MPU, Kanoa keep clean slates; Paire wins

Paire Football Club’s Yasuda Tadaomi, third left, protects the ball from Matansa’s Amzhad Khan, left, during the first half of their Division A game in the M-League last Sunday at the Oleai Sports Complex. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

MP United Football Club and Kanoa FC retained their unbeaten records in the fall season of the M-League, while Paire FC got its first win last Sunday at the Oleai Sports Complex Field.

MP United improved its win-draw-loss mark to 2-0-0 following a 1-0 victory over TanHoldings FC in the second Division A game last weekend. Jonathan Takano scored the lone goal in the match in the 53rd minute to hand TanHoldings its first loss in three matches.

In the last Division A tiff, Paire bounced back from its season debut loss to TanHoldings after shutting down Matansa, 2-0. Chris Nelson knocked in the pair of goals for Paire, including a low header off a pass from Ryu Tanzawa in the 18th minute. Nelson posted his second goal also in the first half, as he found his target anew in the 35th.

The Matansa-Paire tiff was shortened as center referee Jersh Angeles halted the game in the 63rd minute following a bad fall from the former’s Josiegen Soquena who collided with a Paire player during a corner kick play. Medics arrived at the pitch to check on Soquena just when the sun was starting to set and the opposing teams agreed to call it a day. Matansa absorbed its third loss in as many matches, while Soquena, fortunately, is fine after receiving immediate treatment from the Emergency Medical Services staff members.

In the first Division A match, Sun Palace improved to a 2-0-1 record after edging Korean Football Association on Saipan.

Hojin Woo drilled the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute, while Hyunjun Roh made the equalizer in the 59th. Earlier in the 17th minute, Edwin Kim hit the board to give KFAS the shaky lead at halftime. KFAS played its first game of the season.

Meanwhile, in Division B, Kanoa now holds a 3-0-0 mark after crushing the winless Dragon FC last Sunday, 13-0.

Andruw Omelau led Kanoa’s demolition of Dragon FC (0-0-3) after scoring four goals in succession in the first half, which ended with the division leader way ahead, 7-0.

In the other Division B match last Sunday, the CNMI U16 Boys National Team and Shirley’s played at the Hopwood Junior High School and settled for a 1-1 draw.

Anthony Fruit gave the NMI U16 its only goal in the match in the 10th minute, while Kosuke Sato’s shot in the 20th allowed Shirley’s to tie the game. With the match ending in a draw, as both teams were quiet in the remaining minutes of the first half and the entire second, Shirley’s and the NMI U16 now hold similar 2-1-0 slates.

The NMI Women’s-Thundercats duel last Saturday at the Oleai pitch also finished in a draw. Jeraldine Castillo scored for NMI Women’s (0-1-1), while the Thundercats (0-1-2) drew their lone goal from Norman Camacho.