MPU U15, Tan Holdings U18 advance

Tan Holdings Football Club U18 and MP United Football Club U15 teams are the only two squads left standing on the eastern bracket of the 2014 FA Youth Challenge Cup and will battle for the last finals seat in the annual competition tonight at the Oleai Sports Complex Field.

Tan Holdings U18 advanced to the semifinals following a 5-0 trashing of its women’s team last Saturday also at the Oleai pitch, while MP United U15 booked a semis ticket earlier after nosing out Paire FC U18 in a penalty shootout, 5-4, last Thursday.

MP United U15 goalkeeper Clayton Izuka, seen here calling out a player during an earlier game in the 2014 NMIFA Fall League, made a diving save in their 5-4 win over Paire FC U18 in the FA Challenge Cup last Thursday at the Oleai Sports Complex Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

MP United U15 moved a win away from barging into the finals and arranging a title duel with its U18 squad after getting a big defensive stop from goalkeeper Clayton Izuka. The MP United goalie dove for a save at the left corner, denying Paire’s Dai Podziewski the game-tying goal.

MP United was the first to attempt in the penalty shootout with Edwin Kim connecting one against Paire goalkeeper Ethan Dickinson. Paire’s Won Jun Kim retaliated to even up the match anew, while Cody Leon made it two in a row for MP United to regain the lead.

Next up at the penalty area was Paire’s Joel Fruit and he too completed the attempt to force the fourth deadlock of the match. Alex Park then put MP United on top again before Paire’s Ivan Seo answered back for Paire. Keeanu Diaz made it 4-for-4 for MP United, however the team failed to keep the lead with Dickinson scoring against his fellow goalkeeper.

With the game still tied and each team left with one player to hit the winning shot, Bada Lee stepped into the penalty area and kept MP United’s streak to put more pressure on Podziewski. The Paire player then had a good shot, but Izuka reacted quickly for the game-saving dive.

Earlier in regulation, Lee scored in the 78th minute for the second standoff. Paire forced the first deadlock, 1-1, as Fruit got into the board in the 36th minute, 14 minutes after Michael Lee scored MP United’s first goal. Paire went on to end the first half hanging on to a slim 2-1 lead as Dickinson hit his target in the 41st minute.

Meanwhile, in the other playoff pairing last Saturday, it was an all-Tan Holdings U18 show with Inkyu Choi leading the squad.

Choi had a brace, knocking in his first goal right into the fourth minute of the lopsided match. Tan Holdings U18 team registered the next two goals in a span of five minutes with Yoshi Mafnas making it to the board in the sixth minute and Choi gaining his second in the 11th. Tan Holdings wrapped up the first half with one more goal, courtesy of Se Young Kim, who found the back of the net one minute before the first frame concluded. Tan Holdings’ lone goal in the second half came from Ryan Relucio, who lit up the board in the 61st minute.

Meanwhile, the winner of the Tan Holdings U18-MP United U15 tiff at 6pm tonight will challenge MP United U18 in the winner-take-all finale this Saturday at 1pm at the Oleai pitch. The loser will play Matansa FC U18 in the battle for third place also this Saturday at 10am at the Hopwood Junior High School Field.

MP United U18, which won the last three editions of the Challenge Cup, secured the first finals berth in this season’s competition after crushing Matansa FC U18, 8-0, last Saturday.