St Ann's Rangers, St Augustine SC and Pt Fortin have each won their respective zones of the Trinidad and Tobago Women's League Football competition and will now contest the Big Eight competition from July 8 to determine the overall First Division champions.
On Saturday, Rangers shut out Tobago All Stars 3-0 via goals from Akeisha De La Rosa (15th and 76th) and Avenell Issac (45th) to take the North Zone First Division title by a point from the well-regarded Step By Step team.
Newcomers Rangers lost their opening match of the season 5-1 to Step By Step but improved tremendously as the season went along, winning four matches and drawing the other 3-3 with Step By Step.
Meanwhile, St Augustine won the East Zone on Saturday after seeing off Malabar Superstars 3-0 through goals from Naomi Guerra (55th) and Jenell Kissoon (65th & 80th).
St Augustine won four of six matches and finished two points clear of Sweater Touring Team. And Point Fortin Pioneers toppped South/Central where they played unbeaten, winning five games and drawing one match. Point Fortin finished with finished with 16 points, three clear of Debe High.
Following his team's North Zone victory on Saturday, Rangers head-coach Jason Spence is now eyeing the overall First Division title, which also promotes the winner to the Premier Division.
"We had a lot of celebrations," said Spence in an interview with ttproleague.com. "We went ahead and organised a little affair with non-alcoholic wines and so on because of the confidence we had before the game."
It was the first time in Rangers 32-year history, that the TT Pro League club pulled together a women's team and they have already enjoyed success on debut.
The squad includes former T&T national players Analise Cummings and Avanelle Issac as the experienced duo, while Maya Matouk, Darya Rodriguez, Samara Lezama, Kara De Souza, Tyricia Mc Donald, Astride Joseph, Tayna Harris, Gabriella Ryan, Tysha-Lee Spicer, Shanie Winner, N'Neka Harewood, Thaiz Smith, Shannon Archer, Chelsea-Marie Spence, Dhaakira Solomon, Keidi Brathwaite, Leah-Tisha Pope, Mequilla Hoyte, Asha Jones, De La Rosa, Tenesha Palmer, Della Joseph, Amanda Garcia, Ami-Joy Daniel, Sharain Cummings and Avion Gay complete Spence's roster.
"I got my talent base from the secondary schools and the North Zone area," explained the Rangers coach. "I basically skimmed the cream of the crop to make up my squad."
But as Spence and his team heads into preparation for the upcoming Big Eight matches, defender Thaiz Smith will not. The central defender suffered a broken right leg about 15 minutes inside the match against Tobago All Stars. Both the tibia and fibula broke in a collision according to Spence who added that Saturday's triumph came with mixed emotions.
North Zone runners-up Step by Step also moved into the Big Eight phase since the WoLF First Division takes the shape of a knockout, with the first and second placed sides in the North, East and South/Central Zones and the best two third placed teams making up the eight teams, separated into two groups.
Group One will host the East winners St Augustine, South Zone's Point Fortin Pioneers, North Zone runners-up Step By Step and one of the two best third-placed teams.
Meanwhile, Group Two includes North Zone winners St Ann's Rangers, East Zone runners-up Sweaters, South Zone runners-up Debe High School and another best third place finisher.
"I think our chances are great," said Spence of his team's chances of taking the First Division title. "I think we have grown well. The girls are very committed and now we are seeing a lot of improvement from when we started. They are now playing the way I want them to play."