Nathalie Absalon made amends after losing her cool as University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines played out a scuffle-marred 1-1 draw in the UAAP Season 85 Women’s Football Tournament, Saturday, at the UP Diliman Field.
Down a goal with only minutes left to play, Absalon scored a penalty — which was given due to handball — in the 87th minute to allow UST to come home with a point.
“Sobrang masaya ako sa effort na binigay ng team ko particularly doon sa mga players na nasa loob kasi hindi sila nag give up until hindi natapos ang game,” said UST coach Aging Rubio. “Yun naman ang hinahanap natin sa isang player na lumaban hangga’t may oras pa.”
Beforehand, tempers flared in the second half. UST’s Christy Logastua and UP’s Alyanna Yatco exchanged elbows, which escalated into a scuffle between both schools.
Absalon then joined in by pushing Yatco down and then four players from the Lady Booters bench — Jearferlyn Ramos, Justley Santerva, Lovely Fernandez, and Jannah Santerva — entered the pitch.
For their part, the likes of Absalon and Yatco received yellow cards in the 70th minute.
Earlier in the match, the Fighting Maroons managed to break the deadlock early in the match thanks to Kamea Mangrobang’s fine strike in the 16th minute. However, that became the only highlight of their evening.
“Poor performance overall,” lamented UP coach Anto Gonzales. “We looked tired. We had our chances in the first half. Even in the second half, we couldn’t finish. We looked sluggish.”
Both schools will return next Saturday at the same venue. UST will take on De La Salle University at 4:00 PM while State U will go up against neighbors Ateneo de Manila University after at 6:00 PM.
