Toves, Goto set pace

Posted on Mar 25 2020

: Toves

: Goto

Kanoa Football Club’s Markus Toves and TanHoldings Football Club’s Kohtaro Goto are the frontrunners in the Golden Boot race in the boys U16 division of the 2020 NMIFA Spring Youth League.

Toves and Goto have scored eight goals apiece after five matches in the three-round robin competition, which is suspended indefinitely due to the COVID-19 crisis. Toves managed to go on top of the leaderboard for the battle for the Golden Boot award after scoring three goals each in their 5-1 win over MP United Football Club last Feb. 29 and in their 9-0 demolition of Matansa Football Club last March 7. The Kanoa forward’s two other goals were registered in their pair of victories over MP United (5-1 win last Feb. 22 and 2-1 triumph last March 14).

Goto forced a tie with Toves after getting three goals in TanHoldings’ last match before the league was halted. Goto’s hat trick powered TanHoldings to a 4-1 victory over Matansa last March 14. The CNMI Boys U15 National Team member debuted this season with a two-goal performance in their 3-1 win over MP United last Feb. 15 and made one apiece in their victory against Matansa (5-3) last Feb. 22 and losses to Kanoa (2-6 last Feb. 29) and MP United (2-4 last March 7).

Meanwhile, Toves’ teammate, Jaydee Jose, is still in the thick of the fight for the Golden Boot award, as the latter has gained six goals after five games. Jose collected three in their lopsided win over Matansa last March 7 and one each versus Matansa, MP United, and TanHoldings in the Feb. 15, 22, and 29 matches, respectively.

Behind Jose in third place is TanHoldings’s Mark Joseph Roque (four goals), while Matansa’s Gabriel Arkoh, Kanoa’s Daniel Mar Pablo and Brian Lubao, and MP United’s Andrew Chung have three each. Three other MP United players—Devi Bachani, Richard Castro, and Jerick Quimzon—joined the list of players who has scored more than one goal this season, as they made two apiece.

In the team rankings, Kanoa, which is unbeaten in five games, has the most goals scored so far with 25. TanHoldings has 16, while MP United and Matansa have eight and seven, respectively.

The division is down to four playing weekends when the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association suspended the matches last week.

Roselyn Monroyo | Reporter

Roselyn Monroyo is the sports reporter of Saipan Tribune. She has been covering sports competitions for more than two decades. She is a basketball fan and learned to write baseball and football stories when she came to Saipan in 2005.

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