MANILA, Philippines — University of Santo Tomas opened the UAAP season 76 men’s football tournament with a 2-0 victory over La Salle Saturday morning at the FEU-Diliman pitch.
Jogi Celiz opened the scoring for the Golden Booters in the third minute, setting the tone for the rest of the match, while Patrick O’Neill nailed the finishing touches in the 81st.
“This first game is important for us, we were up against La Salle which had senior players while we have a very young team,” said head coach Marjo Allado in Filipino.
UST lost to La Salle in all their meetings last year, where it also crashed out of the final four.
“Last year they beat us twice, at least we were able to get revenge,” also said Allado. “I know it’s just the first game, but this is a good thing.”
The Green Archers had several chances to equalize in the second half, where both squads were down to 10 men, but Nathan Alquiros’ free kick attempts both hit the cross bar.
“We were really focused on defending in the last 15 minutes, because we know La Salle will push to score,” Allado said. “We were also lucky Alquiros missed on his freekicks.”
The Golden Booters have a chance to double their lead early in the tournament as they go up against National University on Tuesday.
La Salle, last year’s fourth place, tries to bounce back also on Tuesday against University of the East.