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Competitive first day of 2013 FFAS Futsal League

It was a very competitive first day of the 2013 FFAS Futsal League that kicked off on Saturday, Feb. 2 at Samoana High School’s gymnasium in Utulei.With 17 teams competing in two pools, only three out of the eight games were blowouts.“Good luck to all the teams competing in our Futsal League for this year,” said FFAS CEO Tavita Taumua upon opening the competition.FFAS EXCO member, Rev. Ioane Evagelia, opened the competition with the starting forward tap after saying a short prayer.“It was a great first day and again I would like to thank our league sponsors Forsgren and the Laufou Shopping Center, Godinet Rentals and Kristopher’s Store for their help towards us and our competition,” Taumua said. “FFAS would like to thank Samoana High School for giving us priority use of their gymnasium.”The CEO also added that a goal for this competition is to possibly select a national squad to represent American Samoa at the OFC Futsal Championships in August of this year.POOL APool A’s first match was an easy win by Utulei Youth over Lion Heart B 7-1 while in other games it was Tafuna Jets B 2, Green Bay 2; Vaitogi United 4, Vaiala Tongan 1 and Taputimu Youth 3, PanSa 1. Pago Youth A sat out with a bye.UTULEI YOUTH 7, LION HEART B 1Ne’emia Kaleopa, Peter Harrington and Toko Siatu’u scored two goals each to help Utulei Youth to an easy 7-1 victory in the Futsal League’s opening match of the season.By the end of the first half they were leading 4-0.Scoring the lone goal for Lion Heart B was Hiva Tu’ulau.TAFUNA JETS B 2, GREEN BAY 2Green Bay scored first off of a Ryan Paaga goal 10 minutes into the match but the Jets B scored twice in a span of two minutes to take a 2-1 lead into the break.Scoring for Tafuna were Taylor Faumuina and Mark Pese but five minutes into the second period Paaga scored his second goal, and the equalizer, of the match.VAITOGI UNITED 4, VAIALA TONGANDespite the final score it was a very closely contested game with the first half ending in a 1-0 advantage for Vaitogi United.They made it 2-0 midway through the second period but a Tongan score five minutes later made it 2-1 with Vaiala getting fired up after they went up on the scoreboard.But in the last five minutes Vaitogi managed to pull away for the win. Mikey Unasa scored twice for United.TAPUTIMU YOUTH 4, PANSA 2Taputimu Youth looked to be on a blowout patch with a 3-0 lead after 14 minutes of play in the first period but PanSa managed to sneak a goal in with just under a minute remaining before the break.Both teams played to a 1-1 stalemate in the second half as Taputimu had done enough in the first half to win 4-2.Pan Kaleopa scored twice for Taputimu.POOL BFC SKBC managed to earn a come-from-behind win against the Tafuna Jets while in other games it was Pago Youth B 4, Ilaoa & To’omata 3; Atu’u Broncos 5, Kiwi Soccers 1 and Lion Heart A 9, Black Roses 3 in Pool B matches.FC SKBC 2, TAFUNA JETS A 1The Jets scored first, getting on the scoreboard with just three minutes remaining in the opening period after a frantic and very competitive back and forth for the first 17 minutes.But with only five minutes left to play in the match, FC SKBC managed to score two goals within a minute of one another to earn the comeback victory thanks to a brace of goals from Kenny Tupuola.PAGO YOUTH B 4, ILAOA & TO’OMATA 3Ilaoa & To’omata could not hold on to a 2-1 edge they had in the first half as they went on to lose 4-3 against Pago Youth B.Sefo Ulugia put Ilaoa & To’omata on the board with a strike in the 8th minute but Pago B’s Heston Lameta scored the equalizer four minutes later.In the 14th minute Shane Ah-Hing put Ilaoa & To’omata back up for a halftime lead of 2-1.Pa’upa’u Penitusi equalized for Pago B just two minutes into the second half but eight minutes later Teoni Teoni put Ilaoa & To’omata back in front for a 3-2 score.In the 35th minute Puni Samuelu scored the equalizer with a shot from distance and JR Amisone provided the game winner just a minute later.ATU’U BRONCOS 5, KIWI SOCCERS 1Atu’u took a comfortable 3-0 lead into the break that they never relinquished in an easy, 5-1 win over Kiwi Soccers.The goals were spread around with five different players scoring for the Broncos.LION HEART A 9, BLACK ROSES 3The Black Roses that won the Futsal league three years ago is not the same squad as the one that took to the court this past Saturday, as their team is a much younger version.With a young squad they could not handle the experienced Lion Heart A team that scored seven goals to one in the first half.Black Roses came back much stronger in the second period by holding Lion Heart A to only two goals while scoring two themselves.Charmany Fa’atupuinati had a field day with four goals while pal Ruben Luvu Jr. added a brace of his own.