The 2015 OFC Under-17 Soccer Championship that is underway at this time here in American Samoa (Group B) and Samoa (Group A) has had two blowouts here in American Samoa, while the games have had much closer scores in Samoa.

Right after American Samoa was defeated 13-0 by Vanuatu this past Tuesday on the opening day in Group B play, Team Tonga was battered by the Solomon Islands 10-1. Tonga did manage to keep the score somewhat low in the first half (3-1) and even scored the first goal of the game. Unfortunately for Tonga, it was their only goal of the game.

In the second half, the Solomon Islanders were able to gain more momentum and were led by Larry Zama who scored one goal in the first half at the 21st minute mark and three more in the second half (50, 75 and 85 minute marks) on their way to victory.

Today with a scheduled starting time of 1:00 p.m. Vanuatu will be playing Tonga, while American Samoa will face off with Tahiti at 3:30 p.m. with all games taking place at the Pago Pago Soccer Stadium.

In Group A play — taking place in Samoa yesterday, Papua New Guinea and Fiji faced off against one another. Despite good play from both sides, this match ended in a 0-0 tie; the first tie of the championships. The average score from winning teams in Group A (Samoa) is 5, while in Group B the average number of goals scored for winning teams is 11.

Samoa News was not able to get the score of the other two scheduled games from Group A as of press-time, that had New Zealand going against Samoa, while New Caledonia squared off with the Cook Islands.

The Football Federation of American Samoa (FFAS) continues its invitation to the public and to all of the different communities to come out and support their favorite team at the Pago Pago Soccer Stadium.

Samoa News will continue with the latest updates in this year’s 2015 OFC Under-17 Soccer Championships from January 13-27.