Kanoa gets early lead; Paire wins

A Paire FC player, center, is doubled team by MP United 2 defenders during the second half of their game in the co-ed U12 competitive division of the NMIFA youth league last Saturday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Kanoa Football Club took the early lead in the co-ed U12 competitive division of the 2016 NMIFA Youth Fall League, while Paire FC continued its goal rush last Saturday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field.

Kanoa edged TanHoldings FC, 5-3, to for its second win in as many games and the No. 1 spot in the team standings of the five-squad field. TanHoldings dropped to a 0-1-1 win-draw-loss record.

Jaydee Jose had a pair of goals for Kanoa, while Merrick Toves and Ian Lubao contributed one apiece. Kanoa got a free goal from TanHoldings’ error. Jose nailed his first in the ninth minute to open up the scoring for Kanoa, while the team’s second goal came in the 13th after TanHoldings made a mistake.

Earlier in the 11th minute, Taro Goto knocked in his first goal, allowing TanHoldings to force a deadlock. However, that was the only time TanHoldings evened up the count, as Kanoa got another goal from Jose in the 18th minute for a 3-1 advantage. Goto’s second goal in the 22nd moved TanHoldings within one at the break, 2-3.

Kanoa then gained cushion when Toves found the back of the net in the 38th minute while Oliver Fajardo, who moved to the forward spot after playing goalie for TanHoldings lit up the board in the 39th to keep his team in the game. However, a goal from Lubao in the 45th gave Kanoa the insurance, while Tan Holdings failed to score in the last five minutes of the match.

In the other co-ed U12 competitive tiff, Paire, which sizzled for nine goals in their draw against TanHoldings in the league’s opening week, was still on target, routing the debuting MP United 2, 9-3.

Max Church led Paire with his four goals, while Dylan Mister and Maui Johnson chipped in two apiece. Erin Frink added one goal for the winning squad.

Church kicked off Paire’s offense with his two straight goals with the first recorded right in the opening minute and the second in the 21st. Church went on to complete a hat trick in the first half with his third goal logged in the 23rd, while Frink and Mister scored in the 22nd and 29th, respectively to lift Paire to a commanding 5-0 halftime advantage.

In the second half, Johnson earned his first goal for Paire’s 6-0 lead, while Garrett Weaver finally put MP United 2 on the board with his shot in the 42nd. Johnson made it back-to-back when he found his target in the 43rd minute, while the Weavers—Tori and Garette—handed MP United 2 two more goals, scoring in the 45th and 46th, respectively. Paire countered with two goals, too, with the penultimate coming from Mister in the 55th and the last from Church a minute later.

BOYS U17
TanHoldings 5, Kanoa 0
In the first game at the Oleai Sports Complex Field, TanHoldings eased past the debuting Kanoa.

Louie Calayag drilled a pair of goals for TanHoldings, which improved to a 2-0-0 record for the lead in the division. Mareko Tekopua, Jonathan Capayas, and Joshua Galario contributed one goal apiece.

Calayag hit his goals in consecutive fashion with the first registered in the 26th minute and the second six minutes later.

Tekopua also posted his goal in the first half (39th minute) for the team’s 3-0 halftime advantage, while Capayas and Galarion scored in the 45th and 77th, respectively.

MP United 2, Matansa 2
The second game in the division ended in a draw after Matansa’s Jun Sik Kim knocked in the equalizer in the 52nd minute.

Earlier in the seventh minute, Edwin Kim’s conversion gave MP United a 1-0 lead, while an own goal from the error of Matansa’s James Ermitanio made it a 2-0 cushion for MPU. Jun Sik Kim then moved Matansa within one with his shot in the 24th minute before he scored anew in the second half to force the standoff.

With the draw, Matansa now has a 1-1-0 record in the five-team field, while MP United holds a 0-1-1 slate.