Sun Palace, MP United edge foes

Sun Palace, right, and Hawaiian Rock/Paire players chase the ball during their Division A game in the M-League last Sunday at the Hopwood Middle School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Sun Palace broke into the win column, while MP United Football Club grabbed the lead in Division A of the M-League after last Sunday’s matches at the Hopwood Middle School Field.

Sun Palace nosed out Hawaiian Rock/Paire FC in the last game in the division, 2-1, while MP United downed the CNMI U18 National Team in the curtain-raiser.

Wongchel Lee knocked in the winning goal for Sun Palace in the second half to give his team its first victory this season after a 0-3 start. Jun Sik Kim made the other goal for Sun Palace right into the fourth minute of the match, while Shunji Nagayasu canned the equalizer for Hawaiian Rock/Paire FC in the 30th minute.

With the loss, Hawaiian Rock/Paire FC dropped to a 1-0-3 win-draw-loss record and joins Sun Palace at the bottom of the team standings in the six-squad field.

MP United moved up to first place as it now holds a 3-1-0 card after defeating erstwhile leader CNMI U18 National Team (3-0-1)

The IT&E and Transcend IT Solution-supported MP United drew goals from four different players to hand the Teen Ayuyus their first loss. CNMI National Team coach Micheteru Mita started things off for the new division leader with his goal in the eight minute, while Yoshi Mafnas gave MP United its second goal five minutes later.

A goal from John Michael Rojas in the 33rd minute cut MP United’s lead to one, 1-2, however Fumikaze Sukenari got the one goal back with his shot in the 40th minute. MP United then added one more, courtesy of Jonathan Takano’s conversion in the 43rd minute, while Rojas made his second goal eight minutes later.

Meanwhile, TanHoldings joined MP United and Sun Palace in the winners circle last weekend after beating Kanoa FC, 5-3.

Sean Perez had a hat trick to lift TanHoldings to its second win in four games and put the squad in third place in the team standings. Kanoa fell to fourth spot with its 1-1-2 mark.

Perez registered his first goal in the 19th minute and completed the hat-trick with his back-to-back shots in the 50th and 57th. His third goal broke the deadlock, while Mareko Tekopua’s shot a minute later gave TanHoldings the insurance. Joshua De Leon scored the other goal for TanHoldings in the 35th minute to put his squad on top, 2-1, after the first half ended in a tie.

Andreau Omelau’s goal in the 29th forced the standoff in the first half and he knotted the count anew when he got his second in the 41st. The Kanoa player then tied the match for the last time with his hat trick 10 minutes later.