Kaya Makati Stunned by Late Ceres Negros Winner

Kaya FC-Makati walking off UMak

The drama on December 3 was not just limited to the basketball court.

Stephan Schroeck roped in a goal in injury time, snatching a 1-0 victory for Ceres-Negros FC against Kaya FC-Makati at the University of Makati Stadium in the first leg of their Philippines Football League Finals Series matchup.

The former Philippines international kept the ball away from Marvin Angeles, then cut on the inside against Janrick Soriano, then turned the corner on Alfred Osei, then beat out the defense to poke the ball past Ref Cuaresma three minutes into second half stoppage time.

After the match, Schroeck shared that he could not really remember how it happened, but he does know that he just "got the ball and took it." He added that he was "happy to give the team the winner, because they deserve it under such [difficult] circumstances.

The first half saw limited scoring opportunities, with the best chance coming from Robert Lopez Mendy, as Roland Mueller denied the attacker a goal on a clearcut one-on-one scoring situation.

The Busmen were not without chances in the first half, as well. An Omid Nazari attempt went narrowly wide, while Iain Ramsay's volley forced a Cuaresma save.

The second half saw really good unconverted scoring chances bookending things. Moments after kickoff resumed, a Carlie de Murga free kick hit the far post and the crossbar, with the subsequent rebound leading to a de Murga header that Cuaresma would deflect into a corner. And just before Schroeck's heroics, Lopez Mendy evaded a shaky situation at the end line, slicing through a couple of defenders, someone getting off an attempt that rocketed towards the crossbar that just won't go past the line.

Kaya FC-Makati head coach Noel Marcaida could only share his frustration after the match, noting that "For the whole 90 minutes, I don't think we allowed them to settle for even a short amount of time. The energy was there. The aggressiveness was there. The willingness to really take this game away from Ceres, it was all there. I don't know what else we need to do. We created lots of chances. But it's just we didn't get the result.

Schroeck admits that Kaya will do everything to win the second leg, but adds that "You can be sure we'll be ready to do everything to win as well."