THE UST Golden Booters could not find the back of the net as the University of the Philippines eked out a 1-0 victory in the UAAP Season 79 men’s football tournament at the FEU-Diliman football field Sunday.
UST absorbed its third loss in four games after the Fighting Maroons clamped down on the defensive end, especially in the last 10 minutes when the Booters had chances of scoring an equalizer.
Marco Casambre put the Fighting Maroons on the scoreboard after drilling a goal in the 14th minute over three UST defenders.
Aljireh Fuchigami had an opportunity to score in the 82nd minute but fumbled the ball against three UP defenders, while Efren Menares Jr.’s potential game-tying header off a Darwin Busmion free kick in the 89th minute was caught by Fighting Maroon goalkeeper Ace Villanueva.
“Maraming chances talaga pero (hindi pumasok), especially ‘yung galing sa free kick. Anyway, I’m happy with the players in the last 40 minutes,” UST head coach Marjo Allado told the Varsitarian.
Up next for the Golden Booters is the Adamson University on Feb. 23, Thursday, 2 p.m., at the Moro Lorenzo football field in Katipunan.
