U15 girls impress in exhibition match

Cayman’s national Under-15 girl footballers impressed their opponents in their final tune-up ahead of the CONCACAF U15 Girls Tournament in Orlando, Florida from 9-21 August.

The U15s teamed up with members of the senior women’s team for an exhibition against a visiting side from Ohio Wesleyan University at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex on Sunday, 7 August.

Sabrina Suberan played well up front.

Sabrina Suberan played well up front.

Hannah Joseph put the visitors ahead in the 9th minute, then Brooke Zinader doubled the lead in the 29th. Despite a few opportunities, the Cayman side (featuring almost exclusively U15s in the first half) was unable to make an impact on the scoresheet.

Substituting mainly members of the senior Cayman Select Team in the second half, the local side found the back of the net for the first time in the 66th minute when Chelsea Brown beat the OWU goalkeeper. Chelsea Green equalized in the 82nd.

Green, who is set to join South Georgia State College for the upcoming season, nearly scored the go-ahead goal minutes from full time but was denied by the OWU keeper.

“It was a fantastic game. I think it was a great game for the fans. We came out scoring two and then [Cayman] came back and scored two. So, I think it was a really exciting game,” said OWU Coach Nicole Ross.

Ashley Ebanks attempts to clear the ball from two OWU attackers.

Ashley Ebanks attempts to clear the ball from two OWU attackers.

Cayman Islands National U15 Girls Team Manager, Shanice Monteith, was pleased with the showing of the younger players.

“I think that they did a pretty good job, especially since the girls they played against were older and stronger. They held their own. It was unfortunate that they gave away two goals but at the end of the day, we just want to work with them to get ready for the tournament, so the score line didn’t really matter at that point. They did a good job overall,” Monteith told CaymanSportsBuss.com.

U15 captain, Brianna Poy Fong, also assessed her team’s performance. “I think that we did very well [considering] our age compared to theirs because we are 15 and below and they’re all in university, so I think we did very well and I think we’re going to do extremely well when we go away.”

She added: “It will teach us that even though we are going to play an Under-15 tournament, the girls will be the same age and we need to toughen up from now and go in strong from the beginning.”

The Ohio Wesleyan University team is training in Cayman for a week.

The Ohio Wesleyan University team is training in Cayman for a week.

Ross was impressed with the Cayman youth side players. “They are significantly younger than our girls and they were great. They played really, really hard and that was one of the things I noticed the most. Their intensity was great and I think if they can carry that into their tournament, they’re going to be very successful. They never gave up and I thought it was a very great first half,” she said.

The Ohio Wesleyan University team is in Grand Cayman for a week-long training camp. They return to the Truman Bodden Sports Complex on Tuesday, 9 August for another exhibition against the Cayman Senior Women’s National Team (Select Team) at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re going to be looking for team chemistry on the field. We haven’t been together on the field in three months. We’re going to use this time to practice and really bond as a team on the field and off the field,” Ross said of her expectations for her team while in Cayman.

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