Kanoa’s Aubrey Castro dribbles past a defender during a U17 girls division game of the TakeCare Youth Soccer League at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.
THE Kanoa men’s and women’s teams will vie for the U17 title of the TakeCare Youth Soccer League against Tan Holdings and Southern United Football Club, respectively.
In the semifinal match of the men’s division on Saturday, it came down to a shootout in which the Kanoa Football Club outscored MP United Football Club, (5)2-2(4) to advance to the finals.
Kanoa played aggressively and controlled the first half with Tyler Omelau finding the back of the net within the very first minute. Twenty-seven minutes later, Paul Lizama added a second goal to extend Kanoa’s lead, 2-0.
MP United, however, managed to seize the momentum after Casey Chambers drew a foul and scored via penalty kick at the 43rd minute mark.
Kanoa held their own for the remainder of the second half, but MP United’s constant pressure led to another Kanoa violation, allowing MP United’s Miles Linden to score off a penalty kick at the 80th minute mark to tie the game.
In the penalty shootout, both teams connected one shot after the other, but Kanoa was more consistent, converting all of its five attempts while MP United could only score four.
Paul Lizama, Tyler Omelau, Markus Toves, Ruben Guerrero, and Akoni Matsumoto scored the five goals for Kanoa while Cody Shimizu, Ian Song, Tristan Raho, and Miles Linden scored for MP United.
Tan Holdings vs. Matansa
The Tan Holdings Football Club secured a spot in the finals by overpowering the Matansa Football Club, 6-1.
Matansa grasped control early with a goal at the 10th minute mark in the first half courtesy of Jayvin Bisek.
But led by Christian Lucero and Mark Patubo, Tan Holdings took over the second and scored six goals to seal the deal, 6-1
U17 girls
The girls of Kanoa barged into the finals after trouncing Shirley’s Football Club, 9-0.
Kanoa was in control throughout the match. Their onslaught started at the first minute and was led by Beatrice Gross. Team mates Aubrey Castro, Kaithlyn Chavez, and Elikristiana Iglecias followed suit with a goal each to give their team a first half lead, 4-0.
Kanoa’s bombardment continued in the second half with five more goals en route to victory, 9-0.
In the finals, they will face the Southern United Football Club which on Saturday thrashed MP United, 21-0.
