E.J. King’s Madylyn O’Neill launches a shot at Marist Brothers keeper Sneha Shah. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan – Maliwan Schinker struck the right note at just the right time to lift E.J. King’s girls to their first Western Japan Athletic Association small-schools soccer tournament title in 12 tries.
The junior midfielder took a through pass from Madylyn O’Neill down the left sideline, cut right toward the middle, found an opening and fired a shot that went over Marist Brothers keeper Sneha Shah as time ran out for a 2-1 Cobras victory in Saturday’s final.
“I just dribbled to the middle, I saw it was open and I just took the shot,” Schinker said. “And I knew my teammates were there to rebound” in case the shot didn’t go in.
The championship match was a far cry from the one the teams played one day earlier, which the Cobras won 4-0. This time, the Bulldogs, of Kobe in central Japan, pressured King from start to finish, while the Cobras struggled to get any kind of rhythm going.
Schinker took a feed from midfielder Miu Best and got the Cobras on the board in the fourth minute.
It stayed that way until four minutes into the second half, when Momoe Ishibashi took a cross-field pass and buried it for the equalizer.
Until the closing seconds, the Bulldogs kept the pressure on, preventing the Cobras from establishing momentum.
Finally, O’Neill found Schinker down the left sideline. Schinker drove upfield, switched to the right foot, crossed in front of the defense toward the middle, atop the penalty-area circle, and fired.
“I was dying,” Cobras coach Mitzi Andrew said, adding that she turned to one of King’s parents who was taking video of the match on the sideline: “I said if we go to overtime, we’re done. And then I turned around and we scored.”
Schinker, O’Neill and senior Cobras teammate Aileen FitzGerald were each named All-Tournament.
Third place went to host Matthew C. Perry, which got a goal from Cecilia Campbell in the second half for a 1-0 triumph over Nagoya International. Ivanelis Nieves-Bermudez of the Samurai was also named All-Tournament.
In the boys WJAA small-schools tournament at Nagoya, King finished in fourth place, losing 4-2 to Marist in the consolation match. Perry lost in the quarterfinals 3-1 to Marist.
E.J. King's Maliwan Schinker fires the match-winning shot as time expires. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Marist Brothers‘ Riko Noda and E.J. King’s Joanna Hall chase the ball. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Marist Brothers keeper Sneha Shah goes up to swat away an E.J. King corner kick. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
E.J. King’s Maliwan Schinker tries to kick the ball toward field center against Marist Brothers’ Riko Noda. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
E.J. King’s Madylyn O’Neill and Marist Brothers’ Sakurako Yamamoto go up to head the ball. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Zama’s baseball team scores landmark wins
TOKYO – A week after posting the best record in the Red Devil Classic tournament at Yokosuka Naval Base, Zama’s baseball team accomplished a team first by beating St. Mary’s and American School In Japan on the road in the same week.
Freshman Rhino Aumua went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in his season debut, David King had three RBIs and Blaeson Moore two and King got the save with three innings of relief of Keito White and the Trojans used a five-run fourth inning to beat ASIJ 8-2 Saturday at Mustang Valley.
“It was a statement. We’re feeling pretty good right now,” Trojans coach Dirk Schmiedel said after the contest. It came four days after Zama edged the Titans 5-4 at St. Mary’s.
It was the seventh straight win for the Trojans, who are batting .374 as a team; five of Zama’s starting batters are hitting .429 or better. White improved to 3-0 for a Zama pitching staff that has a 2.03 ERA and a 1.184 walks and hits to innings pitched.
The Trojans, considered one of the favorites to win next month’s Far East Division II tournament at Osan, are a product five years in the making, Schmiedel said.
“Hundreds of hours at the field and lot of planning and it’s all coming together,” Schmiedel said, crediting assistant coach Kekua Aumua for assistance along the way.
Despite their early success, the Trojans still know there’s the rest of the season yet to play, including a home contest against St. Mary’s this coming Tuesday.
“Nobody’s counting their chickens yet,” Schmiedel said. “We still have some work to do.”
Panthers prowling on the pitch, diamond
Don’t look now, but a Panther might be gaining on you.
After losing their first six matches of the season – indeed, without scoring a goal in any of them – Yokota’s boys soccer team has won four of its last five matches, getting 20 goals from senior Senna Solberg along the way.
Their latest victories came Friday and Saturday against Robert D. Edgren, 10-0 and 7-0.
Kadena’s baseball team lost in its first three tries against Kubasaki, but the Panthers’ bats came alive in Friday’s 17-7 win over the Dragons at Kadena’s Four Diamonds complex.
Drew Eaglin got the win and drove in two runs to help his own cause, while Kai Olszewski had three RBIs and Jeremiah Sprague, Kayden Connolly and Ty Lujan drove in two each.
Humphreys baseball, Osan softball, Daegu girls soccer start nicely
In Korea, Christian Whiting pitched three innings for the win and helped himself by driving in three runs and stealing two bases as Humphreys improved to 2-0 by beating Daegu 9-2 on Thursday at Camp Humphreys. A day earlier, the Blackhawks outlasted Osan 10-6.
Osan’s softball team, the defending DODEA-Korea champion, also got its second win in two tries. Zephaniah Martin got the win and drove in a run as the Cougars downed Humphreys 13-7 at Osan.
At Camp Walker, Gina Kim and Gianna Tak each scored twice as defending DODEA-Korea girls soccer champion Daegu improved to 2-0 with a 5-0 shutout of Seoul International. Emma Sims had three assists for Daegu.
