University of the Philippines made the most of its biggest scoring opportunity in the match, and it was enough to earn a winning start.
The Lady Maroons prevailed over University of Santo Tomas, 1-0, in both teams’ first fixture in the UAAP Season 82 Women’s Football Tournament, Saturday at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Rookie Stacey Arthur scored the only goal of the contest in the 35th minute, putting a penalty past UST goalkeeper Beatriz Sacdalan.
Beforehand, the Lady Maroons had a free-kick deep into the opposition half. The Lady Booters failed to clear their lines, then conceded a spot-kick because of handball.
“We would have loved to finish the game stronger,” said UP coach Anto Gonzales. “I think UST dominated much of the second half, but execution-wise, I think we did very well in the first half. We really stuck to the game plan.”
Arthur’s goal gave UP something to hold onto while UST bombarded them time and time again. The Lady Booters, though, lacked their shooting boots. The likes of Mae Cadag, Mary Indac, and Lalaine Durano all squandered multiple chances to put the ball at the back of the net.
“(In the) second half, once we put out a few players in key positions, doon kami medyo nahirapan mag-adjust. UST was able to dictate the game and if they only had maybe better shooting, they would have scored two, three goals. We have to work on certain areas, definitely,” added Gonzales.
The result awards the Lady Maroons with three points to kickstart their campaign. On the other hand, Aging Rubio’s squad goes home with none and shall look to bounce back in their next assignment.
The two schools shall next play on Saturday, March 14 at the same venue. UST first faces Far Eastern University at 1:30 PM. UP then goes up against De La Salle University afterward at 4:00 PM.
