Defending champion Far Eastern University knows that its biggest test yet in the UAAP Season 86 Women’s Football Tournament will come on Saturday against the team it unseated last year — De La Salle University.
The Lady Tamaraws, who defeated the Lady Booters 2-1 at extra time courtesy of Regine Rebosura’s brace in the Season 85 final, warmed up for the big game with an impressive 8-0 drubbing of the Ateneo Blue Eagles last Saturday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
The result was the most lopsided victory yet in the UAAP across the women’s, men’s, and boys’ high school divisions this season. A pair of Lady Tams scored two goals each for FEU against Ateneo: Sara Tulabing and Judie Arevalo.
Despite their impressive goalscoring performances, both players insisted that they simply followed their coach Let Dimzon’s system.
“Sabi po ni Coach during training, dapat ma-apply namin yung system. Tapos, dapat maconvert namin yung mga goal,” said Tulabing.
“So sa game naman namin kanina, na-a-apply naman namin yung systema na pinapagawa sa amin ni coach na which is labas sa side. So, ayon successful po and may mga scoring na po na naco-convert sa goal.”
“Siguro in-apply namin lahat yung mga system na pinapagawa sa amin ni coach,” chimed Arevalo.
“Sumusunod lang po kami sa pinapagawa ni coach and lahat naman po [nagawa].”
The result was a far cry from how the Lady Tamaraws started their season. Whilst having first-game jitters and lack of killer instinct in front of goal, FEU started its campaign with only a 1-0 win over University of Santo Tomas after missing so many chances.
This time, though, things were different. The Lady Tamaraws converted goal after goal and half of them came from Tulabing and Arevalo. Both players showed that all it takes is just one goal to finally get things going.
“Happy po ako. Hindi ko po talaga ine-expect na magiging player of the match ako. Nagpapasalamat po ako sa Panginoon kasi gina-guide niya ako palagi during sa training and sa game po,” said Tulabing.
“Sobrang saya po kasi during training po yung mga finishing ko, wala talaga. As in, lahat ng finishing ko, uma-angat as in. Pero noong naka-goal ako, parang masarap sa pakiramdam na naka-goal kase hindi ko inaasahan na makaka-goal ako,” added Arevalo.
With both FEU and La Salle in top form, Saturday’s clash promises to be an exciting match. Something has to give, though, as one or even both teams will drop points.
While there is a big game feel, Tulabing and Arevalo are eager to simply control what they can control.
“Hindi lang po kami magpapakampante, kalaban po La Salle. Kasi alam naman po namin na La Salle po is malakas talaga na team,” said Tulabing.
“Siguro kapag nakalaban namin yung La Salle, hindi lang po talaga kami magre-relax dapat sumunsunod pa rin kami kay coach. Kung ano po yung sistema na ipinagawa ni coach para po maging successful pa rin po yung mga atake namin.”
“Siguro hindi lang po kami magiging kampante kasi yung La Salle po isa din po sa pinakamahirap na team na makakalaban namin. Siguro po ibibigay lang namin lahat ng best namin para matalo sila,” said Arevalo.
