Hopwood 2 vs San Antonio in IFL finals

Hopwood Junior High School-2 players and their coaches huddle after beating William S. Reyes Elementary School, 6-0, in the girls division semifinals of the 2015 NMIFA U12 Interscholastic Football League yesterday at the Hopwood pitch.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Hopwood Junior High School-2 and San Antonio Middle School arranged their title duel in the girls division of the 2015 NMIFA U12 Interscholastic Football League after shutting down their respective semis opponents yesterday at the Hopwood pitch.

Hopwood-2 made it to the finals first following a 6-0 victory over 2014 champion William S. Reyes Elementary School, while San Antonio followed suit after a 2-0 win against Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School.

Four different players scored in Hopwood-2’s demolition of the dethroned champion WSR, which took last year’s crown after nipping Garapan Elementary School in the finale, 2-1. Katrina Costales and Paulynn Joyce drilled two goals apiece for Hopwood-2, while Jerlyn Castillo and Lovely Loyola chipped in one apiece.

Loyola put Hopwood-2 on the board in the seventh minute, while the team’s next two goals in the 20-minute first half came from Costales and Joyce, who found the back of the net in the 16th and 19th minute, respectively. Castillo then opened things up for Hopwood-2 with her shot in the 23rd minute, while Costales got her second in the 28th, and Joyce duplicated the feat six minutes later. WSR failed to produce goals on its counter attack against the defense of the Jude Loste and Zachariah Johnson-coached Hopwood-2 and its goalie Rita Agulto.

In the other semis game, Marinel Falalimpa knocked in the pair of goals for San Antonio, which was coached by Nina Manglona, Dong Hwun Kim, and Clare Cruz.

MCS duels WSR in boys division
In the boys division, WSR earned a return trip to the finals following a 1-0 victory against San Antonio Middle School.

Leeroy Villagomez canned the lone goal in the match in the second half to give WSR a chance to take the championship that eluded them last year. The Kingfishers lost last year’s finale to Saipan International School, 1-2.

In the other Final Four pairing, Mt. Carmel School also eked out a 1-0 win against Hopwood-1 to make it to the finals of the annual league for the first time after missing the competition for the past three years.

Merrick Toves registered the lone goal early in the first half off a penalty kick. He canned the penalty to the right corner of Hopwood-1 goalie David Myers.

Toves and the Knights advanced to the semis after placing second on the Northern Group with its 4-0-2 win-draw-loss record. WSR topped the group after posting a 5-1-0 slate. On the Southern Group, Hopwood-1 was the first finisher with its 5-1-0 mark, while San Antonio took the No. 2 spot with its 4-1-1 card.

The Mt. Carmel-WSR finale will be played tomorrow at 10:30am at Hopwood Pitch 1, while on Pitch 1, Hopwood-2 and San Antonio will dispute the girls tiara.