The Simon Sanchez High Sharks boys soccer team hasn’t secured a spot in the upcoming Guam Department of Education Interscholastic Sports Association playoffs, but they increased their chances with an impressive win over the John F. Kennedy High School Islanders Friday afternoon at Ramsey Field in Upper Tumon.
“We have a chance to go to the playoff,” said Sanchez’s Drake Fejerang, who scored the game-winning goal.
With five minutes remaining, a heavy rain pelting the pitch and Fejerang’s glasses coated with water and steam, the senior chased down a loose ball and tapped a goal into the right side of the net past Islanders goalkeeper Micheas Babauta. With time winding down and Babauta chasing after Fejerang, the shot slipped through the narrowest opening and erased the 1-1 tie.
The Sharks, 300 seconds later, defeated the Islanders 2-1.
“Due to the rain, I didn’t really know what was going on,” Fejerang said. “But all of a sudden I saw the ball going through. So I knew I had my chance, took a few touches and I shot it into the right corner.”
“I knew my only chance was to shoot it to the way right where he couldn’t get it,” Fejerang said. “I thought it was too slow to go in. But he missed it, by chance. It was a big relief when I saw it go in.”
JFK strikes first
In the dominant play they are known for, the Islanders pushed the tempo and scored in the 11th minute. With a strong wind blowing in the direction of Sanchez’s net, JFK’s Alesana Jorlang, from the right corner, drilled a corner kick that bent and deflected off Sharks senior goalkeeper Joshua Gatbonton and landed in the back of the net.
“I knew that could have happened, but I didn’t expect it because it was one of the hardest shots,” Gatbonton said. “After he shot that in, I was like, OK, I’m prepared for another corner if he takes it.”
Less than a minute later, on a carbon copy of JFK’s goal-scoring play, Jorlang drove a corner kick in front of the goal, but Gatbonton adjusted and stopped the on-goal attempt.
“The first half was actually pretty crazy because we were defending the side where the wind was going against us,” said Gatbonton, a 17-year-old senior. “The wind made their shots harder.”
The equalizer
As JFK attacked, Sanchez began their assault, controlling the pitch and pressuring Babauta. In the 24th minute, Sanchez’s Mason Becker blasted a 15-yard shot into the top left corner. With the score leveled at one goal all, JFK emerged as the aggressors and sent several shots on goal. But with Gatbonton anticipating, elevating and ripping shot after shot out of the air, the score remained 1-all.
Twelve minutes after Becker’s game-tying goal and 12 yards in front of Sanchez’s goal, a shot from Jorlang drilled the goal post. But after Jorlang’s game-opening goal, the Sharks and Gatbonton protected their goal for 69 minutes.
“Oh, my gosh, we did it,” Gatbonton said. “We had to win this game to have a chance to be in the playoffs. We really needed to win this game, and we did.”
