River Valley High School claim girls’ A Division floorball gold; Victoria Junior College retain boys’ title

SINGAPORE – Floorballer Chernoa Chia of River Valley High School used to play outfield for four years. But when the side needed a goalkeeper, the team player rose to the challenge.

On Thursday, Chernoa played a starring role, saving all five penalties in a shoot-out to help River Valley beat Victoria Junior College (VJC) 1-0 in the A Division girls’ final. The match had ended 3-3 in regulation time.

It was River Valley’s first championship since 2017. Chernoa, 18, said: “I rode on the trust my teammates have in me.

“I’m quite confident in my abilities but if I don’t believe in myself, I will believe in their belief in me and that’s how I fought to the end and stopped all those balls.

“We have fought so hard and finally got the gold medal we’ve been eyeing for six years.”

The match at Our Tampines Hub had ended in a thrilling draw and moved on to penalties. Both schools failed in their first three attempts, sending the contest into sudden death.

Neither could score their fourth penalty before River Valley forward Chia Kang Hui, who had missed her earlier shot, finally opened the scoring, firing past opposing goalkeeper Chloe Kwan.

Kang Hui, 17, said: “We practised a lot of penalties during training and I usually do well, but it’s different in a final with so many people. I completely missed my first shot and my heart stopped.

“We had another chance in sudden death, so I just took it. I breathed in and out and blocked out all the noise and maintained my composure.”

Her goal gave River Valley the lead and Chernoa sealed the victory when she saved the attempt from VJC’s Choo Yun En. She immediately disappeared in a blur of bodies as her teammates rushed onto the court to embrace her with about 500 supporters cheering on from the stands.

Chernoa said: “I played the whole match and through the shoot-out, so it was very tiring for me. After I saved the ball, I was so relieved. My first thought was, ‘It’s over, we are champions!’”

The narrow defeat was heartbreaking for VJC, particularly after the way the final unfolded. The first period had ended goalless before VJC broke the deadlock five minutes into the second period thanks to Naveen Lim.

That led to a frenetic 10 remaining minutes of that period with four more goals as River Valley led 3-2. They were hanging onto that slim advantage until two minutes from the end of the third period, when Naveen equalised for VJC.

VJC captain Isabelle Chua, 17, said: “During the third period, we managed to come back and although it ended 3-3, I feel that we won. Even though we lost, I think my team did exceptionally well and we fought to the very last second.”

There was some consolation later in the day for Victoria in the boys’ final, as they retained their title after beating Raffles Institution 6-4 in a rematch of the 2022 final, which VJC won 2-1.

Victoria had raced to a 2-0 lead in the first period but several defensive lapses allowed Raffles back into the contest, as the game was tied at 3-3 at the start of the third period.

VJC never panicked though and scored three times in the final 15 minutes to claim the championship. Their captain Anas Baeesa, 18, said: “We made sure we cut off all their shots and when we attacked, we put it all on the line. We did wonderfully and played our very best.”