{"id":362558,"date":"2022-02-21T06:06:44","date_gmt":"2022-02-20T20:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=362558"},"modified":"2022-02-21T06:06:44","modified_gmt":"2022-02-20T20:06:44","slug":"nmi-draws-1st-blood-vs-guam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/nmi-draws-1st-blood-vs-guam\/","title":{"rendered":"NMI draws 1st blood vs Guam"},"content":{"rendered":"
The NMI Women\u2019s U18 National Team\u2019s Jannah Casarino, left, tries to maneuver his way out of the Guam defender during their friendly game last Saturday at the Guam Football Association National Training Center. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)
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GUAM\u2014The NMI made it to the win column first in its series of friendly matches against Guam as the NMI Women\u2019s U18 National Team shut down its counterparts, 4-0, last Saturday night at the Guam Football Association National Training Center.<\/p>\n

Allyssya Angeles, Jannah Casarino, Kaithlynn Chavez, and Tamia Hix delivered the goals for the visiting squad and they were also part of the starting 11 along with team captain Julienne Hall, Summer Manahane, Mia Abuan, Julie Ann Chavez, Christina Atalig, Pia Ngewakl, and Aubrey Castro.<\/p>\n

Angeles hit the board first, while Casarino gave the NMI a 2-0 halftime lead. In the second half, Kaithlyn Chavez made it a 3-0 advantage and then was credited for an assist to Hix for the fourth and last goal in the match.<\/p>\n

The NMI U18 made a couple of attempts early on and missed, but kept trying and remained aggressive. The team\u2019s persistence finally paid off when Angeles was on the defense line, trying to create space between her and Casarino, and moved away from Guam defenders. Angeles succeeded and Kaithlynn Chavez fed her the ball for the shot.<\/p>\n

The NMI\u2019s second goal was also courtesy of Kaithlynn Chavez\u2019s assist to a sprinting Casarino, who noticed only one defender chasing her and quickly capitalized to add to their lead.<\/p>\n

NMI Women\u2019s U18 National Team players and officials pose for a photo after beating Guam, 4-0. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)
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\u201cI knew I could outsprint my defender so I kept running. I also saw one of my teammates catching up so when I stopped in front of the goal and the Guam goalie, I immediately took the shot, knowing that If I miss, my teammate has my back,\u201d Casarino said.<\/p>\n

After falling behind at 0-2 at the break, Guam was pretty determined to bounce back as this time they made repeated attempts to score, but just couldn\u2019t complete the play. No thanks to the NMI\u2019s steady defense, especially from goalie Dehesa Mendiola, who made a lot of saves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a busy night, as I really had to stop those many shots from Guam in the second half. At first, I am quite nervous, but then when I started getting those balls, I felt confident and just told myself, \u2018don\u2019t allow them to score,\u2019\u201d said Mendiola, who is attending her first training camp.<\/p>\n

The friendlies are part of the team\u2019s six-game training camp at the GFA facility. The NMI U18 will meet Guam U18 anew on Wednesday and coach Irish Pagarao was pleased with how the young players performed in the first match and their work at the training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first win is important to boost the players\u2019 confidence,\u201d said Pagarao. I like how they passed the ball, connected the passes, and gave them to the space. We told them to keep football simple and take more risks in scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pagarao utilized all the U18 players in their first game, giving Rizza Relucio, Tyan Hix, Audrey Castro, Sophia Quintos, Cassie and Fiona Regan, Joselynn Atalig, and Kaye Anne Costales time at the pitch.<\/p>\n

The NMI Men\u2019s National Team\u2019s Kirt Andon, right, checks on his teammates before dribbling the ball during the first half of their game against Guam last Saturday at the Guam Football Association National Training Center. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)
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\u201cWe made sure everyone played because we wanted them to experience how it\u2019s like competing off-island because they are the future of the NMI women\u2019s football. We have more work ahead of us, so we want the girls to stay focused and determined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matao wins men\u2019s game; Ayuyus moving forward
\nMeanwhile, Guam blanked the NMI, 2-0, in the men\u2019s match.<\/p>\n

Ryan Quitugua scored the first goal for the Matao, while Devin Mendiola logged the other goal for the host.<\/p>\n

The NMI and Guam engaged in a very physical game and the latter came out victorious as it dominated possessions and took more shots.<\/p>\n

Despite the loss, NMI head coach Michiteru Mita told his players to keep their heads up and take the defeat as a challenge to get better the next game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of what\u2019s next after this match. Think of what we can do better when we play them again. Losing is part of our learning process. We came here to train and gain experience, so just stay committed to the team and try your best to improve, that\u2019s our mind set as we move forward after this game,\u201d said Mita.<\/p>\n

The NMI coach also encouraged his players to take more chances at shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did good tonight, but you have to take more risks on offense next time. Take that shot,\u201d Mita said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the NMI Men\u2019s U20 players were scheduled to play Guam yesterday afternoon, while the NMI Women\u2019s National Team were slated to duel the hosts in the nightcap.<\/p>\n

Today, the NMI delegation will take a breather before returning to the GFA facility for the remaining two-day training sessions and the last four friendly games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GUAM\u2014The NMI made it to the win column first in its series of friendly matches…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":362574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[51,257],"class_list":["post-362558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-guam","tag-nmi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}