In what was a teaser for the big dance, De La Salle Zobel and 10-time defending champion Far Eastern University-Diliman shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in the UAAP Season 85 High School Football Tournament, Friday, at the UP Diliman Field.
The first half saw both teams managing to score a goal each. The Baby Tamaraws were able to break the deadlock in the 10th minute. Mamon executed a fantastic finish from close range to extend his personal tally to 10 goals this campaign.
However, the Junior Archers found a way back in fortuitous circumstances. The Baby Tamaraws defense failed to clear its lines and then goalkeeper Jan Fritz Llubit committed an error that allowed Alonso Aguilar to tap the ball home in the 18th minute.
“Kumbaga sa boxing, parang first two rounds in preparation for Thursday’s finals then we’ll see,” said La Salle coach Hans-Peter Smit. “Hopefully, La Salle plays much better than today… We cannot beat FEU if we play the same way we did against Ateneo. Now they played a little bit better. Hopefully, one more push.”
Come the second half, the Junior Archers had a goal ruled out due to offside. La Salle captain Jian Caraig hit the post while FEU’s Ronmer Paciente was denied by the crossbar.
It was the first time this season that the Baby Tamaraws dropped points.
La Salle and FEU-D will face each other again in the finals next Thursday at the same venue.
“Yung preparation talaga ay nasa finals kasi ito ay non-bearing game naman,” said Baby Tamaraws assistant coach Warner Gesilga. “Siyempre makikita nila pano maglaro yung ‘FEU way’ na tinatawag. Yun yung ipapakita namin, kung ano yung laro ng FEU Tamaraws, yung FEU way.”
In today’s earlier match, Ateneo de Manila University and University of Santo Tomas fought out a 0-0 stalemate to end the season.
The result meant that the Junior Golden Booters sealed third place while the Blue Eagles were able to clinch their first point of the campaign.
“Disappointing na hindi kami nakaabot sa finals pero proud pa rin sa boys na hanggang sa huli, hindi sila nag give up. Kahit ito yung points, laro pa rin sila,” said UST assistant coach David Basa.
The two schools had chances to win the match right before the final whistle. UST forward Rodrigo Marinas managed to break away from the Ateneo defense, only for him to shoot wide.
Soon after, Shawn Perea and Christian Santilices had sniffs at goal for the Blue Eagles but they failed to find the back of the net. Jon Mekhi Lagahit of the Junior Golden Booters could have won it late for UST but his attempt was saved.
“Right now, we really have a young team,” said Ateneo coach Dodjie Locsin. “From the pandemic, we were not able to train that much and then we were not able to start early. Basically, we have a young team and we will probably be more prepared next year.”
