After dropping two in a row, 0-3 to MBAs Kick It and 0-5 to Bicuspid Futbol, over the last two weeks, BME came back to finish the regular season with a 4-0 win over Minesweepers. Our second win brings the Ballers to .400 on the season with a final 2-3-0 record.

A organized and stingy defense comfortably kept the Minesweeper offense at bay for the entirety of the game, allowing keeper Hans van Oostrom to record his second shut out of the season. Meanwhile, the offense recorded four goals by four different players, Phillip Jannotti, Jamal Lewis, Krishanu Mathur and Tom Cowan, with several other opportunities to easily double the tally.

Next up for the BME Ballers are the playoffs as the #6 seed in the 8-team tournament. The Ballers’ first playoff opponent is Kameltonians, the overall #4 seed, in the Quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 20 at 7:00 PM at the Southwest Fields, field #4.

The bulk of the scoring came during the first half of play, with BME scoring three goals before the half time whistle. The game opened with the Minesweepers’ only scoring chance of the game, when a missed clearance fell to a Minesweeper forward who’s shot forced Hans van Oostrom’s lone save of the game and the Minesweepers’ only corner. After that, it was all BME Ballers. Aditya Asokan, Tom Cowan, Krishanu Mathur, Eric Franca and Jamal Lewis all had one-on-one opportunities that were saved by the Minesweepers’ keeper before scoring opened. Phillip Jannotti tallied the first BME goal from 20 yards out when Aditya Asokan laid off a perfect pass that Jannotti was able to strike in stride. Aditya Asokan was also involved in the second goal, when he took the ball into the area on an attacking run. Asokan had the ball tackled away, but the ball squirted loose into the area, and Jamal Lewis gained possession, beat the keeper on the dribble and slotted home the second goal of the game. Jamal then made the assist on the third goal of the game on a run to the goal line down the left side of the field. Quickly beating two defenders, Lewis drove a hard cross in front of the goal face that beat the keeper that found Krishanu Mathur, who side-footed a shot past his defender into the goal to bring the score to 3-0 at half time.

The second half opened with several Ballers’ scoring opportunities, much like the first half, that forced the substitute Minesweepers’ keeper to make some very difficult saves. Solid defensive play by Walter O’Dell and Art Bautista limited keeper Hans van Oostrom to four easy touches on the ball for the second half. The lone goal of the second half came on a right wing attack by Eric Franca, who spotted Tom Cowan making a far post run into the box. Franca crossed the ball, and Cowan put a looping far post header into the net over the keeper, as the keeper came out to cut off the cross. There were three more very close scoring opportunities by Jamal Lewis, Aditya Asokan and Tom Cowan in the dying minutes of the game, each barely saved or just missing the mark. At the sound of the final whistle, the scoreboard showed 4-0 for the BME Ballers.

Goal scorers for the Ballers for the regular season are Aditya Asokan (2), Phillip Jannotti (2), Jamal Lewis (2), Joerg Mathias (1), Krishanu Mathur (2), and Wilton Williams (1). Game MVP honors went to Aditya Asokan for the first game, Walter O’Dell for the second game and Eric Franca for the fifth game. MVP votes were not cast for games 3 and 4. MVP votes are cast by teammates, as players are not able to vote for themselves.

Game results by week are:

3-5 Loss Bicuspid Futbol	4-0 Win Minesweepers	0-3 Loss MBAs Kick It	0-5 Loss Bicuspid Futbol	4-0 Win Minesweepers
Goals: Aditya Asokan (Jamal Lewis) Aditya Asokan Jamal Lewis (PK)	Goals: Wilton William (Phillip Jannotti) Phillip Jannotti Joerg Matthias Krishanu Mathur (Aditya Asokan)	Goals: None	Goals: None	Goals: Phillip Jannotti (Aditya Asokan) Jamal Lewis Krishanu Mathur (Jamal Lewis) Tom Cowan (Eric Franca)
MVP, Aditya Asokan	MVP, Walter O’Dell	No MVP	No MVP	MVP, Eric Franca

Below are the final Graduate/Faculty/Staff 2nd Division standings for the regular season.

Team	SR	W	L	T	F/D	WPCT	PTS-AVG	GB	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	TOT PTS
1 MBA’s Kick It	5	4	1	0	0/0	.800	0.8	–	12	4	8	Loss 1	4
2 Bicuspid Futbol…	4.6	4	1	0	0/0	.800	0.8	0	21	7	14	Won 2	4
3 BME Ballers	5	2	3	0	0/0	.400	0.4	2	11	13	-2	Won 1	2
4 Minesweepers	4.6	0	5	0	0/0	.000	0.0	4	1	21	-20	Loss 5	0

Key By Column: Sportsmanship Rating, Win, Loss, Tie, Forfeits/Defaults, Winning %, Points Average, Games Behind, Points (Goals) For, Points (Goals) Against, Differential, Streak, Total Points.

Points are awarded 1 for a win, 0.5 for a tie, and 0 for a loss.