FUELED BY a Tootchie Eval brace, the Ateneo Women’s Football Team cracked into the win column with a triumphant 2-0 victory over the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lady Booters. Their final match of the first round was held earlier today at the UP Diliman Football Stadium in Quezon City.
This victory against UST marked the Blue Eagles’ first win in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 Women’s Football Tournament. At the same time, this serves as their first victory since Season 81 when they scored a 1-0 victory over the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons back on March 20, 2019.
Moreover, Ateneo has earned a total of four points at the end of the first set of matches after earning their first point in their 2-2 draw against the same team last Saturday, March 16.
Early into the match, both squads fiercely battled in the midfield, denying each other a chance to inch closer to the penalty box. Ateneo’s first shot on target came in the 9th minute with Gabrielle Tuaño dribbling the ball into the attacking third, finding KC Zalamea whose shot went wide.
Ateneo continued to push the pace since then, with most of their chances just barely going over the crossbar or wide. The Blue and White nearly found the breakthrough by the 22nd minute, as Traci Lim would find Ysa Samonte in a set-piece, but the attempt was quickly saved by UST’s goalie Lizlie Garcia.
Two-thirds of the way into the half, the Katipunan-based eleven continued to fight for possession and deny UST’s through balls. The Lady Booters nearly found the back of the net by the 39th-minute mark as Christy Logastua found herself one-on-one with Atenean goalkeeper Adri Lee, but UST’s shot just went wide.
The España-based squad continued to thwart the Katipunan team’s attempts at goal with multiple blocks as the first 45 minutes ended scoreless for both sides. After the first half of play, the Blue Eagles had nine shot attempts compared to Lady Booters’ four, along with three corners.
Angely Alferez got the second half going with multiple chances within the first two minutes. Her teammate Zalamea would set her up five minutes later with a chance to find the breakthrough for the Blue and White, with the attempt just going over the crossbar.
Since the 60th-minute mark, UST saw a plethora of opportunities to score, with Ateneo’s Lee running to make the save each time. Fatigue was setting in for both teams with 10 minutes left, but Ateneo was determined to look for the breakthrough and their first win.
The Katipunan-based squad’s resolve paid off in the 89th minute as Alferez went for a cross from the left flank. With a minute remaining, Alferez eventually found Eval who scored from close range, putting Ateneo up 1-0.
Given the five minutes of stoppage time added, the Lady Booters attempted to look for an equalizer. Eval would put the icing on the cake with another goal to seal Ateneo’s first win of the season, 2-0.
The Blue Eagles will look to continue their momentum into the second round of the tournament, with the schedule yet to be announced.
Current Table (Points)
FEU Lady Tamaraws (12)
DLSU Lady Booters (9)
UP Fighting Maroons (4)
ATENEO Blue Eagles (4)
UST Lady Booters (0)
