Guam- Four teams are left in the Budweiser Fall Classic Soccer League. Two teams are Guam’s top football clubs while the other two are newbies. Quality Distributors, Guam Shipyard, FC Guahan and Cars Plus FC are the final four in the semifinals.
Over the weekend one of the newbie teams, FC Guahan upset Fuji Ichiban Espada FC in a quarterfinal match that went to a shootout. With the match tied at three, Guahan scored one more goal than Fuji and advanced to the semis with a 4-3 shootout. Guahan will now challenge the soccer powerhouse Guam Shipyard. Shipyard defeated Doosan 8-1 before the weekend to advance to the semis while Quality Distributors beat Toyota 4Runners 15-2 and Cars Plus controlled AM Import Strykers 8-0.
The interesting semifinal matchup is between Cars Plus and reigning four-time Budweiser Men’s Soccer Champions Quality. Quality will have a tough test as Cars Plus fields four of their former players. Both teams have relatively small rosters, meaning fitness will likely be a major factor. Quality has scored the most goals in the tournament so far (35), albeit with 15 from their quarterfinal win over Toyota 4Runners, while Cars Plus has conceded the fewest with just one goal allowed in four matches. It’s also worth mentioning that Elias Merfalen(CP) and Scott Spindel(QD) lead the league in scoring with 9 goals. The next top two scorers also play with Quality.
Guam Shipyard has the second highest goal total (30), but will need to play better defense to deal with the potent attack of Guahan. However, Guahan will be losing starting goalkeeper Jeff Schultze to a training camp, meaning they will have to find a way to deal with Shipyard’s free-scoring offense if they are to progress to the final.
The BFC Semifinals are this Sunday at the GFA Soccer Fields in Harmon. Quality and Cars Plus will take the field first at 4:30pm and the Guahan Shipyard will follow at 7:30pm.
fperez@spbguam.com
