The 36th Empress’s Cup started on Saturday, Nov 29, holding six opening games in various regions.

Pickup Match 1

Naruto Uzushio High School (Shikoku 2 / Tokushima)   0-2 (1st 0-1, 2nd 0-1)   Seiwa Gakuen High school (Tohoku 3 / Miyagi)

The battle in Suzuka, Mie, between high school clubs was heated.Seiwa Gakuen High School (Tohoku 3 / Miyagi), which showed its strength with 20 scores and three losses in all three preliminary games in Tohoku region, intentionally tried to move to pass a ball quickly after receiving it, dominating the game against Naruto Uzushio High School (Shikoku 2 / Tokushima).In the 17th minutes, Seiwa Gakuen intercepted a ball, moving forward from the side of the opponent's field and finally SHIMOYAMA Riko got an opening goal for the team.Naruto Uzushio reorganized the team in the second half, intensifying a pressure against a ball possessor. Its good distance feeling in defence brought its offence a good rhythm. The team got to have more chances for shoots, however, it failed to make a score.On the other hand, in the 85th minute, MATSUI Ayano of Seiwa Gakuen likely lobbed the ball into the net to add another point. Seiwa Gakuen, which is first appearance in 2 years, successfully progressed through the second round at 2-0.

Match detail

Pickup Match 2

Shizuoka Sangyo University Football Club Bonita (Tokai 3/Shizuoka)  1-2 (1st 0-1, 2nd 1-1)   JEF United Chiba Ladies U-18 (Kanto 5/Chiba)

Second match in Suzuka was held between the new face, JEF United Chiba Ladies U-18 (Kanto 5 / Chiba) and Shizuoka Sangyo University Football Club Bonita (Tokai 3 / Shizuoka ).JEF U-18 controlled the game well in the first half and DF OYA Madoka, the team's captain, scored the opening goal with shoot of CK.Bonita introduced KUCHKI Hikaru from the beginning of the second half and increased movements on the frontline made the team regain the momentum.It struggled to shot a ball, however, the team equalized with a tap-in by HIRANO Mami, the team's captain who faced the opposition GK one by one and put the ball once punched out into the net.The game was expected to go into extra time but developed in the 90th minute. OZAWA Hiro of JEF U-18 found another goal by its dynamic shoot to give the team winning post to get a ticket for advancing to the second round.

Match detail

The rest of first round six matches will take place on Sun. 30 November.

Other results

Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara (Kanto 1/Kanagawa)　3-2（1st 2-1,2nd 1-1） Okayama Skuyo High School (Chugoku 2/Okayama)
SFIDA Setagaya FC (Kanto 3/Tokyo)　6-2（1st 1-0,2nd 5-2） Niigata University of Health and Welfare (Hokushinetsu/Niigata)
Hinomoto Gakuen Senior High School　1-3（1st 1-1,2nd 0-2） Ehime FC Ladies (Shikoku 1/Ehime)
Daisho Gakuen High School (Kansai 4/Osaka)　5-1（1st 1-0,2nd 0-1, Ex1st 2-0, Ex2nd 2-0） Kamimura Gakuen (Kyushu 2/Kagoshima)

Match detail

Comments of head coaches and players

UMEZU Moe (Naruto Uzushio High School/Tokushima)
We were aware of the opponent's advantages such as throw-in, but allowed them show good performances in the beginning of the game.Although, in the second half, we were patient in defence to wait for a chance, we could not gain a goal even when we had a chance and this is exactly the point we need to improve. We partly realized what we wanted to do, but failed to keep doing so.There are big differences between national tournament matches, for example, in the pressure from the opponent and those in the prefectural level. I wanted to have good experiences by winning as many games as possible, since this was the final Cup for members in the third grade.

ABE Yukiko (Seiwa Gakuen High School/Miyagi)
We tried not to be likely in defence, but to put more pressure on the opponent and do possession soccer of our advantage in the game against the high school club like us.We couldn't trap or pass a ball well at the beginning and sometimes our ball was easily robbed by the opponent, however, we could regain our soccer style in the second half.We originally set our goal to win the opening game for returning to our home for next match. I want to win a victory over next match by doing our own soccer, not fighting in defence, because I expect many various supporters visit and see our game in the Yurtec Stadium Sendai.

HIRANO Asami (Shizuoka Sangyo University Iwata Bonita/Shizuoka)
We were instructed by our head coach before the game to switch offence from defence quickly.We could do as his instructions until the middle of the game, but failed to gain a goal because we were unlikely to move quickly and complete well with the opponent after our ball was robbed by them. We also lacked accuracy when possessing a ball, so could not make good use of chance to score.

(Regarding her goal scene,) as a ball moved in the front line, I believed the chance would surely come and I need to take it to make a goal. Though there were another chances adding the goal making scene, I failed to use it. I was frustrated with this defeat, as I wanted to get to the second round to have a good match with the team belonging to Nadeshiko League.

KONNO Yuko, Head Coach (JEF United Chiba Ladies U-18)
We were very excited to have a match with a team of the challenge league, as we are the club of High School generations. We could do what we wanted to do in the first half, but the second half was a difficult time for us because we failed to make a score in the first.Though I instructed my team not to be weak in competing with the opponent to possess a ball, backbones by the opponent as a university student and professional sportswoman made us defensive. We also attempted to do side attack to the opponent which was superior to us physically and in speed. We learned a lot from this match both in what we got a passing score and what we need to improve. The top team of Jef Ladies also participates in this Cup and we will try to make efforts to have matches as many as possible.

The 36th Empress's Cup

Sat.29 November - Thu. 1 January 2015
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