Shirley’s FC a force in women’s futsal

Shirley’s Football Club closed out the 2011 season with back-to-back futsal championships, making the team the group to watch this year.

Shirley’s FC’s recent conquest came in the 2011 NMIFA Women’s Futsal Fall League where it defeated Independents FC in the finals, 3-1, last Wednesday to cap the season with a perfect record.

The champion team is composed of Marielle and Marilou Gariguez, Jeraldine and Jeralyn Castillo, Jhaneeka Atalig, Lalaine Pagarao, Melody Johnson, Alexa Vergara, Mikky Vargas, and Mae Angelie Ito. Majority of these players also suited up for Shirley’s FC A, which also reigned supreme in the inaugural 2011 Saipan Soccer School Futsal League at the TSL Sports Complex.

Shirley’s FC had an 11-3-0 win-loss-draw record in the SSS futsal league and then a few months later went 6-0 in the NMIFA competition. Shirley’s swept Independents FC, Paire FC, and MP United in the double-round robin regular season to gain the top seeding in the playoffs.

In six matches in the regular season, Shirley’s FC scored 38 goals, the most in the field, and gave up only two goals. Paire recorded the second most goals with 22 and finished second with a 4-2-0 slate, while IFC was ranked third with its 1-1-3 card and five goals for and three goals against. MP United placed last with a 0-1-4 card and tallied the least goals in the group with two.

In the playoffs, Shirley’s FC was pitted against the winless MP United and the top-ranked squad cruised past the latter in the semis, 13-0. In the other semis pairing, Independents pulled off an upset over the depleted Paire to set up a title showdown against Shirley’s FC.

With the 2011 futsal championship on the line, Shirley’s FC and Independents played a physical game early on and in the end, the former’s much younger and faster crew prevailed against the veteran players of the latter.

Jeraldine Castillo started things out for Shirley’s with her goal in the first two minutes of the match and seven minutes later, Lalaine Pagarao made it a 2-0 count. Then with only two minutes gone by in the second half, Marrielle Gariguez also found the back of the net for a big 3-0 advantage. Sarah Allen broke Independents’ silence with a goal in the 32nd minute, but that was the best IFC could do in the finals.

Shirley’s FC was later awarded the perpetually trophy, which Paire won in 2010. Shirley’s joined the 2010 competition, too, but only played in the recreational league and failed to advance to the finals after losing to Matansa in the semifinals.