By James Sablan
james@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
KANOA Football Club celebrated twice as hard last week after triumphing in both of their matches held Friday and Sunday, putting them on top of the Marianas Soccer League 2 leaderboard with three wins. The games were played at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.
On Sunday, Kanoa bested Hana Football Club, 2-0. Both goals came late in the second half.
After a scoreless first half, the battle for control continued well into the second. By the 50th minute, Kanoa was finally rewarded for their relentless efforts as they gained possession and began pressing for the opening goal.
Within the next three minutes, KNFC broke down HFC’s defense and found Jerome Mettao deep in enemy territory with enough space to slip past the goalkeeper for the first goal in the 53rd minute, 1-0.
HFC tried to even the score but struggled to create any scoring opportunities. KNFC continued to ride the momentum and, in the 68th minute, connected on their second goal by Jaydee Jose to widen the gap, 2-0.
Although there was still time, HFC failed to equalize and instead settled for defeat at the hands of KNFC.
On Friday, KNFC shut out Bangladesh Football Club, 4-0.
Richeng Xian drew first blood in the 13th minute of the first half, while Jerome Mettao kept the fuel burning with the second goal in the 62nd minute. Hojin Woo then solidified KNFC’s victory with back-to-back goals in the 70th and 80th minutes.
