BOTH BLUE and Lady booters lost in heartbreaking fashion to archrivals De La Salle University (DLSU) on February 8, 2016, in the McKinley Hill Field in Taguig. Both teams conceded late in their respective games, as Ateneo was unable to collect any points on University Athletic Association of the Philippines Football’s opening day.
In the 4:30 PM Women’s match, the Lady Eagles fought valiantly, but just fell short against the Lady Archers. The Taft-based squad started the scoring in the 19th minute when Kyla Inquig fired a rocket from outside the box that beat Ateneo keeper Mariane Caparros.
The Ateneo was able to equalize through a calmly taken penalty by Cam Rodriguez, who slotted the ball into the bottom righthand corner in the 28th minute. The Lady Eagles struck again in the 39th minute to take the lead thanks to a couple of rookies. A cross from the left wing by Martie Bautista found Bea Velasco, who was able to lift the ball into the goal from just inside the box.
At the half, the Lady Eagles led 2-1.
The Lady Archers again scored first in the second half. La Salle’s Nicole Andaya’s ground cross after a run from the right flank forced an attempt from Lady Eagle Nina Catedrilla to clear the ball. Instead of conceding the intended corner, the ball was misdirected goal-bound to even the score at 2-2. La Salle regained the lead in the 67th minute through Shannon Arthur who powered the ball into the near-post after combining with Inquig for a smart one-two passing play deep in Ateneo territory.
The Lady Eagles would level the score once again deep into the second half. A threatening run from the left wing towards the center by Bautista started the attack, and the ball eventually fell to Rodriguez to finish off the move in the La Salle box. Although the goalscorer initially slipped, she was able to get back on her feet quicker than her defender, and put the ball past the La Salle keeper. 3-3 was now the score as momentum seemed to have shifted to the Ateneo.
In stoppage time, La Salle was able to work the ball to the right wing. A dangerous cross was then delivered into the Ateneo box. Lady Archer Sarah Castaneda was able to make contact and boot the ball goalward and past Caparros on what was the last play of the game. The match ended 3-4 in favor of the Lady Archers.
“That equalizing goal [in the 2nd half] really showed that we were all out and all heart. So at that point, it wasn’t our best game skill-wise, but we never backed down from the fight until sadly the last few seconds of the game. That’s when we kind of relaxed, and that showed really how the smallest moment of letting go, of not pushing to the best that we can, can really give poor outcomes,” shared Co-Captain Aina Martin.
With the loss, the Lady Eagles start off the season 0-1-0 with a -1 goal difference.
Their next game will be against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses, 4:00 PM, Sunday, February 20, 2016, in the McKinley Hill Stadium, Taguig.
In the 7:00 PM Men’s match, the Blue Eagles were in a tight, seesaw affair up until the dying embers of the match. It was windshield wiper football, as counterattacking sets from both squads filled the start of the match with never-ending excitement.
La Salle started the scoring off in the 21st minute with a marvelous free kick from Green Archer Greggy Yang. A foul by the Blue and White five yards from the box set up the goal for DLSU. Yang powered the ball from quite a distance, as it clanged off the bar and in.
Not to be outdone, the Ateneo fired right back. Just a minute after De La Salle took the lead, the blue booters equalized to even the score at 1-apiece. A quick counterattack by the Blue and White led to a Michael Castillo header.
The frantic back-and-forth action of the first 45 led to multiple opportunities from both sides. DLSU got within striking position a number of times, but Ateneo Co-Captain Carlo Liay denied the Green Archers again and again. If not for his superb defending, the Ateneo would have faced a large deficit.
At the end of the first half, the score was level at 1-1.
As expected, the speed at which the sides were playing in before the break led to tired legs. The ball stayed more frequently at midfield, with trickles of action here and there. Though this was the case, striker Jarvey Gayoso seemed destined to carry Ateneo. His speed, endurance, and attacking position led to three chances, which all just narrowly missed. Neither team was able to break the deadlock, until drama struck in the last ten minutes of the match.
On the 85th minute, Captain Mikko Mabanag was fouled hard after a clumsy challenge from the DLSU goalkeeper. As a result, the Ateneo was rewarded a penalty. Striker Emilio Acosta, who was just substituted into the match, was assigned to take the spot kick. It was a questionable move from the Blue and White, letting a fresh sub take the kick at such a crucial point in the match. At the signal of the referee, the striker sidefooted the penalty just to the right of the keeper. With Gayoso and Mabanag on the pitch, the burning question at the time was, “Why not let either of them take it?”
“It was his [Emilio Acosta] decision to take it. We already assigned Mikko to take it, since he’s usually the one who takes it for us, as he’s most used to taking penalties for us. But I don’t know with Mikko, he just allowed Emilio to take the shot,” explained Gayoso after the game.
Disaster then struck the Blue Eagles, as they conceded twice after the miss. On the 89th minute, supersub Jan Cruz caught the Ateneo off-guard with his fresh pair of legs to vault DLSU into the lead. Three minutes after, Gelo Diamante put the nail into the coffin with a thumping header that brought three points to the Green Archers.
With the loss, the Blue Eagles start off the season 0-1-0 with a -2 goal difference.
Their next game will be against the Adamson Lady Falcons, 6:30 PM, Sunday, February 14, 2016, in the McKinley Hill Stadium, Taguig.
