Southern United, Kanoa in dogfight

Southern United Football Club and Kanoa Football Club are breathing down in each other’s neck going into the homestretch of the double-round robin competition in the girls U16 division of the 2019 NMIFA Spring Youth League.

Southern United clobbered Matansa FC, 9-1, in last Saturday’s match at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville for the former’s win No. 6 and the lead in the six-team field. At close second with five victories is Kanoa, which defeated TanHoldings, 5-2, in the other game in the division.

Three more playing weeks are left before the season champion is decided and Southern United and Kanoa are likely to remain in a dogfight the rest of the way. Southern will next face Paire on April 27 and then TanHoldings on May 3 before battling Kanoa in probably the division title-deciding game on May 10. Kanoa before dueling Southern will first square off against Matansa (April 27) and MP United (May 3).

Kanoa had its old reliables delivering in its victory over TanHoldings. Paulynn Joyce and Khristelle Itaas scored two goals apiece, while Shairmaine Francisco added one. Alyssa Mae Angeles recorded the twin goals for TanHoldings, as the team knotted the count at the break before Kanoa gained cushion at the resumption of the match, courtesy of Joyce’s pair of goals and Itaas’second.

As for Southern United, it also leaned on its key player—Keisha Deleon Guerrero—to crush the hapless Matansa. Deleon Guerrero logged seven of Southern United’s total goals, including six straight. She started her string of goals right in the third minute and she finished the half with four against only one from Matansa—off Barbara Peteru’s conversion in the 28th minute.

Despite Southern United having control of the match, Deleon Guerrero was not done yet, as she knocked in back-to-back goals at the start of the second half. Mariana Castro also hit two straight goals before Deleon Guerrero closed out for the winning squad.

In other results in the division, MP United eased past Paire, 7-0.

Stella Lou McCallion powered MP United to its second win after making a hat trick. She scored in the fourth, 30th, and 50th minute. Lilian Podziewski contributed two, while Audrey Castro and Maury Zon Tybaco chipped in one each.

GIRLS U19
Kanoa 5, TanHoldings 2
Kanoa boosted its title bid in the division after keeping its perfect record following a win over TanHoldings last Friday at the TSL Sports Complex.

Kanoa notched its sixth win—two more than the second-running MP United with only two matches left in the double-round robin contest.

Joyce fired three goals in the victory, while Francisco and Sue Ann Huevos also hit the board for the unbeaten team. Mia Carreon and Jenny Ann Capayas scored for TanHoldings.

MP United 7, Matansa 2
MP United got win No. 4 after dominating Matansa in the other match in the division.

Brittany Wally led MP United with her three goals. Wally got a lot of support from her teammates, as Guinevere Borja added two goals, while Anela Duenas and Katrina Costales had one each.

In contrast, only Peteru scored for Matansa with her goals in the 21st and 41st minute.