At the beginning of The King’s Academy’s soccer season the Lions set four goals, two of which have already been accomplished. Their first goal was to beat Seymour, something that they had not done in five years when Coach Paul Mobley first took over the soccer program. They won that game 8-0.
Their second big goal was to win the Gatlinburg Spring Soccer Classic, something that had not been done since 1993 at The King’s Academy and something that Coach Mobley never accomplished while he was playing high school soccer at Seymour from 1987 to 1990. This years Lions team did just that for their coach over the weekend winning the highly competitive tournament with a combination of blood, guts and talent.
“Coaching a championship team at the Gatlinburg tournament is the next best thing to actually being a player involved in winning it,” Mobley expressed after the Lions undefeated run through the tournament. “I just want to give God all the glory.”
The double-elimination tournament did not come easy for the now 11-0-1 Lions when you consider their competition. On Thursday they beat a previously undefeated Gatlinburg-Pittman team 4-1.
Then undefeated Carter beat Gibbs 4-2, followed by a second game for The King’s Academy against Davy Crockett, which was won by the Lions 2-0.
On Friday, the Lions beat a previously undefeated Carter team 3-1. The big score for the Lions in the Carter win came on a penalty kick by Eco Back in the first half of the game. Carter’s loss meant they would have to play four games in two days to have a chance of winning the championship, thus they decided to forfeit. Gatlinburg took Carters place in playing Davy Crockett but got beat a third time in sudden death overtime after a penalty kick shootout.
On Saturday, Gibbs beat Davy Crockett 6-0, but then lost to The King’s Academy 2-1 in the championship game. Shots on goal were dead even between the two evenly matched teams at 12-12.
The Lions star striker Keita Ochi, who suffered a ruptured eardrum from a kick to the head in the first half of Thursday’s game against Davy Crockett had to sit out the Carter game on Friday.
Ochi showed some grit when he came back Saturday for the championship game and scored the first goal off an assist from sweeper Aboubacar Badio. What makes the Ochi return so remarkable is that the ruptured ear drum would almost certainly have had a dramatic effect on the equilibrium of the Lions leading scorer, proving that it takes more than skill and good fortune to win championships. It also takes players that are willing to lay it all on the line for the sake of the team.
Gibbs tied things up with a goal shortly after the Ochi score, but Eco Back then came through with the game-winning goal off an assist from Ochi to give the Lions the crown.
Senior goalkeeper George Ndikuyeze was outstanding in the goal and has been all season with eight shutouts and only five goals scored against him in 12-games.
“This year’s defense led by sweeper Rene’ Attoumbre, backup sweeper and fullback Aboubacar Badio, senior fullback Katsuya Sazaki and senior stopper and mid-fielder Kenjiro Iha is probably the best defense that The King’s Academy has ever had,” said Mobley. “They just don’t get enough credit.”
Tough games lie ahead for the Lions, who were not originally expected to be undefeated this late in the season. Their next two goals that they hope to achieve are to win the Memphis Tournament this weekend and to advance past the first round of the Region Two Playoffs, against some of the toughest teams in the state.

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