ROADRUNNERS SHUTOUT PIRATES

By Michael J.A. Nauta Jr.

While most if not all schools are on a two-week break, athletes are getting a bit of rest time into their schedules. However, for boys participating in the Interscholastic Middle School Boys Soccer League, it’s still business as usual. On a bright Saturday morning and under scorching sun, student-athletes went to battle on the pitch.

Over at the Agueda Johnston field, the Pirates played host to the visiting VSAB Roadrunners. Both teams showed no signs of holiday fatigue and gave fans many things to cheer about. At the end of the match it was the Roadrunners who shutout their opponents for the 1-0 victory.

“These are a bunch of great kids,” said VSAB coach and school admin Stacy Sahagon. “Whenever you can get a bunch of these athletes to commit to showing up on a Saturday especially during break, they are automatically great kids.” Sahagon stepped in to coach her team as their originally hired coach is off-island.

The VSAB Roadrunners travelled to Ordot where they took on the hosting Agueda Pirates in Interscholastic Middle School Boys Soccer League action yesterday morning. The Roadrunners squeaked by the Pirates for the 1-0 victory.

Despite not showing any signs of holiday fatigue or blues, both teams got off to a slow start offensively. Neither was able to penetrate through the other’s defense. For the first ten minutes of the game no shots on goal were taken. It wasn’t till about midway through the opening period when the Pirates managed to earn themselves a few corner kicks. However, a tough back line led by VSAB’s Deante Delgado and goalkeeper Darren Kim kept the home team from finding the back of the net.

Things seemed as if the game would end up going into the halftime break with the score equalized at zero. However, the gift giving wasn’t quite over just yet as the Roadrunners managed to tack on a goal in the 23rd minute of regulation play. After a scramble at midfield, the Roadrunners managed to get a boot on the ball and cleared in the direction of Agueda goalkeeper Koby Pocaigue. Pocaigue looked to have a handle on the ball, but a misread had the last Pirate defender chasing the ball that eventually made its way through the goal.

(photo by Mike Nauta)

After returning from the break, a more aggressive Pirates team came out hoping to knot the score. However, despite good looks and timely breakaways, the Pirates just couldn’t get anything to go their way. In the 48th minute, Agueda’s Jesse Manglona took a zipping shot that looked to get past the Roadrunners defense. However, a quick and alert backup keeper in Raymond Cortez was there to deny the chance. On the ensuing possession, Jonathan Pangelinan had another chance at scoring only to get stopped yet again.

The rest of the game would have both teams playing hard and neither being able to post anything on the scoreboard. When the final whistle sounded, it was the Roadrunners who raised their hand victorious. The Roadrunners victory marks their second win of the season after having to forfeit a majority of their games. Middle School soccer league action resumes Monday with teams hitting the pitch and game times scheduled for 4:30pm.