Tight battle in two divisions of youth league

The race for the championship in the co-ed U13 and boys U18 divisions of the 2018 NMIFA Spring Youth League will be down-to-the-wire after results in last Saturday’s matches at the Hopwood Middle School Field were released.

In the co-ed U13, MP United Football Club and Kanoa FC-1 posted contrasting wins to threaten division leader TanHoldings-1, while TanHoldings and MP United are still neck-and-neck in the boys U18 group following their separate wins.

Kanoa-1 eked out a 4-2 victory over TanHoldings-1, 4-2, to improve to a 4-1-2 record. TanHoldings kept the top spot, but is just two wins ahead of Kanoa-1. MP United, with its 13-0 triumph over Kanoa-2, is breathing down TanHoldings-1’s neck, as the former now holds a 5-1-1 mark. Three playing weekends are left (including this Saturday’s matches) in the double-round robin competition and results of the remaining games will determine TanHoldings-1, MP United, and Kanoa-1’s chances for the division championship.

Leland Deleon Guerrero lifted Kanoa-1 to the upset over TanHoldings-1 after delivering a brace. He scored in the 23rd and 52nd minute, while Ian Kurt Maniago and Andrew Sablan added one goal each in the 11th and 38th, respectively.

Mark Joseph Roque made the pair of goals of TanHoldings-1 with his first coming in the 31st minute and the second a minute later.

In the MP United-Kanoa-2 duel, the former rode on the shoulders of Dev Bachani to beat the latter. Bachani recorded five goals for MPU, which got three from Andrew Chung, two from Evan Mendiola, and one from Richard Castro.

In other results in the co-ed U13, Matansa notched its fourth win in seven games after shutting down TanHoldings-2, 5-0, Alex Megino led the easy win after making a hat trick, while Pia Ngewakl and Chanyang Woo chipped in one each.

BOYS U18 TanHoldings 7, Kanoa 0 TanHoldings blanked Kanoa in the second game to remain undefeated this season.

TanHoldings now has a 4-1-0 slate—the same mark MP United holds, but the former is slightly ahead in the goal difference, 26-24. Jonathan Capayas bagged three goals, while Mark Sablan contributed two, and Mareko Tekopua and John Michael Rojas tallied one each in TanHoldings’ lopsided win. Capayas had back-to-back goals, making them in the 27th and 28th minute, while his last came in the 74th.

MP United 8, NDT 0 MP United also earned a shutout win against the National Developmental Team to stay in the hunt for the division championship.

Rintaro Miyawaki powered MP United to the easy victory after drilling four goals. He opened the scoring for MP United in the second minute, got his second in the 20th, and the last two in the 59th and 60th. Jonathan Lim added a brace, while Joshua Abragan and Sunjoon Tenorio posted one apiece.

Published by Saipan Tribune - Apr 12 2018