MS GIRLS SOCCER:
Team Moseulpo entered KISAC with high expectations and a winning streak that helped buoyed their confidence. The girls were focused, and they had a real opportunity at the ultimate take-away from this two-day tournament. On the first day, the girls cruised through their matches to walk away undefeated and top the A division bracket. This put them in a favourable position against last-seeded Branksome Hall on Saturday morning. Though Branksome finished bottom of the pool, they were also last year’s champions, so our side did not count them out. Conditions were a lot windier on Saturday, which led to play being contained in one half for most of the match. Both sides failed to capitalize on goal opportunities throughout regulation and overtime. This led to dreaded penalty kicks. Both teams were able to pot shots into the back of the net, but Branksome’s outstanding keeper stopped a rocket from Ashley Seungjoo Lee in the second round to send them on to the championship final. Our girls bowed out with dignity and grace. They went on to dominate the last game and finish third in the A division and third overall. Team Moseulpo walked away unbeaten in all regulation games and secured their best finish in the program’s history! The team found success from all members, with stout goalkeeping from our keeper tandem of Helen Jeong and Grace Park, to new sensational rookies Minwoo Kim and Ashley Lee, and of course the veteran leadership of Katie Park, Spany Noh, and Amy Yeon. Seogwipo: KISAC was not only Seogwipo’s first tournament as a team, but it was a first for most of our players as well. A few of the girls had the opportunity to experience the Songdo tournament, and their experience was helpful to the team both on the field and during our team huddles. We started the tournament knowing that throughout the course of our season, we had both won and lost to all the teams in the tournament (except for BIFS). This added to the nerves of many of our girls, but we were able to quickly refocus and play with confidence and great energy, thanks to the encouragement and excitement of the girls who have shown leadership over the course of the season. We started the first day off with a tie (1-1) against BHA. The girls were very proud of themselves coming off the field, and that confidence shone during our next game, where we won (1-0) against BIFS. We ended the first day with a loss against SJA, but the girls spirits were still positive and even though they were tired, they were excited for the next day. During our last team huddle the girls identified things they did well and should continue to do, as well as things they needed to work on for the next day. Our first game the second day of the tournament was a difficult for one, making it to through overtime with no goals for either team. The girls were all very nervous for the shootout, especially since it’s a scenario that we didn’t formally work on very much during practices. Despite our strongest efforts and positivity, we lost in the final shootout. The coaches were once again impressed with the girls support and encouragement of each other through a very difficult loss. They were able to compose themselves and play the last game with strength and good energy. We came back strong and were able to end the tournament with a 3-1 win against SJA. This tournament gave the girls a great chance to identify their own areas of growth and immediately work on them. All members of our team showed their grit, their development, and their eagerness to push through to victories. Go DRAGONS! MS BOYS SOCCER KISJ A: After a strong outing resulting in a quarterfinal exit from the Songo 7’s invitational a few weeks prior, KISJ A was prepared to make the necessary adjustments to take the KISAC South tournament by storm. On Friday morning, we started with a strong showing against NLCS A, despite ultimately losing that match 3-2. Next, we played to a 5-5 draw in a gripping match of back-and-forth with SJA A. Our boys learned very quickly that if they were to succeed through the rest of the tournament, they would have to play with focus and determination through the duration of every single match. In a display of force, KISJ A illustrated their ability to do just that with a decisive 4-0 victory against NLCS B to wrap up our first day. It was clear that they were prepared to give it their all for a chance to reach the final on day two and possibly see themselves face a rematch with NLCS A. With a 3-0 sportsmanlike victory against their teammates, KISJ B, and resounding 5-0 win against Fayston, KISJ A booked their rematch against NLCS A in the final. After each goal on our second day, KISJ A developed a new mantra that they would promote amongst each other in order to maintain focus: “What’s the score now?” “0-0!” In spite of their nerves, KISJ A put their resolve in action by going up 1-0 against NLCS A. With gritty play, NLCS A worked back to tie the match 1-1. Our players remained unshaken. To them, the score was still 0-0. Then, we received our opportunity; an indirect free kick not 15 feet from the opposition’s goal. Our captain, Jack Yang, teed the ball off for our tournament MVP, Minjun Shin, who struck the ball low and with force, finding the back of the net. The score was 2-1; we were in the driver’s seat, but it was not time for celebration yet. NLCS A responded with intensity, requiring a robust response