Sun Palace shuts down Thundercats

The Sun Palace goalie picks up the ball during an earlier game against Matansa in Division B of the M-League at the Hopwood Middle School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Sun Palace added to the Thundercats’ woes following a 3-0 victory in their Division B game in the M-League last Sunday at the Hopwood Middle School Field.

Three different players hit the board for Sun Palace to hand the team its third win against four losses and a draw. Taeho Kim, Jiju Jin, and Feng Yu scored for Sun Palace, which is at the bottom half of the team standings in the eight-squad field behind Shirley’s FC-1 (8-0-0), Kanoa (5-2-1), Shirley’s-2 (4-3-1), and Korean Football Association (3-2-3) and ahead of Matansa (2-2-4), Women’s National Team (1-0-7), and winless Thundercats (0-2-6).

Kim found the back of the net early with his shot in the third, while Jin made it a 2-0 lead for Sun Palace five minutes later. Yu also scored his goal in the first half, giving Sun Palace its third goal two minutes before they took the halftime break.

In other Division B results, Kanoa and KFAS handed WNT back-to-back losses, while Shirley’s 2 and Matansa had a draw.

KFAS was the last team to meet WNT over the weekend with the former pulling off a 4-3 victory.

Edwin Kim drilled a hat trick for KFAS, including the go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute. His two other goals came in the 48th and 51st minute, while Yeong Gil Kim posted the first goal for KFAS in the 38th minute.

KFAS faced a 0-1 deficit at halftime before it recovered in the second and stole the win. A goal from Diana Maniacop in the 10th minute gave WNT the slim lead and the squad managed to up the advantage to 2 when Brittany Wally scored in the 36th. Yeong Gil then moved KFAS within one, while Edwin’s first goal in the game forced the first deadlock.

Gillian Villagomez broke the standoff in the 50th minute, but Edwin retaliated a minute later to tie the game anew before completing his hat trick in the 53rd to hand KFAS the close win.

Earlier in the morning game, Kanoa also defeated WNT, 3-1.

Taka Borja stood out in Kanoa’s win after nailing all of the team’s three goals. He started his streak in the eight minute and his last two goals were recorded in the 33rd and 59th minute. WNT took the loss despite drawing first blood off Jeralyn Castillo’s shot in the fifth minute.

In the Matansa versus Shirley’s-2 game, Gabriel Arkoh scored for the former to deny their opponent the win. Arkoh knocked in the equalizer in the 59th minute, while Shirley-2’s lone goal came from Hojin Woo in the eighth.