NMIFA Women poised for playoffs

Four teams of feisty females suited up for the final week of the regular season as the Fiesta Resort and Spa Femme Fatales, Saipan Grand Hotel Mamma Mia’s, UMDA Hot Salsa, and Marianas Eye Institute Eyeballers closed out the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association’s second year of Women’s League action at the American Memorial Park on Saturday morning.

The Femme Fatales and the Mamma Mia’s opened up the action with an exciting quality goalkeeping and missed offensive opportunities as neither team managed to score a goal through two halves on the pitch.

Rising star Morgan Rose and the unstoppable Brenda Schultz each missed on Femme Fatales scoring opportunities as Vanessa Pritchard, Tomoko Kawakata, and Sarah Helbert provided smothering defense for the while TeMary Gramlich continued to block all balls between the pipes.

On the other side of the field, Maria Ornes and Catherine Perry Anderson split time tending goal for the Femme Fatales and benefited greatly from top-notch defense from Betty “Strong Work” Johnson and Linda Anastacio.

The Femme Fatales finished the league in second place with 11 points, while the Mamma Mia’s closed in third with seven points despite opening the season with three straight losses.
UMDA Hot Salsa 4, Marianas Eye Institute Eyeballers 2

The red-hot ladies representing UMDA Hot Salsa closed their season on a high note as they doubled up the Marianas Eye Institute Eyeballers, 4-2, at the AMP in the morning’s finale.
Despite failing to win a game this season, the Eyeballers surprised the Salsa with a dominating first-half performance on the less than lush lea. Though they fell behind 1-0 in the early going, the When coach Glen “Wild Man” Smith’s Eyeballers bounced back with a pair of goals from Lindsay Davis to finish the opening 25-minutes with a 2-1 lead.

Salsa coach Jaime Saiki gave his ladies an inspirational half-time talk that paid off as his players returned to the pitch with twice the passion they displayed in the first half. Powered by the trio of Zoe Jewell, Elisa Long, and Emily Gries, the Salsa scored three unanswered goals to wrest control of the game from the Eyeballers for the remainder of the contest.

Coach Saiki lauded the efforts of Ericka Frink, Zoe Jewell, and Emily Gries for their solid and stable play, and his squad finished atop the standings with 15 points. The winless Eyeballers finished well above what their in last place record shows, and they will bring the same type of inspired play when they return for the playoffs.

NMIFA Women’s League coordinator Brenda Schultz had nothing but praise for the Eyeballers as they thrilled spectators between the sidelines while their fans repaid their efforts with a slew of support from a team of cheerleaders and a band.

“The Eyeballers had the most spirit of the season so far! They brought a band and cheerleaders. The Eyeballers get ‘Team Spirit of the Game’ for both games since their cheering squad delivered cheers and drumming for both games,” she said.  

Schultz said that she was pleased with the way in which the season played itself out and doled out thanks to everyone who had a hand in making the possibility of the league a reality.
“Excellent sportsmanship, effort, and passion were had by all teams. A huge amount of respect and thanks go out to our coaches for leading us through example, emphasizing good sportsmanship as well as evening up these teams through skill and knowledge being transferred from our coaches to the players. We appreciate you so much,” she said.