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M-League kicks off fall season tonight
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Posted on Sep 27 2018
Paire Football Club and MP United players collide as they battle for the ball during the title game in the Division A of the 2018 Spring M-League last June at the Hopwood Middle School Field. This fall season, the league will be playing majority of its games at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville. (Contributed Photo)
Spring finalist Paire Football Club and newcomer The Old B Bank will play in the opening game in the 2018 Fall M-League tonight at the NMI Soccer Training Center.
The kick-off match between the two teams entered in Division A of the CNMI’s premier men’s league will start at 6:30pm at the main pitch of the Koblerville facility.
Paire will have its first match of the season after falling short in its bid to win the spring championship following a 0-1 loss to MP United in the finals last June. The Old B Bank, though a new team, will have the holdovers from the Okadaya-sponsored squad that played in the league for the last two seasons.
Besides Paire and The Old B Bank, five more teams will be competing in Division A. MP United will have its season debut this Sunday as it takes on Kanoa Football Club in the 4pm match at the Oleai Sports Complex Field. Over at the main pitch in Koblerville, TanHoldings will challenge Matansa in the 2pm game.
Matansa was promoted to Division A after ruling Division B during the spring tournament. Matansa shut down Shirley’s Football Club in the finals, 3-0, to earn the division title and a slot to Division A. Korean Football Association on Saipan completes the Division A cast, drawing a bye in the opening week and it won’t be seeing action until next Sunday when it duels TanHoldings FC.
Matches in Division A will be played in two 45-minute halves with a 10-minute break. Format for the season is double round-robin with the team to top the rankings ending up with the league championship. A separate tournament—M-League Cup—will also be played at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Division B games will kick off this weekend with a pair of matches at the training center.
In the first match at 4pm, Shirley’s will be pitted against the CNMI Women’s National Team, while in the second game at 6pm, it will be Sun Palace versus Pacific Islands Club. Matches in Division B will be played in two 40-minute halves and the champion at the end of the season will be promoted to Division A.
