UP stays unbeaten, edges UST to top UAAP Men's Football first round

By: Nicole Parallag

University of the Philippines bucked a slow start to finish its first-round campaign on a high note, edging University of Santo Tomas, 2-1, to close out the first round undefeated in the UAAP Season 88 Collegiate Men’s Football Tournament on Thursday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium in Quezon City.

The Fighting Maroons ended the first round in pole position on the standings with 16 points and a goal difference of plus-6 after five wins and a draw.

“It was a collective effort from everyone,” said UP coach Popoy Clarino. “When we’re defending, everyone is at the back. We defended against 11 players, so the players were consistently helping one another and covering one another. It’s happy to see that kind of game.”

UST — playing without captain Sam Alegre and defender Jarod Punzalan due to injuries — broke the deadlock.

Rodrigo Mariñas delivered a perfectly timed pass to Kent Dela Peña, who slotted in the go-ahead goal in the 38th minute to open the scoring.

However, the Golden Booters’ lead was short-lived.

The Fighting Maroons answered back with Benz Samaniego, capitalizing on a scramble inside the box after keeper Kyler Escobar deflected UP attempts twice to fire home the equalizer in the 45th minute.

Third-year midfielder Ramil Bation III then stepped up to put the Fighting Maroons ahead in the second half.

The 21-year-old from Dipolog managed to bounce a shot off the goalpost that landed back inside the box to give UP the lead back in the 54th minute.

UST’s Chris Valderama tried to pull a goal back seconds before the final whistle, but UP goalkeeper Fonzy Gonzales did not give him a chance to score.

“We’ll try to take it game-by-game and improve our game bit-by-bit as we prepare for the next round,” said Clarino.

The Golden Booters remain fifth in the standings with five points and a minus-1 GD.

UST will look to close out its first-round campaign with a win when it faces University of the East on Sunday at 6:30 p.m., once again at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.

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