SIS dethrones MHS in girls soccer showdown

It was a lucky leap day for Saipan International School Lady Geckos as they dethroned Marianas High School Lady Dolphins and finally clinched the ever-elusive NMIFA-PSS Girls High School Interscholastic Soccer League title.

This was the third season they faced off in the finals and the Lady Geckos put in the work to stun two-time defending champions MHS, 5-2, last Thursday at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.

The 2023 NMSA Student-Athlete of the Year, Andrei Kaithlyn Chavez, despite coming off an injury, played her heart out and led her team to victory.

Sweat and tears were shed when, after the junior scored her fourth goal and the team’s fifth of the game in the 38th minute, she injured herself again after she landed on an MHS defender’s foot and injured her right ankle. She fell as she cried in pain and was taken out of the game.

Even with that, the five goals that they’ve notched—one which was made by Audrey Castro four minutes in—were more than enough to seal the deal.

MHS could only score one more goal in the 43rd minute which was by Tamia Kileleman-Hix. They made many attempts at the net, but failed to deliver as time ran out. Their only other goal was made by Rizza Relucio early in the first half.

Along with Chavez and senior Audrey Castro, are seniors Aubrey Castro and Serin Chung, as well as Irin Chung, Euky Claveria, Julie Chavez, Keylie Claveria, Irene Park, Phoenix Gross, Misha Kim, Stacy Arriola, Hoo Wang, and Mimi Culp.

Third place went to Saipan Southern High School after they defeated Kagman High School, 3-1, earlier in the afternoon.

The Golden Boot Award, given to the player with the most goals in the season, went to KHS’ Pia Ngewakl who scored 21 goals.

Chavez was then named the finals MVP. In an interview after the game, she said, “honestly, going into the season, I knew we had a chance, but we just needed to play hard and work as a team.”

With her MVP award, she said, “At the end of the day without my teammates, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the MVP trophy and it’s a team effort. I was happy for our three seniors because it was their last game, so being able to win it for them was a great blessing.”

As for her injury, she said after she landed on an MHS player’s foot, she fell to the ground, angry, and cried, because that was the last thing she wanted to happen. And, despite a previous injury, “I wanted to play for the seniors and finally be able to win the title. When I went out and laid on the ground, I started crying, and I didn’t care about the goal. I was just really mad because I had just come back from a recent injury, and now I’m injured again, but for sure, I’ll bounce back,” she said.

Pam Walsh, SIS elementary school teacher and first-time head coach for the SIS girls high school soccer team, said of the game, “when we scored two in a row, it lifted the girls’ spirits because they were the underdogs.” She added, “MHS probably had some pressure too because they’re defending champions, but for me, I’m like ‘no pressure, but I want to win.’ We’ve been talking about the play so everybody knows how to go about the game.”

On how she felt about winning, she said she didn’t know where to treat the players when they celebrate. “The ladies were waiting for this season. When the schedule was posted, there were just four teams playing and it was a double round-robin format, so it was busy, but we definitely had fun this season,” said Walsh.