MP United sweeps opener

 MP United Football Club got off to a rousing start, as its two teams demolished their respective foes in the boys U15 division of the 2011 NMIFA Youth Football Fall League at the Oleai Sports Complex Field last Saturday.

In the curtain-raiser, MP United 2 shut out Shirley’s FC 1, 17-0, while MP United 1 crushed Matansa FC in the second match in the opening day of the fall league, 11-1.

MP United U, which is composed of the club’s new recruits and its players who already graduated in the U12 league, gave debuting coach Brad Ruszala a big win at the start of the competition.

The first game of the season was already in the bag for MP United 2 as early as in the opening frame when it led, 11-0.

Ryu Tanzawa led MP United 2’s attack, scoring four goals, while Daniel Lim and David Kim chipped in three each. Ruszala also drew two goals from Bob Kim and one each from John Choi, Greg Sablan, Ryan Kim, Julian Pellegrino, and Ho Joon Lee.

In the second game, the defending champion MP United 1 picked up where it sister team left off, whipping Matansa.

Jehn Joyner scored back-to-back goals to start the match and then had another one in the latter part of the first half to lift MP United 1 to a 6-0 halftime lead. Ryota Ito, a new recruit for MP United 1, also made his presence felt in his debut, firing two goals, while Jake Lee had one goal in the first 45 minutes of the game.

In the second half, coach Norman del Rosario’s wards continued to be aggressive on offense, drilling five more goals. Joyner connected on three more goals, Andrew Johnson contributed one, while Lee scored MP United 1’s last goal with only six minutes left in the match.

Sean Perez gave Matansa its lone goal in the game.

Three matches were played in the opening of the fall league with Paire FC battling Tan Holdings FC in the third and last game of the day. Results of the match were unavailable at press time.

The boys U15 division has seven teams with Shirley’s 2 drawing a bye in Week 1 of the league.

Earlier before the U15 games, the boys U18 division kicked off with Paire FC pulling off an upset over defending champion MP United, 3-2. Detailed information about the lone U18 tiff that was also played at the Oleai pitch was unavailable at press time.

Other age group competitions in the fall league-co-ed U6, U8, U10, and U12, and girls U15-also kicked off last Saturday at the various school fields on Saipan. However, results of the U6 to U12 age groups will not be compiled as these competitions are for development purposes only, while results of the girls U15 were unavailable at press time.

Tan Holdings was scheduled to duel Matansa in the first match at the San Antonio Elementary School Field, while MP United was set to collide with Paire in the second game.