while Hailey Shone and Chelsea Hallidri were key rotational players as well.

The CLCF 8U squad included: Coaches Chris Braddock and Paolo de Roxas. Players Lorelei Braddock, Malin de Roxas, Hannah Shone, Hailey Shone, Angela Thompson, Ariana Iorfida, Chelsea Hallidri, and Elizabeth Vang.