THE SO-CALLED dark horse of Season 72, the Golden Booters barged into the finals but fell short of the championship after stumbling against Far Eastern University in a winner-take-all match at the Ateneo Erechun Field last February 28.
The Booters saw their miracle run end in a 0-1 heartbreaker against FEU, which improved on its runner-up finish last season. But the finals appearance was a feat in itself for UST, considering that it placed an embarrassing fourth last year.
The Lady Booters lost their title, 0-1, against De La Salle University, the team they beat in last season’s finals.
Golden Booters coach Marjo Allado said his wards bungled two scoring opportunities in the second half but lost their composure. “But overall, I’m still satisfied with the team’s performance because entering the championship was something we didn’t expect,” he said.
FEU rookie Dexter Chio riffle-kicked the marginal goal of the season at the 75th minute off teammate Filsan Akut’s missed attempt. Golden Booter Vincent Villanueva stopped Akut in the goal area, but this left Chiowith a clear access to UST’s net and allowed FEU to score.
UST’s ace striker OJ Clariño ventured on a header in the final minutes of the game but his shot went way off the goalpost as the final whistle sounded.
Adding insult to injury was the suspension of Season 72 Rookie of the Year (ROY) Christian de Juan, who missed the game after acquiring his second yellow card of the season in Game 1 of the Finals.
UST also failed to capitalize on the suspension of FEU’s Game 1 hero Jason Cordova, who was given a red card after brawling with Golden Booter Shinmar Felongco last February 25. Incidentally, he was also the lone goal scorer for FEU (0-1) that game, forcing a rubber match against twice-to-beat UST.
Prior to the championship, UST prevailed over FEU, 3-1, last February 21 in the semi-final round, after a 3-0 Valentine’s Day whitewashing of home team Ateneo de Manila University.
De Juan was named Rookie of the Year, while veteran David Basa went home with the Best Defenderaward.
Fall of the off-season queens
The Lady Booters looked primed for back-to-back titles this year until they ran into La Salle, which they had beaten in the Unigames and the Metro Manila Girls’ Football Association.
“The intensity of their game went down,” coach Rozano Estrabon said in Filipino. “There are players whose play becomes off, and there were a lot of them. Maybe they were nervous.”
Season 72 MVP and ROY Adrianne Yniguez of La Salle converted Isabelle Kilayko’s sensational feed to the winning goal, which caught Best Goalkeeper Arlene Gavile of UST by surprise in the 56th minute of the game.
In the next 34 minutes of the game, the Lady Booters tried to force an equalizer with frontliners Anne Barruga and Nikki Regalado’s crunch time attempts. But they failed to capitalize on easy attempts in the penalty area.
The high-spirited Lady Booters blanked the twice-to-beat La Salle, 2-0, in the first finals game, courtesy of this season’s Best Striker Marianne Narciso last February 25, to send the series to a sudden-death match. UST ended the second round of the eliminations with a draw against FEU last February 21.
