Erissa Rivas and Bem Aranas scored twice each as the University of the Philippines finally secured its first win of the UAAP Season 89 Collegiate Women’s Football Tournament, routing National University, 5-0, on Saturday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
Rivas set the tone early, slotting home a right-footed strike just five minutes into the match. The senior forward from The Raya School completed her brace in the 27th minute with another clinical finish.
Aranas, meanwhile, made an emphatic return from a one-match suspension following her red card against Far Eastern University last Saturday, scoring in the 11th and 33rd minutes to further compound NU’s early struggles.
(C) UAAP Season 89 Media Team
Hannah Muros then completed the rout for the Fighting Maroons in the 54th minute.
“Very happy for the girls,” said coach Anto Gonzales. “They really started very sharp and aggressive. They knew they played well. They were very determined to really get their first win. So very happy for them.”
One aspect of UP’s performance that particularly pleased Gonzales was the team’s finishing. Before Saturday’s match, the Fighting Maroons had scored just one goal in their first three games of the season.
(C) UAAP Season 89 Media Team
This time, however, UP found the back of the net five times, with Gonzales pleased to see his players capitalize on their chances.
“For today’s match, it’s the finishing,” he said. “You know, it’s really the desire to score which we showed; we had some really good goals, and we were very aggressive playing the ball forward.”
Both teams return to the same venue on Wednesday to close out their first-round schedules. UP faces the University of Santo Tomas at 2:00 p.m., while NU takes on Ateneo de Manila University at 4:30 p.m.
