Fake Madrid nips Astig in shootout

Fake Madrid’s Lyka Sally, center, is hemmed in by Astig’s Alan Hinson, right, and Angel Sally, partially hidden, during the first half of their title game in the co-ed U15 division of the Saipan Soccer School futsal tournament last Sunday at the TSL Sports Complex. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Fake Madrid eked out a 1-0 shootout win against Astig in their thrilling co-ed U15 division finale in the Saipan Soccer School’s 2015 Christmas Youth Futsal Tournament last Sunday at the TSL Sports Complex.

Edwin Kim made the dagger in the second set of the shootout to finally hand the division championship to Fake Madrid after the opposing teams went through a draw in regulation and were still in a deadlock in the first shootout.

The championship game ended in a 3-3 draw after the 40 minutes of play. Alan Hinson knocked in the pair of goals for Astig, while Angel Sally scored the game-tying one in the second half. Fake Madrid got the three goals from Guinevere Borja, Lyka Sally, and Sunjoon Tenorio.

With the finalists still even after regulation, the match went into a shootout with Astig and Fake Madrid choosing five players each from their respective teams to take the kick against goalies John Bucayo and Christopher Aninzo.

Astig attempted first and Mareko Tekopua misfired against Aninzo, while Kim scored for Fake Madrid. Both teams then failed to cash in on their second try with James Ermitanio missing for Astig and Tenorio having the same misfortune against Bucayo.

After back-to-back misses, Astig was on target in its last three attempts with Angel Sally, Chad Shankweiler, and Bucayo stepping on the penalty area. On the other hand, Fake Madrid went 2-for-3, wasting an opportunity to win the finals right in the first shootout. Joshua Abragan and Aninzo converted their shots to knot the count, 3-3, while Lyka Sally faltered with Bucayo diving and using his body to block the ball and send the championship game into the second shootout.

In the deciding phase of the finale, tournaments rules indicated that the first team to find the back of the net first will win the match. Again, Astig attempted first, following its shootout order and Tekopua missed anew, as Aninzo pushed the ball out and up using both his hands. Kim was next in the pressure cooker and he rose to the occasion, unloading a shot to Bucayo’s left to power Fake Madrid to the hard-earned victory.

Rintaro Miyawaki and Bernadette Horey were the other members of the champion Fake Madrid, which was coached and captained by Chloe Salvosa.

The Fake Madrid-Astig finale was expected to go down to the wire, as they finished on top of the six-team field with similar 4-1-0 win-draw-loss records after the elimination. Astig managed to win the tiebreak for first place in the team standings with its more goals, 24-21.

The eventual finalists engaged in a draw, 1-1, in their lone meeting in the elimination. Tenorio scored the lone goal for Fake Madrid, while Tekopua did the same for Astig.

Aston Vanilla (2-0-3) finished third in the elimination, followed by Invictus (1-1-3), Kanoa Ali’i (1-1-3), and Betde (1-0-4). Aston Vanilla and Invictus played in the consolation game with the latter escaping with a 2-0 win in a shootout.

Thaiphi Austria and Diana Maniacop delivered the goals for Invictus. In regulation, Louie Calayag nailed the only goal for Invictus, while Rinto Takahashi made it to the board for Aston Vanilla.