Sharon Ateya scored a sudden death goal to seal the victory for Khalaba at the inaugural Kenya Schools Lacrosse Championships held today at Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls secondary school ground.
The lanky fast player netted a brace in the 2-1 win against rivals Shitoto girls in the final match as they prepare for the world Under 19 Lacrosse championships in Canada come August.
Khalaba came from a goal down to secure the title that was graced by Canaan schools from Uganda and Messiah College from USA and Kenya Select.
Maurine Akhoywa scored the first goal in the 5th minute but Ateya, with her running skills leveled five minutes later to force the match into the sudden death.
With her speed, she challenged defenders to shoot in the top right corner to hand her school the first ever Lacrosse title on Kenyan soil.
“I am happy to have handed the title to our school. The challenge was tough but we have managed to handle the pressure hence the title,” said Ateya.
Khalaba edged Shibale 2-0 in the semifinal while Shitoto beat Moi Girls Eldoret 2-0 to book for the final play.
Khalaba had topped pool A ahead of Moi Girls Eldoret while Shitoto led pool B beating Shibale to second position.
The game was introduced to Western schools before spreading to part of Rift Valley.
According to the game co-founder Fredrick Obongi said they had to introduce the game to girls because, most of the time, they are neglected in major sporting disciplines.
“Though we have introduced to boys, but we started with girls to bring them closer to the boys who have enjoyed many sports disciplines across the world,” said Obongita.
Results
Finals
Khalaba 2-1 Shitoto
Semifinals
- Khalaba 2-0 Shibale
- Moi Eldoret 0-2 Shitoto
Preliminaries
Pool A
- Mukumu 0-2 Canaan
- Khalaba 2-0 Eldoret
- Mukumu 0-2 Khalaba
- Canaan 7-0 Khalaba
- Canaan 4-3 Eldoret
- Mukumu 0-3 Eldoret
Pool B
- Shitoto 5-1 Moi Girls Nangili
- Shibale 1-0 Bishop Sulumeti
- Sulumeti 1-1 Nangili
- Shitoto 3-0 Shibale
- Nangili 1-1 Shibale
- Shitoto 3-0 Sulumet