IN THEIR final match of the first round, the Lady Eagles were defeated by the UST Tigresses, 2-3, on Saturday, March 11 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.

The loss drops the Lady Eagles to third place at six points with a 2-0-2 record and a -2 goal difference in the standings of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Football tournament.

Lady Eagles were without defender Annika Ong due to a head injury and attacker Nica Siy due to accumulation of yellow cards. In lieu of the losses, Jolly Catedrilla was stationed in central defense, whilst Jill Catedrilla was moved down the full-back. Sophomore Tessa Bernardo filled in on the left wing. Midfielder Baci Herrera made return in this match for the Lady Eagles after missing the last two matches, but was subbed off in the 35th for Ysa Ramos.

It took only two minutes for the Tigresses to open the scoring through striker Charisa Lemoran. A ball from the UST midfield flew over the Ateneo defense, and fell to Lemoran who skipped past Ateneo goalkeeper Mariane Caparros— who had come out of the box— leaving an open net for the tap in. (0-1)

Bernardo leveled score for the Lady Eagles in the 27th minute. A ground cross from the right wing by Nona Amoncio was dummied by striker Cam Rodriguez, that went all the way through to an unmarked Bernardo at the far post, who calmly sank the goal with her first touch. (1-1)

Lemoran doubled her goal tally in the 36th minute for UST to regain the lead. The striker struck a high-arching shot from a tight angle on right side goal, that sailed over Caparros’ outstretched arms and inside the left side netting. At the half, the Lady Eagles trailed the Tigresses, 1-2.

In the 55th, UST created a two goal cushion as Lemoran was able to complete her hat trick on the day. The striker drove the ball into the Ateneo box and created just enough separation to get a shot off that went past Caparros nestled in the far right corner of goal. (1-3)

Defender Mica Corrales, who had come in for Ramos in the 52nd minute, received treatment after a collision in defense, and was taken off for winger aPrecious Capistrano in the 67th minute.

The Blue and White were given a lifeline by Rodriguez in the 70th minute. After the Lady Eagles were able to win a free kick just outside the box, the Ateneo captain stepped up to the deadball and was able to split the thin gap between the UST wall and the inside of the right post as the ball bounced past UST keeper Nicole Reyes, and into the back of the net. (2-3).

The Lady Eagles came close to equalizing the match in the 80th minute. Rodriguez beat two Tigresses in the midfield before firing a through ball to Bernardo in the box, but Reyes was there to foil the attempt at the near-post.

In the dying second of the match, Amoncio played her corner short to Rodriguez whose left-footed attempt flew just wide of the far post, and was headed back into the box by the UST defense. The chance, however, went begging, as the Lady Eagles were unable to steer a shot on target.

After the match, Ateneo head coach Jay Pee Merida cited his team’s inability to convert chances as a source of disappointment. “Medyo na-disappoint ako kasi in training sa attacking third, na-convert namin lahat, so parang hindi ko ma-iisip kung bakit chances namin na binigay ng UST, hindi namin na-convert (I was a bit disappointed because in training in the attacking third, we converted everything, so I didn’t think of why we couldn’t convert the chances given to us by UST).”

Ateneo Starting XI: Caparros (GK), N. Catedrilla, Sabio, Esguerra, M. Catedrilla, Velasco, Diaz, Herrera, Amoncio, Bernardo, Rodriguez (c)

Substitutions: 35’ Herrera out for Ramos, 45’ Velasco for Villamor, 52’ Ramos out for Corrales, 67’ Corrales for Capistrano

UST Starting XI: Reyes (GK), Sumilang, Eusebio, Ilan, Lopez, Cadag, Cuaresma, Cleofe, Lustan, Indac, Lemoran

Substitutions: 56’ Sebastian for Obra, 61’ Eusebio for Sanchez, 78’ Lustan for Lagman, 86’ Cleofe for Panganiban