Courtesy: Pacific Daily News



Shipyard weathers storm: 5-4 win tips Shipyard into title bid against Crushers

By Brett Maluwelmeng

For Pacific Daily News

Finishing the Bud Light Women's Futsal League regular season in fifth place, Guam Shipyard survived the group stages of the playoffs and now find themselves just one step away from the title after yesterday's 5-4 semifinal victory over Hyundai.

Shipyard stormed to a 3-0 first-half lead behind goals by Deidre Weakley, Gina Naburn and Christina Duenas before Hyundai climbed back into the match with scores from Kiko Yamamoto and Amber Rabena to trail 3-2 at the break.

With a place in the final up for grabs, Hyundai turned up the pressure in the second period. They got their equalizer with 15:27 left when Hyundai keeper Ashley Besagar's throw rebounded off the post to teammate Shana Spindel, who easily tucked it away. Shipyard then pounded the opposing goal with shots, with Besagar saving each time. Hyundai hit back on a counter-attack as defensive-minded Tanya Blas-Cruz dribbled into Shipyard's half and laid off a perfect pass to Rabena, who calmly slotted the ball home to give Hyundai the lead with just 7:15 left.

After letting their halftime advantage slip away, Shipyard caught a break three minutes later as Naburn's play on the left produced a cross that bounced off the leg of Blas-Cruz and trickled into the goal. The own goal resurrected Shipyard's game and with just 1:10 left they were awarded a penalty kick after a handball inside the arc by Hyundai. Naburn stepped up and sent the match-winner into the top-right corner to complete her hat trick.

Crushers nip Tigers
Orange Crushers 2, Pacificare Tigers 1: The Tigers' upset hopes were squashed in the second period of extra time as Kristin Thompson knocked in the golden goal winner with 6:14 left. Alex McGourty controlled well, turned and struck a hard shot to score to the first goal with 1:48 left in the first half. The Tigers were back on level terms with 15:41 remaining in the second half, as unmarked Joice Tevid easily put in a rebound after teammate Caroline Quigley's shot was parried by Crushers' keeper Cheri Stewart.
The Crushers and Shipyard will face each other for the title at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 2, with the consolation match between the Tigers and Hyundai kicking off at 2 p.m. The Crushers will be vying for the double after winning the outdoor league back in April, a feat that the Paintco Strykers achieved in 2006. Shipyard will be looking to avenge their loss to the Crushers in April's outdoor title match as well as an earlier loss in the group stage of the futsal playoffs



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