Under a heavy gray sky threatening of rain, two special teams squared off on Gordon Field at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds last Saturday for a battle of heroes as men and women representing the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines traded in steel-toed boots for soccer cleats for the 2016 Army-Navy Soccer Game. Servicemembers from as far north as Whidbey Island and as far south as Joint Base Lewis-McChord put on quite a show at this first ever regional soccer game which ended in a tie.

Team Navy is represented by sailors and marines stationed aboard both Naval Base Kitsap and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island while soldiers and airmen travelled from JBLM to represent Team Army at the game.

Two dozen players from around Navy Region Northwest were chosen at Team Navy try-outs in March to round out a roster of players that will have to overcome significant hurdles to put together a winning season. Team practices are held each Saturday throughout the season on the fields of Naval Base Bremerton creating quite the commute for Whidbey Island team members. In addition to the many duties any servicemember faces, many players are also attached to seagoing commands, which puts the additional demands of duty days and deployment on their time and limits their availability for practices and games.

NBK Sports Coordinator, Danielle Maloni, who has been working with the team since try-outs, shared that the large roster of the team in part compensates for players becoming unavailable due to military commitments, and she added that training and competing with different players each week can make it difficult to develop team cohesiveness. She also added with pride that she was sure that Team Navy would rally for a winning season despite their obstacles.

Earlier in the day, Team Navy suffered a crushing 8 - 0 loss to local favorites, the Kitsap Pumas, but that didn't seem to deter them as a determined and ready team took the field for the Army-Navy match.

Though Team Navy won the coin toss, it was JBLM's Team Army that scored the first goal of the game within the first few minutes of the 30-minute half. It was a rough first half for Team Navy, and at halftime Team Army held the lead. Coach Mike Hoyt, of Naval Hospital Bremerton, talked strategy and must have given Team Navy quite a pep talk at halftime as Team Navy rallied quickly during the second half. USS Nebraska sailor, Devin Matthews, scored the only two goals of the second half on behalf of Team Navy bringing the game to a nail-biting tie.

A couple of close calls kept the small crowd of families and friends of the team on the edges of their bleacher seats until the final buzzer signaled the end of an epic game. The final score was a frustrating tie at 2 - 2, and even as teams shook hands on the field, talks of a possible and much-needed rematch had already begun.