Mamma Mia’s, Femme Fatales grab wins

The Saipan Grand Hotel Mamma Mia’s and the Fiesta Resort and Spa Femme Fatales continued their successful run on the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association Women’s League on Saturday as they posted wins at the American Memorial Park pitch in morning action.

The sunrise soccer matches opened with the Mamma Mia’s posting their second win in a row when they shut out the Marianas Eye Institute Eye Ballers, 1-0, on the legs of another Sara Helbert goal.

The win was also the Mamma Mia’s second of the season as they finally found their feet beneath themselves to post victories. Their back-to-back success launched them ahead of the last place Eye Ballers into third place.

The later game featured a battle of top teams, as the Femme Fatales edged the UMDA Hot Salsa, 2-0, in an exciting test of skills that showed off each team’s strengths and weaknesses.

The Femme Fatales were in control for most of the first half and finally broke the scoreless tie when Brenda Schultz’s header squeaked through Salsa goalie Rebecca Newman’s arms.

The tide turned in the second half when Schultz left the game to watch her son play in the DFA All Schools Soccer Tournament. The Salsa players were on fire and brought a fierce attack to the Femme Fatales during the final 25 minutes of play, but one brilliant move after another put the game away for good as Morgan Rose took matters into her own feet by shaking and baking down the field before finding the back of the net.

That changed things for the Femme Fatales as they remembered their offensive power and traded a number of rushes with the Salsa until the final whistle sounded.

Both goalies were good, and with all of the shots that came their way they had to be. Despite allowing a pair of scores, Newman played strong and fearless between the pipes. She took ownership of the area in front of the net and stopped a number of difficult shots that could have easily been scores.

With only one game remaining for each of the teams in the regular season, the playoff picture is coming into focus as the first place. The post-season slate takes place on Saturday, Nov. 18, when the first place team challenges the fourth place finisher at 9am while the second and third place teams battle in the 10am match.

The Mamma Mia’s are locked in at third place and the Eye Ballers are cemented in the cellar, but Hot Salsa is a loss and a Femme Fatales win away from falling out of the top spot.