Private schools top NEA Cup

Students from private schools and their coach Yuji Ochiai pose for a group photo after winning the 2016 National Elite Academy Cup held last Saturday at the Koblerville Elementary School Field.
(Contributed Photo)

A team made up of private school students ruled the 2016 National Elite Academy Cup after edging William S. Reyes Elementary School in a shootout in the finals, 2-1, last Saturday at the Koblerville Elementary School Field.

Whispering Palms’ Max Church and Brilliant Star School’s Audrey Castro scored for private schools in the shootout. Richard Castro, also of Brilliant Star, was the goalie of the winning team in the shootout, while other members of the squad were Whispering Palms’ River Kramer, Dylan Mister, and Erin Frink, Saipan Community School’s Kaito Rechucher, Saipan International School’s Andrew Chung, Brilliant Star’s Aubrey Castro, and Mt. Carmel School’s Andrew Sablan and Markus Toves.

Toves, who won the MVP award in the tournament, earlier nailed a goal for the Eddie Ochiai-coached private schools in the first half of the finale, while Daniel Pablo hit the equalizer for WSR in the second half.

With the match tied at regulation and neither team scored in the extra time, the finals was decided via shootout with WSR attempting first and Richard Castro blocking Brian Lubao’s kick. Sablan was up next, but his shot was also foiled by WSR goalie Oliver Fajardo, while Church put his team on the board. Anthony Bergancia then evened up the match anew, but that was it for WSR, while Audrey Castro made the go-ahead for the eventual champions.

The private schools students were undefeated in the weekend’s tournament, which culminated NEA’s training program that started last May 16. Northern Mariana Islands Football Association staff members and other volunteer coaches conducted the program, visiting the various elementary schools on Saipan on weekdays from May 16 to June 3 to develop the players’ skills.

At the end of the training sessions, the participating schools competed in the NEA Cup and were grouped into two for the elimination round. Group A had the private schools, Koblerville, Garapan, and San Vicente, while WSR led Group B and was pitted against Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, Kagman, and Oleai.

WSR earned a 3-0 mark in the pool play after clobbering Kagman, 7-0; edging GTC, 2-0; and nosing out Oleai, 1-0. GTC finished with a 2-1 mark to join WSR in the crossover semifinals, while Oleai and Kagman ended up with 1-2 and 0-3 marks, respectively, in Group B.

In Group A, the private schools had an unblemished 3-0 record after starting their string of wins with a 1-0 victory over Garapan and also beating Koblerville, 2-1, and San Vicente, 2-0. Koblerville took the other semis ticket in the group with its 2-1 slate.

In the Final Four, the private schools shut down GTC, 2-0, to arrange a final showdown against WSR, which also blanked Koblerville, 4-0, in the other semis pairing.