Strong debut for Matansa, Kanoa

A Kanoa Football Club player kicks the ball in front of a Shirley’s FC defender during the second half of their boys U15 division game in the 2018 NMIFA Spring Youth League last Saturday at the Koblerville Elementary School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Matansa Football Club and Kanoa FC cruised past their respective opponents in the opening week of the 2018 NMIFA Spring Youth League last Saturday at the Koblerville Elementary School Field.

Kanoa played in the last game in the triple-header in the boys U15 division and topped Shirley’s FC, 6-3, while in the second match, Matansa dominated TanHoldings FC, 8-1.

Brian Lubao delivered a hat trick in his first game this season to power Kanoa past Shirley’s. He made his three goals in succession in a span of three minutes to foil Shirley’s comeback bid in the second half. The Kanoa striker’s first goal came in the 66th minute, while the last two were recorded in the 67th and 69th.

Merrick Toves nailed Kanoa’s other goal in the second half (39th minute) and also logged the team’s first in the game in the 23rd minute, while his younger brother Markus hit the board in the 33rd. Shirley’s three goals were courtesy of Elijah Villanueva, Daniel Jay Duenas, and Rakib Hasaan in the 48th, 51st, and 70th minute, respectively.

In the Matansa-TanHoldings one-sided match, Razeff Altamirano was on target for the winning squad after firing five goals. He had a hat trick early in the first half to lift Matansa to a 5-0 halftime advantage. TanHoldings, after being shut down in the opening frame, got its lone goal in the match in the 55th minute, thanks to Reginald Pascual’s shot.

Meanwhile, MP United completed the opening week winners list after slipping past Paire, 4-3.

Rintaro Miyawaki drilled the go-ahead goal in the 51st minute after John Villagomez tied the match three minutes earlier. Miyawaki also drew first blood for MP United with his conversion in the 13th minute and forced an early deadlock after Kaden Church scored for Paire in the 10th minute.

Paire failed to knock in a single shot in the remaining minutes of the first half, while Oliver Fajardo and Jason Quimson earned goals in the 15th and 33rd for MP United’s 3-1 edge at the break.

When the game resumed, Paire fought back and knotted the count anew with Blake Mister and Villagomez scoring in the 42nd and 48th minute, respectively. However, the standoff did not last long, as Miyawaki countered in the 51st minute and MP United went on to keep its shaky lead and win its season debut.

CO-ED U13
MP United 6, TanHoldings-2 2
MP United also prevailed in its first game in the co-ed U13 division after outclassing TanHoldings-2 at the Hopwood Middle School Field.
Garett Weaver had a pair of goals for MP United, while Andrew Chung, Cody Shimizu, Dev Bachani, and Richard Castro added one each. Monico Claridades and Anthony Austria made the two goals for TanHoldings-2.

Kanoa-1 4, Kanoa-2 1
In the battle between two sister teams, Kanoa-1 won over Kanoa-2.

Four different players hit the board for Kanoa-1 with Andrew Sablan starting things off for the squad with his goal in the 38th minute. Taehun Han added one more for Kanoa-1 in the 44th minute, while the final two came from John Mark Anastacio and Sean Gil in the 45th and 54th minute, respectively.

Kanoa-2’s lone goal was courtesy of Zoie Nicole Gray, who found the back of the net in the 34th minute.

TanHoldings-1 5, Matansa 4
Mark Joseph Roque scored in the 48th minute to hand TanHoldings-1 a close win over Matansa.

Roque’s dagger came three minutes after Matansa’s Alex Megino tied the match and his goal was one of the four that TanHoldings-1 registered to bounce back from a 1-2 deficit at the break.

Matansa had the lead at halftime, thanks to Philip Megino and Jin Wen Xin’s goals in the sixth and 21st minute. Ariel Narvaez tallied the first goal for TanHoldings-1 in the 12th minute, while Harry Domulat’s goal in the 32nd minute evened up the match.

Philip Megino then scored anew in the 36th minute to reclaim the lead, however Anthony John Bergancia countered two minutes later for another deadlock, while Domulat’s second goal in the 41st minute gave TanHoldings-1 the advantage. Philip’s brother, Alex, tied the match for the third time, but TanHoldings-1 had the last say with Roque’s game winner.