IN THEIR second to the last game of Season 74 last February 15, the Ateneo men’s football team was not only playing to win, but playing for school pride.
The Far Eastern University Tamaraws, however, spoiled a potential home victory for the bottom-ranked Blue Booters, with the visiting team scoring both its goals in the second half to edge Ateneo’s lead and steal the win.
Once more, Ateneo displayed dominance on the pitch in the first half by sending clean through-passes against a porous FEU defense. This early intensity paid off for the blue and white, as winger Kurt Alvarez scored from just outside the penalty box in the sixth minute. FEU keeper Ronnie Aguisanda initially deflected Anton Amistoso’s shot from the middle, but Alvarez was there to smash the ball home to give Ateneo a 1-0 lead.
The Tamaraws had opportunities to equalize as Eric Giganto, Saekyoul Lee and Jesus Melliza—who scored a hat-trick in their first round matchup against Ateneo—scared the Ateneo crowd with runs to the goal, although these were cleared by the blue defense. At the end of the first 45 minutes of play, Ateneo was leading.
FEU bounced back in the second half with tenacious offense that kept the Blue Booters on the defensive. True enough, the yellow shirts tied the game in the 59th minute when Jeser Jalandoni capitalized on what appeared to be miscommunication between keeper Yu Murayama and center back Cocoy Marcelino. Jalandoni recognized the situation and sent the ball flying to the net.
After the goal, Ateneo found it difficult to get going offensively as the FEU squad had adjusted their defense accordingly. Horror struck the home team when Melliza beat the Ateneo defense by himself and scored from the left wing to give FEU the lead, 2-1, in the 67th minute.
Once again, the Blue Booters found themselves in the backseat late in the match. Adding insult to injury was that their finishing woes once again prevented them from tying the game—even after an additional two minutes of stoppage time.
The loss kept Ateneo at last place with a 2-7 win-loss record.
