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The Agueda Johnston girls soccer team pose with the 6th Annual Sugar and Spice Middle School Girls Festival Gold championship trophy. (courtesy photo)

PRESS RELEASE – Agueda I. Johnston Middle School’s Shania Spindel scored three goals in three games to help the Pirates take championship honors at the 6th Annual Sugar and Spice Middle School Girls Festival at the Guam Football Association National Training Center.

“It feels like the team proved something (Monday night),” Spindel said after the championship match against the Jose L.G. Rios Middle School Voyagers. “On other days, during the season, we weren’t really playing as a team, but this time, we were playing as a team and won the final.”

The Pirates took down the Vicente S.A. Benavente Roadrunners, the top-ranked team in the festival, in the second round of the Gold Championship bracket, sending down the Interscholastic Middle School Girls Soccer League champions down to the Silver bracket. In a tightly contested game that ended in a 0-0 draw after regular time, the Pirates defeated the Roadrunners 4-2 in the ensuing penalty kick shootout.

The Luis P. Untalan girls soccer team pose with the 6th Annual Sugar and Spice Middle School Girls Festival Silver trophy. (courtesy photo)

Agueda’s Jalana Garcia started on the right foot, notching a goal for her team to take the 1-0 lead. The Roadrunners’ Shania Bulala next stepped up to the PK spot, but sent her shot over the crossbar. The Pirates’ keeper, Samantha Quinata was next, but sent her shot wide left. Brittany Meno was next for the Roadrunners, but her shot was just inches above the crossbar to keep the shootout score at 1-0. The Pirates’ Autumn Cruz knocked one in for her team, arching her shot above Roadrunners keeper Taisha Palma. Palma next stepped up for her team, taking her shot with just enough pace to escape Quinata’s grasp in the goal, making the score 2-1. Next, Asiah Garrido’s shot sailed over the crossbar to keep the score at 2-1. The Roadrunners’ Caylani Mae Estoy kept her team in the game, sending a hard shot to the left post, bringing the score to 2-2. Spindel stepped up next, sending her shot to the right post to give the lead back to the Pirates. Jayana Cruz missed her shot in the ensuing kick, giving the Pirates a chance for the victory. Johnecia Mendiola didn’t disappoint Agueda fans, getting her shot in over Palma for the final 4-2 score.

The Jose L.G. Rios girls soccer team pose with the 6th Annual Sugar and Spice Middle School Girls Festival Gold runner-up trophy. (courtesy photo)

In the Pirates’ opening match, Spindel scored the contest’s lone goal against F.B. Leon Guerrero Hawks, sending the third-ranked team to the Silver bracket.

The Voyagers had a similar route to the finals. In the team’s first game, Sheena Vista scored the lone goal against the Oceanview Middle School Knights to keep her team in the Gold bracket. Next, the Voyagers fought to a 0-0 draw against the No. 2 seeded Luis P. Untalan Middle School Wildcats prompting a shootout. It was a goalkeeper’s duel, as both keepers kept the ball out of the goal for most of the kickers, but the Voyagers prevailed 2-1. Isa Taitano and goalkeeper Abrianni Chargualaf scored for the Voyagers, while Narissa Blaz was the lone scorer for the Wildcats.

In the Silver bracket final, the Wildcats defeated the Knights 1-0 on a free kick by Skyylerblu Johnson.

The island’s high school girls’ soccer teams take center stage at GFA Wednesday afternoon, as nine teams will compete in the GFA Challenge Cup, a pre-season tournament before the start of the IIAAG Girls High School Soccer League.

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