Koblerville, GTC dispute title

Mt. Carmel School, right, and Koblerville Elementary School players chase the ball during their semis game in the 2019 NMIFA Interscholastic Soccer League last Tuesday at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Koblerville Elementary School and Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School will slug it out for the elementary division championship in the 2019 NMIFA Interscholastic Soccer League.

The Umangs advanced to the finals following a 6-3 victory over Mt. Carmel School in their semis game at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville last Tuesday. In the other Final Four match played simultaneously with the Koblerville-Mt. Carmel tiff, the Binadus eased past the Garapan Elementary School’s Mallards, 7-1. The Umangs-Binadus finale will be played on Nov. 19.

Javen Camacho starred in GTC’s lopsided victory over Garapan after firing six goals. Camacho was on target right at the get-go, as he delivered his first goal in the opening minute of the semis match. He then got his second in the seventh minute and then closed out the first half with two more goals in a span of just a minute, as his third came in the 12th and the fourth in the 13th.

Garapan failed to counter in the first half and still struggled offensively in the second, as the Mallards’ first goal did not come until the 41st minute when Claude Ruben found his target. Despite ending its drought, Garapan was still behind, as Camacho earlier in the 30th minute lit up the board for the Binadus’ 5-1 lead.

Camacho was still at it late in the game, as he recorded his sixth goal in the 52nd minute, while Yutaka Kadokura wrapped things up for GTC after scoring in the 54th.

Meanwhile, Rosie Jean Saralu stood out in Koblerville’s semis triumph over Mt. Carmel after getting a hat trick.

Saralu made her first goal in the 19th minute to hand the Umangs a 2-1 lead. Koblerville’s other goal came from Jared Manahane in the 13th minute, while Jayson Tagabuel drew first blood in the semis match with his shot in the opening minute.

Tagabuel also recorded the second goal for the Knights, as he found his target anew in the closing minute of the first half to force the deadlock, 2-2.

The game remained tied in the early minutes of the second half, as both teams missed on their multiple attempts but Saralu kept pressing and her persistence prevailed, as she drilled back-to-back goals past the 30-minute mark of the game. The Koblerville player shattered the standoff in the 33rd minute when she won a battle for the loose ball and unloaded a cross with MCS goalie Michael Calvo reaching to his right, but missing the save, as the ball rolled in.

Saralu then made it a 4-2 lead for the Umangs in the 38th when she also went one-on-one against Calvo, who this time tried to push off the ball, but the leather just hit his fingers before dropping and going in.

Six minutes after Saralu’s hat trick, the Knights threatened the Umangs with Tagabuel also getting his third goal. However, that was it for Mt. Carmel, as Jerome Manahane quickly retaliated in the 47th minute, while Jerome Mettao’s shot two minutes later widened the gap en route to Koblerville’s semis win.

The Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School goalie gets ready to defend against a Garapan Elementary School player during their semis game in the 2019 NMIFA Interscholastic Soccer League last Tuesday at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)