Soccerroo halt Sparks run, force a 3-3 draw

MANILA, Philippines -- Team Soccerroo put a dent to Loyola Meralco Sparks' perfect run as it eked out a pulsating 3-3 draw in one of the major upsets in the First Division of the United Football League to date at the Emperador Stadium Friday night.

And Socceroo almost eked out a king-sized upset after leading 3-1 in the second half before Fil-Brit Phil Younghusband and Joaco Canas scored a goal apiece to help Loyola escape with a standoff.

Seung Yeon Min stunned everyone when took advantage of Loyola goalie Ref Cuaresma's errant pass out of his own box and converted it to a goal that gave Socceroo a 1-0 lead on the fifth minute.
Loyola's Robert Canedo chipped in a goal 20 minutes later to knot the count at one apiece entering halftime.

Lee Jeong Woo pounced on Loyola's failure to clear the lines and blasted a goal early in the second half before making it a brace after smashed through Cuaresma's plastic-thin defense to give Socceroo a two-goal lead two minutes later.

Enter Younghusband, who unleashed a thunderous strike three minutes after he came in, and Canas, who blasted away with a rocket late in regulation to save the Sparks from absorbing their first defeat.

Instead, Loyola escaped with a draw that kept them atop everyone with 16 points including five straight victories.

Socceroo, for its part, remained eighth or second to last with just five points but its confidence should improve after realization that it is capable of competing against the best of them.

“I told them, ‘if you want repect in the First Division, we need to show them that we can play at their level,’” said Soccero coach Franklin Cacacho.

"It's a bittersweet draw because we could've won it," Soccerro assistant coach Rodrigo Davalos, for his part, said.

In the only other top division match, reigning League champion Stallion FC walloped Army-General Trias International, 3-0, to jump from No. 7 to No. 4 with eight points, behind Loyola, Global FC (12 points) and Kaya FC (10 points).

In Division Two matches, Ceres-La Salle Bacolod smashed Dolphins United, 9-2, and Manila All-Japan crushed Cimarron, 6-0.