Kaya blanks Dolphins, gains quarterfinal

KAYA shrugged off a slow start to wallop Dolphins, 7-0, Sunday night and barge into the quarterfinals of the United Football League Cup at Nomads Sports Club field in Parañaque.

Guam international Jonahan Romero, Antonio Ugarte and Nate Burkey each scored twice as Kaya, which had a problem scoring goals early in the season, finally stamped its class against a Group B rival after scrambling victories against Diliman and Forza earlier.

Filipino international OJ Porteria also found the back of the net for the first time for Kaya, which became the second team to reach the quarterfinals after Global pulled off the feat in Group A.

Despite the firepower in its roster, it took Kaya 37 minutes to open the scoring through Ugarte, who made only his second start for the club.

But when Kaya found its rhythm, last year’s UFL Cup semifinalist simply overwhelmed the hapless Dolphins, who fell to their second loss in three matches.

Burkey took his tally to five goals in the Cup, while Romero now has three goals in the tournament, after failing to score in the league last season.

Kaya’s seeding in the quarterfinals hinges on the result of the Green Archers United’s final assignment against Forza.

The Archers, with seven points from three matches, need to beat Forza by three goals to claim the top seed and avoid a possible quarterfinal duel with Global.

Meanwhile, the Loyola Meralco Sparks try to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive against Nomads at 7 tonight at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The Sparks, who lost to Air Force in the finals last season, are hard pressed to beat the Nomads, after dropping a 1-2 decision to Pachanga-Diliman last Saturday.

Army hopes to nail a quarterfinals berth as it battles rival Air Force at 5 p.m.