from our defence. The minutes ticked away, and finally, the referee’s whistle sounded. KISJ A had their victory, taking the tournament by storm just as they had intended. Our players demonstrated that their character, resolve, and teamwork were the sharpened tools necessary for success. Well done, gentlemen. KISJ B: The KISJ B team entered the A-division tournament as underdogs with the goal to finish in the top three of the six teams. The team struggled in the group stages suffering losses to KISJ-A, NLCS-A, and losing by the narrow margin of one goal to SJA-A. However, the team did manage to draw with NLCS-B and beat Fayston Preparatory school by a significant margin of 8-2. The one win and one draw were not enough to advance to the 3rd place match, and the team went on to play Fayson for the 5th place match, where KISJ-B settled with a convincing win of 5-1. Jun Soo “Kevin” Kim earned a spot on the tournament all-star team, and Hyundo “Harold” Jung finished as the teams top scorer netting in six goals in the tournament. KISJ C: The KISJ C team entered into the B-division tournament of the KISAC Tournament. The young men almost exclusively faced opponents of greater size, and age, but they never lacked resolve. In our first game, Derrick Park scored two goals off set pieces, and Eric Bae made several miraculous saves in goal to keep us fighting until the end, but the team succumbed to SJA-B with a loss of 3-2. The following two games against NLCS-C and BIFS both resulted in losses for the squad. However, the second day of tournament action brought new opportunity in the Plate Bracket. After an early loss to NLCS-E, the them rebounded with a win against SJA-C to land themselves in the Plate Bracket final. They faced NLCS-D in the final match, a team we knew well from regular season play. KISJ C jumped to an early lead, and commanded the pace of play for much of the first half. Ultimately, NLCS-D overpowered our squad, and won the match with a score of 5-2. KISJ C finished the tournament in 6th place of the B-division. These young men displayed brilliant skill on the pitch and great strength of character in defeat. They demonstrated what it means to be KISJ Dragons. MS GIRLS BADMINTON The MS Girls' Badminton team has come a long way this season! With just 2 returning team members, we've really improved in our collective understanding of the rules of the game; best strategies to use; developing our skills; and most importantly, learning how to be a supportive team member. For KISAC, hosted by Branksome Hall Asia, we went into the singles tournament confident and ready to take on our opponents. Our singles competitors where very strong and won several matches, but eventually were defeated by BHA. In the second half of the day, our doubles partners played well, demonstrating sportsmanship and team spirit. A final double partnership, Joanne and Jina, went all the way to the finals, coming out with second place, making our team proud. Although the day was long and tiring, our girls really exhibited what it is to be a KISJ DRAGON and we're proud of all the team's accomplishments. Go DRAGONS! MS BOYS BADMINTON MS boys badminton went to NLCS to participate in the MS Boys Badminton KISAC on Friday, November 16th. We knew that it would be a struggle because many of our strong 8th grader players from last year had moved up to the high school. However, we have seen tremendous growth in our 6th and 7th graders this year. I anticipate an extremely strong team next year and the next. When it comes to our KISAC performance, we had an uphill battle but were able to take the gold medal in boys, B division doubles with partners Jun Lee and Jerome Kim. KIS took bronze in the same division with partners Alex Hong & Andy Oh. We also received bronze for B division singles when 6th grader Daniel Han performed well. We are proud of the large amount of growth and great sportsmanship of our boys team this year. We anticipate many victories in the next couple years ahead. MS/HS SWIMMING: Students traveled to Seoul this past weekend to compete in the Winter Chadwick Meet. All of the students who participated put forth an amazing effort and were positive representatives of KISJ Dragons. Many seasoned swimmers placed in their events with others improving on their personal best time. Ho Youn S. came first in the 50 metres backstroke (15 years and over), whilst Jonathan K. placed second in the 100 metres freestyle (15 years and over), with Justin H. third in the same event. Jonathan K. also placed second in the 50 metres freestyle (15 years and over), with Evan A. in fourth place. In the 100 metre Individual Medley (IM), for 11-12 years, Hoseong N. at 1:38.93 took over 2 seconds off his best time, with Jason H. also making a personal best time at 1:31.97 in the 100 metres IM (13-14 years). A first time competitor in the 50 metres breaststroke saw Been A. come 6th place with a time of 44.63. Special mention to Kevin C. who gave up his place in the 50 metre breaststroke to enable his teammate, Been, to swim the event. A final congratulations to the 200 metre medley team (15 years and over) who came first place; the team consisted of Justin H., Jason H. Jonathan K. and Hoseong N., who stepped out of his age group to join the older students in the relay. Great work from all the swimmers and coaches.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
December 2019
Categories |