CRUSHERS, STRYKERS IN FINALS

PRESS RELEASE – The Doosan Lady Crushers will have a chance to sweep all 2012 women’s league and tournament titles at the 2012 Bud Light Women’s Futsal League championship game Dec. 2 at the Guam Sports Complex gym against the Paintco Lady Strykers.

Hyundai’s Arisa Recella sprints toward the ball in an attempt to block a pass from the Doosan Lady Crushers’ Simie Willter in a semifinal match. (courtesy photo)

The Lady Crushers defeated Hyundai 5-3 in one of two semifinal matches Sunday to punch their ticket to the futsal league’s championship game. Earlier this year, the Crushers finished atop league standings in the Bud Light Women’s 11-A-Side Soccer League and later, defeated Hyundai in extra time in the Beck’s Women’s Guam Football Association Cup championship game. The Crushers added a third title defeating the dck Masters for the Bud Light Women’s 7-A-Side Soccer League crown.

In Sunday’s futsal match against Hyundai, the Lady Crushers scored four goals in the second half to overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit. The Lady Crushers’ Kristin Thompson opened scoring early in the deciding half, blasting a shot from the left side that managed to escape the reach of Hyundai’s goalkeeper Ashley Besagar. Later, Abbey Iriarte connected on a corner kick from teammate Kim Sherman and ended up inside the goal with the ball to give the Lady Crushers a 3-2 lead with just over 19 minutes left in the game. Iriarte later scored on a one-on-one with Besagar and just minutes after, it was a Thompson-Willter passing combination to the goal that gave the Lady Crushers a commanding 5-2 lead with just under four minutes left in the contest. Hyundai’s lone second-half goal came with 2:24 left on the clock from a Lady Crushers’ own goal.

The Lady Crushers’ lone goal in the first half came on a Hyundai own goal. Arisa Recella and Christine Hecita scored Hyundai’s first half goals.

In the day’s earlier semifinal match, the Paintco Lady Strykers survived a scare by Quality Distributors in the second half winning 5-3 to earn a spot in the league’s championship game. After the Lady Strykers pulled away to 4-1 late in the second half, a pair of goals from Quality’s Paige Surber made it a 4-3 game with over three minutes left in the contest. Christina Duenas was credited with the game’s final goal off a corner-kick play with 1:39 left to go on the clock.

Surber finished with a hat trick for Quality. Duenas and Alexy Barbe scored twice for the Lady Strykers. Felicia Alumbaugh scored the Lady Strykers’ other goal.

The Paintco Lady Strykers’ Felicia Alumbaugh leaps to flick the ball back toward the goal, as Quality Distributors’ Jodie Barnhouse (left) and Vanessa Quinata (right) look on toward their team’s goalkeeper to stop the ball in a semifinal match. (courtesy photo)

The Lady Crushers will take on the Lady Strykers for the league’s championship title Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. at the Guam Sports Complex gym. Quality and Hyundai will fight for third place at 3 p.m. on the same day.