Paire wins playoff preview against Kanoa

Paire Football Club’s Daniel Agulto, right, tries to control the ball during an earlier game against TanHoldings FC in the Division A of the 2018 Spring M-League at the Hopwood Middle School Field. (Contributed Photo)

Pairs Football Club will go to this weekend’s playoff game versus Kanoa FC with momentum on its side following a 5-1 victory in their final outing in the regular season of the 2018 Spring M-League last Sunday at the Hopwood Middle School Field.

Four different players scored for Paire with Yogesh Singh drawing first blood after scoring in the eighth minute. Daniel Agulto, Patrick McCallion, and Trey Dunn also delivered for Paire in the 31st, 49th, and 72nd minute, respectively, while the team got an own goal in the 57th. Kanoa avoided a shutout loss, thanks to Andruw Omelau’s shot in the 86th minute.

With the victory, Paire finished third in Division A after earning a 4-1-4 win-loss draw record, while Kanoa is at the bottom with its 0-2-6 slate, tying Winners & Pacific at No. 7. Paire and Kanoa will collide anew this Saturday at the Hopwood pitch, starting at 3:30pm to battle for one of the two remaining semis berths in the division.

Top finisher MP United (8-1-0) and TanHoldings (6-2-0) got the two automatic semis slots, while No. 4 Teen Ayuyus (3-3-3) and No. 5 Okadaya (3-1-5) will dispute the third Final Four ticket, also this Sunday at 1:30pm.

TanHoldings and MP United engaged in a draw, 2-2, in the other Division A game last weekend.

Louie Calayag saved MP United’s unbeaten record after scoring the equalizer in the 86th minute.

TanHoldings seemed headed for a victory and ready to hand MP United a loss in the regular scored after taking a 2-0 lead. Emmanuel Aniana and Martin Jambor scored in the 69th and 72nd minute, respectively, for TanHoldings.

Enrico del Rosario then cut the deficit to one with his shot in the 80th minute, while Calayag tied the match six minutes later.

DIVISION B
U16 WNT 6, KFAS 5
The U16 Women’s National Team pulled off an upset over division leader Korean Football Association on Saipan last Sunday at the Koblerville Elementary School Field.

The U16 WNT leaned on a strong start to take the close win and deny KFAS a clean record. KFAS finished the regular season with a 9-0-1 slate, while the U16 WNT improved to a 4-1-5 mark for fifth place in the team standings.

Angie Ito and Paulynn Joyce had two goals each for U16 WNT, while Katrina Costales added one for their 5-1 halftime lead. Oliver Lee drilled the lone goal for KFAS in the first half and went on to have a hat trick adding two more in the second in a failed attempt to recover and keep their perfect mark.

Juan Oh and Jeff Seo logged the two other goals for KFAS, while Sharmaine Francisco hit one for the U16 WNT to foil their foe’s comeback bid.

Despite the loss, KFAS still got the outright semis berth, joining Matansa (6-2-2) to the Final Four. The U16 WNT, on the other hand, must beat Shirley’s FC (4-1-5) this Sunday at the KES pitch to move to the next round.

Sun Palace (4-1-5) and Pacific Islands Club (0-1-9) will duel for the other semis berth this Sunday.

In other results in the division, Matansa forced Shirley’s to a draw, 2-2.

Kamrul Kamrul nailed the game-tying goal in the 48th minute, while Young Ha Hwang scored the first one for Matansa in the 26th minute. Jedidah Peteru and Jun Liu posted the pair of goals for Shirley’s.