IT HAS been a while since the Blue Booters won themselves silverware, and for the women’s team, a podium has remained elusive. If the early results are some indication, it looks like Ateneo may have to wait longer for football glory.

Blue Booters

After starting the season with back-to-back losses, the Blue Booters find themselves surrounded by many questions and perhaps, even doubt.

The season opener against DLSU on January 16 was a thrashing at the hands of the archrivals, ending in an embarrassing 5-1 score line. Not even striker Anton Amisto’s goal lifted the spirits  of the home fans as DLSU squashed any glimmer of hope just minutes later.

In Ateneo football history, the loss was the worst ever to DLSU and also the biggest victory by DLSU in their history of merging into the UAAP. .

Their second game, a close 1-0 defeat to UP last January 19, left the Blue Booters with an ugly 0-2 record. But the story wasn’t as ugly as the defeat seemed; the team showed significant improvement defensively, absorbing most of the pressure from the Maroon offense. They denied easy attempts to score—the only goal conceded came via a nifty weighted lob over the goalie during the second half.

Despite the loss on paper, Ateneo was victorious in showing character against a physical UP team. The team sustained their defense but still showed a severe lack of offensive prowess—something that spilled over in their next game against FEU on January 23.

Although the Blue Booters finally got on the board, garnering the first point of the tournament via a Gab Siojo-Ceasario Kapunan equalizer, it was far from a convincing performance—rather, it was one driven out of pure gusto and perhaps even luck.

Still in the early stages, we may have already witnessed telling signs of the Blue Booters’ performance.

However, if season openers are a telling barometer, then this season is heading towards Season 72 territory, or even worse—last season, the Blue Booters started off with a 2-1 victory over eventual champions FEU.

Lady Booters

Riding the momentum of an encouraging third place finish in the University Games, the Ateneo Lady Booters rediscovered the reality of the level of competition in the UAAP. In their season opener last January 17, the Lady Booters fell to the UST Lady Tigers, 3-0. The following week’s game resulted in a nil-nil draw against the FEU Lady Tamaraws.

The Lady Tigresses, who were Season 72 runners-up, displayed their superior team work early.

After several shots on goal, the UST attack finally cracked the Lady Booter’s defense as a header found the back of the net late in the first half.

The second half saw a much more even distribution of possession as Ateneo looked to draw the game level early.  Substitute Lydia Stroud-Lusk was relentless on attack, leaking out in transition to pressure on the UST defense.

Despite this renewed aggression, the UST attack afforded themselves superior opportunities on goal, capping the win with two goals.

“Our coach told us despite the gap in individual talent, we were still competitive for much of the game.” Said Erika Casas.

“The UAAP is a different level from the preseason (UniGames).  You have to want every game and want it more than the other team.”

The girls in Blue looked to have followed their coach’s advice in their next game against FEU.

Amidst unfavorable playing conditions of Ocampo field, the Ateneo Lady Booters stood strong against the Lady Tamaraws, holding them to a scoreless draw.

Against an undefeated squad that overcame the UP Lady Maroons and the UST Golden Booters, the Ateneo Lady Booters showed a lot of promise in the result.

As they continue their pursuit for their first UAAP championship, the team, bolstered by a pool of talented rookies, is already looking better than last season. Now it is about translating the hard work into tangible results.