Areas of Improvement Highlighted During EAFF Tourney

[September 8, 2018 – Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia] – Following the conclusion of the EAFF E-1 Football Championship Round 1 women’s competition Friday evening in Mongolia, key areas of improvement have been noted to strengthen the Guam Women’s National Team for future tournaments.

“The tournament has highlighted some major areas of improvement that is needed going forward,” said Belinda Wilson, Head Coach of the Masakåda. “We need to start with the basics and players need a stronger foundation of technical ability and game understanding. This all comes from a strong Coach Education program that supports and develops Guam’s proactive playing style and philosophy and is developed from Grassroots to senior football, creating Guam players who can compete at the highest level.”

In Friday’s match against the Northern Mariana Islands, the final finishing touch on team build-up plays eluded the Masakåda for the scoreless draw result after 90 minutes of play.

“I think with NMI, it’s always a big rivalry and although we didn’t get the result that we were planning on, what’s really important is what we do take away from this match (to improve on),” said Riley Hoover, a defender on the Masakåda team. “It’s really important to (identify) what we can work on from this game and turn it into something positive … so that next time we come around and play them we’re more prepared for what they have to offer and do better.”

With Friday’s draw, the Masakåda finished 1-1-1 overall in the tournament. NMI finished 0-1-2 in the tournament, posting a scoreless draw also with Macau on Day 2.

“The game against NMI we came out with a plan that unfortunately, we weren’t able to execute,” said Harmony Yatar, a defender on the Masakåda team who made her debut for Guam on the senior women’s level in this tournament. “We need to come out stronger and harder; we need to be better as individuals but also remember to be better as a unit and remember that we’re playing for Guam.”

In the final match of the tournament, Mongolia emerged with a 0-0 draw with Macau. In the awards ceremony following the final match, Mongolia (2-0-1) was awarded with the women’s competition championship trophy and midfielder Tsasan-Okhin Orgodol earned MVP honors. Guam’s Kaycee Hoover took the tournament’s Top Scorer award with two goals from Guam’s opening match against Macau. Guam also finished with the largest goal differential in the tournament at +4.