Vanessa Hernandez, taking a pass from Natalie Devin, took a shot which earned the FC North Shore Nation the title for the Kaua‘i Soccer Association Girls Under 14 division Sunday at the North Vidinha fields. Ten minutes into the second
Vanessa Hernandez, taking a pass from Natalie Devin, took a shot which earned the FC North Shore Nation the title for the Kaua‘i Soccer Association Girls Under 14 division Sunday at the North Vidinha fields.
Ten minutes into the second half, the second seeded FC North Shore Nation got its break when Natalie found the opening for the pinpoint pass to Hernandez whose foot shot past the Kaua‘i Sparks, top seeded in the division, goalkeeper.
The score proved to be the sole goal in the 1-0 win which saw the title trophy go home to the North Shore.
“Our club has a ton of respect for the Kaua‘i Sparks’ team and coaches,” said To Rubel, in an email. “The Sparks have been on top for years. They have been the team to beat for years.”
Rubel said the title game Sunday was an intense game, given the fact that earlier in the season, the Sparks broke the FC North Shore Nation winning streak with a 3-1 defeat.
“Both teams had pressure on each other’s goalie,” Rubel said. “It was a 0-0 stalemate at the half.”
Following the goal, Rubel said the FC North Shore Nation girls held on and played some “incredible” defense to save the victory.
“This is our club’s first win in the finals and Coach Steve Devin has molded these girls into great soccer players,” Rubel said. “This championship game was the team’s most intense game of the year.”
Under coach Steve Devin, the team includes Brianna Binder, Hernandez, Irie Driscoll, Vanessa Rubel, Brisa Guerra, Emily Johnson, Natalie Devin, Asher Mangold, Mackenzie Barton, Sabrina Marvin, Honey Chandler, Sofia Morrow and Soliel Errico.
Earlier in the month, a lot of the girls were involved in a Girls Under 14 team as the North Shore Heat during the Will Veeck soccer tournament, which played out at the North Vidinha fields and featured top Under 12 and Under 14 teams from the American Youth Soccer Organization East (Region 941) and West (Region 940) battling for titles.
The win gives the FC North Shore program a split at the KSA as Rubel said its FC North Shore Girls Under 12 team fell to Pohaku in that division finals.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
