The OGs beat the Youngsters, 5-3, in another summer evening San Quentin soccer match; this one with members from the San Francisco Delta on both teams.
The Aug. 29 match was a bit unexpected because the prison had just come off a lockdown that had severed communication with the outside. But, by 6:30 p.m. both teams had begun the battle of putting the ball into their opponent’s net.
The Youngsters led by Delta goalkeeper, Alex Mangels, took a two-goal lead in minutes 15 and 22. Adrian “Güero” Montez of H-Unit scored the first goal, which was followed by one from Deltas Soccer Operations Manager, Mitchell Monihan, who referred to himself as the Delta’s “Team Mom.”
In minute 30, Oliver Divljak, the Deltas field and schedule operator, put the OGs within a goal — one that looked like a header amid the swarm of bodies that crashed the net.
Karl Ouimette, the OG coach and Delta defender, was enjoying the game and wanted in, as Josh, the Deltas fitness trainer, kept making moves on the ball.
One minute later, the MSL champ and Deltsa GM, Todd Donivant, tied the match at two goals with 14 minutes left in the first half.
But Carlos “Venado” Ramirez out of North Block—who prior to this match played as an OG—scored in the 32nd minute, ending the short-lived tie.
It did not take long for the champ Donivant to respond with ease in minute 37. Since putting on a generic OG jersey, his goal count is four.
With the first half ending at 3-3 and no goals scored in the second, penalty kicks in favor of the OGs gave them the 5-3 victory. Tare “Cancun” Beltranchuc who shot second and Edgar Salazar who shot third were the only players to find the back of the net.
The match marked the Delta’s third trip into the prison this summer with, once again, another set of new faces.
“The reason why you see new faces is because everybody [referring to the Delta] wants to come,” said Donivant, who has made all three trips along with Andrew Crawford, the Englishman, responsible for uniting the inside and outside community in the name of sports.
