THE ATENEO Lady Eagles were eliminated by the UST Golden Tigresses in a high-scoring affair, 4-5, on Thursday, 8AM at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.

With the loss, the Lady Eagles finish in third place for the fourth year running in Season 79 of the the University Athletic Assocation of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Football tournament.

Braces from rookie midfielder Nica Siy and supersenior striker Cam Rodriguez were not enough for Ateneo as the Golden Tigresses put five past the Lady Eagles for the Espana-based squad to book their slot in the final against the unblemished DLSU Lady Archers.

“We came into this game wanting to win, wanting to make history. We wanted to perform, and there were moments when we did, but unfortunately, we committed crucial mistakes that led the loss. But, I’m very proud of how my teammates played. You could see people playing positions that they never trained in the past preseason and that’s what the season’s been about always saluhan cause we’re always kulang, but people stepped up and, although we [the team] did lose this, we [the seniors] just hope that whatever we leave, they [the undergrads] pick up in the next season,” said Cam Rodriguez as she, Isay Sabio, Jill Catedrilla, and Hannah Khio are all leaving the team due to graduation after this season.

Major changes were applied to the Ateneo side as the Lady Eagles used second choice goalkeeper Jana Morales at right-back, whilst senior Isay Sabio, who sustained an injury in their last match against UP, was at left-back. A key loss in for Ateneo was midfielder Pam Diaz, who was replaced by junior Baci Herrera. Another crucial player who was not included in the starting lineup was winger Nona Amoncio, who had been battling sickness in the past weeks. Amoncio was instead brought in as a second half substitute in the 58th minute.

UST opened the scoring in the 8th minute as the Ateneo backline wa unable to deal with a long ball out of the back that reached Golden Tigress Christelle Cleofe. The attacker broke away from Sabio and scored on her one-on-one chance. Although Caparros was able to get a leg to the ball, the attempt still found its way into the back of the net. (0-1)

In the 21st minute, the Golden Tigresses doubled their lead as Mary Joy Indac was quickest to the ball on the counter and smoothly slotted her shot into goal. (2-0)

After two early goals from UST, Ateneo took one back with Siy scoring her first goal of the season. A searching cross played in from the right wing by the Ateneo attack looked an easy save for UST goalkeeper Nicole Reyes, but the keeper was unable to handle the ball properly, which allowed Siy a simple tap-in. (1-2)

Reyes was then condemn by head coach Prescila Rubio stand on the sideline, close to the UST bench. With the Tigresses playing without a keeper, the Lady Eagles plowed forward and were eventually able to gain the lead.

Siy doubled her goal tally just four minutes after with a well-struck free kick from distance that the UST defenders, despite having the numbers inside their own box, were unable to deal with. (2-2)

In the 41st minute, Rodriguez was able to gift the Lady Eagles with the lead as she got her first of the match with a long range attempt on a counterattack that rolled into the back of the net (3-2). Reyes was returned to her position between the sticks after the Golden Tigresses had relinquished their lead, but the damage had been done as Ateneo took at 3-2 lead heading into half time.

A penalty was awarded to UST, as a handball was called on the Ateneo defence on a lofted cross into the box. Up stepped UST top scorer Charisa Lemoran banged in the spot kick for the equalizing goal. (3-3)

The Golden Tigresses reclaimed the lead in the 67th minute through Hazel Lustan. A string of quick passes at the edge of the Ateneo box forced the defence to open up, which allowed space inside the box for Lustan to place a shot into the bottom right corner. (3-4)

In the 75th minute, the Lady Eagles gave away another penalty, as Pia Villaflor was given a yellow card for a tackle inside the Ateneo box. Lemoran was again the choice penalty taker for UST, but this time, the striker squandered the golden opportunity, as her shot went off the mark.

Lemoran, however, made amends in the 79th minute as she dispossed Morales inside the Ateneo box, stepped past the oncoming Caparros, and slipped a shot into the open goal. (3-5)

The Lady Eagles were handed a late lifeline in the 84th minute as Rodriguez was able to score her second goal of the match. The Ateneo captain drove into the UST box and powered a shot over Reyes that curved just inside of the near post and in. (4-5)

This, however, proved to be Ateneo’s final goal of the season, as the final whistle blew with the Lady Eagles unable to find an equalizer to force extra time.

After the match, Ateneo head coach Jay Pee Merida cited his dissapointement in the result. “It was a very disappointing result kasi nandoon na. Binibigyan na kami ng chance ng UST, hindi lang na-grab ng team (It was a very disappointing result because it was already there. UST was given us a chance, but we were unable to grab it.)”

Merida also spoke of his team’s inability througout the season to sustain a lead as a main point of improvement.

“Ito ang kailiangan natin i-improve, sa last 45 [minutes] yung how to handle yung lead tayo by one or two or three, so hindi pa rin namin na-improve from the start talaga. [This was what we needed to improve, in the last 45 [minutes] is how to hand a lead by one or two or three, so we weren’t able to improve that from the beginning],” said Merida.

Overall, however, both Merida and Captain Rodriguez praised the effort and heart shown by Lady Eagles this Season 79.

“Happy pa rin kasi with my players, ang daming injury yung maganda dito yung ibang players nag-step up kahit hindi nila role yung nilaro nila. Ayoko gumawa ng excuse na ganoon ang naging result dahil kulang players (I’m still happy because with my players, there were a lot of injuries, but what was good was other players stepped up even if they weren’t playing in their usual roles. I do not want to make it an excuse that this was the result because we were short-handed),” said Merida.

Rodriguez was likewise happy having seen the progression of the team from her first year until her last.

“I think I’m very happy with how the team transformed, like my experience in the team from my first year until now. Everyone has a better mindset, and I think what’s important is we’ve become better athletes, more loving athletes, and I’m happy to have led or have left that legacy,” said Rodriguez

Ateneo Starting XI: Caparros (GK), Morales, Ong, N. Catedrilla, Sabio, Herrera, Siy, Velasco, Bernardo, M. Catedrilla, Rodriguez

UST Starting XI: Reyes (GK), Cadag, Eusebio Ilan, Cuaresma, Sanchez, Lustan, Indac, Lopez, Lemoran, Cleofe

The Ateneo Lady Eagles were eliminated by the UST Golden Tigresses in a high-scoring affair, 4-5, on Thursday, 8AM at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.

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