By Asha Marie Robles
The John F. Kennedy Islanders are making a statement in this seasons IIAAG Boys High School Soccer league after demolishing the St. John’s Knights 6-3 at the Knights home field Saturday evening.
“For today, I think we were a little bit sloppy throughout the beginning of the game. Yeah, we had a good first goal, but after learning from the mistakes we made, we started playing more as a team and had a lot of great passes as well as runs,” stated senior Agustin Choi who scored two of the six goals that the Islanders made.
He added, “We’ve been working hard in practice all week with great exercises in ball control, which helped a lot in today’s game. We actually got our entire team to play throughout game and had some great goals by them as well.”
The Islanders started off the game strong as Choi clinched in his team’s first goal as he blasted the ball into the net after receiving a pass from teammate Ryo Sakane.
“My first goal would not have happened without the help from my teammate Rio who assisted me as I found space and found the back of the net, which is something we also practiced a lot during our practices,” Choi stated.
Islanders Kyle Perez adds to the second half fire by scoring a goal in the first 25 minutes of the half. (photo by Robert Balajadia)
The Islanders would then again make another goal in the 26th minute of the game as senior Phillip Ogo shot the ball from the right side of the field, giving the Knights’ keeper a tough time trying to get his hands on it as he dove for the ball.
Trailing 2-0, the Knights gained a spark as David Okuhama scored from a hard low kick after beating an Islander defender and their keeper in the 31st minute. The Knights continued to play with more aggression as Gen Fudo almost had a goal after blasting the ball half field, which looked like it went into the goal after hitting the bottom of the top post but bounced back out. The shot was too hard for ref’s to determine whether it actually went in and was considered no goal.
With the score at 2-1 in favor of the Islanders, the Knights didn’t let up, as they would get the first goal of the second half from a killer header by Scotty Angoco after he received the ball from a corner kick in the 44thminute, tying the game at 2-2.
Islanders Nicolas Cabuhat fights for the ball against the Knights forward. (photo by Robert Balajadia)
The Islanders answered back with a goal by Sora Recella and another one by Choi all within the span of 3 minutes. Recella and Choi both banked in a hard low shot after going one-on-one with the Knights’ keeper. Choi had another great look at scoring less than a minute later, however a Knights defender blocked the goal, leaving the score at 4-2.
In the 60th minute, the Islanders went at it again as teammate Mason Manglona out ran the last Knights’ defender as well as the keeper and tapped the ball into the net leading his team 5-2. Less than a minute later, Kyle Perez would score the last goal for the Islanders as he blasted the ball into the goal from the left side of the field as numerous defenders blinded the goalie’s vision towards the shooter.
As the game nearly ended, the Knights would get one last goal by Fudo and the final score would become 6-3.
With the win, the Islanders now have a record of 2-0-1 as the Knights drop to 0-1-1.
PHOTO GALLERY:
Scotty Angoco scores off a header early in the second half. (photo by Robert Balajadia)
From what appeared to be a goal from Knights Gen Fudo was instead a close call for the Islanders goalie Albert Park. (photo by Robert Balajadia)
Knights David Okuhama fights through the defense for a goal late in the first half. (photo by Robert Balajadia)
Islanders Philip Ogo gives a thumbs up to his teammate after a nice pass. (photo by Robert Balajadia)
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