HONIARA, GUADALCANAL, Solomon Islands - Fresno Pacific women's soccer goalkeeper Ayana Kirisimasi continued making history with the American Samoa women's national team this week, having won their next two FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying matches. The pair of 1-0 victories, on Friday against Solomon Islands and Monday against Samoa, were enough to guarantee advancement to the third and final round of qualifiers. Kirisimasi started in goal both games for American Samoa, and played the full 90 minutes in each.  

"All glory to God, first and foremost!," Kirisimasi said following Monday's match. "None of this would be possible without our faith and I thank God that I'm a part of such a hardworking and passionate team."

The American Samoa women made history in November by notching their first-ever competitive victories in federation history, 3-0 and 4-0 wins over Tonga and the Cook Islands, respectively, in the first round of the Oceanian section of World Cup qualification. The second round saw a large uptick in quality of opponents, as Solomon Islands are reigning OFC Nations Cup champions and Samoa are ranked 50 spots higher than American Samoa in the latest FIFA world rankings. Kirisimasi denied numerous scoring chances, keeping a clean sheet in both performances, and even drew praise from head coach Amanda Cromwell in her post-game remarks.

Up next for Kirisimasi and company is a clash with OFC region powerhouse, New Zealand, on Thursday in Honiara. By virtue of winning their first two games of the qualifying round, the result against the Football Ferns will not impact their advancement to the next round of qualification. The winner of that contest will advance to the semifinal round April 11-15 in New Zealand to face the Group B runner-up, while the loser would face the Group B champion. Group B is comprised of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu. The two semifinal winners will compete for an automatic berth into the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, while the runner-up will enter into FIFA's inter-confederation playoffs for a final shot at qualification. Where things stand now for the American Samoa team, a World Cup berth is becoming more realistic each and every day.

"We have so much love and trust for each other," Kirisimasi added. "All we want to do is give back and honor our country by continuing to make history winning and advancing to the next round of qualifiers! It's been such a surreal journey and I can't wait to see what's next for us!"

The Sonoma State transfer joined the FPU women's soccer program ahead of the 2025 season. Appearing in 13 games due to injury and starting 11, Kirisimasi made 61 saves on the season, notched four clean sheets, and her 4.69 saves per game was third-best in the conference. She was named PacWest Defender of the Week following a pair of clean sheets to go along with 12 combined saves against Hawai'i Pacific and Chaminade.

FPU Athletics will continue to cover this exciting story. Stay tuned in April for results from the final round of qualification.


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