Rovers Masters Regain Bud Light Co-Ed League Title

[August 27, 2016 – Harmon, Guam] – Rovers Masters regained the Bud Light Co-Ed Masters Soccer League title finishing with the best overall record at 9-1 despite dropping its final week match of league play Friday evening at the Guam Football Association National Training Center.

Last year’s champions, United Masters, managed to spoil a perfect season by the Rovers Masters, edging the 2016 champions 3-2 with a pair of goals by Takefumi Inoue and the eventual game-winner from Koharu Minato. Peter Houk and Julio Gonzales scored one goal each for Rovers Masters.

Inoue was in the running for the league’s Golden Boot award, but needed at least one more goal in Friday’s match to tie Rovers Masters’ Michael Tate with 20 goals for the season.

Tate eventually finished the race in first place, followed by Inoue with 19 goals for the season. Thomas Pacileo of the IT&E Boonie Dawgs finished in third with 10 goals in 10 matches. Rovers Masters’ Anjelica Perez, also captain of the Masakåda, Guam women’s national team, finished with the most goals scored by a female player in the league – seven in 10 matches.

United Masters finished the 2016 season with the second-best league record at 7-2-1. Before the 2015 season, Rovers Masters had won the co-ed soccer title for four consecutive seasons. Gonzales and goalkeeper Michael Lee, now both with Rovers Masters, were part of the United Masters championship team last year.

In Friday’s other match, Hyundai Family FC defeated IT&E Boonie Dawgs 2-0 and officially finished in third place with a 6-2-2 record.

IT&E had a chance to take an early lead after a foul in the penalty box was called on Family FC, but Pacileo’s ensuing penalty kick was saved. Later, another foul in the penalty box on the other end of the field gave Family FC a chance to open the scoreboard, but Ashley Besagar’s penalty kick was also saved. Family FC finally broke the scoring ice in the 24^th minute on a penalty kick by Chan Sik Park.

Besagar later scored in the second half from a shot about 25 yards out to the opposite post for the final 2-0 score.

In the week’s other match, Big Blue won against the Strykers FC via forfeit.

A short awards ceremony was held between Friday’s matches. Rovers FC President and Rovers Masters player Pedro Walls accepted the league’s Golden Boot award on behalf of Tate. Hyundai Family FC earned the league’s Fair Play award finishing the entire season without any yellow or red cards. GFA Executive Committee Member Tina Esteves and match commissioner Paul Long lastly presented the league’s champions trophy to the Rovers Masters.