IHG 2011 – Girls Floorball Carnival

Written by: Jonathan Chan

Edited by: Jocelyn Yeo

Photos by: Deborah, Wang Jing, and Zhenlei

The KE floorball girls had their day-long IHG campaign on Saturday, the 19^th of February. For them, the day started early at 9 am with breakfast at the dining hall, followed by a warm-up supervised by Nelson and MingZhou. So by the time we departed for SRC, everyone was fired up and ready for war.

Nelson, who was the acting team manager and coach for the day, said of carnival style competitions, “must have fun…play competitively, but must have fun.” And with that, along with the final warm-ups and last minute strategy sessions out of the way, it was soon time for the gilrs to take the court.

KE vs EH: 0-3

KE started with Alycia, Cherie and Patrica up front, with Jia Ni and Laura at the back. Annisa knelt in the goal, one of the team’s brightest freshman prospects this year. Unfortunately for us, EH won the faceoff, and proceeded then to immediately score, with our girls just marginally behind. Within the two minutes however, Laura had managed to break out of our half of the court, passing the ball swiftly to Alycia, who then streaked down the line and drew the Eusoff foul for the first free hit of the game. The game grew increasingly physical, as the second line led by Ruth came in. Ruth was everywhere, running down the line and blocking a point blank shot at the goal, urging her line on

But then a mistimed free hit allowed EH another point, as Jerusha and her opponent brought each other and the board down while tussling for the ball. (This reporter had to fling away his clipboard and flee for his life as the Eusoffian who looked as heavy as he was came crashing down where he sat.) And thus at a score of 0-2, the first half scrapped to a close.

The second half was much brighter. Alycia, fastest KEVIIan on the court, broke away and got off a shot which went agonizingly wide. Jia Ni then picked off a shot that had beaten Annisa and was trickling into the goal, preventing EH from scoring another point. But then the referee whistled for a penalty, and all the KEVIIans groaned.

Brilliantly however, Annisa forced the shooter wide, and the latter could only smile ruefully as the weak shot went wide of the post and clattered into the board. And on the game continued, but it was stalemate until Eusoff got another shot off and made the score 0-3, before we held to the end of the game.

Captain leads by example.

KE vs TH: 0-4

The girls then came out of the blocks against TH on fire. Laura and Patricia’s partnership was put to the test, ad Patricia blocked once and then again, while TH poured down the left flank.

But with Annisa picking up anything that Pat dropped, the white giants (and yes they were all huge) were held at bay.

Then it was our turn to attack, with May Ee forcing the keeper to dive for a save. Then, Alycia, running like a guided missile, twisted away from her marker and unleashed a fierce shot that beat the keeper but sadly rattled back off the bar, as the whole MPSH gasped at the audacity that KE would lash back at the vaunted sports hall. Back TH came, but there was always a red shirt blocking their shot.

The brave defence, however, couldn’t last. TH pounded the goal with shot after shot, and then sixth time lucky, they finally scored in the 12th minute as the half ended.

Yanqi, Aoyun and Stephanie then had their IHG debut as fresh energy was infused into the lines. Again TH shot and again the defenders threw themselves in front of Annisa, with Khar Suan taking a shot to the eye that left her blinded momentarily before she recovered to hold the line. Patricia was getting tired after a heroic first half, but Laura stepped up to cover, stretching to block the shots.

Our left flank finally buckled again, as a TH player got loose to make it two from range. A well-taken free hit then put TH 0-3 up. But the girls doggedly pressed on, slamming a free hit against the Temasek wall. It was unfortunate that TH got a final goal before the game finally ended 0-4 to Temasek.

The star player of the day.

KE vs SH: 0-2

Sheares’ was a short sharp game. SH went ahead through a freak goal after Annisa made a rare mistake and was foxed by a wickedly spinning shot. But KE was poured forward within five minutes, pinning Sheares in their half. Annisa then more than made up for her mistake, as she saved a one on one, with the Sheares girl clean through on goal.

With the game finely balanced, Nelson once again put in the attacking trio – Alycia, Cherie and Patricia. This almost paid dividends at once when Alycia again sprinted clear of the defence and nearly found Pariciat with her cross, and with our defenders closing down the shots, it was perhaps unfortunate that Sheares scored again in a goalmouth scramble before the half ended.

