BELIZE CITY, Mon. June 15, 2015–While our National “A” Team made the nation proud yesterday with our first step forward to the 3rd Round of World Cup 2018 Qualifiers, the future stars are in one “helluva” battle at the MCC Grounds, where only 2 more weeks remain in the regular season of the 2015 Smart 13 & Under Mundialito. The top 4 regular season teams will go on to the one-game knockout semifinals; then the two remaining teams will play a home-and-away championship Finals.
12 teams are in the tournament, making 11 games each in the single round-robin regular season. Week 9 games were played this past Saturday, June 13, and competition was fierce, with only one game showing more than 1 goal scored.
In the opener on Saturday, Collet Strikers got the 1-nil win over Face of Belize on a goal by Michael Palacio. Game 2 was a 0-0 draw between City Boys and London Strikers. In game 3, undefeated front runners, Brown Bombers maintained their unblemished record, handing previously undefeated Rising Stars their first loss by a 3-0 margin, 2 goals coming from leading goal scorer Jovaun Ramos and the other by Nigel Matus. Game 4 saw Charlston FC picking up their first victory of the tournament when they clipped Third World, 1-0, on a goal by Tasheed Henry. In game 5, Heights FC held 3rd ranked Hattieville Youth FC to a 0-0 draw, forcing Hattieville into 4th position in the standings. And in the much anticipated game 6, 2nd place Young Warriors prevailed, 1-0, over playoff hopeful Ladyville Jaguars, with a goal from Joshawn Flowers, keeping the Jaguars knocking on the door at 5th place.
Two very interesting match-ups this coming Saturday are Hattieville Youth FC vs Ladyville Jaguars, as both are in contention for the 4th playoff spot; and the clash between the only two undefeated teams, 2nd place Young Warriors and 1st place Brown Bombers.
Saturday, June 20, MCC
9:30 a.m. – Hattieville Youth FC vs Ladyville Jaguars
10:15 a.m. – Third World vs Collet Strikers
11:00 a.m. – Young Warriors vs Brown Bombers
11:45 a.m. – Charlston FC vs Face of Belize
12:30 p.m. – Heights FC vs City Boys
1:15 p.m. – Rising Stars vs London Strikers
Top goal scorers so far in the tournament are Jovaun Ramos (9 goals) of Brown Bombers and D’Jon Canelo (7 goals) of Ladyville Jaguars.