Matansa’s Heman Addy and MD Arif Hossain control the possession as Kanoa’s John Quidato closes in during a U17 boys division game of the TakeCare Youth Soccer League Fall 2023 at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.
MATANSA Football Club prevailed against no. 2 seed Kanoa Football Club, 3-2, on Saturday to secure a seat in the U17 boys division finals of the TakeCare Youth Soccer League Fall 2023 at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.
Matansa quickly applied pressure at the start of the opening half. After five minutes of trial and error, they broke through Kanoa’s line of defense with Gino Asauo finding the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Kanoa then gradually controlled the pace with proper defensive coverage, allowing Maximus Taitano to slip a shot at the 11th minute mark to even the score, 1-1, going into halftime.
The action intensified during the second half. Matansa controlled most of the possessions as they were the quicker team. After a series of back-and-forth exchanges, they managed to create an opening which Jayvin Bishek capitalized as he connected his team’s second goal at the 52nd minute mark to regain the upper hand. They continued to ride the momentum with Heman Addy scoring his first goal of the day at the 61st minute mark to further extend the deficit, 3-1.
Kanoa pulled out all the tricks during the last 15 minutes of the match and closed the distance thanks to Sean Gil’s goal at the 73rd minute mark.
But they were not just up against Matansa, but against the clock as well, and had to eventually accept defeat, 2-3.
In the finals set for Sunday at 8 p.m., Matansa will face the winner of the semifinal match between Latte Football Club and MP United Football Club on Friday.
