JFK SHOWS MIGHT IN GIRLS SOCCER

By Jay Leon Guerrero

The JFK Islanders girls soccer team remains alone atop the standings in the ISA High School League after defeating the Southern Dolphins 5-0. The rivalry game was played at the GW field.

The two-time defending champion Islanders made another statement amongst the top two teams in the league, beating the Dolphins in the opening game of the season.  

The Islanders set the tone early with two early goals and remained aggressive on offense for the rest of the contest. 

The reigning champions now have to focus on the playoffs with a huge target on their back.

JFK’s Cassandra Kido scored two goals to earn the player of the game honors. Jaelyn Han, Jada Han, and Annie Jones also scored for JFK.

Senior Jada Han, a strong candidate for league MVP, said the Islanders must prepare for the physical and mental challenge of the playoffs.

“As defending champions, we are going to have that pressure of having targets on our backs. We are just going to have to handle it and play our game,” said Jada Han.

Jada Han’s first attempt came in the 5th minute but her shot was blocked. Jada’s younger sister, Jaelyn, was at the right spot at the right time. As the deflection came her way, she tapped in an uncontested goal to make it 1-0.

Jada Han continued to put pressure on Dolphin defenders and scored in the 12th minute. “I just kicked it hard to left and scored. After that goal, we were pumped and had some momentum which led to our third goal”.

Kido scored the third goal before halftime and the Islanders were thinking of scoring more in the second half but the Dolphins were not going down without a fight.

As the second half started, Cindy Maestrocampo and Crista Cruz from Southern played with a high level of urgency and challenged the JFK defense. With the wind blowing fairly high, the Dolphins were unable to calculate distance shots as two attempts were carried by the wind.

The Islanders were looking to add more insurance goals but Dolphin defenders Ja’ani Rabon and Brielle Naputi stood their ground on defense to deflect JFK passes and shot attempts.

“We had momentum but Southern did a really good job in the second half holding us back,” said Jada. There was some rough play with pushing and shoving in the second half with both teams playing aggressively. A frustrated Jada Han received a yellow card in the 58th minute after trying to advance.

The Islanders scored two insurance goals in the second half, one by Kido, and the fifth goal was scored by Annie Jones. 

JFK’s next game will be on Monday vs Sanchez at JFK. Southern will play Sanchez on Wednesday also at JFK.

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