THE ATENEO Lady Eagles fell to the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Archers, 1-3, on Saturday, April 2, at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig City.

It was Irish Navaja who opened up the scoring for DLSU in the 23rd minute. Ateneo keeper Marianne Caparros came off her line a tad too early as Lady Archer Sarah Castañeda made her way to the byline and dangerously close to the Ateneo’s box. But before Caparros could get close enough, Castañeda played a short ground cross to Navaja for the easy tap in.

The Taft-based squad then doubled their lead in the 33rd minute. A great passing play between Kyla Inquig and Castañeda baffled the Ateneo defense, and ended with an on-target shot by Inquig. Although Caparros was able to stop Inquig’s attempt, the Lady Eagle defense seemed to have shut off and were unable to clear the ball, as Castañeda reacted the quickest to knock the ball into the net and put the lead to 0-2.

With the Lady Archers in dominant form during most of the match, it was the combined efforts of second-half substitutes Tessa Bernardo and Pam Diaz who made their mark on the match in the 70th minute. Diaz’s cross from the right went unmet until Bernardo received it from the left wing. The Lady Eagle then made just enough space for herself against her defender to try a near-post attempt with her weaker left foot; the attempt ricocheted off the post and into the goal to give the Ateneo a 1-2 lifeline.

Although the Katipunan-based squad built momentum as the second half went on, the match was put to bed with a goal by the Lady Archers in the 81st minute. After the Lady Eagles defense was able to get a block on a DLSU free kick from a dangerous position, the it again stood still as Inquig got to the ball first, and slotted a shot into the bottom right corner.

In the 90th minute however, Bernardo appeared to have gotten herself a brace as she had the easiest of headers inches from the goal line, but the referee whistled her for offisde—effectively denying her and the Lady Eagles a second goal and ending the rivalry game at 1-3.

“One: luck wasn’t on our side. Two: we should’ve worked harder. Three: we didn’t take our chances,” Bernardo said of her team’s performance.

The loss brings the Lady Eagles down to fourth place with a record of 2-0-4 and a –4 goal difference. FEU leapfrogged the Ateneo to third place due to goal difference.

https://storify.com/TheGUIDONSports/defensive-lapses-lead-to-lady-eagles-downfall