The CNMI Women's National Football Team stood their ground against Guam as they held their southern neighbor to a scoreless draw in last Saturday's Marianas Cup at the Oleai Field inside the Oleai Sports Complex.
The scoreless draw is a far improvement from the humiliating 0-7 thrashing they suffered from Guam last year.
The CNMI Men's National Team, meanwhile, dropped a 2-3 loss to the visiting Guam national team at the Oleai pitch yesterday afternoon.
The women's game last Saturday was a defensive battle from the start as both teams battled for every ball possession and neither of them giving each other a space to break away and score.
Special mention should be given to goalkeeper Rebecca Newman, left back Madison Smith, center midfielders Emily Gries and Zoe Jewell, and midfielders Lindsey Sosovec and Lindsay Davis who hounded Guam's scorers all throughout.
Smith, Gries, Jewell, and Sosovec kept the pressure out of Newman as they helped their keeper out of harm's way by either stealing the ball or kicking it out of bounds from Guam's Simone Nichole Willter, Anjelica Claire Ungpingco Perez Victora Jadine Pauline Shimizu, Haldre Star Rogers, and captain Kyung Hi Quan.
Newman, who even won the best keeper title in a Futsal tournament in Guam early this year, lived up to her “The Wall” moniker when she foiled numerous attempts to score by Perez, Willter, and Shimizu.
“Don't know who started that nickname, I have no idea who gave me that name 'The Wall' but it stuck,” said Newman in between laughs.
Guam had a number of chances to score but Newman prevented them from doing so. She had so many saves in the game that she hasn't had the time to count them. “I've lost track of how many saves and I have no idea.”
In the second half alone, Newman guarded the goal like her life depended on it as she blocked, dove, jumped, kicked, and sacrificed her body in order to prevent Guam from scoring.
“It was a great game. I feel I was at the right position at the right time. Their shots were coming in pretty hard but I had the confidence of blocking it plus I was also confident with our defense to not let the shots come in so hard,” said Newman.
“Defense helps the goalie look good. [My teammates] did a good job. Luck is also on my side. There are a couple of shots that hit the cross bar and the goal posts and that also helped.”
She said, she was thankful for Asian Football Confederation special instructor Ichiro Fujita's help before the game. “I do have my own keeper warm-up routine after each game. I am also thankful for the help of Fujita san as he helped me get my confidence level up.”
Newman said she had no previous experience playing football and only learned the sport in the CNMI. “I first played in the women's football program in the fall of 2006 and I did not play keeper at that time.”
She said she used to watch her sister play football. “I just used to watch how my sister play.”
Other members of the CNMI women's team are co-captain Brenda Schultz, Katie Peters, Connie Camacho, Angela Shryack, Patricia Coleman, Elisa Fejeran, Meaghan Hassel-Shearer, Amanda Allen, Natalie Hill, Mary Ana Welch, rancie Sablan, and Jennifer Albers with Nick Swaim as their coach and manager.
Also playing for Guam are Jessamine Christel Cabuhat Mesa, Tanya Joleen Blas-Cruz, Arisha Inohara Recella, Gina Lunn Kasing Naburn, Tiana Jo Piper, Aubrey Nicole Posadas, Amber Lobaton Rabena, Heather Jean Thompson, Shelby Anne Quinanilla Kier, Didre Mare Weakley, Gebra Lynn Kasing Naburn, and Cheri Jo Stewart, who also acted as the coach and manager.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saipan Tribune: CNMI Women Draw With Guam
Saturday, April 5, 2008
CNMI WNT in the News
The CNMI Women's National Football team continues with its ongoing preparation for the 2nd Marianas Cup when they play against the Guam Nationals on April 26.
The team, which is now under the guidance of new national coach Nick Swain, looks forward to its second international match against Guam. The CNMI Men's National team will also compete against their counterparts from Guam the following day.
The CNMI will play host to both Guam squads in back-to-back matches that are expected to be highly competitive and exciting.
Tryouts for the CNMI Nationals began in November last year and the final roster was announced after 17 days.
Northern Mariana Islands Football Association Women's Committee director Francine Sablan said the team had no holiday break since they trained for most of December.
After a few days break for Christmas and New Year, the team began a month-and-a-half long conditioning program designed to increase their agility, stamina, and endurance.
Swain has been training the Women's Nationals five days a week and they play against other local teams as part of their preparation for the Marianas Cup.
Co-captains Emily Gries and Brenda Schultz, who are both returning national team players, will lead Team CNMI's campaign.
Schultz said this year's team is different from the previous one. “Some of our former players have moved away from the CNMI but we have young players who are the future of the CNMI women's program.”
Aside from youth players, Schultz added they also have some permanent residents included in the squad, which will serve as the backbone of the women's program for year's to come. “We have a young, fairly inexperienced, and cohesive team.”
Schultz said Swain is positive about the women's program as he sets a long-term vision for the National team. She added they are facing a tall order against Guam since it has an excellent women's program.
“They [Guam] are ranked 79th in the world out of 150 [countries], which is very good if you consider how small the population on Guam is compared to other countries.”
Schultz said she is pleased that this time they have a longer time to prepare for the Marianas Cup compared to last year where they have only six weeks to form the team. “We have become closer as a team and so far suffered less injuries. We now know better how each other plays.”
The last time the CNMI women's played against Guam was in December last year when a team of seven players saw action in a Futsal tournament and placed third out of 10 competing squads. It was CNMI Women's first time to compete in an indoor tournament, which saw Becca “The Wall” Newman earn the goalkeeper of the tournament award.
