By REDintern Farah Alsagoff

Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall, Friday, May 8, 2009 - An exciting first period was the impetus for Raffles Institution to beat Yishun Junior College 4-3 and eventually top Group B of the A Division Girls’ Floorball Championship.

RI’s #24 began the wave of shots with a drag from half-court, only for YJ’s keeper Sheryl Tham (#1) to save it with her leg. YJ’s Ee Shan (#3) reciprocated with a break-in, and managed to push RI’s Cassandra (#23) aside for a shot that was saved by the RI’s keeper (#11).

In the 5th minute, YJ’s Ee Shan took a drag shot from half-court. Her shot sailed through the air and hit the angle of RI's goalpost. An RI counter-attack saw Charlene (#25) run into YJ's slot area and win a loose ball. She then took a simple wrist shot for RI to gain the lead.

In the 9th minute, RI’s Soo Beihan (#24) was sent off for repeated slashes. RI got their box-play ready, as YJ initiated their power-play.

YJ’s Jia Wen (#16), who had possession of the ball, tried to wrap it into RI's goal, but their keeper (#11) prevented the goal by covering her near post effectively.

YJ’s Joscelin (#13) found the equalizing goal when her grounder shot from half-court slipped into RI's goal. The YJ bench burst into celebration, and in the midst of it, the goal scorer was scratched on the face. She bled a little but there is nothing that a plaster couldn’t fix. The score was now 1 apiece.

RI tried to hit back when Vanessa (#12) intercepted a YJ pass, but her grounder shot was saved by YJ's keeper Sheryl.

In the 12th minute, YJ’s #25 was sent off for an improper substitution. While YJ prepared their wall, RI’s Beihan received a pass and took a spectacular drag shot right into YJ's goal for a 2-1 lead.

After face-off, YJ’s Sindy Ng (#8) out-dribbled RI’s #27 and took a shot, but her attempt was saved by RI's keeper. In a counter-attack, RI’s Oceana (#4) went in for a rebound from her team mate #17's shot, sending the ball back into YJ's goal to extend her team’s lead.

RI were definitely not taking a step back in their game, as shortly after the next face-off, Crystal (#21) went for a shot that too, found its way into YJ's net. RI now led 4-1.

YJ’s Suhaili (#10) attempted to complete what her teammate couldn't, which was to wrap the ball into RI's goal, but their keeper saved the shot easily. YJ’s Sindy kept up the attacks with a pass to Joscelin whose shot went high. The latter persisted with another shot from along the sideboards but it was saved by RI's keeper.

The extremely exciting first period came to an end with RI already leading 4-1, with 3 of their 4 goals scored within a matter of 2 minutes.

The second period saw periodical attacks by both teams - YJ’s Suhaili’s drag shot was off-target as was Stephanie Chiaw's (#7) slap shot from half-court, while RI’s Vanessa (#12) took an off-target shot. There was a moment of heightened anxiety in the YJ camp when RI’s Eunice (#7) made a pass inside YJ's slot area which hit YJ Stephanies's leg and almost rolled into the goal. Fortunately, it was a near miss and the score remained.

Towards the end of the period, Raffles had the rare opportunity of a two-against-keeper situation. The highly-composed Sheryl stepped up and managed to stop RI’s shot, and prevented them from stretching the lead further. The second period ended shortly after.

YJC, keen on topping Group B, kept piling on the attacks, as Sandy Sum (#34) passed to Vanessa Lim (#16) inside the slot area, but she could not convert it into a shot. Sandy regained possession and her shot was saved by the keeper.

It was only when YJ’s Joscelin passed to Sandy for a simple tap into the goal for YJC to finally make up some ground on RI.

Yishun continued to press on, with Joscelin passing to Vanessa for a shot that went off target, and Ting Hui (#12) passing to Euphoria Ng (#2) for a blind side goal that never materialized.

In a turn of events, YJ’s Jia Wen passed into RI's slot area and the ball deflected off a RI defender's leg and almost bounced into the goal. Luckily for them, it went behind the goalpost and they regained possession.

RI's final opportunity to widen the gap occurred when Cassandra intercepted the keeper's throw. She couldn't control the ball in time before YJ's keeper regained her position and saved her shot.

YJC managed to salvage one last goal by Euphoria Ng to close the gap to 4-3.

The final whistle blew shortly after, and as RI topped Group B with the win, YJC's captain Jia Wen thanked RI for an "aggressive" game, and that simply summed up an amazing match.