Geckos stick it to Knights in MS soccer
Saipan International School beat Mount Carmel School, 3-2, in Group B of the middle school division of the 2022-2023 NMIFA-PSS Interscholastic Soccer League last Tuesday at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.
Sean Park of SIS wasted no time and grabbed a hold of the ball as Geckos do on walls and scored the first goal in the very first minute of the game.
The rest of the first half was quiet as the Knights and Geckos duked it out on the field with neither team unable to score a goal.
A few shots were taken but none of them stuck until MCS finally found the back of the net in the 28th minute. However, Park found his footing once more and scored another goal for the Geckos to give SIS the lead once more, 2-1.
Leonard Delemarle of SIS tried to go for the goal a few times but his shots either hit the goal post or were blocked by the MCS goalie. Finally, Delemarle found the sweet spot and scored a goal 40 minutes into the game to make it 3-1.
With time winding down, victory seemed imminent for the Geckos as the Knights were only able to score a goal once more, for the final score of 3-2.
The win put Geckos up 1-0 in the standings, while the Knights are at 0-1.
The Gecko lineup includes Aiden Camacho, Dean Duenas, Daniel Joab, Theo Joab, Yutaro Kitagawa, Taiga Namai-Scoggins, Landon Pudney, Keoni Ruszala, Moshe Sikkel, Nason Wessel, Leonard Delemarle, Sean Park, and Akeen Edvalson.
HMS-1 12, TMS-2 1 In a battle between the north and the south, Hopwood Middle School 1 beat Tanapag Middle School to a pulp, 12-1.
The Hilitais’ Branson Santos and Nomulong Pino took turns attacking the net and scoring goals for their team.
In the first five minutes, Santos rushed through the goalie to score the first goal and was then immediately followed by Pino who scored three times in a row for an early lead of 4-0 in the first half of the game.
Santos found the ball right under his feet again and wasted no time to score and was followed by Pino once again who added two more for a big lead of 7-0.
The Tatagas still haven’t found their footing and were unable to get past the Hilitais’ defense and goalie. When it seemed like it would be a huge zero on the scoreboard for the final score, Jazzroy Villagomez finally broke through the phalanx of Hilitais defenders to score the lone goal for the Tatagas.
It was all for naught as TMS had no more goals in them to catch up. HMS 1 scored four more goals in the last minutes of the game, for the final score of 12-1.
HMS 1 lineup includes Majerson Assito, Emerson Brillo, Damien Concepcion, Kian Estolas, Bennet Haro, Benneton Haro, Jean Merjilla, Charles Molina, Mayten Pino, Nomulong Pino, John Peter Quidato, Alvin Saimon, and Branson Santos.
With this win, HMS 1 is at 1-0 and TMS 2 is at 0-1. Both are from Group B.
In Group A, Francisco M. Sablan Middle School is at 1-0, HMS 2 is at 0-1, Saipan Community School and TMS 1 have yet to play.
The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association coordinates the 2022-2023 NMIFA-PSS Interscholastic Soccer League along with the Public School System Athletic Program.
Published by Saipan Tribune - Sep 23 2022
