QISN Champions!

Friday and Saturday, the local Qingdao International School Network high school soccer tournament took place, with our Dolphins winning every match they played and taking home both championship trophies.

The boys team played strong both days of the tournament, keeping clean sheets with zero goals scored against them. Team dynamics were strong as the players communicated, made space for passes and controlled the field.

The lady Dolphins took the championship for the second year in a row, defending their QISN title with panache as they finished with large point differentials in almost all of their games. Communication, team work and strong fundamental skills brought them victory!

While the entire tournament was exciting to watch, the boys semi-final game against QAIS had our hearts in our throats. Neither team scored during regular play time, so per tournament rules, the boys went to a shootout. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as the shootout progressed to the 7th man before the Dolphins finally won the match. Assistant Coach David Hu said about the championship game, "I told the boys we’ll just win straight-forward, no more penalty shootout. My heart can’t handle this."

Dana (G11) felt differently about the shootout: "One of the best parts of this tournament was the moment after the boys’ semi-final win. This game had gone into penalties and was very intense. After Karo saved the last penalty, all the girls, coaches, and other players went running onto the field to celebrate."

Coach Sandor reflected on the tournmament: "It's not just about winning the tournament, but it's also about achieving victory by following our own strategic approach. We had a well-defined plan, and we stuck to it throughout. [The players] performance both tactically and in terms of attitude was truly remarkable, and [they] upheld our ISQ values until the end."