MP United bags co-ed U12 title

MP United Football Club made sure there will be no playoff game for the championship in the co-ed U12 division of the 2015 NMIFA Youth Fall League after pulling off a 2-1 win over the persistent Tan Holdings FC last Saturday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field.

MP United’s Richard Steele, right, is up against two Tan Holdings defenders during the first half of their co-ed U12 division game in the NMIFA youth fall league last Saturday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Coming into last weekend’s crucial match, Tan Holdings FC was hoping to notch a win against MP United to force a tie in the team standings and send the battle for the division title to a deciding game.

Tan Holdings then boosted its bid for a rubber when it led at halftime, 1-0, off Taka Borja’s penalty kick in the 25th minute. Borja put Tan Holdings in the board after MP United’s Maaya Sato was called for a handball inside the box as players from the opposing teams scrambled for possession. Borja went on to unload a quick kick with the ball rolling toward the left corner of MP United goalie Cullen Taisacan, who dove for a save, but was not fast enough to get the leather.

Down and in danger of losing a chance to seal the championship early, MP United players and its official spent majority of the halftime break huddling inside the playing pitch, while Tan Holdings’ camp was on the sideline. Team manager Mayling Colombo was overheard telling the players to keep their heads up and end the game, while coach Kennedy Izuka gave the biggest motivation on the squad.

“Keep fighting. Don’t stop. We were in the same situation before and we managed to pull it through. We’ve done it before and we can do it again,” Izuka said.

At the resumption of the game, all MP United needed was to score one goal to tie the match and secure the division title.

Rintaro Miyawaki gave that to the eventual champion with the help of Jon Villagomez, who relieved Richard Steele early in the second game. The Miyawaki-Villagomez winning play came off a broken one, as the latter’s 18-yard free kick from the left side of the goal off a violation from Tan Holdings FC goalie Oliver Fajardo failed to create a shot from his teammates who were bunched up in the box. Villagomez’s free kick was instead anticipated by Jamison Alberts, who headed the ball back to the former’s side.

The MP United substitute then dribbled out of traffic and found Miyawaki cutting through Tan Holdings’ defense and passed the ball. Miyawaki was momentarily left open and went for a quick release just before Fajardo approached him. The ball rolled to the left corner with Fajardo too late when he tried to step back and slide for the save.

Miyawaki scored the equalizer in the 40th minute and seven minutes later he put the icing on the cake, connecting on a lob from midfield about 50 yards off another feed from Villagomez.

“I was kind of confident after I scored the first goal so when I was open at midfield, I kicked the ball hard and fortunately it went in,” said Miyawaki, who was the consistent scorer on the squad in the shortened fall season.

This season had teams playing only six games and MP United finished the double-round robin contest with a field best 5-0-1 win-draw-loss record. Tan Holdings slid to third with its 3-0-3 slate, losing the tiebreak to Kanoa. Kanoa won the deadlock for the second spot as its 5-0 victory gave the team 22 goals against the 16 of Tan Holdings. Paire placed last with its 1-0-5 card.

The victory against Tan Holdings allowed MP United to sweep this year’s co-ed U12 titles, as the latter also won the spring season, posting a 7-1-0 mark against 2-4-2 of Kanoa. The win also avenged MP United’s loss to Tan Holdings in the 2014 season and the former’s lone defeat in this fall competition. Tan Holdings ruled the fall season last year after earning a 6-2-1 mark against the 6-1-2 of MP United.

Meanwhile, joining Miyawaki, Villagomez, Sato, Steele, and Taisacan on the roster of the back-to-back champions are Dylan Cho, Daniele Colombo, Jeremiah Diaz, Akira Kadokura, Erie Kate Ortega, Reginals Pascual, Sam Ryu, and Rinto Takahashi.