MP United, Kanoa win in U12 opener

MP United Football Club and Kanoa FC prevailed in the opening matches in the co-ed U12 division of the2015 NMIFA Youth Fall League last Saturday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field.

Participants in the MP United FC Summer Football Camp pose for a photo at the Navy Hill Field. Some graduates of the program are now playing for MP United’s co-ed U12 team, which won its opening game in the 2015 NMIFA Youth Fall League last Saturday. (Contributed Photo)

MP United played at Pitch 1 against Paire FC and eked out a 4-3 victory, while over at Pitch 2, Kanoa dominated Tan Holdings FC, 9-3.

Rintaro Miyawaki registered two goals for MP United, which managed to earn the win against Paire despite failing to hit the board in the first half. Reginald Pascual and and Dylan Cho chipped in one goal apiece in MP United’s victory in the season opening week.

Paire’s three goals all came from Kaden Church, who lit up the board first with his conversion in the 29th minute to give his team a shaky 1-0 lead at halftime.

Miyawaki tied the match in the 34th minute with his first goal in the game and MP United went on to take the upper hand a minute later off Pascual’s shot. However, MP United’s stay on top was short-lived as Church got his second goal in the 36th minute to force the second deadlock.

The back-and-forth match continued with Miyawaki also nailing his second goal in the 39th minute to put MP United on top anew, 3-2, while Pascual’s goal in the 50th gave the team cushion. Church’s third goal a minute late trimmed MP United’s advantage to one, but that was it for Paire.

In the other U12 pairing, Kanoa cruised to victory behind the hat-trick of Jaydee Jose.

Jose started the lopsided match with back-to-back goals in the 10th and 13th minute. His first goal tied the match and came after Kohtaro Goto scored first for Tan Holdings in the seventh minute. A Taka Borja shot in the 16th minute allowed Tan Holdings to equalize, but Kanoa answered with two straight goals and regained the lead at halftime with Ian Maniago and Jose finding the back of the net in the 21st and 23rd minute, respectively.

Kanoa pulled away in the second half, tacking on five more goals against only one from Kanoa. John Anastacio made it a 5-2 lead off his goal in the 34th minute, while Merrick Toves dropped back-to-back (41st and 46th) to widen the gap before Tan Holdings ended its silence in the second half, thanks to Goto’s goal in the 52nd. Kanoa closed out the match with two more goals in a span of three minutes with Maniago nailing his second in the 56th minute and Brian Lubao scoring in the 59th.

Meanwhile, Northern Mariana Islands Football Association will announce today or early Saturday whether matches this weekend will be played as scheduled.

“NMIFA is monitoring the weather situation and will determine the effect of the conditions that will prevail tomorrow, Friday, when Tropical Storm Champi is at its closest point to Saipan. Depending on the severity of the conditions, I will try to make an announcement late Friday night or early Saturday morning if any of the youth league schedules will be cancelled. For example, morning matches may be cancelled but the afternoon games may still be played. Our fall season is a short one so the Youth Committee would like to avoid any cancellation,” NMIFA general secretary Ross Zapanta said in an email sent to all participating clubs.

Ten matches are scheduled in Week 2 of the youth fall league. In the boys U18 division, Paire and Matansa are set to play at 2:30pm at the Oleai Sports Complex Field, while in the second game at 4:15pm, MP United will duel Tan Holdings. Over at the Hopwood pitches, Kanoa will collide against Paire, while MP United will meet Tan Holdings in the other co-ed U12 pairing.

Also scheduled at Hopwood are the three matches in the girls U15 division and one in the boys U15. In the girls U15, Matansa will face Shirley’s at 2:30pm at Pitch 2, while Pitch 2 will host the MP United-Tan Holdings tiff at the same time, and Kanoa will play Paire at 4pm at Pitch 1. The lone boys U15 match at Hopwood at 10am will be between Shirley’s and Paire. The two other boys U15 game will be played at the Oleai pitch with Matansa battling Tan Holdings-1 at8am and Tan Holdings-1 challenging MP United at 10am.