WSR vs Whispering Palms/Brilliant Star in IFL

William S. Reyes Elementary School, left, and Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School players battle for the ball during the second half of their semis game in the 2016 Interscholastic Football League U11 yesterday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

William S. Reyes Elementary School and Whispering Palms School/Brilliant Star School advanced to the championship game in the girls division of the 2016 Interscholastic Football League U11 after posting contrasting wins yesterday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field.

WSR shut down Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School in their semis game, 3-0, to clinch the second finals berth. WPS/BSS earlier took the first finals seat after winning via forfeit against Koblerville Elementary School.

Koblerville, WSR, GTC, and WPS/BSS made it to the semifinals after finishing in the Top 4 in the team standings following a round-robin regular season. WSR swept the elimination round, winning all its five games and scoring 41 goals while giving up only one.

WPS/BSS earned a 4-0-1 win-draw-loss record to rank second and collected 16 goals. Koblerville was third with its 2-1-2 mark, beating GTC in the tiebreak. Kagman Elementary School and Mt. Carmel School were the other teams that joined the girls competition and finished the regular season with 1-0-4 and 0-0-4 records, respectively.

The girls division finals will be played today at 10:30am at Pitch 2.

Over at Pitch 1 at the same time, it will be Whispering Palms/BSS versus Mt. Carmel for the boys division crown.

The Knights moved into the title game after outlasting WSR in a penalty shootout, 4-3. The WSR-MCS match ended in a scoreless draw after the overtime.

While Mt. Carmel played an extended game before gaining a finals ticket, WPS/BSS had an easier semis assignment after dominating GTC, 4-1.

WPS/BSS was the top finisher in the elimination round with its perfect 5-0-0 card and 14 goals. The first placer in the six-team field yielded five goals. Mt. Carmel ended up in second place with its 3-1-1 mark, but had the most goals with 23. WSR had the same mark as MCS, but dropped to third place as the Kingfishers tallied only three goals. GTC rounded out the Top 4 after registering a 2-0-3 record, while Koberville (1-0-4) and Kagman (0-0-5) completed the boys field.

Meanwhile, WPS/BSS’ Dylan Mister was ahead in the Golden Boot race after the elimination with his eight goals. Mt. Carmel’s Leopaldo Naraja and Mister’s teammate Casey Chambers were in second and third after getting seven and six goals, respectively. In the girls division, WSR’s Mary Joy Aniana and Sophia Quintos had 10 each.

The 2016 Interscholastic Football League is organized by the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association.