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| c/o UAAP Media Team |
UAAP Season 87 High School Boys’ Football Tournament Standings
FEU-D 18 points (+18)
UST 13 points (+10)
DLSZ 13 points (+5)
Ateneo 6 points (-4)
Southridge 3 points (-5)
Claret 0 points (-24)
Matches on Saturday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium
2 p.m. — Ateneo vs CSQC
4:30 p.m. — UST vs DLSZ
7 p.m. — FEU-D vs SRG
JERRIEMY Biton scored twice to lead Far Eastern University-Diliman in a 5-0 drubbing of Claret School of Quezon City in the UAAP Season 87 Boys’ High School Football Tournament at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
Leading the standings with 18 points after six wins, the Baby Tamaraws are the first team to seal a Final Four ticket and also remain on track to clinch an outright final birth, which can only be done by the school that wins all of its matches.
Stealing the show once again, Biton—the leading contender for the Golden Boot award this year—now has eight goals despite being a rookie.
“Ita-try namin (ang season sweep),” said FEU-D coach Jake Morallo. “Every game is important kahit na non-bearing pa yan. Winning is everything sa FEU no? Again, every game is important. Ayun nga ita-try namin. I think kaya naman so kailangan babalik lang naman kami sa tactics so basically movement and finishing para mapanalo yung games.”
Meanwhile, captain Bacchus Ekberg powered De La Salle Zobel toward a 3-0 win over archrival Ateneo de Manila University while Joshua Moleje’s penalty earned University of Santo Tomas a slender 1-0 victory over PAREF Southridge.
Despite missing an open goal for his first chance in the match, Biton bounced back strongly by putting the ball at the back in the 39th and 60th minutes. The 16-year-old striker opened his account from close range and then performed a fine solo finish to secure his brace.
“Right now, every game si Biton nakakakuha palagi ng score no,” said Morallo. “He's always motivated. Nakikita namin yan ni coach Paolo (Bugas) sa training na every finishing, every konting instances sa harap ng goal, kinukuha niya palagi yung pag-score niya, which is masaya kami. Of course, di lang ako bilang coach kundi buong team (ang rason) na every game nagagawa niya to. We are hoping pa na madadagdagan pa every game yung score niya.”
Jacob Ray Keleghan opened the floodgates for the Baby Tamaraws in the 29th minute while defender James Maxdel Torres scored FEU-D’s fourth goal in the game in the 52nd minute following the halftime break.
Substitute forward Sambher Nash Abrenica then wrapped up the rout with an 86th-minute goal for FEU-D.
Unfortunately for the Baby Tamaraws, Torres had to be substituted in the 72nd minute of the match due to a bad landing. Post-game, Morallo shared his fear that the former Bayawan City East Central School standout possibly tore his ACL.
La Salle inched closer to a Final Four spot by trouncing Ateneo 3-0 behind Ekberg’s stellar goals from outside the box.
The 18-year-old defender scored the Junior Archers’ first goal in the 13th minute that was awarded after his teammate Renz Partosa was fouled. Ekberg then secured his brace in the q7th minute with another fantastic long-range effort.
Geoffrey Marqueses then completed the three-goal rout with a fine finish in the 81st minute to score his third goal of the season.
“Our plan, our objective is to get nine points this second round,” said La Salle’s Ghanian coach Ayi Nii Aryee. “Even six or seven points can put us in the Final Four but we don't have to underestimate any opponents. Even Ateneo, they have hopes of making the top four, even Southridge, even Claret—that's why they are playing right? If Claret can win all their four games they can have a chance so we have to take every game seriously.”
The final game of the evening saw UST prevail 1-0 at the expense of Southridge as the Junior Golden Booters also moved nearer to a Final Four ticket and gave head coach Marjo Allado a winning present for his 47th birthday.
After the goalless first half, the Junior Golden Booters found a way through after a clumsy foul on Moleje in the Admirals’ box. Spain-bound Moleje stepped up to take the spot-kick and he calmly shot past Southridge goalkeeper Juan Paolo Tansingco.
“Nag step-up si Moleje,” said UST assistant coach David Basa. “Happy for him na siya yung nakakuha ng penalty ar naka-score siya para sa team.”
Midfielder Vincenzo Solidum then had a chance to double UST’s lead in stoppage time, only for Tansingco to deny him with a fine save.
It was another tough loss for the Admirals, who had their bright moments in the match and defended resolutely. The likes of Zechariah Casillano, Francis Poticano and Mateo Mercado all had their sniffs at goal, but none of them found the back of the net.
“Yung game kase nila is nag-settle sila sa depensa so medyo nahirapan kami mag-attack. Na-overload sila sa depensa with five back. So medyo nahirapan pero buti nalang second half nag-adjust ung mga player nag create ng chances,” said Basa.
UST and La Salle have 13 points each with the former in second place due to its superior goal difference of plus-10 to the latter’s plus-5 followed by Ateneo in fourth place with six points.
Southridge remained in fifth place with three points while Claret is yet to tally a point in sixth place.
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