Paire rules Pacific Ocean Cup V

Participants in the Pacific Oceania Cup V pose for a photo at the conclusion of the one-day competition yesterday at the Navy Hill Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Paire stole the thunder from host MP United Blue after pulling off a 4-2 win in a shootout during their title game in the Pacific Ocean Cup V yesterday at the Garapan Elementary School Field.

Dylan and Blake Mister, Kaden Church, and Maui Johnson scored for Paire. Dylan was also the winning’s squad’s goalie. Twelve other players were listed on Paire’s roster for the co-ed U12 competition and they were Marty Taisacan, Dominic Torres, Max Church, Ethan Taisacan, Mateo Guerrero, Eric Lee, River Kramer, Erin Frink, Doris Ayuyu, Keisha Deleon Guerrero, Beckham Richards, and Casey Chambers. Cole Chambers coached Paire and was assisted by Logan Mister, while Derek Chambers was the manager.

MP United Blue, on the other hand, had Jeremiah Diaz and Dylan Kim on its roster and the two made one goal apiece in the shootout. Christopher Aninzo and Joshua Abragan were MP United Blue’s coaches, while Randy Steele was the manager.

MP United Blue and Paire advanced to the finals after placing in the Top 2 in the round-robin elimination. The visiting Vivid Blue from Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan finished third in the preliminary and also ended up at third place after shutting down Shirley’s FC,3-0, in the consolation match. MP United Silver completed the field.

The Sachiko Tahara-coached squad brought nine players to Saipan. The list include Ibuki Tanaka, Manato Soeda, Riku Kohno, Taiyo Mizuguchi, Haruto Yoneyama, Yuzuki Sakakura, Araki Araki, Hayato Tsujiya, and Kakeru Tomotaka. The visiting squad was triumphant in its opening game against Shirley’s 3-0 and it also prevailed against MP United Silver, 1-0. Vivid Blue lost to MP United Blue, 0-2, and settled for a scoreless draw against Paire.

Paire won its three other games to rule the elimination round, as they topped MP United Silver, 3-0, Shirley’s FC, 3-0, and MP United Blue, 1-0.

Meanwhile, Paire’s Dylan Mister took the Golden Glove trophy during yesterday’s awards ceremony, while MP United Blue’s Rintaro Miyawaki brought home the Golden Boot plum. Vivid Blue’s Soeda was awarded the MVP trophy.

MP United FC, which organized the weekend tournament, also recognized MVPs from each team. Julianne Hall was MP United Blue’s MVP, while other team awardees were MP United Silver’s Leo Takahashi, Vivid Blue’s Tomotaka, Paire’s Marty Taisacan, and Shirley’s Devin Igisomar.

This year’s Pacific Ocean Cup V was supported by IT&E, IP&E, Triple J Motors, Garapan Elementary School, I Love Saipan, DLNR, Shirley’s Coffee Shop, Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, V-Kool, Saipan Soccer School, Brother’s Oriental Clinic, and NDR Designs.