Halftime, and KE was trailing in only creativity and scoreline, having run with equal heart and skill as the Shearites. In the second half, KE had a good opportunity to equalize when a Sheares player was given a 2 minute suspension for handball. While the writer sympathizes with the player in question, it was an opportunity for us to press. With the defence spraying passes into the SH half, we hoped fervently for a goal. But alas, our girls, having subsisted through the year on suppers at NUH just didn’t have the muscle mass of the chicken-eating Shearites, and were pushed off the ball repeatedly. But they continued to run, Ruth, Alycia and May Ee being singled out for praise by Nelson after the match for their lung-bursting efforts

Finally, May Ee was put clean through on the goal, though it was unfortunate that the Sheares keeper was out in time to block. The game then ended 0-2 in favour of SH.

Defending hard and fast.

KE vs RH: 0-1

“The RH game was better”, Nelson would later say, and it was unfortunate that the outcome turned out as it did. Having caught their second wind, the girls were looking to equal the victory of the guys two weeks back. Against them was an RH team with an incredibly brave keeper (that is, Huijin-esque bravery) who had a nice shiny helmet.

The game was equal at the start, with Ruth shooting on target already by the 4th minute, and then again 7 minutes later. Five minutes of intense pressure by RH tested Khar Suan and Jerusha severely, as they alternately passed themselves out of trouble or advanced to block incoming shots, with Annisa chalking up another point blank save. The girls were getting tired but were playing better and better, with possession becoming a premium, as RH chased them down. Still, Raffles nearly scored in the final touch of the game, with the whistle going off just in time.

With Nelson and Mingzhou urging the girls to press on, the second half saw the KEVIIans pouring forward. The RH was, however, were no pushovers and hit the bar once. It would take something special for either side to score, and this something came from a penalty conceded when our girls accidentally skipped through the goalkeeper’s crease.

We were hoping that the shooter would only be as good as Nelson in his shot against the RH guys, but much to her credit, she proceeded to score with a deft left and right. And on came the red players again.

A ball drifted across KE’s goal. Khar Suan screened the RH player lying in wait, while Fang Ming repossessed the ball and sent it hurtling up the court. A wild goalmouth scramble then saw Fang Ming, Alycia and Cherie all miss narrowly while Patrick thumped this reporter on the back in frustration, ruining his handwriting, and Musa nearly pulled out his hair.

But the attempted comeback took a blow when Jia Ni was given a 2 minutes suspension for slashing. Still, Alycia blocked two shots and streaked untouched down the court with the ball, though her shot was comfortably saved by RH’s keeper. Though the scoreline remained for the remainder of the game, it was a much better match, with many of the players playing better than they ever have before.

Teamwork at play.

KE vs KR: 0-3

And finally, it came to the match against KR, a team which contained a good few distinguished players. Fired up by Ming Zhou’s encouragements and the looming prospect of dinner, the girls were determined to give all they had.

It was evident from the start that everyone was tired, but Laura’s clearance was still far and Ruth still ran tirelessly from end to end, supporting the attacks, before tracking back to cut out the shots. KR’s number 30 was spectacularly good at stick work, but on the right flank that she roamed, Khar Suan or Jia Ni was always there, following her like a second shadow or kneeling to pick off the shot. Annisa was stellar, as always, diving into the midst of the flashing sticks to pluck the ball from the fray, with Jerusha blocking the rebounds that got clear.

Everyone was finally playing in position, and the transitions between defence and attack flowed smoothly, with Ruth taking one and then another shot on target. It took 3 KR players in a goalmouth scramble to score their first with the very last shot of the half.

The second half was just as fiery, while Hwee Ting and Dina made their IHG debuts. Jerusha took a heavy hit which sent her into the boards, and we were unfortunate to concede a second when Annisa made a mistimed pass, only the second mistake in an otherwise spectacular day.

Despite their lead, KR was committing many a slash or high stick, giving our tired girls several needed free hits. Our girls were still going all out, so much so that Jerusha literally dived onto the courts headfirst in her enthusiasm, nearly giving the referee a heart attack. Still the girls clung on, even while they were one man down after a handball. The fact that KR finally got a third goal does not detract from the fact that in those 30 min, the girls played the best they had ever done.

 

Great fight floorball girls!

So the day ended 0-5 for KE. But as the girls hugged and cheered, it was obvious that the day ended happily for them. As Ming Zhou said during the final debrief, “I think today you all played [for the last match] better than you all have ever done before”. Annisa, having played so bravely and with such agility, simply smiled and said “It’s an experience…”, while Jia Ni, female captain said the day was “tiring but fun… What do I think of my team? I think they really put 100% today. They improved throughout the matches and Alycia, Laura, the rest, they all grew through the game. Although we had nothing on KR’s match, it was really great.”

Well done, floorball girls, we are all so very proud of you!