Saipan Tribune

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Friday, March 15, 2013

3 teams notch big wins in M-League opener

Three teams started their campaign in the spring season of the M-League with a bang after beating separate opponents last Sunday at the Oleai Sports Complex Field.

MP United, which is now playing in Division 1 after ruling Division 2 of the inaugural staging of the M-League, stunned last season's Division 1 champion Tan Holdings, 5-2.

CNMI National Team member Joe Miller scored a hat-trick in the season opening week to lift MP United to the big win. Mickey Kim and Zheng Xu nailed the two other goals for MP United in the first half, while Miller also had one before the break for their 3-2 halftime lead.

Feng Chin Jin and Chi Ming Tan drained one goal apiece for Tan Holdings in the first half to keep MP United within striking distance. However, the Division 1 champion failed to neutralize Miller in the second half to hand the victory to MP United. Miller got his second goal in the 76th minute and completed the hat-trick four minutes later.

Wild Bill's 7, KFAS 4

Wild Bill's was the second team in Division 1 to have a strong opening game after routing Korean Football Association on Saipan.

Jack Thoensaket was unstoppable in Wild Bill's first game, canning the team's first four goals. He made it to the scoreboard less than two minutes after the match kicked off and got his second more than a minute later. The Wild Bill's strike knocked in two more goals (26th and 34th) for a 4-2 halftime lead.

Eung Soo Kim logged the pair of goals for KFAS, which managed to tie the match in the 64th minute after Yeong Gil Kim scored right into the first minute of the second half and Sang Ho Choi also drilled one 18 minutes later.

The game remained even for more than eight minutes before Tanapon Unsa found the back of the net in the 76th and Daniel Wollack made back-to-back in the 82nd and 83rd.

Paire 2, Inter Godfather's 1

In another Division A match, Paire edged Inter Godfather's.

Zhi Peng Lin posted both goals for Paire, while fellow youth player Jeff Palacios made the lone goal for Inter Godfather's.

Both teams had a hard time finding their form in their first game of the season, as neither squad scored for more than 40 minutes before Lin broke the ice in the 42nd. Palacios then nailed an equalizer in the closing seconds of the first half. Paire and Inter Godfather's continued to struggle offensive in the second behalf before Lin connected on the go-ahead goal in the 84th.

DIVISION 2

Sun Palace 2, Matansa 0

Sun Palace duplicated Wild Bill's and MP United's strong starts, as the former debuted with a 2-0 shutout victory over Matansa.

Panapa Peteru made the first conversion for Sun Palace, scoring in the 39th minute, while Resty Vergara posted the other goal in the 63rd.

Shirley's FC and Kanoa collided in the other game in Division 2 last Wednesday, also at the Oleai pitch, with the latter cruising to a 4-1 victory.