Courtesy: Pacific Daily News


Crushers paint Strykers into corner: 2-2 tie guarantees OC berth in semifinals

By Brett Maluwelmeng

For Pacific Daily News

A late goal by Anjelica Perez earned the Orange Crushers a 2-2 draw against the Paintco Strykers, eliminating the latter from the Bud Light Women's Futsal League playoffs.

Simie Willter gave the Crushers, who came into the playoffs as the top seed, needing just a draw to advance, the early lead with a goal with just under two minutes left before halftime. After suffering a loss to Guam Shipyard last week that damaged their hopes of advancing to the semifinals, the Strykers retaliated after the break. First, they got some help as the Crushers put one into their own net with less than three minutes gone. Then Rhoda Bamba found the back of the net with a score at the 3:15 mark to put the Strykers ahead. In addition to a win, the Stykers needed to add two more tallies to own the tiebreaker over the Crushers. Perez dashed those hopes however, as her equalizer came with 1:34 left and sealed the top seed for the Crushers.

The league opted for a new playoff system this year, going with a similar system to the World Cup. The eight teams were divided into two groups based on their regular season records. The teams then played the other teams in their group once, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals. The Crushers finished top in Pool A with seven points.

Other scores
Guam Shipyard 12, Guahan.com 3: Needing a victory to advance to the semifinals, Shipyard easily won despite going down a goal early. Ginalynn Naburn sparked the victory with five goals and teammate Victoria Shimizu added a hat trick. Deidre Weakley added two goals and Christina Duenas and Shaniece Roberto had a goal apiece. Charrisse Bolabola had a hat trick in a losing effort for Guahan.com, who were trying to play spoilers after already being eliminated last week.

Hyundai 4, Pacificare Tigers 1: Dovana Madrelino gave the Tigers an early lead but Hyundai hit back with a goal by Tanya Blas-Cruz and a brace by Shana Spindel. An own goal by Pacificare in the second half added to Hyundai's tally. Both teams were already assured of a semifinal berth and were only battling for the top seed for Pool B.

Quality Distributors 3, Bombers 2: Quality completed a second-half comeback with 2:22 left with a goal by Roze San Nicolas after teammate Sarah Pleadwell notched a pair of scores early in the second half. Lyndi Derhaim and Karrie Irwin had put the Bombers in the lead with first-half goals. Both teams had already been eliminated last week.



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com