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Eyeballers never gave up
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Posted on Dec 03 2006
Though they never notched a win during the regular season, the Marianas Eye Institute Eyeballers always possessed a fiery spirit and believed that they could hang with any team in the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association Women’s League.
After they upset the UMDA Hot Salsa, 3-1, Saturday morning, coach Glenn Smith said that he never really thought of the win as an upset because his players always gave their opponents.
Smith did however admit that he didn’t think that Hot Salsa expected to fall behind 3-0 to the blue crew despite getting a good run from the Eyeballers every time they laced up the cleats at American Memorial Park.
“No, I don’t think they did but I think our teams are pretty even. Last time out the games were pretty even. We got outscored by two goals last game but I think the play was actually pretty even. This time I think we just got lucky and came out two goals ahead,” he said.
Luck or not, the Eyeballers had Hot Salsa running in circles for the first half and Smith said that the time his players spent on the practice field during the week really paid off in the end.
“I think they played awesome. They played a good game based on what we worked on in practice. We covered the corners—on which they beat us on last time, and fortunately Hot Salsa had a couple of penalties on hand balls in the area,” he said.
Team captain Becca Rath was very happy with the outcome and said that the Eyeballers know how to focus in the clutch.
“We knew that we really had to win this game so we saved it for today. You know, we’ve been dying to win all year so we had a lot of energy and we were ready to show [what we can do],” she said.
The Eyeballers played disciplined soccer by pinning their opponents against the sidelines and Rath said three keys to the game got them their big win over the first place team.
“Covering the other team, not letting them get corner kicks, and just playing better,” she said.
The captain didn’t only praise her team’s efforts on the pitch as Rath gave credit to her opponents for a solid season and a job well done.
“They played really well. They always do. They brought a good game for us but it was just time for us to win,” she said.
