PRESS RELEASE – A narrow 5-4 win over the Paintco Strykers “A” team was enough for the Orange Crushers to take sole possession of first place in the IT&E Men’s Futsal League late Sunday afternoon at the Guam Sports Complex Gym.

The Paintco Strykers “A” team’s goalkeeper J.R. Campos leaps to block the ball off the head of the Orange Crushers’ Kyle Mesa in an IT&E Men’s Futsal League match at the Guam Sports Complex Gym. The Crushers take sole possession of first place in league standings with a 5-4 victory over the Strykers “A” team. (courtesy photo)

The Crushers Jaime Ortega earned his team’s first goal six minutes into the match after Strykers A goalkeeper Julius Campos was unable to fully grab the arched shot. Three minutes later, the Strykers A’s Hiro Asoshina took advantage of a free kick awarded to his team, sending a hard shot past Crushers keeper Ryan Shipman to knot the contest.

Stanley Rice regained the lead for the Crushers after accurately heading a kick-in from teammate Jon Odell for the score with less than 15 minutes remaining in the first half. Odell later extended his team’s lead to 3-1 and teammate Marco Napoli made it a 4-1 contest getting the ball in the goal past Campos, who attempted to slide kick the ball away.

Asoshina later scored again in the half to keep the Crushers at bay before the halftime whistle.
The Crushers’ Travis Onderko struck first in the second half after going unmarked on a kick-in and finishing with a successful one-on-one play against Campos.

Asoshina completed his hat trick 13 minutes into the half and later assisted a Randy Santos goal for the final score with a little over seven minutes left to play. The Crushers played an exhilarating tight defense for the remainder of the game for the victory.

With the win, the Crushers stand alone at the top of the league standings at 5-0 and the Strykers A team falls to third place at 4-1.

After battling to a 6-6 draw Friday against the Cobras, the undefeated Quality Distributors team takes second place with an 8-6 win over FC Shotguns. Take Inoue and James Bush scored twice for Quality and teammates Shawn Spindel, Brian Pritchard, Kaito Inoue and Ryan Gordon each scored one goal. Corey Hoefling, Joe Laanan and Don Merfalen each scored twice for FC Shotguns.

FC Shotguns’ Joe Laanan attempts to get around the
defense of Quality Distributors’ Take Inoue in an IT&E Men’s Futsal League match at the Guam Sports Complex Gym. Quality defeated the Shotguns 8-6. (courtesy photo)

In other games, the Cobras blanked the Strykers B team 15-0. Jan Flores led the Cobras with five goals and Joedee Reyes earned a hat trick. Eddie Lorenzo scored twice and teammates Fred Alig, Fred Alig, Sr., Joaquin Sablan and Kioni Aflague each scored once. The Cobras other goal was a Strykers B own goal.
Guam Shipyard’s Don Weakley saved his team with two goals in the last five minutes of play to eke out a 4-3 win over Doosan FC. Weakley also scored Shipyard’s two other goals in the first half. Bernard Bansil and Kevin Hashimoto scored for Doosan. Doosan’s other goal was a Shipyard own goal.

Men’s futsal action takes a break during the East Asian Cup and Women’s East Asian Cup preliminary competition at Leo Palace, which will pit the Matao, Guam men’s national team, against CNMI and Macau and also the Masakåda, Guam women’s national team against CNMI and Hong Kong. The complete tournament schedule is available to view on Guam Football Association’s Facebook page.

The next futsal game will be played at 6 p.m. on July 27, pitting the Cobras and Doosan at the Guam Sports Complex Gym.