Ed Center holds the trophy aloft as fellow Spikes look on at the Philadelphia Pumpkin Patch Tournament medals ceremony. Photo: Ismael Ruiz

The San Francisco Spikes won the annual Pumpkin Patch Soccer Tournament, held October 7-10, and hosted in Philadelphia by the Falcons Soccer Club.

Having won the first Pumpkin Patch tournament held in 1998, the Spikes had not been back since then. This year, with a full squad from their Marin League, in the words of the Spike Barry Skown, "We basically crushed all our opponents."

Five teams competed at the Pumpkin: The Spikes, a team from Washington, D.C., two Philadelphia teams, and New York City's Ramblers.

The Spikes' first game was against the "Philly Green" (B-level) team. The Philly team consisted of a lot of players whose skills were not at the same level as the Spikes, who dominated, winning 8-0. The second game of the day against Washington, D.C.'s team, while more competitive, resulted in the Spikes winning 2-0.

The following game against the "Philly White" team resulted in another 2-0 win for the Spikes. "No other team had a perfect record after the first day, so we were assured a spot in the final on Sunday," said Skown.

Some reorganization of that final match gave the New York team a short rest before facing the Spikes, but some additional complaints from the New York Ramblers didn't help them.

At the final match, the Spikes' first rush down the field involving their midfielders and forwards resulted in the first goal only minutes into the game. Their second goal came four minutes later.

The Spikes' Patrick Johnston (dark jersey) fights for the ball. Photo: Ismael Ruiz

"This pretty much demoralized the New York team, and gave us the momentum to carry the game to them with confidence," said Skown. By halftime, the score was 5-0, ending in 8-0 for the Spikes – good for both the gold medal and champions trophy.

"We went with the intent of having a great team experience, and renewing friendship bonds that we've all had for the past years playing together," said Skown. "We accomplished all that, and added another gold medal to our tournament history in the process." www.sfspikes.com/

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