THE ATENEO Lady Eagles defeated the FEU Lady Tamaraws, 4-3, on a rainy Saturday, February 18, 2016, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
The win keeps the Lady Eagles unblemished on the table, with a 2-0-0 record, giving them 6 points and a +2 goal difference in the standings of the of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Women’s Football tournament.
Ateneo fell behind in the 13th minute after defender Jolly Catedrilla mistakenly conceded an own goal, allowing the Lady Tamaraws to draw first blood. In an attempt to clear an incoming high cross into the Ateneo box, the full-back knocked her defensive header in the wrong direction, as she mistakenly directed the ball past goalkeeper Marianne Caparros and into her own bottom right corner to give FEU the lead, 0-1.
The Lady Eagles bounced right back in the 19th minute as midfielder Pam Diaz found herself free inside the FEU box for a chance on goal. Although her initial shot was blocked by FEU goalkeeper Joy Chavez, Diaz was able to recover the ball and smash it into the net for the equalizer to level the playing field.
However the miracle proved to be short-lived, as the advantage switched sides two minutes later. Granted a set-piece in the 21st minute, FEU skipper Jovelle Sudaria converted a sublime free-kick from close range, beating the outstretched arms of Caparros to put FEU ahead at 2-1.
The Blue and White then tied the match yet again in the 28th minute through a penalty by captain Cam Rodriguez. Although Chavez guessed right and got a hand to the ball, the shot proved too powerful as the ball rolled into the bottom right corner, restoring a 2-2 deadlock at half-time.
The Lady Tamaraws scored their third of the match in the 58th minute as first-half substitute Bia Requerme broke free and skillfully chipped the ball over Caparros before blast it into the back of the net, 2-3.
In the 66th minute, the Sampaloc-based side were reduced to ten players as Lady Tamaraw Kimberly Cupal was given a red card for throwing a punch at Ateneo midfielder Nica Siy, who was subsequently given a yellow card.
After the flurry of bookings subsided, the Lady Eagles equalized for the third time in the match, with a second goal from Rodriguez giving new life to the Katipunan side. The Ateneo captain sprinted ahead of the FEU defense and slotted her one-on-one chance into the bottom right corner, bringing the score to 3-3 heading into the dying minutes of the match.
Two minutes within her second goal, Rodriguez completed her hat trick as her powerful shot from inside the box crawled under Chavez to finally give Ateneo the lead, 4-3.
The match would then erupt in a dramatic climax in the 87th minute when a penalty was awarded to FEU despite there being an offside call on the FEU attack beforehand. After review on the play by the referees, the offside call on the FEU frontline before the penalty was honored as the Lady Eagles took the win in the 7-goal thriller.
After the match, Ateneo head coach Jay Pee Merida praised the team’s character. “Talagang the character, the spirit of the team. Kahit they were down three times, ang maganda talaga sa team na’to is talagang (they) proved na kaya nila. (It was really the character, the spirit of the team, even if they were down three times, what is good about this team is that they proved they could do it.)”
Cam Rodriguez then credited the win to their coaches who prepared the team well for the match. “They (the coaches) really thought about how we should play against FEU. All our performances right now are well thought of and the team just followed the game plan, that’s why luckily we had this win.”
The next game for the Lady Eagles will be against archrivals De La Salle Lady Archers on March 4, 2016, at 5pm in the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
Ateneo Starting XI: Caparros (GK), N. Catedrilla, Sabio, Ong, Esguerra, Diaz, Velasco, M. Catedrilla, Amoncio, Siy, Rodriguez (c)
Substitutions:
75’ Siy out, Bernardo in
89’ Esguerra out, Capistrano in
FEU Starting XI: Chavez (GK), Araneta, Bejic, Acibar, Cupal, Lam, Pachejo, Kadil, Belluga, Simoy, Sudaria (c)
Substitutions:
39’ Bejic out, Requerme in
62’ Chaven out, Parina
