Kanoa, Shirley’s FC-1 share Division B lead

A Kanoa Football Club player, right, beats two Matansa FC players to the ball during the second half of their Division B game in the M-League last Sunday at the Hopwood Middle School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Kanoa FC and Shirley’s FC-1 posted contrasting wins in the M-League over the weekend at the Hopwood Junior High School Field for a two-way tie in Division B lead.

Kanoa FC edged Matansa FC last Sunday, 1-0, while Shirley’s FC-1 eased past the CNMI Women’s National Team last Saturday, 4-1. Kanoa and Shirley’s FC-1 now have similar 3-1-0 win-draw-loss records to share the top spot in the eight-squad field. Matansa and WNT remain winless with the former dropping to a 0-1-3 card and the latter falling to a 0-0-4 slate to occupy the last two places in the team standings.

Jang Ha Kim scored the lone goal for Kanoa in the 50th minute to hand his squad its third win in four games. With Kim’s goal, Kanoa now has made 13 and has given up only six—the second least goals allowed in the division so far behind Shirley’s FC-1’s four. Kanoa had the most goals after four games, just ahead by one against Shirley’s FC-1 and Shirley’s FC-2.

Shirley’s FC-1 added four goals to its tally sheet after getting a pair from Jun Liu in their victory over the WNT. Fradel Sedillo and Wesley Bogdan registered the two other goals with the former putting Shirley’s FC-1 on the board early after knocking in one just two minutes into the match.

Sedillo’s goal tied the match as earlier in the first minute Britally Wally gave the WNT a goal. Shirley’s FC-1 went on to break the deadlock after Liu recorded his first goal in the 10th minute. Liu then made it back-to-back with his shot in the 38th minute, while Bogdan closed out for Shirley’s FC-1 with his goal in the 55th. The WNT, after drawing first blood, was frustrated majority of the match, failing to cash in on their repeated attempts to score.

Shirley’s FC-2 6, Thundercats 2
Shirley’s FC-1 is at close second in the team standings following its win against the Thundercats.

Shirley’s FC-2 improved its record to 3-0-1 after drawing a hat trick from Dhiraj Chhetri last weekend. Louis Yu, Jack Phan, and Tommy Kim registered the three other goals for the second-running team.

The Thundercats, on the other hand, got its two goals from Peter Oh and Davy Laxa. The squad is at the bottom half of the team standings, taking the No. 6 spot with its 0-2-2 slate.

KFAS 3, Sun Palace 1
Korean Football Association on Saipan is slightly ahead of the Thundercats in the rankings as the former seats at No. 5.

KFAS holds a 1-2-1 record after defeating Sun Palace (1-2-1). Edwin Kim and Jun Woo Lee gave KFAS it first win of the season after they scored against Sun Palace. Kim tallied two straight goals, earning his first in the 23rd and the second six minutes later. Lee’s goal came in the 38th.

Feng Yu handed Sun Palace its lone goal and it was posted right in the first minute of the opening match in Division B last weekend.