By Clara Yuan/Red Sports
Priscilla Ong (SAJC #10) looks to get the ball. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
PESEB, Tuesday, April 7, 2015 — St. Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) led throughout to finish their season with a 9–4 victory over Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) in the bronze medal playoff of the National A Division Girls’ Water Polo Championship.
The two teams previously met in the first round where SAJC claimed a 5–0 victory. Entering the bronze medal playoff, SAJC held a 1–2 win-loss record while HCI have lost all three matches.
Rachel Ezekiel (#2) and Priscilla Ong (#10) led SAJC with hat-tricks, while Celine Mark (#9) paced HCI with two goals.
Priscilla (#10) of SAJC opened the scoring for her team but within seconds, Chua Ke Tian (#6) of HCI responded with a goal to level the game. Both teams were desperate to take the lead but SAJC led 3–1 with their experience to close the quarter.
The second quarter saw SAJC dominate on defense where they denied HCI scoring opportunities. Wong Yu Han (#7) of HCI made several good interceptions but was unable to convert her chances. SAJC’s well-executed offensive plays gave them a comfortable 6–1 lead going into the halftime break.
HCI began to step up on their offensive plays and both teams took turns to add points onto the scoreboard. This quarter saw HCI registering their highest scoring quarter and outscored SAJC 3–2. However, it was not enough to reduce the deficit and SAJC maintained their lead with 8–4.
Both teams were focused on their defence in the final quarter but a late goal by SAJC’s Rachel (#2) with two minutes remaining gave SAJC the 9–4 victory.
SAJC’s captain, Joy-Ann Chua (#4), said, “I think it was quite a good game because we really played as a team today. It was one of the better games we had and I am proud of everyone.”
“It was our best game as a team today because we managed to score four goals. It’s our new record cause we didn’t manage to score any goals at all in our past matches. We ended off on a high note because our team is very new and we played our best. There was no team sent last year due to lack of people,” said HCI captain, Natalie Loke (#2).
Score by Quarter
SAJC vs HCI
1st quarter: 3–1
2nd quarter: 3–0 (6–1)
3rd quarter: 2–3 (8–4)
4th quarter: 1–0 (9–4)
Scorers
SAJC
Rachel Ezekiel (#2) – 3 goals
Priscilla Ong (#10) – 3 goals
Carri Foo (#4) – 2 goals
Bernice Chew (#8) – 1 goal
HCI
Celine Mark (#9) – 2 goals
Wong Yu Han (#7) – 1 goal
Chua Ke Tian (#6) – 1 goal
SAJC Roster
Agnes Chow (#1), Rachel Ezekiel (#2), Stacey Tan (#3), Joy-Ann Chua (#4), Carri Foo (#5), Naomi Wong (#6), Andrea Sim (#7), Bernice Chew (#8), Hong Li Xuan (#9), Priscilla Ong (#10), Lynn Ng (#13)
HCI Roster
Victoria Fam (#1), Natalie Loke (#2), Gloria Lin (#3), Wong Yukee (#4), Wong Xinye (#5), Chua Ke Tian (#6), Wong Yu Han (#7), Beatrice Tan (#8), Celine Mark (#9), Gillian Tan (#10)
More photos next page
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