Lucas Aguilar’s late heroics secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory for De La Salle University over University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Football Tournament on Sunday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
Aguilar, who was substituted in the 70th minute for striker Adrian Bacolod, made an instant impact by weaving past the UST defense and delivering the winning goal with a powerful left-footed strike in the 89th minute.
“I didn’t expect it,” said Aguilar, a De La Salle Zobel alumnus and son of Wrestling Association of the Philippines president Alvin Aguilar. “I just got the ball, turned, faked one defender, faked another, and the next thing I knew, I was celebrating with my teammates. I’m really thankful for that.”
Aguilar’s goal was a crucial breakthrough for the Green Booters, who had struggled to create clear scoring opportunities throughout the match.
UST goalkeeper Jose Miguel Abada was largely untroubled until the decisive moment.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
La Salle head coach Alvin Ocampo acknowledged his team’s attacking struggles, noting that their offensive game is still a work in progress.
“We’re really lacking a few players in attack,” Ocampo admitted. “We need to review and assess the team because, remember, we didn’t conduct any tryouts before the season.”
With this win, the Green Booters climbed to fourth place in the standings with four points and a minus-2 goal difference, recording one win, one draw, and one loss in their first three matches.
La Salle will aim to build on their momentum when they face Far Eastern University this Thursday at 4 p.m.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
On the other side, UST was left to rue their missed chances.
Green Booters goalkeeper and captain Enrico Mangaoang made key saves against Jan Patrick Baito and Tarshish Garciano, while John Mark Garcia and Renan Ballespin failed to convert opportunities.
The Golden Booters dropped to sixth in the standings with three points and a minus-1 goal difference after one win and two losses.
UST will look to bounce back in their upcoming match against Adamson University this Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
