Matansa Yellow, Kanoa Orange triumph in futsal

Tan Holdings Green’s Renita Fleming, center, stops the ball, while Matansa Yellow’s Maile Aldrich steps in for defense during the first half of their game in the SSS futsal league at the TSL Sports Complex. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Matansa Yellow downed Tan Holdings Green in the second match, 4-2, while Kanoa Orange edged Shirley’s Blue in the curtain-raiser.

Kanoa Orange built enough cushion in the first half of the 50-minute match to prevent Shirley’s Blue for making a comeback. Kanoa Orange drilled seven goals in the first half with four of them coming from Irish Pagarao. Jurinah Navarro added three to give Kanoa Orange a 7-4 halftime lead. Diana Maniacop had a hat-rick for Shirley’s Blue in the first half, while Nica Gariguez scored the other goal.

Maniacop was still at it in the second half, firing two more goals, while Marilou Gariguez also lit up the board, but Shirley’s Blues’ three goals were not enough to overhaul the three-goal deficit they faced at the break. Irish Pagarao canned two more goals for Kanoa Orange in the second half for the insurance.

In the second game, Matansa Yellow drew goals from three different players to beat Tan Holdings Green. Bernadette Horey had a pair, scoring in the first and second quarters, while Elna Curate added one in the second and Pinyarat Shanweiler hit one in the first half. Renita Fleming scored the lone goal for Tan Holdings, avoiding a shutout when she found her target in the second half.

Meanwhile, in the men’s division game last Thursday, the Thundercats and Sun Palace posted contrasting wins.

The Thundercats outclassed Matansa in the first match, 3-2. Hobin Lee led the Thundercats, drilling two goals in the first half. The Thundercats other goal was also registered in the first half, courtesy of Don Cabrera.

Mohamad Hafizul Islam and TJ Gurung found the back of the net, too in the first 25 minutes of play, but both were without goals in the second half, as Matansa fell short of forcing a draw.

In the second game, Sun Palace had four goals apiece in the opening and closing halves to win its first match in the league at the expense of Kanoa Orange, 8-3.

Piao Heng Guo lifted Sun Palace to its debut win after making a hat-trick in the second half. Cai Hu and Jin Jihu chipped in two goals apiece while Guang Lin Li added one. Jack Phan scored a pair of goals for Kanoa Orange in the first half, while Kosuke Sato tallied the team’s only goal in the second.

Kanoa Orange absorbed its first loss in the division, failing to duplicate its 5-4 win over Matansa during the league’s opening last Sept. 18. In the other game in the opener, Shirley’s whipped the Thundercats, 7-3.