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MP United closes in on division crown
A MP United FC player, second left, tries to get away from a Kanoa FC defender during their boys U17 game in the first round of the NMIFA youth league at the Hopwood Middle School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
The boys U17 division championship is within MP United Football Club’s reach after it beat Matansa FC, 2-1, in their game in the NMIFA Youth Spring League last Saturday at the Hopwood Middle School Field.
Oliver Lee and Edwin Kim delivered the goals for MP United, while David Mafnas made the lone shot for Matansa. Mafnas found the back of the net in the 25th minute to put his team on top and Matansa went on to remain in the driver’s seat in the entire first half and until the first few minutes of the second.
Lee then hit the equalizer in the 48th minute, while Kim knocked in the go-ahead in the 67th to lift MP United to the important win.
With the victory, MP United now has a 7-0-0 win-draw-loss record in the five-team field. The defending spring champion has one more game left in the double-round robin regular season and would only need a draw against TanHoldings (6-0-1) next Saturday to clinch the division championship. A loss will put MP United in a tie with TanHoldings for first place and the winner of the boys U17 crown will be decided by a playoff game.
In the other boys U17 match last Saturday, Kanoa and Paire engaged in a draw, 1-1.
Paire forced the standoff, thanks to Dai Podziewski’s goal four minutes before the 80-minute match wrapped up.
Neither team scored in the first half while Andruw Omelau broke the ice seven minutes into the final frame to give Kanoa the shaky lead.
With the draw, Kanoa kept the No. 3 spot in the team standings with its 2-2-4 slate, while Paire is still at the cellar and has yet to win a single game with its one draw and six defeats. Matansa is just slightly ahead of Paire with its 1-1-5 mark.
Meanwhile, despite failing to score in their victory over Matansa, MP United’s Sunjoon Tenorio is still ahead in the Golden Boot race with his 11 goals. TanHoldings Mark Esalan is in second place with six, while Tenorio’s teammate James Kim is ranked third with his four goals.
In the team tally, MP United has the most goals so far with 29 and has yielded the least (two). TanHoldings also had a 20-plus output with its 21 and has allowed six, while Matansa and Kanoa have seven apiece, and Paire has scored only three so far.
