Sunshine Laundry, Dental Care take NMIFA crown

Sunshine Laundry and Dental Care were represented well on the Hopwood Junior High School pitch over the weekend as the teams emerged victorious during the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association’s Fall Festival.

The boys of Sunshine Laundry upended their counterparts from the Bank of Hawaii in the finals of the 11-13 Division, as coach Arcee Resora’s squad blanked the top-seeded team, 2-0, in the finals.

Resora’s team managed just one goal through the preliminary round in a 1-0 win over Jim Arenovski’s Chong’s squad, but that was good enough to get them a date with the Bank of Hawaii kickers in the championships.

Coach Muhammad Hossain’s BOH boys played well throughout the tournament led by Daemin Jeung’s legs and a pair of scores, but they were unable to find the back of the net in the finale.

On the girls’ side, Dean Tenorio’s Dental Care squad eked out a narrow 2-1 win across the field over Saipan Stevedore in the finals of the 11-15 Division as Zoe Jewel scored twice for the choppers.

After finishing the preliminary round atop the standing with a 1-0-1 record, Dental Care jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over coach Sue Knecht’s Saipan Stevedores, and they held the advantage through the first half.

Saipan Stevedore changed the tone of the game in the second half as Mai Nakajima played strong between the pipes, while Wang Yu played strong up the center, and Samantha Birmingham-Babauta blazed a tireless trail across the pitch.

While Wang’s play freed her up to make a number of passes to Lina Manalili, Madison Schultz’s pass to Madison Smith in the second half resulted in Saipan Stevedore’s only goal of the game.

Despite the late charge, Saipan Stevedore was unable to get out of the early two-goal hole from the first half.

Before either of the finals got underway, the boys and girls who missed the finals squared off against each other as Arenovski’s boys played Brenda Schultz’s Ace Hardware girls in a spirited match.

The girls gave the boys all they could handle through two 15-minute halves and regulation time ended with a 2-2 tie that was decided with a shootout. Ashley Hofschneider and Chelsie Hirai scored on the boys, while Rachel Masga and Amber Roberts split time between the pipes defending Ace Hardware’s net.

If the net was a little higher, Lucas Knecht would have been racking up goals but Brad Brostrom and Alwynn Dimaano had no problem finding the back of the net to keep the girls in check.

Knecht finally found his placement in the clutch as he, Dimaano, and Brostrom came through with scores in the shootout as the boys scored three goals while allowing none.