By: Nicole Parallag
Xin Salanatin emerged as the hero for defending champion University of Santo Tomas, scoring a dramatic 90th-minute winner to complete a 2–1 comeback over last season’s final foil Far Eastern University-Diliman and keep the Junior Golden Booters unbeaten in the UAAP Season 88 High School Boys’ Football Tournament, Wednesday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
The Junior Golden Booters mirrored the heroics of their collegiate counterparts, overturning an early Baby Tamaraws lead just like the senior squad had done in last Sunday’s Final Four clash.
Joshua Balliner had earlier equalized in the 75th minute, setting the stage for Salanatin to deliver the decisive blow at the death.
Balliner and Salanatin’s strikes erased Jimuel Panganiban’s 18th-minute opener, leaving FEU-D to rue missed opportunities from Leowell Fabela and Jacob Keleghan.
“Nung first half, medyo slow yung start namin,” said UST assistant coach David Basa. “May binago lang kami sa formation, pero prinepare naman namin earlier, pero hindi lang nag-work agad, so nag-adjust kami sa second half. Then, yung subs, nung pumasok, nagbigay sila ng energy sa team. Yung subs nagbigay ng dalawang goals.
“Sa amin lang talaga makapuwesto kami sa table as top. Yun ang main focus ng team. Siguro lang, one factor din yung college nung Sunday, then kami ngayon, tas magtutuos na naman sila ng Friday. Puro FEU kami. Blessing din yung nakuha namin, yung two wins,” he added.
Meanwhile, PAREF Southridge opened the matchday by trouncing Claret School of Quezon City 2-0 to secure its first win of the season, while De La Salle Zobel narrowly defeated Adamson University 1-0 afterward for the Junior Green Booters’ second straight win.
With the results, the Junior Golden Booters stayed at the top of the table with 10 points while the Baby Tamaraws and the Junior Green Booters are knotted at nine points apiece with FEU-D ahead by a two-goal cushion.
The Blue Eagles (6), Southridge (4), the Red Roosters (3), and the Baby Falcons (2) are behind.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
Francis Poticano starred for the Admirals, providing an assist and scoring a goal within two minutes in the second half to secure the win.
“He’s one of the boys to look out for in this season. He really stepped up in this game,” said Southridge coach Sam Bonney. “We are depending on him to give us something special this season because he proved himself last season. But the thing is, I think he also felt a little bit more pressure, so that’s why his game is not that consistent. I believe in him, and I know he would definitely step up his game.”
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
On the other hand, Geoffrey Marqueses struck in the 17th minute to give the Junior Green Booters an early lead, while goalkeeper Jacob Salavante preserved the clean sheet with key saves in the second half.
“For Geoffrey, I think for me, isa siya sa mga reliable na players namin mag-create ng goal dahil siya yung nag-create ng goal against Ateneo,” said La Salle coach Arvin Soliman. “For me, isa siya sa very dangerous in possession lalo na pag bibigyan mo (siya) ng space.
“We got the three points pero marami pa kami kailangang i-improve, especially sa second half na halos Adamson yung nag ko-kontrol ng bola. Again, we met the objective, so at least kahit papano nakuha namin tong araw na to,” Soliman added.
