Marriott wins largest-ever DC SCORES Cup at Maryland SoccerPlex

For the second consecutive year, the Saturday of the DC SCORES Cup didn’t exactly provide ideal soccer weather.

Rather than the rain of 2010, a sticky heat made its presence felt at the Maryland SoccerPlex beginning in the morning and growing heavier into the afternoon.

It didn’t, however, dry out the enthusiasm and enjoyment that close to 400 participants got out of the ninth annual SCORES Cup tournament. A little after 5 p.m., the final whistle sounded as Marriott International outlasted Booz Allen Hamilton in a competitive, spirited championship game, 4-3, to claim the title — its fourth in the tournament’s history.

Speaking of history, the 24 teams that took the turf fields of the SoccerPlex were the most ever in the SCORES Cup. Through their participation and the generous contributions of sponsors Walmart, D.C. United, Old Dominion Brewing Company and DrinkMore Water, the tournament raised $75,000 for DC SCORES’ 800-plus poet-athletes.

During round-robin play, teams in six groups of four each played three games. In between their games, team members filled out raffle cards asking them about DC SCORES. The winner of the raffle, a PricewaterhouseCoopers player, took home a Kindle and all participants learned a little bit about our organization while taking a break from the action.

As competitive as the tournament has become with so many teams, our goal is for teams to have fun regardless of the score on the field. That’s one reason why we give out the Fair Play Award to the team that amasses the most sportsmanship points, as awarded by referees after each game — with this year’s award going to DC Stoddert Soccer.

The knockout rounds showed just how high the quality of soccer is in the SCORES Cup. In the quarterfinals, two games went to a sudden-death extra time period — with one going to penalty kicks. Booz Allen put more PKs in the net to sneak by Clark Construction.

In the semifinals, Marriott got by Hogan Lovells US LLP while Booz Allen again won by the slimmest of margins, 4-3 over Zuckerman Spaeder LLP.


(For full results, see the final bracket and round-robin play scorecards: Groups A/B/C, Groups D/E/F.)

Especially in the knockout rounds, the work done by Sport and Spine Rehab was essential. One of the tournament’s participants, with the team name SSR United, the company provided medical services throughout the tournament to players and was vitally important, considering the 90-plus degree temperatures.

In the end, though, no one was sitting out as Booz Allen mounted a spirited comeback from down 4-1 to get within a goal of Marriott in a thrilling championship game that belied the tired legs for both teams. 

Thank you to the 350-plus participants in the 2011 DC SCORES Cup. We can’t wait to see you back on the field in 2012!