Mandarin outduels Hilton in penalty kicks to win…

In what was perhaps the closest championship match in Hotel Employee Soccer League history, Raaafat Rohaeim scored the game winner as Mandarin Oriental outdueled Hilton New York in penalty kicks 4-3, to win the 2009 Soccer Championship, 3-2.    

As expected, it was an evenly played match from the onset, before Carsten Johannsen one-timed an Adnan Hasanagic feed into the back of the net in the 18th minute, to give Mandarin a 1-0 lead.

Early in the second half, Arturo Ching scored 2 goals within a span of 6 minutes, the second coming off a beautiful header, to give Hilton a 2-1 advantage. However with 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Johannsen scored his 2nd goal of the game off a rebound, to notch the game at 2.

Moments later, Mandarin's Azeddine Achkouri picked up his 2nd yellow card of the match, forcing his team to play the remainder of the match a man down, but Richard Brajic and the Mandarin defense held the high flying Hilton squad in check, allowing just 2 shots on goal in both sudden death overtimes to get the game to the penalty kick stage, where they were victorious.

Mandarin finishes the season with a 9-2-1 record, including a 2-1 edge in matches vs the Hilton this season. In the prior contests, Hilton was victorious 1-0 on May 30th, while Mandarin won the rematch 3-0 on July 11.    

Hilton NY 0 2 0 0 (3) - 2 Mandarin 1 1 0 0 (4) - 3

Goals:
HILT-Arturo Ching (2)
MOHG-Carsten Johannsen (2)

Saves:
HILT-Fernando Lopez (9)
MOHG-Jonathan Perez (9)

Yellow Cards: HILT-Arturo Ching, Carlos Bernal, Alfred Melgar MOHG-Azeddine Achkouri (2), Raafat Rohaeim

Penalty Kicks:
HILT-Arturo Ching, Save by Jonathan Perez.
MOHG-Adnan Hasanagic, Goal!
HILT-Jorge Morales, Goal!
MOHG-Joel Flores, Goal!
HILT-Carlo Camargo, Goal!
MOHG-Richard Brajic, Save by Fernando Lopez.
HILT-Luis Diaz, Shot hit the post.
MOHG-John DiCillo, Goal!
HILT-Luis Jaramillo, Goal!
MOHG-Raafat Rohaeim, Goal!