Marandola, Robbins help team win 3-on-3 Regional crown

By Pete Fontaine
Posted 8/25/16

To say that Johnston girls like Kiley Marandola and Julia Robbins get quite the kick out of soccer would be an understatement. So much so, in fact, Marandola and Robbins - along with Warwick's Catherine Clements, Smithfield's Sabrina

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Marandola, Robbins help team win 3-on-3 Regional crown

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To say that Johnston girls like Kiley Marandola and Julia Robbins get quite the kick out of soccer would be an understatement.

So much so, in fact, Marandola and Robbins – along with Warwick’s Catherine Clements, Smithfield’s Sabrina Maggiacomo and Cumberland’s Jenna Thomas – are in an elite class of champions when it comes to the unique sport of 3-on-3 soccer.

The quality quintet, which is coached by Johnston resident Crystine Marandola and plays under the banner of The Blue Rebels, recently staked a claim to the championship in the 152-team New England Regionals that were played at Forekicks Marlborough in Massachusetts.

“This was an amazing accomplishment,” Marandola noted after The Blue Rebels racked up 675 points, the same total as that of the Hurricanes in the Girls Silver Division, whose players were born in 2003. “The Blue Rebels are a new team and this was only the second time our girls have played together.”

In their first outing, The Blue Rebels outdueled the Mass Hysteria of Connecticut, 6-4, then whitewashed the Plattsburgh, New York, Blazers, 10-0 in Game 2.

Then in Game 3, which was played under hot and humid temperatures, Marandola’s squad earned a hard-fought 2-2 tie with the Golden Eagles from Connecticut. In the championship game, The Blue Rebels toughed out a 3-2 victory, and thus qualified to play in the 3-on-3 Nationals that are scheduled for Nov. 26-27 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Perhaps even more impressive, is that The Blue Rebels – who are now ranked No. 1 in the 2003 Silver Group – also qualified for the Disney Three-on-Three Live Championship that will be played on Jan. 14-16 at the Disney World Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida.

What also made The Blue Rebels championship run so extraordinary was that the 3-on-3 New England Regional was played in near unbearable hot and humid temperatures that seemed to intensify because of the artificially turfed field.

“By the final game, the girls were pouring water on their (soccer) shoes to cool off,” Marandola explained. “The girls turned in amazing performances and this was the second tournament they’ve won, the first being played back in July in Cumberland.”

When asked about 3-on-3 soccer, Marandola explained that “this unique game of 3-on-3 soccer is a variety of soccer played between two teams with each squad only allowed to have three girls on the field at a time. The style of soccer is more commonly referred to as a ‘small-sided’ game, as compared to a full game with larger teams.”

She also noted that the 3-on-3 soccer field is smaller than a regulation soccer pitch, instead it typically is 30 yards wide by 40 yards long, although those dimensions vary quite a bit when the game is played indoors due to the varied styles of indoor pitches.

The game of 3-on-3 soccer, Marandola also noted, uses a much smaller goal than full-sided soccer, and in most matches, there is no keeper, although one variant, 3-on-3 micro soccer, does use a keeper.

Moreover, 3-on-3 soccer is claimed to be the fastest growing form of soccer in the world, with its greatest popularity coming in the United States.

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