UNIVERSITY of the Philippines made sure that lightning did not strike twice by routing neighbor Ateneo de Manila University 6-0 in the UAAP Season 86 Women’s Football Tournament Saturday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
Unlike in their first-round encounter last March 16 that saw the Blue Eagles earn a 2-2 draw, the Fighting Maroons were rampant right from the get-go.
Kam Mangrobang set the tone for UP with a goal just four minutes into the contest while Martina Torres doubled the Fighting Maroons’ lead in the 11th minute.
Anya Fuentes then sealed a brace in the 22 and 45+2 to give UP a four-goal cushion before the halftime break, which showed that lessons were applied this time around.
“In the first game kasi, we didn’t start strong. We made some silly mistakes and Ateneo scored first,” said coach Anto Gonzales.
“Ang Ateneo, the longer the game goes, mas nabubuhayan so the objectives talaga for this game was to start really strong and get an early goal.”
Come the second half, Hannah Muros and Drea Montilla completed the rout for the Fighting Maroons in the 70th and 90+4 minutes respectively.
UP remained in the hunt for a ticket to the final by solidifying its hold of third place. The Fighting Maroons have seven points and a plus-2 goal difference on the back of two wins, one draw and two losses.
For UP, it is about controlling what it can control considering that it is five points behind league leaders De La Salle University and Far Eastern University with three games left in its campaign.
“We’re just hoping na we do our part kasi it’s not really entirely in our hands,” said Gonzales. “We’ll try to go as far as we can and siguro swertehin na lang na mag drop ng points ang La Salle (and FEU).”
Both UP and Ateneo will return to action this Saturday at the same venue. The Fighting Maroons will face the Lady Tamaraws at 4 p.m. while the Blue Eagles will go up against the UST Lady Booters at 6:30 p.m.
Ateneo remained in fourth place with four points and a minus-17 goal difference after one win, one draw and three losses.
UP XI: Eduave, Chua, Fuentes, Baroin, Torres, Kim, Mangrobang, Napiza (C), Facturanan, Reaso, Muros.
Ateneo XI: Lee (GK), Tuaño, Tolentino, Samonte, Zalamea, Francisco (C), Alferez, Espiritu, Lim, Napoles, Eval.
